kingston 

We're running the GLR 200k opener next weekend with flexible start and electronic proof-of-passage so everyone can just ride solo starting whenever and wherever they want along the route. We may end up doing the whole season that way.

EPOP is a big improvement IMO. I never liked stopping at controls and buying something when I didn't need to stop, I always thought info controls were sorta silly, and now we can route around busy roads if there's a better one that's not the shortest distance between two points.

unterhausen

yeah, the insistence on shortest route is a really big downside to randonneuring.

clasher

Are routes supposed to be designed with the shortest route in mind?

unterhausen

RUSA doesn't actually have a rule about this, but there is a note on the brevet application form that mentions being less than 1km longer than the shortest route between controls. And some of the people that review brevet applications have taken that as a rule. On permanents, there was an unofficial rule that any shortcuts had to be less than 10 percent of the distance between controls. I don't think the ACP takes that sort of thing quite so seriously.

If you told RUSA that your route was chosen because other routes were too dangerous, they would generally not rule against that. But I have been on a lot of routes that went on roads that obviously could have been bypassed and made for a much more pleasant ride.

Once we had electronic proof of passage on perms, I think the rules just went out the window. Which is nice. But they never fully got rid of them before perms were killed by lack of insurance.

clasher

Oh okay, RUSA perms aren't something I know a lot about but they sound complicated! I like the idea of the electronic p-o-p, but I like stopping at controls.

znomit

Controls provide a nice social aspect both with other riders and the general public so I wouldn't want to wholly replace them with EPOP. The shortest route between services here usually means state highways. The meandering backroads provide a much nicer riding experience.

unterhausen

It's true that controls are often a nice break. Some rides have too many though. I have heard of 200k routes with 17 controls. That's doing it wrong. To me, if there are more than 5 controls on a 200k, the designer should scrutinize their motivations.

RUSA's perm rules have gotten fairly complicated, but that is because they allow a lot of flexibility. If you don't have rules, it's just riding around. Which is fun, but not randonneuring. The really nice thing about ePoP from a route designer's perspective is you don't have to go out and scout info questions. That is always a burden. ePoP is not allowed on RUSA brevets, hopefully they change it. Now that people have had a taste of it, I don't see fully going back.

clasher

17 controls would quickly turn into a pub crawl with some riders I know... 2 or 3 is all I need on a 200. I wonder how ACP will change after all this...

kingston 

We had a GLR club zoom meeting on Monday night which was a first for us. Gave everyone a chance to ask questions and address concerns about what we are planning to do this season. In addition to our BYOS opener on Saturday, we announced the Imperials program and created a GLR Strava Club. We're still hoping to run the Iron Porcupine in August so we want to give people rides to stay in shape and connected while following social distancing regulations.

clasher

We'd talked about doing something like that for populaires in Ontario, but the provincial cycling association that provides our insurance cancelled any sanctioned event until July, so we aren't doing anything official until then. A few folks have been doing zwift rides together. There's no lockdown here that prohibits us from riding outside and spring has finally sprung so folks have been doing DIY 200s and the like.

I am hoping that the organizers of the Colorado High Country decide to postpone to 2021, even though it's going to make for a crowded calendar next year with 1200s.

I'm hoping we might be able to have some official brevets in September.

unterhausen

I'm impressed by people that are doing 200ks by themselves. I'm not sure I want to go into convenience stores right now. And all the rides I have interest in doing would kick my butt.

kingston 

I'm planning to carry 5.5 litres of water and enough food for the ride on the bike so I shouldn't have to stop at c-stores at all.

unterhausen

This time of year, I dont' drink that much so carrying all the water I need is doable. In less than a month, that's no longer going to be true, most likely.

clasher

I keep meaning to get out and do a diy 200 but I can't seem to get motivated... i think I might have burned myself out doing over a 1000km on zwift last month.

unterhausen

My mileage on TrainerRoad is pathetic, because I keep the bike in a low gear. Zwift wants you to mess up your trainer in a high gear.

One of my problems with a 200k is I am pretty sure people are driving too fast out in the boonies. I don't have any routes that really protect from that. Cyclist injuries are way up due to reckless driving. The one I really want to do is mostly on gravel, but it would be extremely tough without stops. It's bad enough even with stops.

clasher

Yeah, there's a lot stunt driving going on here too, sadly a 17 year old was ran down and killed last night and the driver fled the scene.

I am gonna give it a crack tomorrow anyway, I might just do a cloverleaf and come back home twice instead of worrying about carrying stuff.

unterhausen

That's a good point, I have 2 200k's (same basic route, one with less climbing) that go by my house at 75 or 85 miles, depending on which route I choose. I have another that goes by my house at about halfway.

kingston 

Our BYOS 200k was a big social distancing success with 19 riders. We'll keep running rides like this until the Illinois stay-at-home order is lifted, then we'll see. I was able to make it all the way around on 2 big bottles and a 2l camelback, so I didn't even need the extra 2l of water stashed in my bag.

Bent4life 

I was thinking about participating in the GLR 300K on 6/13. Are they going to allow us to access and start the route anywhere we like?? It currently passes within 5 miles of my house at about the 250K mark

kingston 

We won't know until closer to the ride date. If RUSA lifts the ride ban and both Illinois and Wisconsin lift the stay-at-home orders, we will probably run it more like a normal brevet with everyone starting and finishing at the same place with our new social distancing control procedures. If RUSA extends the ban or there are stay-at-home orders in place, we'll probably run it like the ride yesterday. Ride updates are posted on our website and the GLR FB page.

kingston 

We ended up running the club 200/300k rides last weekend with our social distancing procedures, so individual start times/locations, no controls and e-proof-of-passage. With the RUSA ride ban extended through June, we are looking at ways to safely run 400 & 600k club rides. I'm personally such a huge fan of not having to stop at gas stations every 30 miles, I wouldn't care if they extended the ban all summer.

clasher

I'd like to see some events happen this year but our insurance is through the provincial cycling association and they've banned all events until July, who knows if they will allow some stuff to happen if we can run it like an ITT and encourage social distancing at any controls, most of our controls are places that have never closed but we talked about using e-POP or photo controls as options for folks that don't want to stop. It's still all speculation at this point if there will be anything official. Some people are still doing DIY brevets and I'm finally getting motivated to get outside, I did a beauty of a ride, 135km and 1360m climbing and I managed to carry all my food and drank so I should be able to figure out a 200k since I can get curbside pickup for lunch if I plan the route properly.

kingston 

Our June/July 400 & 600k rides are now scheduled as club rides (non-RUSA sanctioned). The 400k routes are a 240k loop back to the start with a second 160k loop. The 600k adds a third 200k loop. This will allow riders to re-supply at the start/finish for a completely unsupported ride if that's what they want to do. Individual start times, no controls and e-proof-of-passage as usual.