What Audax Cycling?

Audax is a style of long distance cycling event mostly popular in France, but also in Holland, Belgium and Germany. The term is now also commonly used to describe a different style of long distance cycling event found in many countries including France, Great Britain, Singapore, Australia, Canada and the USA.

The original form of the audax style involves riding in strict group formation at a steady pace set by a road captain. The group attempts to maintain a pace of 22.5 km/h between stops. The route is pre-planned with designated stopping points. For longer audax events the group may ride between 16 and 20 hours in a day before stopping at a designated sleeping location. The goal of the audax is to finish inside the prescribed time limit with all members of the group present. A support vehicle is allowed to follow each group of riders.[citation needed]

In some countries such as Australia and Great Britain, the term Audax is also used for randonnées. These are also long distance bicycle events, but riders are free to cycle at their own pace (French: allure libre), stop or sleep wherever they want and form groups randomly, provided they stay within the time limit.

The national organising bodies for allure libre riding in these counties (Audax Australia and Audax UK) both include the word ‘audax’ in their names. In addition, Audax Club Parisien now holds events such as the Paris–Brest–Paris (PBP) for the allure libre style, not the original audax style.[citation needed]

This has contributed to some confusion over the use of the term ‘audax’.[citation needed]

The allure libre style is also favoured in the USA, where the governing body is the Randonneurs USA.
from From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audax_(cycling)

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