When I started riding again this year I had a simple goal: Do three centuries over the summer and get a feel for where I was at. Not just in terms of fitness but also mentally. I had no idea what was still left in my legs and if long hours in the saddle was something that I was still going to enjoy. As it turns out my legs were considerably better than I expected and my headspace was very positive. Positive headspace is not something that I had had an abundance of for a very long time, so finding something that gave me that spark of joy again was a huge relief. As such, I hit this goal quite easily and now needed to set my sights on something else.

My next set of goals are going to be decidedly Audax based. The Audax season runs October to September, so that will be the time period in which I’m aiming to finish my list. This means considerably more road riding than I have ever done before but that’s just where I’m at right now. Having been a staunch off-roader the desire to ride this much tarmac has been a big surprise to me but since I have been back on the bike the call of the off-road just hasn’t been as strong for me as it has been in the past. Country lanes and the feeling of gliding along the open road has really caught me and while I’m feeling good about it I’m going to embrace it to the fullest. My goals won’t be exclusively road-based however, there are a number of MTB events, off-road ITTs and routes on the list too, the latter of which I’m likely to approach with more of a touring attitude but I guess we’ll wait and see. I’m sure other opportunities will present themselves over the next 12-14 months and so I don’t want to be too prescriptive at this stage.

The List

Bearbones300 (2020)

Trans Cambrian Way (Maybe Double)

2Ton of Gravel – A route by Ian Barrington

Something in Spain

Audax Awards

	Super Randonneur The Super Randonneur award was established by ACP in 1977 and is the ‘gold standard’ award. It consists of the BR(M) series: 200 km, 300 km, 400 km, 600 km, all completed in the same Randonneur year. A longer distance can be substituted for a shorter. Like Randonneur, the title Super Randonneur is a once and for always award.
	Randonneur Round the Year (RRtY) RRtY requires a BR or BRM event in each of 12 successive calendar months. Calendar rides, Perms and DIYs of at least 200km completed at Randonneur pace can be included and you can start in any month, but miss a month and you have to start all over again.
	Randonneur 5,000 The Randonneur 5,000 award was created in 1998 and is obtained by riding BR or BRM events totalling 5,000 km in a Randonneur year. You may count the same rides towards your Super Randonneur.

Additionally, I may end up being able to also do the Super Randonneur 2500 (adding a 1000km ride to the Super Randonneur) if I do the LEJOG, and if I do enough hilly events, the AAA award (20 AAA points over any time period), but I’m not specifically going for these awards at this stage.