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Entered, then bailed on an Audax route today as I really didn't fancy riding out to North Wales in heavy rain & strong winds.
Think it cost me £8 to enter & I'm not bothered that ive 'lost' the money - just wondering where it goes/what its used for?
Always assumed it went to the organising club, but does some go to AUK?
There is a small fee to AUK for the brevet cards, about 50p, plus a validation fee for riders who finish.
Other costs depends on the event. Probably paying to hire a village hall at the start/finish, and maybe tea or cake etc. And some rides have extra controls providing food part way around.
Plus costs for printing route sheets.
yup there are fixed costs that dont go away just because you didnt show up.
If you're not a member of AUK some of it will be insurance, though I think CTC members get a waiver on that.
reckon you're a bit worried - it's true it funds free cake and hot chocolate for a press gang to turn up at your house at 4am with a route card and smiles next weekend - you need to move
I prefer audax because I don't care where my £5-6 goes if I don't ride.
Far more worried where my £30 would go if I didn't make a sportif.
If there is any money left over, then it will probably go to club funds, or to charity, or just buying a beer for the helpers.
tbf i wondered where my 75 quid went when i TURNED UP for the etape caledonia.....
Haha, I know for a fact there's a bunch of hardened OAP's out there right now putting me to shame! Audax' are ridiculously good value for the money & I'd happily pay a tad more for the privilege of riding one.
I've only done one Audax and it was amazing value for money. Great day out for about a fiver if I recall.
I've done a fair few sportives and they do have more cake on the route, marshals and people at checkpoints, but then you'd hope so for £30 and upwards.
Thing is, I like the fact there aren't marshals en-route, and that you have to navigate your own way round rather than following arrows etc.
Ones ive done have had loads of cake etc as well.
Most Audaxes I've been on have had decent home cooked food both on route and at the finish. As well as as much coffee you drink. Best value events out there by a country mile.
Mind you, factor in a couple of controls at cafes, and the savings on entering an audax rather than a sportive start to diminish. 😀
But any event where a 47 year old can enter the start hut/hall and be greeted as "youngster" is fine with me.
Mind you, factor in a couple of controls at cafes, and the savings on entering an audax rather than a sportive start to diminish.
I'm not a big fan of being encouraged to spend money at every control. With 4 cafe stops it does indeed start to get expensive! And half the time you don't even want anything. You're buying because you feel obliged, or need the receipt.
Audaxes are very dependent upon the organisers though. They can be very different, depending on who's running them.
Done a few cant see the point in them, pay for a ride I can do any day of the week for free? I'm CTC anyway so I'm covered. Of course I wont have a stamped card to confirm I completed the course. Oh hang on Ive got my GPS ...
Some of these comments really highlight the lack of knowledge for what Audax is, its history, its culture and in many ways, the loss of history and culture of cycling in general as it becomes ever more popular which is a shame but I suppose is inevitable.
A certain member of this forum regularly makes reference to new road riders with a decent enough disposable income to be able to buy a nice bike, kit and pay to ride every other Sunday, £50 to be herded around a designated route with the safety regs. and people on the route to "ensure your safety and satisfaction as you complete the challenge" (see, I'm doing it now) as 'buyers'. I get the point although I find the term quite derogatory and I try not to be as sniffy about it and them.
Back to Audax though. It is, what the particular organiser of your particular Audax says it is. If they put in 4 cafe stops that require receipts, or if they require the number of bottles of milk on the doorstep of the church with the twisted spire, so be it. Them's the rules and its up to you if you want to participate or not.
[i]"Done a few cant see the point in them, pay for a ride I can do any day of the week for free? I'm CTC anyway so I'm covered. Of course I wont have a stamped card to confirm I completed the course. Oh hang on Ive got my GPS ..." [/i] Perfectly highlights my point. Audax and all that goes with it isn't for you. You don'r see the point and quite rightly for you, you probably won't do any more. That's absolutely fine. It doesn't make Audax wrong though. It is what it is. Same as the Sportive events. They are what they are and if they're for you, great. If not, still great, don't do them.
I can't see anybody ever making a profit out of organising an Audax and this in itself highlights the beauty of the events. Done for the love of them by people who love to organise and ride them and out of any of the myriad cycling disciplines I've participated in, they are by far the most inclusive with track and [b]anything[/b] with Rapha attached to it at the complete other end of that scale. I'd put mountain biking firmly in the middle of this scale.