

Weekly Audax No. 3: Pre-ride Briefing
Sunday 30 July 2017 Départ 8:30 from Shift Coffee Arrivée 13:24 Denton Town Square 102 km Visiting Aubrey, Pilot Point, and Celina (Collin County Out and back route with 7 time checks, including the start 1. Shift Coffee (1), Denton 8:30 Pre-ride rendez-vous at 8:00 Bring enough food and water for 2.5-3 hours between stops If you are running late, let someone know, so we can wait. 2. Aubrey (2), Main ST 9:17 19.5 km in 00:47 Faster, 25 kph average Expect tail and cros


What is audax? Part 6
The roles on an audax: The road captain - maps the course; determines the checkpoints and itinerary; acting leader before and during the ride, helping with positioning, contingencies and emergencies; offers on the road coaching, instruction, encouragement Pacers - anyone focusing on the tempo, giving others who aren't currently thinking of the pace something steady to keep up with; usually equipped with speedometers; especially important in the beginning when the rhythm is no


Weekly Audax
Team of 7
20kph 8:30-13:25
Aubrey, Pilot Point, Sanger, Denton


What is audax? Part 5
Touristique, sportive, régulière, audacieuse, traditionnelle. These are all French words that describe audax. Some may seem contradictory, but that's exactly the challenge of audax. We have to accept that our effort as audax cyclists does not go into being first across the finish line; our effort goes into manipulating the coincidence of several people with full kits and several points on a route, at very specific times. Touristique We are out to see and visit. We want to get


What is audax? Part 4
Audax is a pace and an exercise in regularity and endurance. It is a kind of group ride where the goal is cohesion. Audax is a precise effort against the clock with time checks along the way. Audax is also a kind of tourism by bike. It's even a kind of traveling since you venture to different towns and counties. So, now that you're sold, let's talk technique and equipment. How do you ride an audax ? While the tempo should be steady, the course could definitely get technical.


What is audax? Part 3
We have come to the elephant in the room, the question everyone new to audax has to ask: isn't 22.5kph only like 13mph?! Basically, isn't that really slow? While 22.5 means feasibility to beginners and those looking to return to cycling or up their distances for the first time, it might scream boredom and a lot of waiting around for experienced endurance cyclists. Here's why 22.5kph is more of a challenge than some may think: We're talking total average speed. That starts fro


What is audax? Part 2
Don't be confused by the anglophone use of the word audax. What they mean is randonnée or sometimes brevet, but they aren't talking about a rolling peloton of consensus. We mean audax in the French sense of the term. Today, audax is mostly only practiced in France, where cyclotourisme pairs well with a national interest in regional geography. That and of course bicycles. Some of the clubs still running audax paced rides have been around for a century or more. Still, like most


What is audax? Part 1
This blog is part of a series explaining a rarely practiced cycling discipline: audax. We all know road cycling and mountain biking. We know cyclocross, bike touring, and bike commuting. Well now we have a weekly Audax ride that leaves from Shift Coffee on Sundays at 8:30AM. Come join us! First and foremost, audax is an exercise of regularity, solidarity, and endurance. The motto "leave together, return together" is as much of a part of the sport as the distance. Think of a n


Test Ride
Sometimes you want to see how your bike, or kit, or new piece of equipment will work on an ultra long ride, maybe a several days tour. The key word being see. When you only want to see, you don't necessarily want to have to suffer for long with the consequences. An test is meant to gather information; it needs to be a reasonable enough duration that you can test brand new and genuinely "experimental" equipment.
The other day two of us went on just such a ride, testing a handl


We're showing the Tour de France at the shop, and this is why you should watch too
Let's not talk as cyclists or non-cyclists. Let's take a moment and just be spectators. And as spectators, there's nothing quite as contagious as the Tour de France. La grande boucle is 3 weeks of stage after stage that add up to a race like nothing else. The whole thing is filmed by cameramen hanging off the back of motorcycles, whizzing through the tiny back roads of France. Either that or by helicopters presenting some of the most incredibly picturesque landscapes in the w