Originally Posted by
unterhausen
RUSA has gone to some lengths to make it so riders without a gps can ride perms, which for most of us are electronic now. It is a bit frustrating that brevets don't have epop. Now that most brevets essentially have only info controls, it's not unusual to have a snipe hunt for the info required.
Otherwise I'm not sure why we have to go around and around on this subject. Navigation and proof of passage is always going to have a learning curve for new riders. It probably is best to consult with your RBA/organizer about their views on navigation before riding one of their routes. The RUSA perm rules now have overtaken the fleche as the most complicated way to ride your bike. It's a little more difficult to find someone to talk to about that, since it's all automated now.
It’s good people don’t have to use GPS. But, in at least some cases, organizers are putting less effort into tuning cuesheets than they used to.
Navigation and proof-of-passage are separate things. Given that brevets are training/qualifying rides for PBP, they are going to be run like PBP (as much as possible).
You might not be seeing EPOP because there is no standard way of handling it and the general distrust of technology.