Finish for 2024 will be Costa Cafe, Monread Shopping Centre, Naas.
Eircode W91 R2EF. There are more than one Costa in Naas, please be sure to go the correct one !
Easter in 2024 is on the 2nd earliest weekend of the range of Easter dates, so teams should be prepared for the possibility of bad weather, and plan accordingly.
Date: Easter Weekend, Friday 29th March 2024 (Good Friday)
Organiser: Niall Diamond (Audax Ireland)
Phone: 087 9857894
Contact Address: 17 Sandyford Road, Dundrum, Dublin D16 H2A2
E-Mail: nialldiamond1@gmail.com
Start Time/Date: 10:00am Good Friday, 29th March
Entry Fee: €5 per person.
FINISH – Costa, Tesco Extra, Monread Shopping Centre, Naas
Eircode W91 R2EF
Entry on Eventmaster: https://eventmaster.ie/event/zBm4sPYSQJ
All entries must be made on Eventmaster only. Each rider must enter seperately. A Team Name will be requested on Eventmaster to assist with Event Admin. Cycling Ireland Licence is required. One-day Licence is available for €20 if required, this will be charged automatically on Eventmaster if you do not provide a valid current Cycling Ireland Licence Number. Any level of CI Licence is acceptable, including Leisure.
Closing Date: Friday 22nd March 2024
The Easter Flèche is unique in Audax terms in that it is ridden as a team event, and each team devises its own route. It is a 24-hour ride with the standard minimum Audax pace limit of 15kph, giving a minimum distance of 360km in the 24 hours. It is modelled on the Flèche Vélocio, and is administered by Audax Club Parisien. Traditionally they take place over the Easter weekend, except in far northern countries where there is likely to still be snow on the ground at that time of year. Traditionally also, the routes of the Flèche in a given country or region meet at a common finishing point, the Flèches (Arrows) aiming at a single target. 2010 saw the inaugural running of the Flèche in Ireland, with Dublin as the finishing point. Other Finish points have been in Cork, Galway, Mullingar, Derry and DunLaoghaire.
The rules of the Flèche:
1. Teams consist of 3 to 5 bikes (i.e. a tandem counts as one member of a team).
2. If more than one team wishes to start from the same location, AND ride the same route, their start times must be staggered by a minimum of one hour.
3. The minimum distance is 360km, measured as the shortest distance by road (excluding motorways) between the specified control points. The route should ideally be point-to-point. A loop is acceptable but an out-and-back route is not. No segment of road may be used more than once travelling in the same direction.
4. Each team member should carry their own brevet card. Time and distance should be noted on the card at each control point, and proof of passage obtained (e.g. shop or ATM receipt with date, location and time, stamp from a garda station etc). Photos or Video Clips of at least 3 team members at a landmark/signpost will be acceptable for late night/early morning Controls. At the end of the 22nd and 24th hours of the ride, proof of passage must be obtained and the location and time noted on the card. At least 25km must be travelled between hours 22 and 24. During the ride the team may not stop at any location for more than two hours.
5. Teams may not receive assistance from anyone else except in the event of medical emergency, and team members may only draft behind members of their own team.
6. In the event of road closure or similar unforeseen circumstance detours are permissible but proof of passage must be obtained at the furthest point of the detour.
7. A minimum of three members of the team must finish the ride together and declare the same distance for the Flèche to be validated. The Flèche will not be validated if the actual distance ridden exceeds the distance specified in the proposed route by more than 15%, or is more than 20% shorter than planned, or if the distance ridden is less than the minimum of 360kms. Team members who do not manage to complete at least 80% of their planned ride and exceed 360km will be deemed as non-finishers.
It seems complex but essentially involves devising a route that’s comfortably more than 360km, including control points at appropriate locations, and submitting it to Niall for approval (he may suggest revisions, additional control points etc) along with a proposed start time. On the ride, note time, distance and location at each control point, and at 22 and 24 hours, and obtain proof of passage at these points. At least 3 riders must finish the Flèche together. Note that you do not have to complete the entire route submitted, just as much of it as you can manage in 24 hours (within the bounds of rule 7 above).
All teams are expected to make a bona fide attempt to get to the official Finish.
See also
- 100km Events (Approximately)
- 12 Hour Time Trial
- 200km Events
- Abandoned Churches 200
- Adrian Nealon 200 (& 100)
- An East Clare Meander 200
- Angel of Mons 200
- Ardattin 200
- Ardattin 200 Night Ride
- Audare 200
- Big Fella 200
- Birr 200
- Blackwater 200 (Permanent)
- Bravest of the Brave 200
- Cancelled – Old School 200
- Coastal Classique 200 Permanent
- Crumbling Rocks 200 Permanent
- Dark Hedges 200
- Dying Light 200
- East Wicklow 200 (Permanent only)
- Excelsior 200 Permanent
- Faceless Monk 200
- Fermanagh 200
- Gheimhridh 200 (Winter 200)
- Gimme Shelter 200
- Jack Hackett 200
- Killeshin 200
- Kingsmountain 200
- Larne Round the Lough 200
- Long Heron/4 Aquaducts 200
- Mayo 200
- Mayo XTRM 200
- Mick Byrne 200
- Midleton 200
- Miners Cross 200
- Naomh Barrog Deirdre Wright Memorial 200
- North Leinster Riviera 200 Permanent
- Northside Lowlander 200
- Orwell 200
- Paddy Reilly 200
- Pink Elephant 200
- Rambo 200
- Sligo 200
- Temporary Fever Hospital 200
- Titanic Torr 200
- Tubbercurry Offroad 200
- Vanishing Battalion 200
- West Wicklow 200 Permanent
- Wolftrap 200
- Yola 200
- 24 hour Time Trial
- 300km Events
- Antrim 300
- Banner 5-County 300
- Carlingford 300
- Criu a Chairde 300
- Dying Sow (permanent)
- Innisfree 300
- Joe Dolan 300
- Killeshin 300
- Midlands 300
- Monaghan Presbytery 300
- Pale Rider 300
- Priests Leap & Devils Elbow 300
- Surf & Turf 300
- The Quiet Man 300
- Three Provinces 300
- Three Rivers 300
- Tyrone Ranger 300
- Western MTB 312
- 400km Events
- 600km+ Events
- Easter Fleche