Coast to Coast Classification Guidelines

The "Brand-First" Principle

The Coast to Coast (C2C) award recognizes and celebrates geographic and organizational diversity in American randonneuring. To maintain a system that is transparent for riders and manageable for volunteers, RUSA relies primarily on event branding for classifying editions of a grand randonnée as distinct C2C "points."

A different edition of a grand randonnée is grouped into the same C2C classification if it carries the same name, or is the clear successor to a previous grand randonnée, regardless of:

  • Route changes: Significant alterations to the course or total distance (e.g. 1200 km vs 1300 km vs 1400 km).
  • Location shifts: Changes to start/finish cities.
  • Organizer changes: When a grand randonnée is handed off to a new RBA or organizing club/region.

A reminder on repeatability: Members may earn multiple C2C awards, but keep in mind that the uniqueness requirement applies across all awards earned. Once a grand randonnée has been applied towards a C2C award, no other editions of the grand randonnée may be applied towards future C2C awards.

Riders: Checking your C2C Eligibility

The definitive source of truth for C2C classifications is RUSA's grand randonnée archive.

  • If an upcoming event is listed under the same heading as a past event you have completed, it counts as a different edition of that grand randonnée and it will not count as new C2C credit.
  • If an upcoming event is a new, standalone entry, then it is considered separate C2C credit from all other events that have run in the past.

Guidelines for RBAs and Organizers

RUSA recognizes the immense effort RBAs put into refreshing routes to keep them challenging and interesting. However, a fresh route and experience does not automatically equate to new C2C credit, and in fact a mountain of precedent indicates the opposite. To prevent last-minute or even after-the-fact confusion going forward, the grand randonnée application will have an explicit question where RBAs can indicate their intent to run a grand randonnée that is intended as brand new C2C credit:

  • If No, then the event should stick to its legacy branding and retain the historical lineage of that grand randonnée.
  • If Yes, then the event should have distinct, unambiguous branding that clearly distinguishes it from other grand randonnées.

► Tip: a decade later, riders may not remember which they rode of "Galactic 1200: A New Spoke" vs Galactic 1200: Rise of the Climber" vs "Galactic 1200: Attack of the Derailleurs"—but they will definitely remember having ridden "Galactic 1200" and will be able to quickly and unambiguously process the C2C implications.

The impact of rebranding: Take care when naming a new grand randonnée. If it's likely to run in subsequent years, aim for a name that will stand the test of time. Rebranding an established grand randonnée creates "tracking debt" for past riders and muddies the waters for the purposes of C2C groupings.

Rationale: Why we don't "split hairs"

While it may seem pedantic to group distinct editions of a grand randonnée together in the same C2C classification, this model provides several benefits:

  • Predictablity: Riders can easily understand and plan out their C2C goals.
  • Administrative Overhead: The Board, RBAs, and other administrators don't need to litigate what's "different enough" or delve into the details of established precedent or when to break from it, particularly in early planning stages when a lot of these details may not have even materialized yet.
  • Regional Incentive: Riders are encouraged to explore the geographic and organizational diversity that RUSA offers.