Audax Rides

Rode the Crumbling Rocks 200 Permanent on Saturday with one other, starting and finishing in Ballyporeen.

A fabulous route, but not one for the faint of heart or anyone that doesn't like getting their bike and kit filthy dirty, an 'interesting' mix of surfaces from sh!te encrusted farm tracks to small gravel sections and an abundance of 'grass growing up the middle', to some half decent tarmac....I loved it!

Based around the route creators fascination/obsession with abandoned and ruined churches/graveyards (and dead people 😀), we counted 20+ churches and even less cars, it was such a quiet route.

Total ride time was eight and a half hours on the nail, and minimal short 10 minute stops in Fethard and Newcastle.

A damp, drizzly and blustery start turned into a pretty good day in the end. Lucky enough to get away without puncturing for the day, rode it on 28's.

As we rolled into Ardfinnan, an hour from Ballyporeen we had views of the Comeraghs/Galtees and Knockmealdowns in the setting sun, truly magic 😃

EDIT, I just checked the gravel route shares only 70km or so with Saturday's route, so 135km new km.

Including some lovely tarmac

and one of the better ways to cross the wretched N24

Yes, The Miners Cross is an instant classic,on a par with any audax I have done.

Very enjoyable route with fantastic views & quite challenging with well over 3000m of climbing as my body can currently attest to.

Yup, that was me.

Paddy Reilly 200 was on yesterday out of Ballyjamesduff.

An undulating route through lake country on a mix of really quite boreens and regional roads.

I had very little cycling done over the past few months and in spite of the heat I really enjoyed it. Didn't stop much and dialled back pace on big climb of day before heat dialled it back for me!

We had to call into a house for water as route is pretty remote between 123 and 188; which organiser had well flagged beforehand.

Got to meet a few regular audax heads for first time ( I haven't ridden an event since 18) which was great.

I was pretty glad to get off the bike in Ballyjamesduff after the lumpy road from Cavan at end.

I'd definitely like to go back and do in better shape and a little cooler.

Thanks to organiser and his assistant for a great day on the bike

Manicured Cavan road grass

The organisers dilemma right there; I was hope for more boreens and thought the surfaces were really good.

You can't make a route to keep everyone happy, I'd gladly resign to get some of the regional road of route but I'm definitely an outlier.

We met a few dogs, but none that really meant business, and nothing that I wouldn't meet on a regular spin.

I had to reroute one of my own permanent routes because of a particular dog; now he was a nasty (unt. Route wouldn't be for yourself it makes the Paddy Reilly look like Mondello 🙂

Big Fella 200 organisers ride was on today out of Ballincollig. Its an undulating trip to West Cork passing through important landmarks in the life of Michael Collins and his final patrol and death.

https://www.audaxireland.org/events-calendar/gazetteer/200km-events/big-fella-200/

Really nice route even if you have no interest in the history but a very rewarding one if you do. Maybe 40km or so on regional roads, and most of that at start when quite, the rest on pretty good quality local roads through west Cork.

Even though no mountains are climbed, with highest point less than 200m it's not an easy route but not that difficult either.

Plotting a nice route on back roads takes a lot of time on a desktop first and then on bike. Given the theme of this ride the research required to get it as good as it is must have been quite a time consuming project.

The event is on Saturday week and I'd highly recommend it especially given its the centenary of Collins death.

Added bonus in getting a concise description on antilag systems in rally cars and understanding the difficulty with changing the differential ratios in an Opel Manta as the rear axle had to come out..

Best of luck the Blackwater is a nice route, pretty undulating with tough sections in places.

Surf and Turf 300 has a lot of changes for the better between Waterford and Cahir, although it's still a draft route.

Enjoy

It was used as day 1 of the mile failte in 2014, with Youghal to Midelton return on top.

It was an event before that but small numbers I would guess.

Might attract a few this year with PBP qualification.

Some lovely little roads on it

Completed the three rivers 300 Audax on Saturday as part of my SR series to (hopefully) qualify for Paris-Brest-Paris this August.

My total respect for all those hardy souls who completed it, some coming in just before the cut off time of 2am (Sunday morning)

What a brutal day, block headwinds on the costal parts to Clonakilty and then píssing rain from Cousane gap at 1pm until I finished at twenty past nine that evening. The wind even changed direction in the afternoon to add to our collective misery.

Glad of the extra clothing I brought with me, I’ve learned my lessons from previous Audax events, be prepared!

That bottle of beer I had when I got home never tasted sweeter 😃 Love Audax

What's your opinion on the current trend of posting What's App pics to show proof of passage?

Handy for the organisers I suppose but it can be de-moralising for us slow and steady types. On today's Midlands 300. I was in Moate, Co Westmeath with about 100kms to go when some fecker posted himself at the finish line.

As an organiser, its been a godsend. I can track riders over the course and get a lot of my validation work done beforehand. Plus I don't have to deal with handfuls of receipts - a 40 rider event with 5 controls is a lot of wasted paper. Not to mention that some riders think it's acceptable to proffer a congealed mass of receipts that have been marinating in a jersey pocket for 200 hot kilometers - they wouldn't even put them in a bag. WhatsApp also means that I don't have to be hanging around the finish or arranging a "Ronnie bag" or SAEs to get the receipts and brevet cards back to me.

I do offer riders the alternative of paper based proof of passage but nobody has taken up the offer over several events.

As a rider, it's useful where you don't want to stop and buy anything ( or get an ATM receipt) at a control point. It's also been handy on events where riders further up the road have been able to notify the rest of us about road closures due to a crash etc.

Audax UK run an e-brevet app which allows riders clock in at the control points using their phones. The information is visible only to the organiser and the rides are automatically validated at the finish control.

Hi folks

I'm new to this. I've completed two 200k permanents earlier in the summer, but now id like to try a 300k if possible.

I need to buy some front and rear lights, also some reflective gear and a bag of some sort to store stuff.

Was wondering is their a good cycling store that people could recommend which would have this gear?

Or maybe someone could recommend some lights, bags that are online.

Thanks

Thanks very much mh_cork for that really great information. Will go online today and purchase some of the above. Thanks again.

Yep, i have ravemen too and find it excellent. It comes with a "headlight/dims" toggle which is handy