Tag: audax
-
Cycling my allegiance
An unusual once-in-a-lifetime overnight ride to Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace at a historic and profound moment in the new kingdom It was a fine dry evening in early autumn when I set off at 10pm. The ring-road seemed pretty normal for a Saturday. Some dickhead in a high-end white Mercedes has spun off the…
-
The Magic that is Audax Time
“I’m late, I’m late! For a very important date! No time to say ‘hello, goodbye,’ I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!” Time in normal day-to-day life can feel reliable and predictable. Even without looking at our watches (or maybe smartphones these days) we have a good sense of what the real time is. In the…
-
The Night Cyclist
While the rest of the world turns in to bed, the night-time pedaller is only just setting out with plans to cycle through the whole night. What drives this unusual behaviour? In the depths of the night, those hours long after most have turned in to bed and as many more before they again arise,…
-
LE to NE
As BBC weather introduced a new extreme heat symbol to their weather maps, one randonneur set off to ride 900km from Land’s End to Tyneside A clear blue sky hung over the peninsular as I coasted the few short miles down to Land’s End. Kevin was waiting looking sharp and keen. His weightless titanium bike…
-
Non-essential Travel
A Faithful Account of the Condors Virtual Easter Arrow 2020 At the height of the COVID-19 lockdown in the UK, Bob Donaldson let his imagination run away with him and imagined the audax Easter Arrow that was planned to be over the long, hot Easter weekend. The team was made up of three members of…
-
Mile Failte 2018 – Part II
Recollections from a 1,200km cycle ride around the south-west of Ireland, June 2018 The Mile Failte is a 1200km audax radiating around the south west corner of Ireland from its base in Killarney. Continued from Part I It wasn’t long before I was back up the hill and sipping fine coffee and sumptuous cakes at…
-
The Celtic Knot – Part II
Recollections from a 1,000km cycle ride around various parts of Ireland, July 2016 Continued from Part I Saturday 30th June The alarm went off at 05:00. I felt rather rough but physically fine. After showering I headed to the canteen where the rest of the “team” were already way through their breakfasts. It transpired that…
-
Mile Failte 2018 – Part I
Recollections from a 1,200km cycle ride around the south-west of Ireland, June 2018 The Mile Failte is a 1200km audax radiating around the south west corner of Ireland from its base in Killarney. I suppose it all began two years earlier when I cycled over to Ireland and back to do the Celtic Knot. That…
-
The Celtic Knot – Part I
Recollections from a 1,000km cycle ride around various parts of Ireland, July 2016 Thursday 28th July 2016 It was clear that Clara, once a thriving industrial town, had seen better times. Boarded-up shops and pubs greeted me as I hobbled around town (my feet blistered and in agony from walking too much around Dublin). Large…
-
The Road to Rambouillet
The official start of my Paris-Brest-Paris began about 400km north of Rambouillet on the outskirts of Oxford. Here, on a fine summer’s morning, Quentin and I set off shortly after the appointed 8am start. My Flying Gate was pretty loaded up with a rando bag at the front, a rear-rack bag behind and a couple…
Ode to Cycling 