Originally Posted by StephenH

The difference is whether you can count perm riding towards RUSA distance awards such as K-Hound.
There were people doing 10,000k plus a year of RUSA rides that were exclusively perms.
What I've found from a practical standpoint in the rides is that if it's not a RUSA event, people are more inclined to do their own things, so you wind up riding around by yourself more.