Qualifying for PBP 2011

Here are some thought on the subject from BC riders Eric and Susan. Eric's options list first, then Susan's proposed formula:

Options

In absence of guidance from ACP on how nations should distribute their own PBP quota, Canada must determine its criteria. (No matter what system is used, a rider will still need to ride a 200-600 qualifying series in the winter/spring 2011.)

Here are some options Canada might consider:

1. Lottery. A rider who intends to ride PBP 2011 could put her/his name forward by, let's say, March 1, 2011 - about six weeks before the first early-bird registration date of April 15. A list would be generated which would fill the Canadian quota and also establish an ordered alternates list. If the lottery doesn't discriminate against PBP hopefuls in any way, it would mean that riders who did little or no riding in 2010 could be favoured over riders who have earned early registration as a result of brevet completions in 2010.

2. History (selection based on a club or region's PBP riding history). If a club/region had 20 % of the finishers in 2007, they will have claim to 20 % of the positions in 2011 quota. Distribution of positions within each group is at their own discretion. Note that there is no allowance for new clubs or regions with this approach. There is also no consideration for groups that have seen a growth in interest for PBP, or an increase in general participation. Figures from both 2003 and 2007 could be used to get a longer term average percentage. An allowance for new clubs could be included, though at this moment there do not appear to be any new clubs on the horizon in Canada.

2b. Minimum Guarantee (based on history). A club/region could be guaranteed a minimum of 50% of that club's/region's finishers record from 2007 (or average of 2003 and 2007). The Canadian quota could be filled primarily by another selection criteria, such as 2010 total brevet distance, with the understanding that if the number of riders from a particular club drops below a certain percentage, the club would still be guaranteed a percentage of the quota.

3. A Rider's 2010 Total Distance. Though this is the most logical, and seemingly fair criteria for awarding quota positions, some regions are disadvantaged by having a limited number of rides. If interest in PBP is high in Canada, some traveling might be necessary for some riders to improve their individual quota position.

4. Club/Region's Total Distance. Example: If Alberta rides 28 % of Canada's brevet distance in 2010, then Alberta is entitled to 28 % of Canada's 2011 PBP quota. Like #2 above, distribution within a club would be at the club's discretion. Like #4 above, a problem would be that some places have more rides than others. On the other hand, the big distance clubs would be most responsible for the size of the Canadian quota and so perhaps would have earned a bigger piece of the pie.

5. Fixed Distance Guarantee. This is the system Australia has decided on. A rider who does 2500 km in 2010 is guaranteed a position in the Australian quota. No advantage is given for riding more than 2500 km. Remaining positions in the Australian quota are allocated on the basis of greater brevet distance under 2500 km. There is obviously a problem with this system. There is no plan in the case that more riders than a country's quota ride the 2500 kms. Would a lottery be used to select within the pool of qualifying riders?

5b. Same as above but giving preference to a rider whose 2010 tally includes an ultra-brevet: 1000 km or greater.

Other Considerations:

What Event Distance Counts? Only recognized ACP (including flèches) and RM distance should count. These need not be ridden in your region or in Canada. Australia is including "permanents" distance. This does not make sense for Canada because permanent systems are uneven across the country. Also, the standards for verification for permanents are lesser, and we want to avoid suspicions of irregularities.

Volunteer Points. There has been a suggestion that a rider's contribution as a volunteer should be a component of whatever formula is selected. Very difficult to administer.

Celebrity Passes. Should preferential treatment be given to Deirdre Arscott or Brian Leier in the case that neither of them meet the Canadian quota requirements. Both have completed six PBPs and are arguably representing Canadian PBP achievement. Are there other special cases?

New Riders or Clubs in 2011. Should any special accommodation be made for clubs that did not exist in 2010, or riders who are new to the sport in 2011?.

Eric Fergusson
October 2009

Personal Preference: Despite the drawback of unavailability of local rides for some Canadians, Number 3 above "individual rider's total distance" seems most fair. (Good excuse to travel to one of the numerous new North American 1000s & 1200s!) My second choice would be 2b - it would offer all regions a guarantee of participation while ensuring the majority of positions were earned by merit. [EF]

Now Susan...

