Audax Almanac – Spring 24

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The audax season is now well underway, and you can tell because we are enjoying glorious spring weather. Club members have been active, both first-timers and those with a bit more experience. So here’s a very brief round up of some (mostly) Type 2 fun.

Douglas chose a particularly hostile day for his first Audax, the “Ride of the Valkyries.” It was a 115km ride with a headwind that turned 180 degrees at half-way and was joined by a monsoon. His highlight was contemplating life choices while rehydrating.

Juli and Michael also enjoyed the day, and to make it even more fun, they both did ‘extended’ versions to clock up 200km of riding on the day. For Juli, this is part of her year-long challenge to do a 200km ride every month of the year. We’ll maybe try to get more of an update from her on why and how shortly. But it has meant doing an extended Roseneath 200km in March (which Michael also did) and an extended Tour of East Lothian in February.

Michael’s ‘big’ event so far this year has been the ‘Easter Arrow’. This is a24 hour team Audax (teams between three and five riders) challenged to ride (360-720k) from anywhere to York's Wetherspoons to arrive there on Easter Saturday. Starting from Edinburgh, in a team of four, Michael enjoyed 400km with 24h of headwind and quite a lot of rain through the night. Obviously, cycling in the dark enhances the fun, and the team made it to Weatherspoons (just) in time. Entirely how they got home isn’t clear!

My own contribution was the Borders 200km back in March. This was a bit different because the North Easterly gale meant that the first 70km (Selkirk to the top of Beeftub) was Type 1, with an al fresco pie in Moffat. It was also the first time I (& Michael) had used a new App to track routes – much easier than the classic brevet card and collecting receipts.

The pleasant weather meant chats with interesting fellow audaxers as we spun along. The remaining ride was more type 2, climbing into the gale (& rain) from Stow to Lauder and avoiding potholes in the dark specific highlights.

Most recently, Juli, Michael & Ken did the Forth & Solway 300km last weekend. This was a fairly cold (Strava says below zero) 15-hour ride from Edinburgh down to the Solway coast & back.

Hopefully, the weather will now start to look a bit more like spring. If you are at all interested in a bit of a challenge, with no frills and on the cheap, with quality catering, then check out the calendar (https://www.audax.uk/choose-a-ride/calendar-events/) for everything from 100km and up; or email me at webba1.aw *at* gmail.com, and I’ll get you on our Audax WhatsApp group for more advice than you can shake a stick at.