PeterM

I am also keen on the Spez Diverge; might get one at the end of March. Keen to use it as a run-about bike and for Audax rides after putting road tyres on it (28c Conti 4Seasons).

Initially I thought having the max available support is the way to go. But after the BRM400 I realised that this just creates a tempting “soft option out”. Plus the event support is anyway fairly good and extensive.

At the moment I am a 3/4 LCHF guy. I am still climbing the learning-curve. During the above rides I aimed to learn what works well for me on long rides. Baby potatoes with droewors (3:1) worked very well on the last ride with a few dates towards the end of the ride. Lots of Re-hydrate (hard lesson learned). And some sweet stuff for emergencies. A surprise tip from a cycling mate worked very well - 250ml of custard (tons of kj, easy to consume and easy on the stomach).

I am also new to this long distance cycling. Have done the 300/400/200 km ride and on 21 Feb will do another BRM300. I found out that the best way to learn is to listen to others (a little bit) and than you just do those rides on your old bike. After those rides you will know what works and what you want/need to change. Thinks I found out/learned re Audax riding: - Tandem racing tires (28c) work well on a solo bike. Gives better grip and much better comfort with good speed. - Comfort is important once you go past 10 hours in the saddle. Not a sissy thing, but prevention of damage to your body, etc. - Keep weight low as you will add plenty of other long distance stuff anyway, so start with a low weight. - keep it simple. - there will be pain; good news - it will not stay in one place but move around in your body. - start slow and never race/chase - Go out, ride your bike, enjoy and experience it!

3h00 am from Vrede wine farm

I can't remember if it was a triple?!? Maybe a compact? Reasonable speed with comfort is the aim. Reliability & toughness is important too. One of the quick-win tricks is to replace the 23c tires with 28c (if it fits). That will give you better grip, more suspension (as they are slightly bigger), and you can run them at lower pressure for much better comfort. With my 28c tires I use 7bar at the back and 6,5 at the front. Definitely more comfortable while keeping speed-ability. The guy with mtb - well it was hard work for him, but he is a young and fit guy! Slicks would have helped. I am also looking at other bikes and what would suit me on those long Audax rides. Having my eye on the Spez Diverge. It is halfway between a cyclocross and a road bike. A all-day gravel road bike. For Audax'ing I would put 28c 4Season Conti tires on it! Those are basically racing tandem tires - so for solo they are tough and fairly fast. One wants an endurance road bike (NB not a touring bike!) But a mtb could work well too. if you use slicks, etc One must keep in mind that this Audax series are also qualifiers for PBP'15 (Paris Brest Paris, 1230km + 11000 ascent, in less than 90 hours, 16 August 2015) and my thoughts are - if I can qualify, what do I need so that I would be able to complete something like that (mentally, physically, endurance fitness, survivability, bike-wise, budget, family buy-in, madness)

Slowbee - no hybrid; it is a std carbon Spez road racing bike. He prefers the flat mtb handlebar, so he is using that. It is amazing how it changes the look of the bike.

It starts 1 min into Saturday the 8th (midnight, the night of Fri-to-Sat). It is a starting time that accommodates a handful of compromises.... We all take turns at sucking wheels. Most likely there will be two small groups; one going slow 'n easy (incl me), and the other one, a bit faster at med-tempo. I expect most starters to arrive at Vrede wine farm between Fri 23h49,04 and Sat 00h00,79. Unload the bike and pack their stuff; sign-in and pay the R130.- cash (!) - [or via other method], stuff the control card and route sheet into their zip-lock bag, grunt something to fellow cyclist, have another half gallon of coffee from their own flask, start the ride, and after the first coffee stop most will slowly warm-up and become more of a Mensch again...

Eish, and I thought the BRM 300 was tough! I am at that stage where I don't want to (over)think the BRM400; just get to the start and climb onto my bike and point it north. The one thing I am looking forward too, is that 220km of the 400 are roads which I never cycled on! I really like to explore!

