Organisers' Handbook

The Audax UK calendar currently contains around 500 events across the UK per year, managed by a team of events delegates on behalf of the Events Secretary. These events take many forms, from bare-bones ‘X rated’ events, with few facilities and commercial controls (where the rider obtains a receipt or similar proof of passage) and perhaps post their completed brevet cards home afterwards; to fully catered events, with village halls for controls offering food and sleep facilities staffed by volunteers.
Organisers retire, events come and go, and there are many areas of the country where Audax UK is under- represented (currently much of Wales, Scotland and Northern England), so Audax UK welcomes new organisers and events.
Audax UK (AUK) organises few events itself. Instead, most Audax UK calendar events are organised by individuals, clubs and CTC Member Groups, who agree to run these events according to Audax UK regulations. These regulations are in turn based on ride rules formulated by Audax Club Parisien (ACP), which are used internationally by the member countries of Les Randonneurs Mondiaux (LRM).
As well as maintaining ride regulations, Audax UK also keeps records of riders who successfully complete Audax UK events. To encourage this, Audax UK maintains award schemes for completing series of successful rides.

If you’re new to organising Audax UK events, you should read this guide, and keep a copy for reference. This will give you plenty of information about how to plan and organise your event. You should also:

Read and familiarise yourself with Audax UK’s regulations, which can be found in the Regulations.
You have to complete an organiser's application form.

This also applies if you are an existing organiser wishing to upgrade to longer distances.

Audax UK events are essentially non-competitive cycling events run over set distances, usually multiples of 100km.

If you want to organise a Permanent Event you should contact the Permanents Secretary.

Organising requirements; organiser grades; mentors; organiser responsibilities; insurance for organisers, etc.

Note in relation to any income from your events (and elsewhere):-
It is your sole responsibility to determine which, if any, taxes apply to the payments you make or receive, and it is solely your responsibility and liability to assess, collect, report and remit the correct taxes to the appropriate authority.

To organise Audax UK events you need to be registered as an approved Audax UK organiser. To do this you will need to meet a few basic criteria:
• You must be over 18, resident in the UK and a member of Audax UK.
• You should be a member of AUK of at least a year's standing.
• Event details are entered and managed through the Audax UK Online Event Planner, so you will also need internet access to use this and e-mail to communicate with the Events Team.
• You should be familiar with all aspects of Audax UK calendar events of at least the distance you plan to organise. Ideally this will be through recent experience of riding at least two Audax UK calendar events of the relevant distance (or greater).
Audax UK also recommends that you have the backing of a local cycling club or Cycling UK (CTC) Member Group or another organisation to help with the organisation of your event.

Meeting these criteria does not guarantee that Audax UK will accept you as an organiser.
Audax UK at their discretion may consider your application even if you do not meet these criteria, for example if you are taking over an existing event with the backing of a good organising club, or if you have past experience of organising sports events.

Audax UK operates a grading scheme for organisers based on experience and length of events. There are currently 3 organising levels:
• Level 1: Calendar events up to and including 200km with experience of planning a route and controls.
• Level 2: Calendar events up to and including 600km.
• Level 3: Calendar events over 600km.
If you wish to organise an event above your current organiser grade you will need to follow the Upgrading Organisers process to upgrade to a higher grade.

To upgrade you must have successfully organised at your current grade for at least two consecutive seasons.

All new organisers and those upgrading to run a longer event at the next organising grade need a mentor.
Your mentor must be a current organiser who has experience of organising events at or above the organiser’s new
level for at least two consecutive seasons, and will be available to help and advise you:
• register your event in the on-line event planner;
• pick a good route and controls;
• carry out the risk assessment for your event;
• plan procedures at the start, finish and controls; and
• understand how the AUK system works.
You can suggest someone to be your mentor, or the Events Team will help you find someone to be your mentor if you prefer.

As ACP frequently says “brevets are not casual affairs”, and organisers have a duty of care (including certain legal responsibilities) to riders and helpers. By running an event you agree to:
• Comply with Audax UK rules and regulations, as published on the website
• Comply with the rules and procedures published in this Handbook
• Submit & register your events; results and validation fees promptly and in accordance with the required deadlines
• As an organiser you are acting as a representative of Audax UK so you must ensure your personal conduct and that of the event does not bring Audax UK into disrepute or cause reputational loss.

The Events Team regularly monitors the performance of organisers and may downgrade or revoke your organiser status in the event of poor performance.

Audax UK provides organisers with public and employer’s liability insurance through their AUK membership. This cover also extends to volunteers helping with your events. More details on AUK’s insurance policies and the cover provided are available from the Secretary or Events Secretary.

If you’re organising an event on behalf of a Cycling UK (CTC) member group you will also be covered by Cycling UK’s organiser’s insurance policy. You will however need to ensure that you follow the Cycling UK’s procedures for registration of organisers and cycling events – Audax UK does not do this on your behalf. Contact your local Cycling UK member group secretary for more information. The current Cycling UK policy provides different levels of cover for Cycling UK member groups and affiliate groups, you should seek advice on this from Cycling UK.

