How to... enter an advisory route DIY

1. Pay for the event by buying a virtual brevet.
   DIY organisers nominally have regional responsibilities, but you can choose to purchase cards from any Organiser – it doesn’t matter where you live or where you intend to ride. 
   Note that there is a discount for purchasing three at a time, but once purchased they are not interchangeable between organisers.
   
   
2. Decide on the distance you’d like to ride. 
   DIYs are validated at distances of 50km, 100km, 150km, 200km, and then at 100km intervals up to 1,000km or more. 
   
   
3. Next, plan your route, and define your controls. 
   Only the shortest ride-able distance between controls can be used towards your overall distance. 
   It may be that the shortest distance includes busy roads that you intend to avoid by taking a more scenic route however any extra distance ridden as a result cannot be included in your total. More on route planning here.
   
   Controls should be at intervals around the route of between 50 km and 80 km. Events of 100km or less should have at least one intermediate checkpoint in addition to the start/finish. If your route needs controls much more frequently than at 50km intervals to define it as an advisory route, then consider using the Mandatory Route DIY process 
   
   
4. Complete the entry form. Don't forget to give the list of controls and also a url for a Google walking route to show the minimum distance. You will need to choose a ride date but you can change it later. If in doubt set it well into the future as once it is in the past you can't modify it yourself.
   
   
5. If you want the organiser to check your route in advance, you’ll need to ask specifically for this and enter in plenty of time, at least two weeks before you plan to ride. If it’s a route you’ve ridden before or you are an experienced DIYer who is confident that your route meets the requirements then you can submit your entry much closer to the day. 
   
   
6. If you need to change your ride date, do this before setting off. You can modify it from your dashboard screen (Upcoming events section), or otherwise let the organiser know by email.
   
   

After your ride email the recorded GPS tracklog,  or send your proof of passage (receipts) to the organiser.  

If submitting traditional proof of passage:

• Shop or ATM receipts are preferred.
• Scanned images/photos of your receipts sent by email are usually acceptable - check with your organiser
• An organiser may accept a photograph that clearly shows the control if nothing else is available, but check in advance.

If submitting a GPS track:

• Links to ride logging sites such as Strava are NOT accepted. It must be an attachment.
• The usual file type is .gpx tracks. Some organisers can accept other file types, check first. 
• If there are several files you can combine them in a .zip file 
• If there are several tracks in your file – you do not need to join them up.
• If there is ‘stationary’ time at the beginning & end of your tracks you do not need to remove it (but please do remove any track segments or distance unrelated to your DIY ride) 
• There are elements in the tracklog file that AUK uses to help validate that the ride was completed:
  - on a bicycle, 
  - with a functioning GPS device to ensure route integrity, 
  - within time limits. 
  Processing the file in some software or websites can remove some of those elements and give the appearance of tracklog created by a computer.   
• AUK expects ‘raw data’ as far as possible.