Feedback of the Cape BRM 300, 11Oct'14 My first Audax ride! I had to miss the BRM200 due to illness. After a delayed 4h00am start, it was actually quite nice to ride into the night. Early on we had a few technicals' - including a cut tyre and my cycling glasses snapped into two pieces. Luckily walkerr brought a spare tyre for Nico. I had to ride the rest of day without glasses. What is it like to do an ultra endurance Audax event - well, it is quite sociable with a few stops to get nourishments (coffee, then cool drinks & water, and later on chips & one light beer) One has the strong feeling of exploring the countryside as well as the ultimate limits of ones body and mind and soul and karma and...! One rides at a casual pace. That, actually, is crucial as one is on the bike all day and part of the night. So a slow pace is not a luxury but quite essential if one wants to finish! It ain't no bazooka clubride! My body said "no more" at 180km and after some honest discussions and evaluations, it became clear that my body did not lack food nor water, but electrolytes!!! The problem with electrolytes is that they take a long time to be effective. After more than one hour of cycling slowly and sipping rehydrate, I slowly started to bounce back! At 230km I got my second-wind and felt strong till the end! Great! Glad I finished and that I did it!! (305km, 3020m climbing) Many thanks to Vrede wine farm!! Thanks to Emmerentia who did the security vehicle and photos towards the end! "Audax" (meaning): kind of a colloquial nickname for: Audacious cycling - which is just an old word for: flipping crazy monster ride! Next one, if mad enough: Cape BRM 400 (08Nov'14, Saturday 00h01 start, Winelands, Veldrift, Saldahna, Darling) and Cape BRM 600 (06Dec'14, Cape Aghulus and back) Pic of the last hard climb into the setting sun

Time flies! The first Cape Audax ride is just a few weeks away. End of 2014 200km - 28 Sept 2014 (pre-qualifier for 2015 PBP) 300km - 11 Oct 2014 (pre-qualifier for 2015 PBP) 400km - 8 Nov 2014 (qualifier for 2015 PBP) 600km - 6 Dec 2014 (qualifier for 2015 PBP) Start of 2015 200km - 17 Jan 2015 (qualifier for 2015 PBP) 300km - 21 Feb 2015 (qualifier for 2015 PBP) 400km - 21 Mar 2015 (qualifier for 2015 PBP) 600km - 25 Apr 2015 (qualifier for 2015 PBP)

F-R-A-I-L, it seems one has to do a SR series of 200/300/400/600km BRM sanctioned rides, such as those mentioned above. 14 months to go, so "now" might be the time to start training . . . (= me, not you FRAIL) And one can pre-qualify etc as there is a limit on the amount of entrants . Audax/randonneur'íng is very much based on being self-reliant and the PBP event is hosted by a few thousand volunteers and run by a few clubs! So, while us SA'ers have to fly there at great expense, the entrance fee is only +-120 Euros if you get in. While the Epic . . .

Apart from PBP training etc, one actually should learn French too. So that one can order good food, chat to the locals, and cycle up to a beautiful French mademoiselle and be able to say more than the only stupid thing one remembers from school French class, such as: "Je ne suis pas un cheval!"

This is good news for all Cape based cyclists thinking about doing some real distance riding Paris-Brest-Paris 2015 (PBP'15) - this must be cycling madness. Most properly the most historical (since 1891) cycle race/ride around. A stunning 1230km pedal through the French countryside, rolling hills accumulating into +-11 000km of climbing, and your body will burn about 35 000kcal of energy. Riders have a max of 90 hours (3,75days) to complete it, which should be plenty of time if you don't rest or sleep too much. And, NO I have never done such a ride or anything similar. One has to be crazy to even consider the challenge of doing a 600km Audax ride and than doubling it up to do a PBP. Madness! MAD, Mad, mad, mad, mad, mad, maybe!

Breezer - see those other two pics. After that it became too busy to take any more. If you want any of them in high Res - contact me.