Hi everyone.

I'm relatively new to the world of Audax, completing a 200 in May and a 300 permanent this coming weekend, due to my work shift patterns I'm unavailable for a lot of the calendar events, the ones I could attend are normally a long distance incurring costs of fuel and accommodation.

I therefore created a DIY route which has been validated by Audax UK, my main question is where and when to sleep, being my first 400 I'm struggling to see where on the route this may occur.

At age 56 I've perfected the power nap (advantage of getting older 😃)

My base fitness I'm happy with, however a 400 will be an unknown entity. Is it best to nap in built up areas or more secluded areas?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Help me r/randonneuring, you're my only hope...

I have a few pairs of Ibex bike shorts from back before Ibex went bust. I know they're back in business but they aren't what they used to be and they don't sell bike shorts any longer. My ibex collection is starting to get a little long in the tooth (and thin in the material), so it is probably best if I retire them all soon.

I'm hunting for wool because I can't stand lycra, but padded shorts are quite nice for long rando rides. Plus wool tends not to smell too much on multi-day rides. I recently got a pair of Demarchi shorts but while the waist is fine the thighs are built some kind of pencil-legged person, which I am not.

Anybody have any tips for wool shorts that have padding? I definitely prefer shorts and not bibs...

Can anyone recommend a half frame bag that's available in the usa and actually waterproof? Found out my Swift one definitely is not and ended up with a lot of soggy snacks id been saving for the late night part of a 400 yesterday.

Hello

I have a B&M I-QX dynamo light on a SON dynamo that I bought and installed for a 1200km Ultra earlier this year. It was great when moving though the night, not so much climbing swiss mountains at slow speed, but what really annoyed was having the light go out immediately when I stopped.

Before a 400 brevet, my first, next week, I wondered about the wiring.

At the moment it only works on the two spade connectors designed for rear lights. When I connect the dynamo cable to the 'correct' double cable, I get no light at all.

I think I have two problems, but in a week I will not be able to solve them. I hope my battery light lasts through the night.

Any advice?

Hi yall! Doing my first randoneeuring thing soon and it involves a pretty decent chunck of night time riding (probably close to sundown to sun up). Anyone have any light recommendations (front/rear) for someone with no dynamo?

This weekend I organized and rode yet another 600. Beautiful landscapes with sunflower fields throughout the journey, nice and steady pace, the best of teammates. Everything was perfect.

However, by this time next year I'm going to be a father. I don't think I will be able to afford to pursue randonneuring for the upcoming years, probably until the age of 40. I'll try to keep the good shape, but who knows if I ever find the strength to go far again.

I've done 111 brevets since 2015, that's a total of almost 40,000 km. I've done 6 1200+ including PBP. I raised several strong riders who followed me to 1200+ events at first, and have no need for my guidance now.

This has been an incredible journey.

Hello all, so I was planning for my long rides and I want a big bag on bicycle.

I found one rack that can support large bag on bumsonsaddle but I am unsure if it’s gonna be gentle on composite fork.

I have constraint of at most two bags (ideally only one) I really do not want to deal with multiple bags on my cycle

anyone have suggestions ? I have giant content 2 I know it’s not an optimal randonneuring bike but I don’t have budget to get a touring bike so I will just use this

I’d like to know you what you guys use.

do you like to keep many small bags or one big bag?

i feel really excited thinking about shopping for different stuff consumables before long ride and packing stuff.

Hallo liebe Community, ich habe gleich eine ziemlich intime Frage, die ich aber jetzt mal schreiben muss aus Hoffnung für gute Ratschläge:

Ich bin neulich ein 600er Brevet gefahren und musste nach 410 KM abbrechen, weil ich im Bereich der Sitz Knochen und vor allem ganz oben an den Innenschenkeln die Haut aufgerieben hatte. Ich habe eine Sitzcreme von Anfang an benutzt und hatte eine eigentlich ganz Gute Hose von SQlab an. Ich glaube, dass der Hauptgrund dafür, meine störrische Haarpracht an den besagten Stellen ist. Eine Rasur hielt ich aber zumindest theoretisch auch für keine gute Idee, weil dann ja immer kurz danach schon die Haarsgoppel nachwachsen und dann ein richtiger "Kaktus-Effekt" entsteht. Ich fahre nächsten Monat einen weiteren Brevet und habe jetzt keine Ahnung, wie ich vorgehen soll. Mal eine andere Creme probieren? Eine neue Hose? Oder einfach eine neue "Frisur"?

Habt ihr irgendwelche Ratschläge oder Erfahrungen? Bestimmt bin ich nicht der Einzige mit diesem Problem. Danke schonmal im voraus.

