Paris–Brest–Paris (PBP) is a long-distance cycling event. It was originally a 1,200 km (750 mi) bicycle race from Paris to Brest and back to Paris in 1891. The last time it was run as a race was 1951. The most recent edition of PBP was held on 18–22 August 2019.
Bicycle touring is the taking of self-contained cycling trips for pleasure, adventure or autonomy rather than sport, commuting or exercise. Bicycle touring can range from single-day trips to extended travels spanning weeks or months. Tours may be planned by the participant or organized by a tourism business, local club or organization, or a charity as a fund-raising venture.
Challenge riding is a form of cycling where the riders challenge themselves rather than each other. Some challenge rides are charity events or pledge rides. Some are organised as pre- or early-season training events. Others, often referred to as Randonnées, brevets or Audax events occur simply for the sake of the challenge; cyclosportive events allow cyclists to test themselves over challenging race routes used, for example L'Étape du Tour in the Tour de France. Most challenge rides are open to all comers, but a few require qualification to attend.
London to Brighton refers to a variety of races, tours, charity bicycle rides and rallies that take place between London and Brighton in the United Kingdom.
Sir Hubert Ferdinand Opperman, OBE, referred to as Oppy by Australian and French crowds, was an Australian cyclist and politician, whose endurance cycling feats in the 1920s and 1930s earned him international acclaim.
Henri Desgrange was a French bicycle racer and sports journalist. He set twelve world track cycling records, including the hour record of 35.325 kilometres (21.950 mi) on 11 May 1893. He was the first organiser of the Tour de France.
The Dunwich Dynamo is an annual semi-organised, through-the-night bicycle ride from London Fields park in Hackney, London, England to Dunwich on the Suffolk coast. The distance is approximately 112 miles (180 km).
A cyclosportive, or often simply sportive, is a short to long distance, organised, mass-participation cycling event, typically held annually. The Italian term Gran Fondo is commonly used for these events in the United States, Australia and some other English-speaking countries.
A reliability trial is an organised bicycle ride which challenges a cyclist to complete a course, passing through designated control points, within a preset time limit. In the United Kingdom, such events are often held in the wintry opening months of the year and are used by club cyclists as training rides. A common test would be a 100 in 8 – 100 miles would have to be completed within eight hours, including any stops.
Randonneuring is a long-distance cycling sport with its origins in audax cycling. In randonneuring, riders attempt courses of 200 km or more, passing through predetermined "controls" (checkpoints) every few tens of kilometres. Riders aim to complete the course within specified time limits, and receive equal recognition regardless of their finishing order. Riders may travel in groups or alone as they wish, and are expected to be self-sufficient between controls. A randonneuring event is called a randonnée or brevet, and a rider who has completed a 200 km event is called a randonneur. The international governing body for randonneuring is Audax Club Parisien (ACP), which works with other randonneuring organisations worldwide through Les Randonneurs Mondiaux (RM). Randonneuring is popular in France, and has a following in The Netherlands, Belgium, United Kingdom, Italy, Australia, United States, Canada, Brazil, Ireland, India, Indonesia, Korea, Japan and Malaysia.
Audax is a cycling sport in which participants attempt to cycle long distances within a pre-defined time limit. Audax is a non-competitive sport: success in an event is measured by its completion. Audax has its origins in Italian endurance sports of the late nineteenth century, and the rules were formalised in France in the early twentieth century.
The Audax Club Parisien (ACP) is a French Cyclist Touring Club. It is a non-profit voluntary association formed in Paris in 1904. It organizes long-distance rides in France. The most popular event is the Paris-Brest-Paris Randonneur, held every four years. The Audax Club Parisien is also the international reference for randonneuring and works with other randonneuring organizations worldwide through the international association Les Randonneurs Mondiaux (LRM).
Audax Australia Cycling Club 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 Australia. The club also has a list of long distance rides that can be ridden at any time called raids.
The Alpine Classic is an Australian bicycle event run every Australia Day weekend in Bright, Victoria. The event is currently managed by O2 Events, having previously been organised by Audax Australia volunteers. Arguably the most difficult single day cycle event in Australia with the 200 km version covering four steep climbs. All distances start at Howitt Park in Bright and are on open roads.
John Borland Wadley was an English journalist whose magazines and reporting opened Continental cycle racing to fans in Britain. Wadley covered 18 Tours de France from 1956. He worked for the British weekly, The Bicycle and then started and edited the monthlies Coureur and International Cycle Sport. He also wrote a number of books.
Audax UK or AUK is a British cycling club that oversees randonneuring in the United Kingdom. It was formed in 1976 to help British riders complete the qualifying rides for entry to the Paris-Brest-Paris randonee. Audax UK is recognised by Audax Club Parisien as the official brevet-coordinating organization for the United Kingdom, although in practice events in Northern Ireland are organised by Audax Ireland. Audax UK members sometimes informally describe themselves as AUKs.
The Tour Divide is an annual mountain biking ride traversing the length of the Rocky Mountains, from Canada to the Mexican border. Following the 2,745-mile (4,418 km) Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, it is an ultra-distance cycling ride that is an extreme test of endurance, self-reliance and mental toughness. The ride format is strictly self-supported, and it is not a stage race - the clock runs continuously from the start until riders cross the finish line, usually more than two weeks later.
Michael Richard Hall was a British cyclist and race organiser who specialised in self-supported ultra-distance cycling races. In 2012, he won the inaugural World Cycle Race. In 2013 and 2016, he won the Tour Divide ultra-endurance mountain bike race across the Rocky Mountains in Canada and the United States. In 2014, he won the inaugural Trans Am Bike Race, a road-based event from the Pacific coast to the Atlantic coast in the United States. From 2013, he was the principal organiser of the Transcontinental Race, an event similar to the TransAm Bicycle Race, but that traverses Europe. Michael Hall was also featured in the cycling film Inspired to Ride a film directed by Mike Dion.
The Trans Am Bike Race (TABR) is an annual, self-supported, ultra-distance cycling race across the United States. The route is about 4,200 miles (6,800 km) long and uses the TransAmerica Bicycle Trail that was developed by the Adventure Cycling Association for the Bikecentennial event in 1976. The route runs from the Pacific coast in Astoria, Oregon to the Atlantic coast in Yorktown, Virginia, passing through ten states. The inaugural race was in 2014, which 25 people completed, the fastest of whom took less than 18 days.
The definition of ultra-distance cycling is far more vague than in ultra running or in ultra-triathlon. Any bike race or ride longer than a century ride, which is 100 miles (160 km), is sometimes considered to be ultra-distance cycling. However, such events are relatively common, so using a longer distance to define the category is more useful, such as any race or ride that is longer than 200 kilometres (120 mi), 300 kilometres (190 mi) or even a double century, 200 miles (320 km).
