The Jon Banks Memorial

I’ve done it twice and it’s a truly epic outing. 2023 brought us -5 degree temps that barely made it above freezing all day. Put it in your Audax calendar for 2024 you won’t regret it

Never disappoints, this magical event is my favourite audax. Heading off into the winter night when most right minded people are tucking themselves into bed feels audacious. The route flows nicely and the controls are nicely spaced.

I wasn’t prepared for such a cold night but I still thoroughly enjoyed the ride, the company and scenery along the way, no doubt in large part thanks to the great organisation. I will be coming back!

So well organised. So beautiful. So cold!

This was to be my first 300km audax and my longest ride to date. Why not go all in, and ride through the coldest night of the year so far?

All the organisation ahead of the event was very clear – I knew where I needed to be and (more or less) what I was letting myself in for.

The route was excellent. While I would never go anywhere near such major A roads during the day, in the small hours of the morning these meant smooth, fast pothole-free riding down to the coast. There was plenty of time for minor roads and lanes for the route back to Bristol, which we rode largely after sunrise. The only part that I didn’t enjoy was riding alongside the beach at Bournemouth – little patches of sand lay waiting to catch out a sleep-deprived rider. Patches of ice on Dorset country lanes were another matter – hopefully not many audaxes suffer from such a severe frost!

The controls left nothing to be desired – cake, hot drinks and a few kind words of encouragement. Will and his crew clearly know what they are doing, as each control was cheerfully efficient.

Would I do it again? Oh yes. I loved the whole thing. Stunning views, stunning cold but a great experience.

My second overnight 300km of the year was a cold one! But the freezing toes and hands were worth dealing with, we had no wind and clear skies which awarded us with beautiful moonlit vista’s, we had a barn owl flying beside us, and beach fox on the promenade, and the sunrise over looking back over Poole was epic, really enjoyed the whole event put on by Will and his team and hope to take part again!