Where are they? They are everywhere. Some events criss-cross the country e.g. the End to End, Lowestoft - Ardnamurchan, the Round Britain Relays, or some organisers run a series in their area e.g. Peter Coulson’s Heart of the Shires series. There will be something within easy reach wherever you are. It may also be possible to start some events from either end or the middle. Some events have only one or two set points and it is up to you to provide the organiser with a route with suitable control points in between. The End to End is good example of this. It is even possible to start (and/or finish) at your front door!
There are also PRoFS (Permanent Randonnées on Foreign Soil) These are generally rides of either 100 or 200km, most are in France within easy reach of the Channel Ports. There are also some in Spain & Ireland. There are two very long PRoFS, Trafalgar - Trafalgar & Calais - Brindisi.
How many are there?
At the time of writing there are approximately 150 distinct rides, at least 6 series providing at least 100 rides in the UK and 30 PRoFS and the number is steadily rising.
How do I go about riding one?
NB - Permanent Rides can only be ridden as AUK rides, by members of Audax UK - this is for insurance and liability reasons.
Contact the organiser, preferably at least I month in advance, preferably in writing with a SAE. The organiser should be able to provide an entry form & information on the ride including entrance fee.
When you send in your entry include 2 saes & entry fee. The organiser will send you a brevet card (and route sheet if appropriate). Thereafter off you go. Get the card stamped or signed at the start, intermediate & finish control points. (see below).
On completion of the ride, send the brevet card to the organiser who will check it and send it on to the permanents secretary for validation. The card can then be returned to you either direct or via the organiser.
Control points
Cafés, garages, supermarkets & shops can all usually provide stamps and are usually interested in what you are doing, although you will probably get fed up being asked if you are doing it for charity. Other proof of passing a control point can be electronic till receipts (check they read the correct time & date), bank hole in the wall printouts (not all), even parking stickers. To retain these I know some riders carry a small stapler to stick them to the brevet card.
Awards
Some events have particular cloth badges or medals available, the organiser will be able to tell you. Standard distance & Brevet Series medals & cloth badges can also be claimed by application to the Validation Secretary quoting the validation number on the back of your card. Events of 200km and above gain points for championships, if ridden at the standard randonnée pace for that distance (see Regulations). For the competitive awards, your points total can only have 50% of your points as permanent rides. A number of rides also gain points towards the AAA championships, these also include rides at 100km. Details of the AAA scheme can be got from David Lewis the AAA secretary.
Can I organise one myself and how?
Everyone has a favourite route for one or more reasons, it is scenic, it is challenging, it makes a logical day or two days ride and so on. These make excellent Permanents. If you wish to run one, check your route, it may need fine-tuning to place the controls, these like the calendar events should be placed to avoid shortcuts. Cafes, pubs, garages, railway and police stations are the usual sort of places that will provide a stamp. Cash and parking ticket machines can also be used. If you intend to use information controls ensure that there are at least 4 choices at any given point.
Unlike calendar events, check that a control will be open when a rider reaches it. Send a photocopied map, marked up with the route and controls so I can see at a glance that there’s no short cut. Also details similar to calendar events (altitude points, accommodation near start, etc.) suitable for a Handbook entry. I will send on details to the Editor of Arrivee and as soon as the details are published riding can commence. Brevet cards can be ordered from Pam Pilbeam. There are masters for general purpose Permanents (useful for series) which are blank on the inside and you or your riders have to write in the controls for your riders, otherwise you need to design a master for the inners - either the whole thing or the text for overprinting a blank card. Timing is not included as the rides can be started at any time of day. The date the ride was started should be clearly shown.
Duncan Peet