SEASON 2018
Updated: Philippines, 06 October 2018
- All participants should have read through the information in the Audax Randonneurs Philippines website to know the details of our rides and to fully understand the nature of an audax ride.
- Bikes must be perfectly roadworthy. Riders should wear a proper bike helmet during the ride. These are the responsibility of the cyclist.
- Rear lights are compulsory for all rides, while front lights are compulsory for rides with distances 300km and up.
- Reflective jacket and reflectors are recommended.
- Participants must have a valid third party insurance cover. This is the responsibility of the cyclist.
- Participants must be in proper physical condition, not to endanger themselves or the group. A periodical medical check is advised every 6 months, and a medical certificate is required for participation to PBP in 2019.
- Aaudax rides follow a specific route and riders must not cut, deviate from this route (unless an alternative route is given by the organizers), or their brevet will not be delivered and ride will be invalidated.
- The participant should have his/her brevet card with him/her always. He/she will pick this up during the onsite registration and have it stamped at each control point. The stamp is a proof of passage.
- The brevet card should be dropped at the finish control point. Cyclist will sign the brevet card as approval of time stamp. Missing stamp will lead to invalidation of the brevet.
- The time stamp is the finish time to be recognized. Riders should make sure their brevet card is stamped the moment they arrive at a control point.
- We ride in an organized group, never more than two abreast. If a participant wants to overtake, do so properly, quickly and with good judgment.
- We respect the other road users and show good manners.
- Audax Randonneur Philippine rides are allure Libre. This means that all riders are free to complete the Brevets within the stipulated time at their preferred speed unless otherwise specified.
- Respect the environment. Dispose of empty water bottles, wrappers, etc accordingly. There will be trash bins available in the control points.
- Read through the Support and Gear Vehicle Guidelines
RIDE TIPS
Unlike racing, long-distance cycling has to be approached with a different mindset and survival strategy. More often than not, it's more of a mental game than a physical one. An audax ride is a self-sufficient ride and a lot of planning has to be done prior to the ride itself. Please see tips that have been tried and tested in the past rides. If you have some more to add, please don't hesitate to share them with us!
They key to finishing an ultracycling event is to stay as comfortable as you can throughout the ride.
This is a self-sufficient ride. However, Audax PH has support vehicles at the control points. You can arrange to have your special needs bag at the control points during early registration. Your special needs bag can contain comfort food, your salt sticks / electrolytes, a spare cycling kit, energy drinks and supplements, extra lights, chocolate bars, etc. Knowing that you have a special needs bag at the control point can motivate one to keep on going.
In connection with Tip #1, attacking the hills will usually get you out of your aerobic pace. It's ok to go slow. I've seen some of the best audax riders pace themselves very well and finish the ride strong compared to those who race up the hills and look like broken men / women at the finish.
Especially for audax distances more than 200km. Energy bars and gels are ok for the 200km ride but experience has shown that if one is doing more than that, less processed food is best and gets absorbed by the body faster. My favorites are pasta with olive oil and tuna, cereal bars, cereals with milk and lots of fresh fruits. What's yours?
It can be quite overwhelming to visualize the entire audax distance. It mentally helps a lot if one will focus on the distance up to the next control point. This has proven very effective when we did the 1200km in France in 2011.
Even if you don't feel hungry, keep on eating during the ride and at the control points. The best audax riders I've met are experts in eating while on their saddle and would eat the moment they arrive at a control point (after having their brevet cards stamped, of course!).
There's nothing like having a good foundation for this ultimate endurance cycling event. One doesn't have to do the entire audax ride they are preparing for but one has to be consistent in training. In 2011, doing 300-350km on a weekend and riding at least 150km mid-week helped a lot. Know your riding conditions. If there will be hills, train for hills. If there will be cold, train for the cold. If the ride is during the hot season, train for the hot. If it will be a wet ride, ride through the rain. Paris-Brest-Paris has 10,000 meters of vertical climbing, so hills training is a must!
Your time stamp will be your official "chip time". A lot of people have argued that they have arrived earlier than their stamped time simply because they have dilly-dallied when they reached a control point. There are no transponders during an audax... just good old-fashioned stamping!
Prior to the ride, make sure you are well-rested. At the control points, take your time to recover. After the ride, eat and sleep to your body's satisfaction. Do not compromise this as this is vital for energy conservation and cell regeneration.
If you feel sick during the ride, do not continue. There will be other audax rides that you can do in the future. This is the time to think about what went wrong and promise yourself to do better in the next ride.
There will be a lot of times that you will question yourself during the ride. It helps that you have this one big reason for finishing it. Audax rides are simple... no funfare, no podiums, no celebrations... Basically, it's a no-frills type of ride. The true audax spirit lies in the fact that one takes comfort for just finishing the distance... for pushing one's self and knowing one's limits. A lot of happy finishers would always say that they never really thought of finishing an audax ride but they just wanted to know if they can really do it.
SUPPORT & GEAR VEHICLE (SUPPORT & GEAR VEHICLE GUIDELINES)
- Be mindful of cyclists that may be in your blindspots.
- No sudden braking, and be careful when overtaking.
- Absolutely no forward progress assistance to cyclists.
- No drafting behind vehicle, don't let cyclists hang to motorized vehicle, etc.
- It's ok if one gives up and rides his/her SAG. Just don't declare yourself as a finisher. We have more respect for cyclists who quit and fight another day than those who cheat themselves into finishing.
- Do leap frogging instead of direct follow, especially at the beginning and on narrow and busy roads.
