Ride an audax

If 100 miles is small fry, why not try a long-distance audax?

Audax events are non-competitive rides over a pre-defined course – the sportives of yesteryear, but at a fraction of the price, with fewer riders, typically no feed stations and only a map to follow (though GPS computers have removed much of the difficulty of self navigation). Audax riders are required to visit control points on the route to have a brevet card stamped.

While there are many 100km events, 200km, 300km, 400km and 600km are the ‘classic’ audax distances according to Audax UK, the long-distance cycling association in the UK.

Upcoming events are listed on the AudaxUK website. If you already have 100 miles under your belt then have a crack at 200km – and before you know it you could be riding the Bryan Chapman Memorial, the UK’s blue riband 600km auduax, or better still, the holy grail of long-distance cycling, the 1,200km Paris-Brest-Paris.