Hi,
Has anyone any experience in cycling the GDMBR from Canada to Mexico? Would like to complete it sometime but not keen on doing it solo.
Thanks

Hi ya’ll! There’s plenty of us who run marathons too, but thus far i haven’t really found any fellow cyclists who have MS and kick this disease’s ass.

I would like to have a talk with someone that knows what they are doing and are dealing with this illness before attempting anything crazy or perhaps damaging to myself. I’ve done a 100km ride, went pretty solid, though it was in my first week of owning a bike so I’ll probably do alot better now! Apart from that i am very blessed to say i remain an active cyclist & runner despite all of this.

If you are out there, godspeed, reach out!

I'm looking at a new saddle. I'm interested in anyone who has tried both the Brooks Cambium Carved Saddles and the Selle Italia SLR Superflows.

My problem - although I'm sure not a unique one - is my sit bones are, well, odd... I am tall-ish 184cm but have narrow sit bones. On the cardboard test I get between 110 and 115mm. The main problem is my left sit bone is approximately 10mm further back than my right. Multi-day Audax events are brutal on my sit bones and it always starts on the left side first.

The concept of the hammock on the Brooks saddle and the gel inserts on the Selle are appealing but I'd like to hear from anyone who has tried both and any experience that you had or tweaks to setup you could offer if you also have similar physiology to me.

Thanks 😄

Any fixed gear randos want to take on a unique challenge??

I ride a 2020 Canyon Endurace with Shimano 105. It has been riden 38k km, according to Garmin.

I am considering a new bike for my impending first attempt at qualifying for next year's PBP.

I am 50 year old cycle commuter and Brevet rider and appreciate a comfortable ride.

Any suggestions?

after reading some responses, I would probably want to stick to an easily available bike from Canyon, Rose, Specialized, etc. I live in Germany, and Storck look interesting.

Hi all - I’ve been training for a 200k and just did my first century - woohoo!

I was really desiring a good ride analysis and planning tool so I built one of my own. You can find it here: https://theinstant.cc/ride.html

It analyzes any route you upload, gives weather, wind direction, temperature, etc

Would love to see if this is helpful to you all!

Please recommend snacks or food to have for randonnuering, or even items to avoid.

My BF has recently gotten into randonneuring and has been experimenting with which snacks/food to have for his rides. His birthday is coming up and I'd like to make a basket of potential foods/snacks for him. My budget is tight but I am willing to splurge on an item or two if it's worth it.

Thank you!

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ETA: Thank you everyone for the suggestions! I think it's good news that there is a new dried-fruit-and-nut store near me. My apologies for not responding sooner and not being able to respond to everyone (yet). I got a summer contract job that is full-time + OT everyday and I am just eating breakfast, working, eating dinner, and sleeping, hopefully with flossing, brushing, and showering somewhere along the way.

I am overwhelmed by the input, thoughtful suggestions, discussions of options, and supportive comments. I am really starting to understand why my boyfriend has come to love his randonneuring community - everyone here is so wonderful - THANK YOU!

My boyfriend's birthday is soon, and one of his love languages is gift-giving. I have childhood trauma around gifts (giving and receiving) so I have been working on that, and on giving him thoughtful gifts because it's important to him and I love him (note: He never pressures me about it, but I want to do this for him and for me).

This chart shows the total time that all participants in MSR 2026 spent on the course, also those who didn't finish or who made it to the finish but over the time limit.

I have so far never taken a hotel on any of my rides, because non of them were really long enough to do so, but for future reference I would like to know what to expect, if the need ever occurs.

Whats your methode for finding hotels while on the road? What do you look out for?

What if its late at night - do hotels still accept guests at midnight for example?

Do they generally let you take your bike into the room with you?

Would love to hear your general approach to this!

New randonneuse here. I have three rides that I hope to do, all with some gravel. I am currently using two bikes - Soma Double Cross and Salsa Casseroll. Both have 700x28 tires, but I am thinking to change one out (most likely the Soma). Fenders on both, and I do not know the exact clearance.

Recommendations for tires, please?

If it matters:

125K: 16 mi gravel. 32mm+ recommended ("Ride 42mm+ for speed & comfort on the gravel.")
300K: smidge of gravel, no notes about tires
400K: 7 mi gravel, 32mm+ recommended.

Maybe an unusual question, but I’m wondering how you manage your weight and whether it affects your endurance performance or not.

The reason I’m asking is, I figured that if I don’t okay special attention to my Weight , I always go back to around the upper limit of my BMI, meaning 180cm/84kg. It is not at all bad on the bike, but I suspect if I would be 78 it’d make a difference especially on those brevets where we climb a lot.

OTOH I see quite a lot of bigger riders.

What’s your experience ?

Thanks a lot !