So here is my updated algorithm based on the latest news from ACP. Note that according to the Aussie's, ACP's hasn't determined if 1200's will count for early registration or not. If they say yes, 1000 includes 1200's. If they say no, 1000 does not include 1200's.

Distance is based on ACP and RM recognized events ridden in any country between Jan 1, 2010 and Dec 31, 2010 inclusive. 2500+ means 2500km or more in distance. A rider is placed in the highest Status or Group for which he/she meets the criteria.

C1) Super Elite Status : 2500+, including a 1000 (unranked)
R2) Elite Group : 1000 km brevet (ranked according to distance)

C3) Super Gold Status : 2500+, including a 600 (unranked)
R4) Gold Group : 600 km brevet (ranked according to distance)

C5) Super Silver Status : 2500+ including a 400 km brevet (unranked)
R6) Silver Group : 400 km brevet (ranked according to distance)

C7) Super Bronze Status : 2500+ including a 300 km brevet (unranked)
R8) Bronze Group : 300 km brevet (ranked according to distance)

C9) Super 200-Status : 2500+ (unranked)
R10) Red Group : 200 km brevet (ranked according to distance)

C11) Green Group : no rides in 2010 (unranked)

In January 2011, the list of riders in each group* will be presented on the web. A lottery will be held to rank any unranked groups where the cut-off may occur and between riders in groups with identical distance. In order to maintain their position in this list, riders must register before the next group is allowed to register (i.e. riders with 1000 km brevet must register before registration is open for cyclists with 600 km brevets).

* if more than 200 riders are included in higher groups, lower groups may not be included on the webpage and of course C11 includes everyone else in the country.

I think groups C5, C7 and C9 will be tiny so a lottery should only decide a place or two.

If we end up sending mainly Elite, Super Gold and Super Elite riders, maybe we can argue for larger quotas in the future!

Susan Allen
October 2009 - Revised January 2010

Here is the earlier material about qualification for PBP 2011 before the final formula was established. Now largely irrelevant.

Paris Brest Paris was at its capacity in 2007 with just over 5000 starters. Some method of limiting entry will be necessary for 2011. Jean-Gualbert FABUREL from Audax Club Parisien (ACP) sent around a communication in April 2009 outline a new system for limiting entries, and in August there was an update with an important change - the base year for a country's growth would be 2007, not 2006. The English language versions of these are reproduced towards the bottom of this page. Here are the key points:

Qualification for PBP will be the same as always. Riders must complete a 200, 300, 400 and 600 km series in 2011 by early June.

Registration priority in 2011 will be based on rides ridden in 2010. Here's the registration schedule:
If you complete a 400 km in 2010, you may register beginning April 15, 2011.
If you complete a 300 km in 2010, you may register beginning May 1, 2011.
If you complete a 200 km in 2010, you may register beginning May 15, 2011.
If you don't complete a brevet in 2010, you may register beginning June 1, 2011.
(Additional: According to a RUSA Jan 1, 2010 announcement: "ACP says highest preregistration preference will be given to members completing a 1000k in 2010..." No confirmation of this from ACP.)

Simple so far. But here's where it gets a little more murky:

National Quotas: Countries will granted a quota based on "the number of entrants to PBP 2007, the number of finishers to PBP 2007 and the increase between the number of BRM in 2007 and in 2010." The old formula, from the first communication is gone I think (or is it just modified?), and we don't know exactly what the new one will be. I think that we can trust that ACP will come up with something fair.

Individual Qualification: Beyond the slight registration advantage given to riders who ride short brevets in 2010, we are not given any guidance on how countries might select riders to fill their quotas. Australia is proposing that a rider who does 2500 km in 2010 automatically qualifies for PBP 2011. No additional credit is given for riding more than 2500 km. In setting this maximum the Australian thinking was to "avoid creating a quota allocation process which turned into a race on its own." This will probably work fine, but there could be hitch. What happens if riding the 2500 km becomes a target for every Australian randonneur thinking about riding PBP 2011? What happens if more riders than the Australian country quota ride the 2500 km in 2010. Who gets snipped then? The logical default system in this case would be to look at a rider's total brevet distance in 2010, the situation they were trying to avoid. But what's the alternative - random selection? Hmm.
The second message from Jean-Gualbert on the subject of individual qualification states: "More the homologated BRM will be longer and more you can pre-register early in 2011." This is obviously a little unclear. RUSA is taking this to mean "For riders, the ACP indicates that if someone rides more and longer ACP brevets in 2010, that rider will have a registration priority over other riders in that country who ride fewer, shorter ACP brevets. (That means, an American rider can move him/herself up within the American quota by riding more and longer brevets.)" I'm not sure that the RUSA interpretation is correct.

