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Colorado
Brevet Series Rocky Mountain Cycling Club Randonneurs USA | ![]() |
Rules and Info
Based upon RUSA Rules for Riders as adopted from ACP Rules
Events
- The Colorado Brevet Series offers several types of Randonnée events - a
randonnée is an endurance ride emphasizing
comraderie and self-sufficiency, with
a time limit and checkpoints along the way to validate your ride; the sanctioning
organization processes your results and assigns you an individual
certificate number for your ride. Types of randonnée events in our series:
Who
May Ride - These rides are open to any amateur
cyclist, and professionals whose UCI
license have expired at least two years previously. Cyclists under 18 years of age
require the consent of parent or guardian.
Allowable
Vehicles for the Rider - Any
form of human-powered vehicle is acceptable, as long as it is powered
solely by the rider and is legal to be operated on the public
thoroughfares used by the brevet route.
Registration
- To
participate in a brevet, a rider must submit a registration
form, sign a waiver of liability,
and pay a registration fee (if any) set by the event organizer.
Insurance
- Each
rider must be covered by liability insurance, either by a group policy
or a personal policy -- in the case of the Colorado Brevets, this is
achieved by being a member of the Rocky
Mountain Cycling Club
(REQUIRED, except for the Last Chance).
Rules of the Road -
During
the event, each rider is considered to be on a personal ride. The rider
must ride in accordance with applicable traffic codes, obey traffic
signals, and use bike paths when required by law. The ACP, RUSA, Rocky
Mountain Cycling Club, and other brevet organizers cannot and do not
accept responsibility for any accidents that may occur during the course
of the brevet.
Night
Riding - For
night riding, bicycles must be equipped with front and rear lights that
conform to the local regulations (Colorado and, where applicable, other
states) for bicycles. While riding, lights must be on from dusk to dawn
and at any other times when poor visibility conditions exist (rain, fog,
etc.). Each rider, whether riding in a group or alone, must use
lights under these conditions. In addition, some combination of
reflective vest, arm and/or ankle bands, or reflective strips on the
bike is required. Light-colored clothing is also recommended for night
riding. Any violation of these rules makes the rider subject to
disqualification, whether en route or at inspection
prior to departure. Support
- No
following vehicles or support of any kind, mobile or otherwise, are
permitted on the course (except of course in an emergency situation).
Personal support may be rendered only at checkpoints. Violation of the
support rule subjects the rider to disqualification.
Equipment
- Helmets are required.
Deportment
- Riders
are required to conduct themselves in a civil manner towards each other
and towards the public, and respect local customs with regards to
decorum.
Route, Brevet Cards and Checkpoints -
At the start, each
rider will receive a brevet card and a cue sheet indicating the route
and the location of the checkpoints. To receive credit, riders must
ride the entire route, unless authorized by the organizer because
of special circumstances (road closures, etc.). If a rider leaves the
route, the rider must return to the route at the same point prior to
continuing.
Organizers may also
include unannounced (secret) checkpoints at any point along the route,
to assure route integrity. Riders must stop at each checkpoint --
published or secret -- to have their brevet card validated. Organizers
may include unstaffed checkpoints [that is, unstaffed by brevet
officials -- this is the norm for Colorado Brevets]. At these
checkpoints, riders must have their brevet cards validated at some local
establishment, such as a grocery store or gas station, as noted on the
brevet card. Information must include the time (and date, for brevets
that extend beyond 24 hours).
For unstaffed
checkpoints where no means of getting a stamp is available (arrival in
the middle of the night, for example), the rider may mail in a postcard
(provided by the organizer) with the checkpoint information (time, date,
rider's full name) to the brevet organizer. In this case, the rider
should mark the brevet card in the space provided for the checkpoint
"PC" for Personal Checkpoint.
Alternatively, the brevet organizer may specify an
"informational checkpoint" where the rider is to note some
feature of the surroundings on the brevet card, along with the time. Checkpoint Variances -
Missing
checkpoint validation, missing checkpoint times, or loss of the brevet card
subjects the rider to possible disqualification. Note that each
rider is responsible to assure that the brevet card is properly
completed at each checkpoint.
TimeLimits -
The overall
time limit for a brevet depends on its nominal distance (that
is, a "200km" brevet whose route comes out as 205km still has
the 200km time limit). These are (in hours and minutes):
Time limits for populaires are similarly proportioned based on distance. In addition, each checkpoint
has an opening and closing time. These times are noted on the brevet
card. Riders must present themselves at each checkpoint en route during the checkpoint's open period. If a rider arrives at a
checkpoint after it has closed and the ride organizer is satisfied that
the rider's lateness is due to an unforeseen and valid cause (such as
stopping to help at a traffic accident or a road closure), then the ride
organizer may waive the fact that the rider arrived at the checkpoint
late. Poor bicycle or equipment maintenance, hunger, lack of fitness,
etc. do not serve as valid reasons for being late. Subject to the
foregoing, failure to make all checkpoints (even if the brevet is done
within the overall time limit) make the rider subject to
disqualification. Fraud and Cheating -
Any
fraud, cheating, or deliberate violation of these rules subjects the
rider to exclusion from all RUSA, Randonneurs Mondiaux, and ACP-sanctioned
events.
Ride Finish -
The
rider must sign and return the brevet card to the event
organizer. The brevet card will be returned to the rider after the
brevet has been verified and a certificate number issued. In the event
that the organizer loses a brevet card, no replacement to the rider will
be made.
Not a Race -
These
rides are not races or other kind of competitive event. Riders
should feel free to aim for goals of their choosing - within the rules -
for example for fastest personal or overall time, but recognize that
this is not the aim of these events, and that ungracious behavior
against other riders can be grounds for disqualification.
Drafting
- Drafting
is permitted. Riding cooperatively in groups and solo riding are equally
encouraged. Above all, riders should keep their own goals and strengths
in mind, as well as the constraints of meeting checkpoint times and the
overall time limit.
RUSA Membership -
Membership
in Randonneurs USA is not required for
participating in Colorado or other RUSA-sanctioned events, including 1200k's.
(NOTE: For Paris-Brest-Paris, you must be a member of your country organization - RUSA in the U.S. -
at the time of riding the qualifying brevets.) However,
RUSA membership is highly encouraged - the organization does a very
good job of providing randonneuring info to members, especially
preparing riders for the 1200km randonnées such as Paris-Brest-Paris or
Boston-Montréal-Boston, and certain benefits are available only to RUSA
members - such as RUSA awards.
Results Reporting -
A rider's results (events and certificate numbers)
can be found on the Randonneurs USA
website -- note that these are posted after certificate numbers
have been issued - there may be a time lag for ACP-sanctioned events, as the certificate
numbers come back from Paris. The results per brevet (riders and their
finishing times) can be found on the RMCC
/ Colorado Brevets results page.
Medals and Awards -
Medals
and awards are available for individual brevets, and for finishing
multiple rides including the following (complete list and details at Randonneurs
USA):
- ACP Super Randonneur
status
is earned by completing 200km, 300km, 400km, and 600km brevets
in the same year. Order directly from RUSA (you must be a RUSA member). - RUSA
1000km - 5000km Medals -
RUSA offers 1000km, 2000km, 3000km, 4000km and 5000km medals for
riding those distances in RUSA-sanctioned events (including ACP-sanctioned
brevets in the US) in a single year. Order directly from RUSA (you must
be a RUSA member). |