Audax - What is it?

[Merry_Wanderer]

Could anyone explain what an Audax is please?

[meic]

In simple incorrect terms a long ride which is not a race but has time limits. Self-sufficiency is a key-word and must be solely human powered.
Originally how far can you ride in a day?

More Detail

[eileithyia]

Lots of questions answered there. Rides over set distances, can be ridden as a group or solo, calendar or choose own date to fit circumstances. Time limits prevent you racing it / turning it into a race, but you also have maximum time limit. Usually plenty of tea / cake / café stops. Used as 'controls' or points where you collect evidence that you have ridden the course. Places to meet lots of new like-minded people, explore countryside in new places and discover new routes as put together by local cyclists who probably know some of the best routes...

[NUKe]

One description I saw was
Sportive A ride where cyclists pretend to race
Audax A ride where cyclist pretend not to race.

Seriously though they are great fun as a one off and the entry fee is usually a lot less than a sportive. They can become quite addictive with different awards to aim for
http://www.aukweb.net/

[jags]

i ve never done an audax ride but yeah i have done a few of the dreaded sportive rides which i hate with a passion.
anyway hopefully next year i'll get into audax, someone told me if i can average 10mph i was well capable of tackling any audax he meant that in a nice way.
to the op check out youtube for some classic audax well worth a look.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsv_H03tlRs.

[meic]

Many of the Audaxes that I do only require you to have an overall average of 12.5kph (7.5mph).

They do contain a few hills though and we need plenty of time in cafes for consuming baked beans on toast.

Perversely at first the min speeds go up as the distance increases then they start to go down again a bit.

[jonbott]

whats wrong with sportives then?
only done audax recently

[eileithyia]

whats wrong with sportives then?
only done audax recently

Overpriced and ridden by wannabee racers on 'race bikes'

[meic]

whats wrong with sportives then?
only done audax recently

Compulsory helmets was as far as I got.

Though I find the post-Sportive litter levels offensive too.

[jonbott]

ahhh ok,think I`ll stick to my occasional Audaxs I have seen the entry is expensive,but you do get your pics on the net

[philg]

whats wrong with sportives then?
only done audax recently

Audax is sportives for grown-ups, who can read a route sheet and don't need arrows to follow; who can read a watch and don't need a timing chip; who are budget conscious enough to think that £5 entry for (nearly) unlimited tea & cake is better value than £25 for a banana and gel bar and don't believe 160km is the limit of human endurance

YMMV

[Audax67]

There are two schools of Audax, Randonneur and UAF. The world authorities for both are in Paris, since they are the invention of a chap called Paul de Vivie, who said, roughly, that anyone who could ride 200 kilometres between sunrise and sunset could call himself Audax. He didn't specify the time of year. In Lapland you could take 6 months. Anyway, he was the inspiration behind the original movement.

Audax Randonneur are the ones most of the world knows simply as Audax. When run according to the rules they not only have set start and closing times, but each intermediate control (checkpoint) has opening and closing times as well: miss one and you're out. Few clubs can man checkpoints all the way along a long Audax, so the intermediate times are a matter of honour. It lends credibility, though, if the entire card is not marked up in the rider's handwriting.

Audax UAF (Union des Audax Français) are a different kettle of fish. Everyone starts in a pack with road captains and possibly support vehicles. Speed is regulated by the captains, halts are planned every 50 km or so, meals (and overnight accommodation if need be) are ordered in advance. Everyone starts together and everyone finishes together.

If it's done properly the UAF formula can be a great school for learning to ride long distances. Good road captains keep an eye on the pack and gauge the speed accordingly, but if you get a set of merciless gung-ho cowboys as road captains it's an excellent recipe for failure and disgust with the whole idea. On Randonneur rides, though, you can feel horribly alone sometimes.

Come to Alsace next year and try one of our UAF rides: http://cyclotourisme67ffct.free.fr/auda ... index.html. Our road captains are great.

[Audax67]

whats wrong with sportives then?
only done audax recently

Audax is sportives for grown-ups, who can read a route sheet and don't need arrows to follow; who can read a watch and don't need a timing chip; who are budget conscious enough to think that £5 entry for (nearly) unlimited tea & cake is better value than £25 for a banana and gel bar and don't believe 160km is the limit of human endurance

YMMV

Well, they *are* limited by the battery life of a Garmin Edge...

[philg]

Well, they *are* limited by the battery life of a Garmin Edge...

We hardcore have Oregons with replaceable batts!

[ChrisButch]

When it comes down to the actual cycling, and discounting the peripherals, there's really no difference between Audax and Sportives. That's to say you can ride both in exactly the same way if you so choose, with equal enjoyment. Which you prefer comes down in the end to how much those peripherals and the overall culture of the event matter to you - and by peripherals I mean the presence or absence of route signage, feed stations, numbers and timing chips, mechanical support etc. Contrary to the widespread assumption, I also find that speeds in sportives aren't generally higher. True, the fastest riders in a sportive may ride faster than the fastest in an audax over a similar route: but the average speed in a sportve is often slower - as a result, I think, of the much higher proportion of inexperienced riders.