Audax DIY Rides
Disclaimer: this is an “How I do it” guide, not a “How to”. Others, more experienced, may have different views.
Audax organises events throughout the year; these are known as calendar events and are listed on the Audax website - audax.uk - and in the quarterly Audax magazine, Arrive.
Members can organise their own rides, solo or with friends; these are called DIY events. Personally, I go on calendar event rides that I can access by train or by riding to the start. As there are not enough rides of 200 km that are easily accessible from where I live in West London, I organise my own rides: DIYs.
To start, you have to ensure that you are a member of Audax and that you purchase at least one brevet card; I buy three “virtual brevets” for £10, payable by PayPal to the local organiser. For me, this is Paul Stewart who is the organiser for the London area inside the M25. The Audax site gives guidance on your local organiser.
I then plan a route, either based on one I have found or possibly ridden as a calendar event, or a completely new route. There are many route planning sites and apps available - ridewithgps, komoot, plotaroute. I check my route meticulously to ensure that I have not inadvertently planned a route through a field: this happens occasionally when the route planning software takes a shortcut.
Where I have to ride on or cross a major road, I use Google streetview to check for cyclepaths. Here’s a path where I can ride or wheel my bike when crossing the busy A420 at Bessels Leigh outside Abingdon.
There’s a really important choice to make: advisory or mandatory. Audax guidance states “Only the shortest ride-able distance between controls can be used towards your overall distance.” This may be a main road; if pleasanter minor roads are further, the extra distance does not count. For me, this makes planning a bit “hit and miss”. Consequently, I prefer mandatory routes: plan a route and stick to it.
With the route checked, I create a folder on my PC for each ride and download the route as a .fit file for my Garmin Edge. Being a bit “old school” I transfer it by cable but wirelessly is possible. DIY organisers require the route as a zip file, so one more step to make the conversion.
Although you will not have to provide till or cash machine receipts, you do have to list controls; I list the start and end plus at least one every 50 km or so. There’s no need to be precise.
The last step is to submit the ride to the organiser. Paul has a Google form on which to select the distance - 50, 100, 150, 200, 300, 400, 600 or 1,000 km - the controls and the route (FIT, GBD, GPX or TCX).
You can submit the ride up to the minute before you start; you may well complete it before the organiser acknowledges the entry. When you have received an acknowledgement, you submit a zipped file showing the actual ride.
Road blocked near Taplow, necessitating a diversion
Getting past this lorry and the barriers near Taplow proved impossible. I took a photo and rerouted, adding a few km to the ride. Organisers are not “out to fail you”; Paul accepted the evidence and validated my ride: my thanks as always to Paul for his sterling work.
If you’ve ridden the ride as planned or provided evidence of any diversions required, the organiser will validate your ride and, a few days later, it will appear under Results on the Audax website.
I’ve got to emphasise that this is my approach. Audax Gareth on Youtube advises that you do an advisory route - always. Here’s the link straight to the relevant section on his video. Your choice!
