DiY (Do it Yourself) Randonneur Around the Year (RRtY)
April 19, 2025•539 words
It's been a quite a while since my last post about audax rides. I'm still at it. I'm actually six months in to my second RRtY. RRtY is an audax award you get for riding at least one ride that's of 200k or more for 12 consecutive months.
All bar one of the rides so far have been DiY rides. DiY rides are rides you plan yourself and ride independently but according to Audax UK rules. That means I can start and finish DiY rides from home. I like the convenience plus struggle to justify driving someone to go for a ride. The exception to the DiY rides was a helpers ride I did for a local 300k calendar event. A helpers ride is one you do before the calendar event to check the route and flag up any issues encountered along the way. This enables the organiser to make any route adjustments needed and/or warn riders of things to look out for during the event. I was able to do that ride from home as well.
The audax year starts in November. I started with a 600k. I wanted to get the SR (Super Randonneur) award (a series: 200 km, 300 km, 400 km, 600 km, all completed in the same Randonneur year). Previous years I left the 600 till last. The different approach led to me completing the SR series last month with a 400. Very happy about that. Incidentally it also took my imperial Eddington number to 100 which was a welcome bonus. I've posted before about the Eddington Number here.
That's a lot more explaining than I anticipated. Anyhow the point of this post was about the ride I did yesterday. A 200k DiY for this years RRtY. It went very well. A great route heading east from home in Chatham through the hilly and scenic North Downs to Deal. From Deal heading west to Canterbury, Tankerton, Faversham and home. The route takes me past my two sisters and parents homes. A warm welcome, cups of tea and toast are a big help along the way. The conditions yesterday were just right. The hills and hedgerows of the North Downs protected me from the easterly wind, which then gave me a push back west. Riding time was just over 9 hours. Fastest 200 I've done for a good while. Took a few pictures...