Eric Fergusson

October 13, 2009
(revised as needed)

Here's what a few countries are thinking:

Australia: link to the PDF on Audax Australia web site.

United States: link to Randonneurs USA web site. Also watch RUSA Announcements.

Canada: The word from ACP on Sept 13 2009: "Pour les quotas, il n'est pas prévu actuellement de faire une différence entre les provinces canadiennes." On Nov 23 Jean-Gualbert made it even more clear: "There should be only one quota for Canada and not one for each province."
So there's one quota for all of Canada, same as other countries. The seven clubs will have to decide on a common method of selecting riders to fill the quota.
Their was been some talk in late 2009 between Canadian clubs. Most seem to be leaning towards the Australian 2500km distance ceiling formula, but with highest priority given to riders who ride an ultra distance brevet, i.e. 1000+.
Here is some thoughts from two BC riders: Canadian Options.

Message from Jean-Gualbert from April 5, 2009:
(English version only)

Hello,

I would like to inform you that the Board of the Audax Club Parisien decided during its last meeting on April 1st, to establish a way of limiting the number of entries for the Paris-Brest-Paris 2011 for safety and quality of organization reasons.

In 2007, you noticed saturation in some controls and if the growth between 2003 and 2007 is confirmed in 2011, it would be impossible to maintain good conditions for participation without changing the overall organization of this randonnee. We will work during the coming months to find a way to welcome all those who want to participate but if it is not possible, the Audax Club Parisien prepares conditions for limitation.

This limitation should be done at two levels:
- Collective: we would like to define a quota of participants per country so you can communicate on this limit and you can organize several months before PBP. We would like to give places for new comers without disadvantaging the former countries, while taking into account the progress of each country.
- Individual: we would like to encourage people who attend your organizations while avoiding the imposition of selection criteria far more stringent than in previous editions.

To set the quota per country, it will be calculated while using the number of entrants in 2007, the limit in 2011 and according the evolution of homologations in the country between 2006 and 2010.
This method is easy to communicate and immediately provides figures in January 2011. It promotes strong countries but leaves places for new entrants because the calculation of the quota is made only for countries which registered more than 50 people in 2007.
The calculation formula is as follows:

For randonneurs, pre-registration via the Internet will allow people who made BRM in 2010 to reserve their participation for Paris-Brest-Paris. Longer is the homologated BRM distance and earlier they wil be able to pre-register. For example:
• With a BRM 400 km in 2010, they may register from 15 April 2011.
• With a BRM 300 km in 2010, they may register from 01 May 2011.
• With a BRM 200 km in 2010, they may register from 15 May 2011.
• by not realizing a BRM in 2010, they could not register until June 01, 2011.
These dates are still to be defined and will be communicated early 2011.

The series of 4 BRM (200, 300, 400 and 600) homologated in 2011 is still required to register for PBP 2011.
Pre-registration will be conducted by individual. Entries may be centralized as some of you have did it in 2007.

Cordialement,
Best regards,

Jean-Gualbert FABUREL

Up-date from Jean-Gualbert from August 28, 2009
(Part of a longer message - English version only)

In April, I informed you that we could have to limit the number of entrants to the PBP 2011. The BRM in 2010 will be used to allocate entries to PBP 2011. To set quotas by country, we changed the formula. The new formula will be more equitable by using of the number of entrants to PBP 2007, the number of finishers to PBP 2007 and the increase between the number of BRM in 2007 and in 2010. For individuals, we will give priority in pre-registration for people who succeed BRM in 2010. More the homologated BRM will be longer and more you can pre-register early in 2011.
More information on PBP2011 registrations: we are studying the possibility of a full registration via internet, including the payment, with zero paper. Also, we want to give you the opportunity, if you want it, to validate the registration of riders living in your country.

Best regards,
Cordialement,

Jean-Gualbert FABUREL

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