Take part in a few Audax rides and before too long you'll hear someone mention "PBP" or even "The French Ride". PBP - or Paris-Brest-Paris, to give its full name - is the world's largest and most prestigious long-distance cycling event.

Every four years, in August, more than 6,000 cyclists from around the globe converge in the south-western outskirts of Paris with the aim of riding from there to Brest, on France's north-western tip, and back, covering 1,200km in fewer than 90 hours - and considerably fewer for the very fastest. Few who take part will ever forget the experience.

Audax UK was originally formed in 1976 to make it easier for cyclists from the UK to enter PBP by holding qualifying events in the UK. 1979 saw 49 British finishers, in 2015, more than 400 members successfully completed the ride and then in 2019 nearly 450. 

One AUK member, Richard Leon, has so far completed the event 9 times.