Automobile Odometers and Bike Computer Calibration
Automobile odometers are less accurate and have less resolution than a well-calibrated bike computer; it is common for automobile odometers to read 5-10% higher or lower than the true distance. There are several good web sites describing various methods for calibrating your bike computer.
Computer Mapping Software and Physical Verification
Computer mapping programs may offer some assistance but the resulting route should be verified by physically examining the route to verify street names, other signage (or lack thereof), surface quality of roads (i.e., paved vs. gravel), etc. Roads may have several different names (for example, “Bus. US-32A” and “Old Millford Pike”). Verify which of these is used at cuepoints for your route, and if signage is missing, try to find other cues to pinpoint the turn, intersection, etc.
Support Vehicle Route
If some riders in your events will use personal support vehicles (PSVs), it is a good idea to write out driving directions to your controls. This ensures that drivers of PSVs follow your route rather than choose a route that will pass by or interfere with the cyclists. The driving directions should quote the rules that prohibit PSVs from following riders or providing support outside the controls. If there are parking restrictions at controls due to limited space, this is a good opportunity to inform PSV drivers of nearby alternatives.
As the event organizer, you may restrict PSV activity in any manner you think is necessary for the safety and integrity of your event. For example, you may require that PSVs register, carry certain signage, follow specific routes, park in specific areas, etc. You may also prohibit them entirely. Even if you permit PSVs, you may want to discourage their use. Here is one RBA's solution: driving directions for PSVs on one side a page and an anti-PSV statement on the other.
Dirt-Road Brevets
Some RBAs are offering brevets and populaires that are primarily, or entirely, on dirt roads. These events can be appealing to some randonneurs with off-road cycling experience, or because they offer tranquil country roads not often used by cars. This style of riding also hearkens back to the origins of our sport in
In addition, the vast majority of contemporary randonneurs expect that brevets be run on paved roads, so these dirt-road events are best when offered as an addition to the usual paved-road brevets on your calendar, not instead of them. Riders may be entering your brevet to qualify for a 1200km event, or to earn various randonneuring awards. If the only brevet of a particular distance in your region is on dirt, that is unfair due to the increased difficulty. Please also note that unlike a paved-road brevet, rain can turn a dirt-road brevet into a muddy test of survival and you should expect a very high DNF rate.
Thus, it is essential the dirt road brevets are advertised as such so that no one enters under the mistaken idea that it will be a normal event. (On the other hand, a regular brevet with a short section of unpaved road, such as from road repairs, should not bother a randonneur.) For a dirt-road brevet, you should also give a general advisory in the pre-ride publicity about what width tire works best if regular tires are not suitable. Another consideration for the organizer is that remote regions lacking paved roads often do not have mini-marts to use as controls, so you will probably need to use volunteers to staff the controls on the route. You will also have to offer food and water to the riders. You should consider these requirements as you design your route and plan your entry fee.
Alternate Route Segments
[11/2009]
The spirit of a brevet is that everyone should essentially be "riding the same event" (time of day, weather, mental state, etc., aside).
- An alternate route segment as part of a route's design is ok to respond to foreseeable conditions that a given running of the event may have - for example, a dirt road segment impassable because of heavy rains or a road closure from snows (or other non-weather-related reasons). These would be conditions foreseeable at design time that don't happen often but may occur. This is in contrast to unforeseen detours from wildfire, accidents, road construction, etc. - another policy governs these situations.
- Like any route segment, the alternate should not structurally penalize riders riding it in a certain portion of the allowed time window. That is, riders should not have to wait or ride further because they arrived at the segment particularly early in the time window or rather late.
Examples:
- Adding 20-30 km because a bridge or ferry is closed between certain hours (not ok)
- Routing onto a paved highway of similar distance to a dirt trail for inclement conditions (ok)
- Routing onto a busier road of similar distance for a low-height bridge that sometimes floods (ok)
Transfers and Forced Time Off The Bike
On a related note, be careful of routes that, though imaginative, could force all or part of the ridership to stop or otherwise lose significant time during the event. The 15kph minimum average speed is meant to absorb a certain amount of “inefficiency” in the ability to keep moving forward, but is mainly to accommodate the various paces of riders, challenges such as weather, mechanical problems, extensive climbing, riding in the dark, going off course, construction zones (with flaggers or traffic light), physical indisposition, and the like. A few examples:
- A segment with traffic lights that slow riders down (ok)
- A drawbridge that may impose a five-minute delay for some riders (ok)
- A ferry with a 10-minute wait time and 5-minute transit (ok)
- A ferry with a one-hour crossing and up to two-hour wait time (not ok)
- A ferry crossing that is closed for some nighttime hours which fall within the adjacent control time windows (probably not ok)
- A tunnel with a 5-minute wait while cars are stopped to let cyclists through (ok)
- A busy train corridor with frequent five-minute delays (ok)
- A rail line where freight trains can be parked for an hour or more, blocking the crossings (not ok)
- Hour-long park service shuttle through grizzly territory (probably ok, considering the alternative)
That said, if your region has safety issues where prudence dictates avoiding a segment or area at a certain time of day or night, safety comes first.
The above examples are for illustration. If you feel the nature of your route makes a material delay unavoidable, consult with the Routes Committee or RBA Liaison.
[11/2013]
Crossing Public Lands and Other Jurisdictions
[2/2011]
Your event route may traverse public lands – BLM lands, national or state forests, national or state parks, military reservations, etc. This may in fact be a key feature of your event route. Make sure your event is in compliance with regulations governing those lands. There may be a limit on the number of riders, or a fee based on ridership or other criteria, what kind of support stops you are allowed to set up, or requirements for the riders to show id. Consult the pertinent regulations and the local administrators of the lands you are planning to traverse.