Preparing for the Ride
If you have never ridden a brevet before, or have never ridden with us, there are several things you can do to make your life and the ride organizer’s life a little easier. Foremost, it is your responsibility to learn the rules that govern rider behavior on a brevet- please see RUSA’s rules for riding brevets.
You must be a member of PCH Randonneurs to participate in any of our events. You can join here. you also must have a current RUSA membership.
All ride registration is online. Ride registration typically closes at noon two days before the ride starts (ie noon Thursday for a Saturday start) or sometimes earlier as noted in the ride listing. You must complete registration, including payment, before registration closes. There is no late or day-of-event registration- this gives the ride organizer time to print customized waivers and send out the pre-ride emails.
If you are registered and find you cannot ride, please cancel online as soon as possible as a courtesy. You can do this by going to [My Rides] page on the [PCH on the Road] menu and clicking the orange Cancel button for the ride you wish to withdraw from. If you give plenty of advance notice and have a valid reason, the ride organizer may refund your money at their discretion.
There will always be a RWGPS route available to you before the ride. You can find the link on the webpage for the ride. If you like to use a cue sheet, you should print your own copy before the ride.
Please arrive at the start of the ride with plenty of time before the ride starts in order to check in and sign the paper copy your waiver. Check in will usually begin 30 minutes before the ride start.
Be ready to start at the designated time. Listen for the organizer’s last-minute announcements. Under no circumstances may you start before the ride organizer indicates the ride has started. However, you may start up to one hour later as long as you have checked in and signed the waiver. Please notify the ride organizer in advance if you are running late. Please do us all a favor and do your best to be on time- many times the ride organizer will want to start with the group.
During the Ride
You are required to obey local traffic laws as well as RUSA rules for riders. Failure to do so are grounds for disqualification. Legally required reflectors and lights must be installed and in good working order on your bicycle prior to the ride start. Reflective clothing must be worn, and legal front and rear lights must be on when it is dark (i.e. sunset to sunrise, rain, and fog) even when riding in a group.
You need to have documentation (proof of passage) that you rode the entire route and went to all the controls. Electronic prooof of passage (EPP) is now allowed. The two prefered methods of EPP are these:
After the ride you can email the ride organizer the URL for your GPS ride or activity (Strava, RWGPS or Garmin Connect). Make sure the ride file is set to "public" and that we can see your total elapsed ride time. It is recommended that you take photos of the controls as backup just in case your GPS unit fails during the ride.
You can send the ride organizer photos that you have taken of yourself (or your bike) at all the controls, including the finish. If you have a time stamp on the photos, all the better, e.g. use the app called Timestamp Camera.
If you want to keep your proof of passage in the traditional manner, you have the option to print a brevet card and collect receipts at the controls.
At the end of the Ride
The last control will normally be staffed on longer brevets. There will be someone there to congratulate you and offer you food and drinks.
On shorter brevets (100 to 200km), there often will be nobody staffing the finish control. In this case, please send a text to the ride organizer when you finish so they will know you are ok.
Please feel free to post any questions on our Google Group page. You can also email the RBA.