LETTERS READY FOR ANYTHING Sir, I’m hoping the summer edition of Arrivée will be chock full of glorious spring time ride reports and pictures after the easing of regulations. The Audax UK events pages are slowly filling up and I’m excitedly scanning my Google calendar for free weekends and deciding that, yes, a 100-mile trip to a car park in Bristol for a 6am start is completely reasonable – where do I sign? I’m all for some furtive Zwifing, but it’s a means to an end and my pasty complexion reminds me that I need some long days outdoors – badly. Yes, I appreciate there are bigger problems in the world right now but let’s keep smiling. It’s been a long, dark, inactive winter – not helped by putting my back out just as some spring sunshine began peeping through the murk. But with four weeks of holiday in the bank to use I’m hoping to string together an SR series and kickstart my RRTY (neither of which I’ve ever done) perhaps with a view to LEL and PBP in following years. Anything is possible with my current levels of enthusiasm. Is it true? Is it all over now? Can I just ride my bloody bike again? I won’t even complain about the potholes. I’m ready for any type of pain and exhaustion that comes my way. Paul Firth ROCK AROUND THE CLOCK? Sir, I was pleased to read all the positive comments for the inclusion of e-bikes into Audax (Arrivée 151). The more the merrier, as the saying goes. There are obvious advantages to riding an e-bike, and some good suggestions as to solutions. Alas I don’t think we can mix e-bikes with unpowered (or underpowered in my case) bikes – not so much the pacing but more so the drafting into headwinds. So could I suggest that e-bike riders ride the same event on the same day, just clockwise while the rest ride anticlockwise? There are a few out and back routes where this obviously wouldn’t work. If the argument arises “but we want to ride together” – then I’m afraid I don’t think it’s workable. Deborah Lewis
WHO LET THE DOGS OUT? Sir, I enjoyed D.E.Twitchett’s article on dogs and cyclists (Arrivée 151), and I can confirm that the problem is not uncommon. On a Portuguese pre-season camp, a 25 mile mountain ride was organised, and one of my fellow riders was chased by a small terrier. He tried to whack the dog on the nose with his pump, but the dog, obviously having previous experience, grabbed the pump and rushed off into the undergrowth. Nearer to home, riding the wonderful Knotty 600, I’d struggled up The Kirkstone Pass in the early hours of the morning, and was contemplating the descent into Ambleside. A suicidal dog rushed out of nowhere and threw itself under my front wheel – the resulting tumble yielding a smashed watch and badly bruised ribs. My worst experience was again in the early hours of the morning, on Shawn Shaw’s Porkers 400. I’d just passed through the village of Hemyock into the darkness, when I was aware of several dogs behind me. The usual remedy of trying to out-run them was unsuccessful, with one running across the front of me, bringing me down. As soon as I hit the ground, I knew my ride was over – a broken pelvis resulting in 14 days in traction in Taunton hospital followed by 10 weeks on crutches. Worse was having to ring my wife to tell her I’d be late getting back – two weeks late! Also upsetting was the “sympathy” card from Shawn for not completing the ride – the only one I received arising from all the Wessex series events I rode. I’m sure there must be a good reason dogs are so disturbed by bike wheels – any dog behavioural experts, or canine psychologists out there who can enlighten me? Alan Linge
an increasing number of e-bikes. On calendar rides I’m regularly the slowest and last to finish. The 15 kph/9 mph minimum speed and the associated time limits are significant to me, although I can usually get round in time. E-bikes currently (no pun intended) operate at up to 25 kph or 16 mph. That’s far faster than I’m accustomed to riding an Audax event. In the years I’ve been a member I’ve never got close to that speed for an Audax event. I would challenge the comment made in the original article (Arrivée 150) that “an Audax rider needs to average 21-26 kph on a long ride”. Since when? While the maximum speed set by law may remain, it is inevitable that technological advances in battery power, just like with electric cars, will extend the range of e-bikes beyond that which applies today, so e-assisted 200km rides will become entirely possible. I have absolutely no problem at all about e-bikes being allowed on permanents, provided the electrically assisted ride is recorded, and does not count towards awards – RRTY, Brevet 1000 or whatever. The problem is once you let the e-bike
genie out of the bottle, they will start to appear on calendar events, ridden by anyone, not just the elderly or “health-challenged riders”. I’ve ridden the Marple August events – Peak District 100 km rides with climbing points – for many years. All of them start with a steep climb. Do I want to see some overweight 45 year old blast past me on an e-bike at the start of those events after opening up the throttle to max? No. My experience with riding with e-bikers off-road is that they have not bought them “just to keep up”, they have bought them to demonstrate their capabilities, especially going up hills… where they can wait at the top. While we live in a free country and everyone is entitled to their opinion, AUK is a Member of LRM. AUK was originally set up to allow folk to qualify for PBP, an event sanctioned by LRM. I assume “the vehicle must be powered solely by the rider” is an LRM requirement which AUK cannot change unilaterally. It would be helpful if that point could be clarified so we all know precisely where we stand. Reid Anderson
LETTING THE E-BIKE GENIE OUT OF THE BOTTLE Sir, I read the contributions on the issue of e-bikes and Audax events (Arrivée 151) with interest. I’m 72 years old and have been an AUK member for over 20 years. I live in Yorkshire, where Tour de France legend Brian Robinson rides an e-bike. If it’s good enough for BR, it’s good enough for anyone. In addition to road riding, I ride (or used to) off-road with a group that includes www.audax.uk
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