randonneuring – Calum On Wheels

Fixed wheel audaxing might be just the thing for you

When I first started audaxing in 2018, and I got my first brevet card at the registration line, I saw that there were four special categories of riders: Fixed Wheel, Tandem, Recumbent and Tricycle. More on the other three for some other time, but for a lot of people, and certainly, to begin with, me, it will seem like an act of pure masochism to ride big distances fixed. Two years later, I just finished my first fixed wheel 200 audax. What made me change my mind? Well, this is my go at trying to set out why I think fixed riding might be the next big thing for you.

3 reasons why you hate tubeless and how to fix it

Introduction I’ve been getting to grips with tubeless riding for approximately a year now. I have come to like it but the learning process hasn’t been without frustrations and pains in setting up and operating a tubeless system for randonneuring/audaxing and gravel riding. After about a year of coming across problems with the approach, andContinue reading “3 reasons why you hate tubeless and how to fix it”

2020 Dreams

This is a quick one – when I’ve written stuff up previously, it’s been off the back of either a specific event or a topic. This one’s a bit more general – it’s about how I’m hoping my 2020 on bikes will shape up. In short I want to sharpen up how I push myself.Continue reading “2020 Dreams”

The daft story of my hardest ride

I was equal parts teeth-chatteringly cold and blinking in and out of sleep. It was 0500. Water was rationed, and food was dwindling. I’m in real trouble now… But there’s nothing else to do save grind on and count what’s going right. Courage!
This post is about my (so far) hardest ride, my first 400 km brevet in Belgium and France. I hope it will give you a laugh but also function as a cautionary tale lest you approach a low-countries audax as somehow an ‘easy option!’

Audax and WarmShowers.org: A dream combo

This article was drafted in September 2018, just after the adventure. To find out more about the Evesham Wheelers audaxes, see https://eveshamwheelers.org.uk/events/audax/ I found out about Neil Robinson’s new ‘Tramping the Two Loop’ event while researching for my plan to crack Randonneur 1000. A new event, but from the mind of a very experienced routesmithContinue reading “Audax and WarmShowers.org: A dream combo”