Yeah, audaxes are great!

Get a bike fit, saddle bag and Brookes saddle. Start thinking in km. Get used to eating **** loads of marzipan and soreen.

Audax also provides a good run up to the distance, e.g. think along the lines of 100+ km in Jan, 200 km in March, 300 km in April, 400 km in July/August. Sorted.

For me next summer is all about Vatternrundan (190miles in Sweden) followed by the National 400 (250miles in the Peaks) at the end of July: http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/16-2/

If you don’t actually want to ride an audax, an audax perm (riding the route at a time that suites you) will take a lot of the route planning hassle of your hands. These routes are managed by old hands that know their stuff, and have been ridden so many times that they’ll be really thoughtfully and thoroughly planned.

Following Sustrans stuff is usually a reasonable way of covering distance inefficiently, so you don’t get too far away from where you started.

I did Darlington to Rothbury (part 1 and part 2) last year on mainly Sustrans routes on a cross bike which is 185km by Sustrans routes compared to 116km by car (then Rothbury to Berwick the next day).

Rode the route with Reggie himself last year, really enjoyed it. Also did this route with another club member this summer
https://www.strava.com/activities/343994418
Alright we didn’t go to Scotland and back but we did some chuffin big hills along the way 😯
One thing I noticed on both rides is that we all seemed to go through a very “quiet phase” around the 150-160 mile mark. Nobody really spoke for 10-15 miles but all of us came out of it and on this years ride especially really pushed on for the last 20miles.
Advice ? Nibble on something every 1/2 an hour, have 1-2 cafe stops ( but don’t spend to long in them, I find myself seizing up if I do) and invest in some good ass cream 😀

[quoteAlways wanted to do 1 day C2C nut the logistics put me off.[/quote]

Just ride back the next day?]

Done the Whitehaven to Tynemouth twice. Logistics are fairly easy if you accept a night in Whitehaven. Train over night before, find a cheap B and B (I paid about £30). Then ride back to Newcastle. Train out ride back is fairly easy for long rides – first one is the hardest but once you’ve bagged one you realise it works.

I’d stay away from frame bags etc. I managed my 300miler on the road with nothing more than a slightly larger saddle bag. Realistically the only extras you need over a century are a tiny amount of extra spares, arm, knee warmers and gloves for the chilly start. More food and water can be picked up. Checking the weather can eliminate the need for warmer clothes.

On long rides I tend to ride for about 3-4 hours, then have a 5-10 minute stop every hour after that….I normally look for sheltered bus stops if it’s raining, and nice benches if it isn’t. Use those little breaks to have a look around you, eat something nice and think about all those rich people who aren’t out on their bikes, but cooped up in an office somewhere! Makes the world seem a nicer palce :0)

did it in March this year, did the Yellowbelly Audax 200km but cycled there and back

5:54am start, 12h:54m elapsed, 11h54m moving, was flat though, 1200m climbing in total (Lincolnshire) horrific headwind out on the fens though, but a nice tailwind for about 80km from Skegness ish to Lincoln

I’ve done a 300km using home as base before as well, did 100km, went home for breakfast, another 100km and home for lunch then did the last 100km +30kph average for that one, although it was flat again 1400m

easier in summer, you need less layers and you get more daylight

A friend and I were going to do it as part of a loop from Newcastle. However, the 300miler the weekend before took us too long to recover from. There was no way I was in a fit state to do another one 6 days later. Maybe 2016, I saw your email about the date.