Brian Chapman Memorial Audax (600k) - 2020

Has anyone here done it? It’s on my to-do list, hopefully next year.

Anyone else fancy a 600km ride across Wales and back? (south>north>south) start & finish in Chepstow.

Map trace from a guy I follow:

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Didn’t @ed_m do this a few weeks ago?

This was on my bucket list but after doing a 600 last year, I’m not so sure.

Chepstow is pretty local to me, so this event makes most sense. Plus Wales has some great cycling roads.

Pretty sure the BCW is postal entry only and you might have to be an AUK member too. Worth checking

Defo have to be AUK member.

I have just done a lot of this - doing it in one hit would be hard work.
Pity the return trip shares the same roads so much. That could easily be avoided

I guess they look different on the way back though, when you’re utterly shattered :upside_down_face:

Not guilty :slight_smile:

Absent an audax thread, I’ll piggy back this one. Having never done one before, are there any restrictions, or things to be aware of? Such as, can you use a TT bike?

Thinking of this as a long day out on the TT pre-Ironman, with the added bonus of some aid stations so I’m not 100% self-reliant like most long rides, and can replenish bottles etc
http://www.aukweb.net/events/detail/17-888/

What audax has feed stations?
generally, they are self sufficient, you have to stop at the checkpoints and you should not ride them over 30kmh.

The checkpoints may be at village halls and cafes, where you are expected to go in, get your card stamped and sit down to have a cake, brew and a chat.
Some might be free, some might be paid for.

You would get frowned upon on your TT bike, I can’t find anything specifically banning them, though.

I love waddling into a Shell or BP on a longer TT ride to “unload” and stock up on some bottle dying Lucozade, Coke and a Snickers.

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All the reviews I read of it, and what clubmates have said when setting up the event, was that it had bacon sarnies at the brevet card stops, and the like.

Fair enough on the TT bike being frowned upon. Hence asking. May well think of something else then, or just stick to my own rides.

Like @Poet says, nothing banning a tt bike but I think you’d get a few raised eyebrows. That said, I’ve seen all sorts of contraptions on the audax rides I’ve done. That’s a pretty popular event and you’ll have some fast boys and girls from the Kingston Wheelers and other clubs, so you might be better off getting your fast road bike out and getting in a fast group up the front.

No feed stations, just cafes as checkpoints or sometimes a village hall. You can’t call yourself a proper audax rider until you’ve had a terrible sandwich bought from a garage while sitting on a a bag of charcoal on the forecourt. :wink:

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That’s the problem - I don’t have one of those, and I found out the cost of that during the Etape! It’s why I ride my TT bike nearly all the time once the weather is good enough.

An Audax is supposed to be a pleasant day out on a bike. Why TF would you want to do one on a TT bike?!

Echo comments above.

Fair enough! 200k is hardly hardcore audax like the 600k this thread was about. It was just a thought as to a way to shoe horn in a longer day solo, whilst having others broadly on the road. Clearly I’ve missed the point of what they are about!

Yeah, you would find it easier to integrate into a Sportive tbh, and I think you’d feel more comfortable doing so on a TT bike. Audaxers in the main, are pretty dyed-in-the-wool (not a merino blend! :wink:)

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Sportive’s generally do ban TT bikes however. Not a big deal. I was doing 160+ km rides solo without issue before. It was just a thought in terms of riding some different roads that are likely “ok to ride” if they’re the basis of that route. That said, nothing stopping me just riding the route myself on a different day.

The subject event is sold-out anyway, and it was on my Son’s birthday weekend, so no bueno :smirk:

Long solo training rides on the TT bike suck, so I can understand why @stenard was looking for an antidote.

Have we sufficiently covered the absurdity of audaxing on a TT bike ?.. good.

Another consideration is depending on the organiser they may or may not like to enforce a mudguards rule, especially on winter events. Which could be fun on a TT bike.

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