Yes, you can get a gold racing license through Audax

[bigfriendlyvegan]

Those who know me in Sydney, know that I'm a keen racer (more keen than fast), particularly on the track. I was a member of NSW's biggest club, but found myself moving in different directions to them. After getting a few 200s under my belt, I wanted to do more Audax style riding, but I also wanted to keep racing. Rather than join 2 clubs, I decided to join Audax and then upgrade to a gold license through them.

Here's how it works:

• When you join Audax, you get a Silver level Cycling Australia license which covers riding and training, and some events, from an insurance perspective.
• If you want to upgrade to a Gold racing license, you contact CA, fill in a form, pay an upgrade fee, and you get a gold license which enables you to race.
• The registered jersey issue that many NSW racers are facing at the moment is still foggy. Apparently there is a registered jersey for racing under Audax, but my contact at CNSW didn't have one on record.
• You can always race under a plain black or white jersey, however.

[queequeg]

I can't even find Audax listed on any of the sites. Certainly for NSW you can see all the clubs and basic registered kit designs on the Cycling NSW site, but Audax is done through Cycling Australia not through CNSW, and I couldn't see anything on there either.

I ended up with my Audax Silver Licence, then a separate licence for my club (originally a silver one), then I upgraded the club licence for racing.
Only thing to watch out for is that a Gold Licence is valid for a calendar year and ends Dec 31st, but a rec licence is valid for 12 months from when you had it issued.
When you upgrade, there is no credit given for any extra months. In my case I lost 4 months as my rec licence was valid until next April, but the upgrade ends Dec 31st. The silver + upgrade was more expensive than if I had just got the Gold Licence up front.

[bigfriendlyvegan]

Good point, but i actually found it cheaper to do the upgrade because I got the whole family done through Audax family membership, then just upgraded my own license to gold. Last year I was paying for 1 masters gold, 2 junior silver, and 2 ridz licenses.

[rheicel]

Audax Gold Licence holder here. Originally Silver with my Family but 6 months ago, I have upgraded to Gold through the Audax secretary. There was a bit of a drama from silver to good but it was finally sorted out after few phone calls and email I am happy to stay with the club

[QuangVuong]

I'm currently not an Audax member, but was planning to go through a family membership since it's so much cheaper than 2 separate silver memberships through CNSW. If I want to upgrade to gold from the standard silver, when's the best time to do so? Or is it easier to go straight to gold when I apply?

I was waiting until October to get an extra 3 months for free, but going off what queequeg says, that doesn't seem to be the case.

What was the pricing though? It's been a while since I've looked. I think it was $105 for Family. Then a gold upgrade for a 20 year old is how much?

[queequeg]

I think the time to upgrade is when CA start issuing the 2016 Gold Licences, which I think is the end of October (well, that's when the age categories are determined anyway).

[Ross]

I believe there is a similar deal going through MTBA where you can pay an extra fee and get a road racing licence.