Details of the Permanent Brevet Program

1. Permanent cycling events are a minimum of 200 km.

2. A Permanent is cycled according to the normal Audax Club Parisien (ACP) brevet rules - see Rules.

3. Time and date of Permanents are decided at the discretion of the member requesting to ride the Permanent.

4. A Permanent route can be any archived ACP or RM (Randonneur Mondiaux) sanctioned brevet that has been officially designated a permanent route (posted on the website in the Permanents Routes page.)

5. Members are encouraged to submit proposals for new Permanent routes. Members need to provide the Permanents Coordinator with a route sheet (with controls), and a digital map of the proposed route. New route submissions can expect as long as 10 days, for possible approval and processing. Approval for pre-existing routes will take five days.

6. Permanents can be organized on any date, starting at any time.

7. Permanents distance will not count towards any ACP awards (Super Randonneur, Randonneur 5000) or towards BC Randonneurs club awards based on ACP/RM distance (the John Hathaway Memorial Award ["Iron Butt"], or the 40,000 km award). There is a dedicated Permanents award however, for completing a permanent in each of 12 consecutive months. Regular ACP/RM brevets can be used in this mix, so a rider doesn't necessarily need to ride a Permanent during the regular brevet season, April to September, if regularly riding ACP/RM sanctioned brevets.

8. A Permanent can be ridden by any BC Randonneurs club member. The Permanent brevet program is limited to members only. Membership renewal is January 1. Go to Membership.

9. Any BC Randonneurs club member can organize a Permanent.

10. Permanents cannot be used to qualify for any ACP/RM events - PBP, Rocky Mt 1200, etc.

11. Any given Permanent route can be ridden more than once each year.

12. A "General Event Form & Waiver" must be completed, signed and submitted to the Permanent Coordinator BEFORE the permanent. (Details below)

13. After the ride, completed and signed control cards must be submitted to the Permanents Database Coordinator within 14 days of the ride. (Details below)

14. Members can begin their quest for the 12-consecutive-months award at any time during the year. When the 12 months of successful permanents (can include ACP and RM brevets) is completed, the member can apply for the award by contacting the permanents coordinator in charge of verifying the rides - currently Bob Koen. The 12 month medal changes yearly on January 1 - successful 12 month candidates will be credited with the award on the date of the final (the 12th) ride. Medals are awarded annually at the spring social in early March.

15. Permanents can be cycled anywhere in the world. They can be pre-existing Permanent or brevet routes recognized by, for example, Audax UK or Randonneurs USA. Permanents outside of BC can also be new routes designed following the same procedure as new routes within BC. (Details below). In every case the route must be approved by the BC Randonneurs Permanents Coordinator. To qualify for the BC Randonneur 12 consecutive months award, the majority of the permanents and brevets must be cycled in BC (i.e. at least seven).

16. Existing permanent routes can be modified to start somewhere in the middle or to ride a route in reverse. This involves modifying the control card. See: Starting in the Middle & Reverse Direction Permanents.

17. Permanents require confirmation from a Permanents Coordinator before the Permanent is offered.

18. Questions and concerns not already addressed here will be provided by the Permanent Brevet Coordinator(s).

Submitting a Route as a Permanent

Permanents can be created from scratch, or adapted from existing ACP/RM brevets (see Route Archives). Steps to create or adapt a route as a permanent include:

1. For pre-existing (ACP brevet) routes: Submit a proposal (e-mail or paper) for an existing brevet route to be considered as a Permanent route to Permanents Coordinator Tracy Barill - contact info below. Include a link to the route. Expect a five day turnaround for route approval, and for the paper work to be processed. The route sheet and control card will either be e-mailed directly to the rider or will appear on the Permanents Routes page on the web site.

2. For new routes: Submit a proposal (e-mail or paper) with a description of the route, a name for the route, a route sheet (Excel template here), and a map of the route to Permanents Coordinator Tracy Barill. Route maps can be created with tools like Streets & Trips, or online route planners including Bikely, MapQuest, Google Maps and Bike Route Toaster. New route submissions will need a 10 day turnaround for approval, the processing of the route sheet and the creation of the route card. If you get permission to test ride your route it might be helpful to you to rework this control card template.

3. After a permanent has been approved it will be assigned a route number. The route sheet, the control card, and sometimes maps and other information will be available to all club members on the Permanents Routes page on the web site. (The event entry & waiver form, which is necessary to ride a permanent, is also available on the Permanents routes page). Adobe Reader is required to open the documents.

Organizing a Permanent - Private & Open

Once a Permanent route has been approved and is posted on the club Permanents Routes page, any member can request to cycle a Permanent. This can be a private Permanent (only the member) or an open Permanent offered to other members as well.

If riding a private Permanent, submit a completed event entry & waiver form to the Permanents Coordinator Tracy Barill - contact info below - BEFORE your ride. (A scan of a completed form e-mailed to the Coordinator is acceptable). After the ride send the completed and signed control card (and the paper copy of the event form, if not already mailed) to the Permanents Database Coordinator Bob Koen - contact info below.

In the case of an open Permanent, the organizing member must contact Permanents Coordinator Tracy Barill to get approval for the ride. This organizing member is responsible for having the event entry and waiver form completed by each participating member. The organizing member is also responsible for collecting the event forms as well as the completed and signed control cards, and sending these to the Permanents Database Coordinator Bob Koen after the ride. (In the case that riders finish at widely varying times, individual finishers can send in their own cards). The organizing member must add a contact number to the bottom of the control card to be used by a rider if the rider is unable to finish.

Rules of the Permanent program should be understood by all of those cycling (including the regular brevet rules here).

The date and time of the event is part of the Permanent request. Changing the date and/or time after an open Permanent requires notification of each member who has communicated interest in cycling the event. A brief report of the Permanent is much appreciated by the Permanents Coordinator. The reports or some information from the reports may be included on the information page for the Permanent ridden.

After a Completed Permanent

Permanent control cards must be submitted to the Permanents Database Coordinator within 14 days of a completed event. Bob Koen would prefer to recieve your results by e mail - scan your control card and send as an attachment. If you don't have a scanner you can still use the mail. Send cards to:

Your mail-in control cards will be sent back to you after verification, eventually.

And why not send your result(s) to webmaster Eric. Your result will appear on the web site result page right away - official approval will come later.

Tracy Barill
October 2008