In the last few years sportives have become one of the most if not the most fashionable and popular amateur cycling pastime, certainly if the cycling press is to be believed. I did my first proper sportive last year (Lincsquad’s Paul Kirk Memorial North Lincs CycloSportive) and loved it (well, apart from being ridden off the wheels of all the hard nuts and cycling into a head wind for 8 hours) but if you love long distance, endurance cycling there is a year round alternative, the audax.

Audax comes from the Latin word that is the root of ‘audacious’ and audax rides (especially the very long ones) do require a degree of audacity and determination. An audax is a long distance ride that incorporates some features of a sportive such as a time limit, but importantly it requires participants to be self sufficient. Organisers often lay on tea and buns and often for long rides a meal afterwards, but there are no feedstops, no route markers and no mechanical back up. You have to carry what you may need and be able to navigate via GPS or a good old fashioned OS map. Continue reading →