| Audax Australia Cycling Club Inc. | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | Audax Australia |
| Motto | The long-distance cycling club |
| Formation | 1981 |
| Type | Sporting club |
| Region served | Australia |
| Membership | 1121[1] |
| President | Kerri-Ann Smith |
| Affiliations | Audax Club Parisien, Union des Audax Français, Les Randonneurs Mondiaux, Cycling Australia |
| Website | audax.org.au |
Audax Australia Cycling Club[2] runs cycling events under the auspices of Audax Club Parisien (ACP) and Union des Audax Français (UAF). Rides are normally from 50 km to 1200 km in distance and operate throughout Australasia. The club also has a list of long distance rides that can be ridden at any time called raids.
The name Audax Australia is a misnomer as the organisation runs events that are predominantly in the style of randonneur (long-distance over an unmarked course), although it also runs audax-style where a ride captain dictates the speed of the ride.
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Calendar events are held on a specific date and appearing in the Audax Australia calendar. Permanent events can be ridden by Audax Australia members at any time.
Calendar and permanent events take several forms:
The Fleche Opperman is an event for teams of three to five bicycles and is held over 24 hours. The course and distance are chosen by each team and must be at least 360 km long and finish in either Rochester (Victoria) or the capital cities in other states (where run). The event is named after former patron of the club Sir Hubert Opperman, and its format based on the French equivalent Flèche Velocio.
First run in October 1985, the finish coincided with the Bicycle Expo, held at the world Trade Center Melbourne. Although the Fleche Opperman All Day Trial is a non-competitive event, teams successfully completing the furthest distance are officially recognised. In its inaugural year the Port Fairy Cycling Club, including Graham Woodrup, achieved this honour completing a total distance of 570 km.
The Audax Alpine Classic is run each Australia Day weekend in Bright, Victoria and is run over distances of 70 km, 130 km, 140 km and the 200 km. The first AAC was run on Australia day 1986 [3] over a 200 km circuit with just six riders. Since 2007, in excess of 2000 riders now ride each year.
The "Salute to Irene Plowman" recognises the efforts of Irene Plowman who held the Sydney-Melbourne record and rode regularly from Albury to Melbourne to collect supplies for her dress shop.[4] The ride is run in early February as a 200 km night ride from Port Melbourne to Portsea and back.
The GSR runs every four years in Victoria for distances between 300 km and 1200 km. with the next edition been held in October 2012
The PAP runs every four years in Western Australia. The 4th edition will be held in late September 2010. It has a new 'Loop' route which heads down the west coast to Margaret River, across the south coast to Albany and then comes back up through the southern wheatbelt.
The Giro Tasmania is a 1000 km circumnavigation of the island based on a traditional cycle touring route, and is held every second year during the summer.
Riders can obtain awards for completing rides[5]. Awards include
The club's magazine Checkpoint is produced quarterly and is circulated to current financial members.
The first Checkpoint was from summer of 1983 written by T F Gross. Cost of membership was $5.00 p.a. according to the magazine.
Audax Australia was formed in 1981. The first officially homologated Australian ride took place at Easter of that year, following near-simultaneous letters to the ACP by Alan Walker and Russell Moore. Riders started simultaneous 600 km rides from Melbourne and Sydney finishing in Albury.[6][7]
The club offers a calendar of events in all states and the Australian Capital Territory, and in New Zealand.
Fixed-pace rides following the model of the UAF were introduced to Audax Australia in 2008, and are often referred to as "BUAF" to distinguish them from randonneur style rides. BUAF brevets are ridden as a peloton with a leader, generally averaging 22.5 km/h between checkpoints. The organiser has a published ride schedule, noting the expected time the peloton will reach each turn and rest stop and the time the peloton will leave each rest stop.[8]
Dirt, or MTB rides, were initiated in the 1997/98 season with the first ride being the 70 km Tracks of My Tiers on Sunday 2 November 1997 in southern Tasmania, followed by the 35 km, 70 km and 100 km 'Down and Dirty' rides on Sunday 8 February starting at Trentham, Victoria.[9] These rides then traversed around the Wombat State Forest and Lerderderg Gorge.
Dirt rides are normally run over three distances of 35 km, 70 km and 100 km. A Dirt series award is riding all three in a season.