Many AUK members ride to the start and/or from the finish of a Calendar Event. The ECE option allows them to add those extra kilometres to the official length of the Calendar Event to achieve an extended personal event, validated by AUK. 

So, if you live, say, 50km from the start of a 200km event, you can ride there and back, turning your 200km into a 300km event. Both events need to be validated to qualify as an ECE.

The regulations and process for planning ECE routes are similar to those for DIY events, except that the additional distance must scale the Calendar event up to a minimum distance of 200km and increase in multiples of 100km beyond that.

As with DIY Permanents, proof of passage can take the form of paper receipts or a GPS track, which could be for either an advisory or mandatory route.

ECEs are very flexible, so if you wanted to make your 200km Calendar into a 600km ECE by riding 100km to the start and 300km back from the finish, that would be fine. Or you could turn a 100km BP Calendar into a 200km BR, which would count towards a Randonneur Round the Year Award. It's up to you.

For ECEs of up to 699km, irrespective of the speed of the Calendar Event being embraced, the overall minimum speed for the two rides combined will be 14.3 km/h.  This doesn't give you any extra time on the Calendar Event, though. You still have to finish that within its own time limit.

The extended element of an ECE qualifies for championship points in the same way as Permanents, with 1 point awarded for every eligible 100km ridden. So, a 200km Calendar extended to 300km would earn the rider 2 Calendar points and 1 Perm point.

To set up an ECE ride, you'll need to enter the Calendar Events as normal and then enter an ECE Perm. More details here.

For a comprehensive set of FAQs click here.