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Permanents - Details / Rules

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Details / Rules

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Covid-19 Update: As of January 2023, the Province of British Columbia continues to monitor COVID-19 infections. While public health emergency measures such as restricted travel and proof of vaccination are no longer in force, BC Randonneurs acknowledges that respiratory illness associated with COVID-19 infections is still possible and that all riders continue to exercise some degree of caution as they participate in sport. Here is the current Event Waiver (aka Event Participant Release).

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 ride (brevet, fleche or trace) 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 (the "BC-12"), for completing a Permanent in each of 12 consecutive months. Regular ACP/RM rides (brevets, flèches and traces) 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. Permanents can be ridden by any current BC Randonneurs Club member. The Permanent program is limited to current members only. Membership renewal is required beginning 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 Event Waiver (aka Event Participant Release) 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 Coordinator within 14 days of the end of the ride. (Details below).

14. Members can begin their quest for the BC-12 award at any time during the year. When the 12 months of successful Permanents (can include ACP and RM rides) is completed, the member can apply for the award by contacting the Permanents Coordinator. 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 ACP/RM sanctioned 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-12 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. Any further questions and concerns should be addressed to the Permanents Coordinator.

 

Submitting a Route as a Permanent

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

1. For pre-existing (ACP brevet) routes: Submit a proposal to the Permanents Coordinator. The route will be given a Permanent number. Alterations to the route sheet and control card may be needed, so allow a little time. The route sheet and control card with its permanent number, will appear on the Permanents Routes page on the web site.

2. For new routes: Submit a proposal with a route name, a route sheet (Excel template here), a control card (control card template) and a map of the route (Ride with GPS) to Permanents Coordinator. The missing piece of the puzzle is to insert the control opening and closing times. To get these figures go to the RUSA calculator. New routes will also appear on the Permanents Routes page.

 

Organizing a Permanent - Approval to Ride

Once a permanent route has been approved and is posted on the club Permanents Routes page, any member can request to cycle a Permanent.

Beginning June 5, 2021, a signed and properly and fully filled out Event Waiver (aka Event Participant Release) [right click to download writable PDFs], which includes ride date, permanent name and number, must be received by the permanent coordinator BEFORE the start of the ride. The submitted event forms must be clearly legible JPGs or PDFs. It is the responsibility of the rider to make sure that the form is in the possession of the coordinator before the ride. If the Event Waiver (aka Event Participant Release) is not received before the ride, the ride will not be recognized.

Although the rule states that the Event Waiver must be in the Permanent Coordinator's Inbox before the ride (i.e. at the latest), it is preferable that the form be sent in at least 24 hours before the ride. This allows the Coordinator to respond. The Coordinator is in contact with other Permanents riders, and these riders frequently pass along route information, and more importantly, safety information that will be helpful to the submitting rider.

The coordinator will not necessarily respond to the ride notice before the ride, especially if there has been short notice. If the Entry Waiver, is incorrectly filled out, the ride may not be recognized. This is another reason to submit the form early so problems can be identified, and corrections can be made.

For more discussion and clarification of the entry process go to this newsletter article from June 2017.

 

After a Completed Permanent

Signed permanent control cards must be submitted to the Permanents Coordinator within 48 hours of a completed ride. Eric Fergusson would prefer to receive your results by email - scan your control card (both sides) or take photos and send as attachments. If you need to send it by post, send cards to:

Eric Fergusson
#307-2770 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC V6J3J8

Some riders submit reports to the newsletter when rides are eventful.

Permanents Coordinator Eric Fergusson welcomes
any enquiries or suggestions on the Permanent Brevet Program.

Tracy Barill
October 2008

Updated by Eric Fergusson in 2015 & 2019
Updated by Colin Fingler & Eric Fergusson in June 2020 & June 2021

 


Permanents Coordinator:

Eric Fergusson

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