It is AUDAX 600KM time again.
Registration starts early Saturday morning at 1:00am and we roll at 2am sharp. We have 54 riders signed up online so we will have a massive group. We need a bit of time to get a good group photo. If you can complete the 2018 Ride Entry Form form before hand that will save a lot of time early on Saturday morning.
Hafiz and the Safety Support Vehicle will be there at United Square Starbucks and you can put your small bag into the van and start pedaling at 2am. The bag should be small enough to carry and when returning riders will need to ride back over the border with their bags on their backs. This is usually easy as most of the food you had packed is gone. Typically bring things like a spare set of kit for Sunday, food you like, chargers, pain tablets, a tire, tubes, Co2, etc. In addition, given the large group of people who have signed up we will also have Deen, Hafiz’s brother-in-law, and his vehicle to support the larger group. Deen will be at JB Shell and only Hafiz will come to United Square Starbucks, the starting point. Note that these are not support vehicles for sitting in and sleeping but really there for safety purposes. Officially support vehicles are not allowed on AUDAX rides but given we need to ride at night we make an exception for these two official safety support vehicles. The vehicles will have drinks, snacks, bananas and ideally some beer for the finish.
The time limit for the AUDAX 600 is 40 hours (elapsed time). When you are done 600 KM or more then you can send the elapsed time with the Strava or similar link to jeff@singaporeaudax.com so we can send the results to Paris for homologation. To correct for any delays crossing the border we will allow a 2 hour allowance for the times or may adjust if the immigration lines are longer….hopefully not.
The cost of the ride is S$50 for members and S$75 for non-members. This will include a medallion for those who complete the ride. The fee is non-refundable as we have to pay for the Safety Support vans no matter what. The van will have water, 100 Plus, bananas and cookies. All riders need to register with Kim at United Square Starbucks and the official start time is 2am for all. When you complete the 600km you can use that as your elapsed time and finish the ride wherever you like. If you ride further that is nice but you can either use the time at 600km or the ending distance (above 600km).
Ride at your own pace and buddy up with someone you like and someone who rides at a similar level.
The support vehicles will leave Kluang the Imperial Hotel at 2am and 4am Sunday morning. If you want to leave at a different time that is also a choice however the vehicles will leave at the times above. That will give people some choice if they want more rest or if they want to try to finish earlier. The support vehicles also travel between groups as it is very likely people split up. If you think you know who you will be riding with then try to put all the people’s bags in the same vehicle.
Make sure:
- have your passport, EP, PR or whatever cards you need to cross the border into Malaysia. Tuck them deep into your pockets safely.
- Bring some Malaysian Ringgit to buy things on the way. Most of the people will stop in Kluang where they have restaurants and places to eat. Note it is still Ramadan so it may be slightly more difficult to find food during the day.
- If you live overseas bring a copy of your return flight ticket to avoid delays at border coming back into Singapore
- have good lights…a lot of riding is done in the dark. Bring the chargers so you can recharge along the way….or get ones that take batteries that can be replaced at the petrol stations along the way.
- check your tires…the roads can be a bit rougher than in Singapore so make sure your tires are in good condition
- if you have electronic gears charge them up
- download the .gpx file and put it in your bike computer
- call out holes and help others when they puncture
- if you have an AUDAX jersey wear it….I will be taking some video for an updated AUDAX movie
The details on the ride as presented at the 600km information night can be found here.