Well done Jools, this sounds like an immense day out! I'm always impressed when I turn up to events and see a random person with a Brompton- more power to them!
This description:
"one of the things I really enjoyed about the day was not having to be part of a massive peloton. It was nice to encounter fellow Top Cuvée riders along the route (the trademark TC orange casquettes and musettes made them easy to spot) and cycle with them for a while, but when they respectfully signalled they needed to go faster and ride ahead, I wasn’t offended. It was a relief not to feel pressure to keep up, and I could ride my own LDN-BTN with Ian at a pace that made us happy."
... made me think of audax riding, because they're exactly like this - you go at your own pace and often wind up chatting to people for a bit until your speeds start to differ and then you just part ways.
Thank you, Mildred! Immense is certainly the word for it - it’s been a good while since I felt that stretched (in a good way) on a bike, and doing a ride that I dodged for SO LONG on a Brompton wasn’t on my cycling bingo card 😅 I really, really thought that I was going to se another Brompton rider on the day, but it was just me and Ian and some priceless reactions!
Audaxing is another thing in cycling that I’ve yet to do! Ian has talked about wanting to do it, and I wonder how good* I would be on that kind of ride. I love the thought of being able to go at your own pace, chat and not feel pressure to keep up. The essence of an audax is friendship/friendliness, right? (Tell me if I’ve got that wrong!) That feeling of “gotta go fast like the others!” is something that I can now admit to really disliking in cycling, which is why the vibe of that Top Cuvée ride was perfect for me 😊
I had a feeling you hadn't tried audaxing yet which is why I mentioned it, because I think you'd really like it! It is laid back, it is super friendly, it's the kind of thing where you see lots of different types of people on different types of bike - you'll see Bromptons and recumbent bikes alongside old steel touring bikes, and while there is an element of timekeeping (there are windows where the control points are open), it doesn't promote head-down super fast slogging, it promotes chatting and enjoyment. And what's even better, it has an element of treasure hunting about it that I think is so fun. It's not all signing in at a checkpoint, sometimes you need to find a piece of information about a town on the community notice board to answer a question and prove you've been there, there's so much variety, and it's honestly one of the nicest and most welcoming areas of cycling that i myself need to get back into!
Well, this sounds like something I would be willing to try out at some point!
You know (and I know you totally understand this) that I had such a disconnect from cycling and “The Industry”, so something like Audaxing which sounds more like fun and less like the whole ‘pain and suffering’ schtick could be on the cards ❤️ x
Oh I know, I hear you. Audaxing definitely sits firmly on the outside of the "industry", although I do see industry folks trying to infiltrate and not getting very far 😅
Well done Jools, this sounds like an immense day out! I'm always impressed when I turn up to events and see a random person with a Brompton- more power to them!
This description:
"one of the things I really enjoyed about the day was not having to be part of a massive peloton. It was nice to encounter fellow Top Cuvée riders along the route (the trademark TC orange casquettes and musettes made them easy to spot) and cycle with them for a while, but when they respectfully signalled they needed to go faster and ride ahead, I wasn’t offended. It was a relief not to feel pressure to keep up, and I could ride my own LDN-BTN with Ian at a pace that made us happy."
... made me think of audax riding, because they're exactly like this - you go at your own pace and often wind up chatting to people for a bit until your speeds start to differ and then you just part ways.
Have you done much audaxing?
Thank you, Mildred! Immense is certainly the word for it - it’s been a good while since I felt that stretched (in a good way) on a bike, and doing a ride that I dodged for SO LONG on a Brompton wasn’t on my cycling bingo card 😅 I really, really thought that I was going to se another Brompton rider on the day, but it was just me and Ian and some priceless reactions!
Audaxing is another thing in cycling that I’ve yet to do! Ian has talked about wanting to do it, and I wonder how good* I would be on that kind of ride. I love the thought of being able to go at your own pace, chat and not feel pressure to keep up. The essence of an audax is friendship/friendliness, right? (Tell me if I’ve got that wrong!) That feeling of “gotta go fast like the others!” is something that I can now admit to really disliking in cycling, which is why the vibe of that Top Cuvée ride was perfect for me 😊
* how much screaming I would end up doing 😅
I had a feeling you hadn't tried audaxing yet which is why I mentioned it, because I think you'd really like it! It is laid back, it is super friendly, it's the kind of thing where you see lots of different types of people on different types of bike - you'll see Bromptons and recumbent bikes alongside old steel touring bikes, and while there is an element of timekeeping (there are windows where the control points are open), it doesn't promote head-down super fast slogging, it promotes chatting and enjoyment. And what's even better, it has an element of treasure hunting about it that I think is so fun. It's not all signing in at a checkpoint, sometimes you need to find a piece of information about a town on the community notice board to answer a question and prove you've been there, there's so much variety, and it's honestly one of the nicest and most welcoming areas of cycling that i myself need to get back into!
Well, this sounds like something I would be willing to try out at some point!
You know (and I know you totally understand this) that I had such a disconnect from cycling and “The Industry”, so something like Audaxing which sounds more like fun and less like the whole ‘pain and suffering’ schtick could be on the cards ❤️ x
Oh I know, I hear you. Audaxing definitely sits firmly on the outside of the "industry", although I do see industry folks trying to infiltrate and not getting very far 😅