Before you can organise your first event, you will need to register as an organiser with Audax UK. This ensures that Audax UK has exercised reasonable care in accepting organisers. To register as an organiser:

If you wish to organise an event above your current organiser grade:

Register your proposed event(s) in the Event Planner as normal. You will be prompted, and your events delegate will be notified that you need to upgrade your organiser grade. You may continue planning your event whilst you carry out the upgrading process.
Download a copy of the New, Returning or Upgrading Organisers Application Form from the Organisers'
Documents page in the organisers' section of the AUK website. Complete and return the form as for a New Organiser.
Each time you organise an event for the first time at a higher grade you will need a mentor at that grade. Prospective Level 3 organisers should contact their regional delegate to find a suitable mentor.
If your application is accepted, your events delegate will upgrade your organiser grade to the required level. As with a new organiser, your new grade will be provisional until after your event has been run successfully.

Existing organisers who have missed more than 2 seasons without organising an event will need to re- register as a returning organiser before organising further events. The process is the same as for a new organiser.
Returning organisers also need a mentor. Whilst you may be experienced at organising an event, Audax UK’s systems and processes continue to evolve and your mentor will help guide you through any new or changed processes.

Distance & Types of Event; Audax Altitude Award; Overseas Calendar Events; Scheduling Your Event – Choosing a Date; Start & Finish Points; Facilities; Event Fees & Entries; Budgeting and setting your entry fee; entry restrictions; late entries and EOLs; online entries; Risk Assessment & Contingency Planning

The first decision to be taken for any event will be that of distance. Audax UK events cover all distances from 50km to 600km+
If you’re planning a new event, we recommend starting with a 200km event. You may use shorter Populaire events (50, 100 & 150km) as supporting events to encourage novices. Remember the aim is to encourage riders to go on to longer events through the Randonneur 500, 1000 and Super Randonneur series.
If you’re running a longer event (300km+), running a shorter event alongside can help cover your costs. This can work particularly well on 400s and 600s where the finish will be used on the second day so there are few extra costs involved.

Event Type	Description
Brevet Populaire (BP)	Audax UK sanctioned event of lesser distance and/or speed than the traditional BR. Distance: Can be any distance but most commonly used as shorter (<200km) supporting events. Speeds: At the organisers’ discretion. Minimum speed up to 15kph, maximum speed up to 30kph.
AUK Brevet de Randonneur (BR)	Audax UK sanctioned event equivalent to BRM standard but subject only to AUK regulations. Distance: Any distance over 200km Speeds: Minimum speed either 15kph or 14.3kph for events up to and including 600km. Lower speeds apply for longer distances. Maximum speed at the organisers’ discretion up to 30kph
ACP Brevet de Randonneur (BRM)	Audax UK and ACP sanctioned event. Subject to both AUK and ACP regulations. BRM events are also listed in the ACP international calendar. Distance: standard distances 200, 300, 400, 600 & 1000km. Routes should not be more than 5% over distance. Speeds: Minimum speed 15kph for events up to and including 600km; and 13 1/3kph for events of 1000km. Fixed maximum finishing times (200k 13h30; 300k 20h; 400k 27h; 600k 40h; 1000km 75h) – no extra time is allowed for over distance. Maximum speed at the organisers’ discretion up to 30kph.

The Audax Altitude Award (AAA) encourages participation in hilly events and offers a challenge to regular long distance riders and also to those who do not wish to ride the longest events but who enjoy hard riding.
If you’re planning a hilly event then it may be eligible for AAA points. More advice on calculating the amount of climbing on your route and claiming AAA points can be found on the Audax UK website or by contacting the AAA man.

The agreement with Audax Club Parisien that allows Audax UK an exclusive right to promote cycling randonnées à allure libre is valid only in the United Kingdom. Other countries have their own audax/randonneur organisations. AUK organisers are only registered to run events in the UK.

Having decided on the distance of your event(s) your next priority will be to decide on the date. When choosing a date you should bear in mind the following:

Audax UK requires that all events are published in the quarterly Arrivée magazine. BRM events additionally have to meet ACP’s publication schedule which normally requires events to be ready by 1st October in the year preceding the year you are organising the event. To meet the publication schedules and allow time for adequate organisation you should normally allow at least 8 months from first deciding to organise the event. New events will take longer, and major events might have even longer lead times.
Avoid clashes with established classic events and other nearby events in the Audax UK calendar. The Events Planner allows you to view dates of past events and many events follow the same schedule year after year. The Events Team can provide advice and are responsible for managing the calendar so you may be asked to move your event to another date if the one you initially select is not suitable
Other non-AUK cycling events such as sportives, reliability rides and charity events can all cause both
competition for entries and hazards on the road if you’re trying to share the same space at the same
time. Good places to check for other events include British Cycling (www.britishcycling.org.uk), Cyclosport (www.cyclosport.org), Cycling UK (http://www.cyclinguk.org/) and Cycling Weekly (www.cyclingweekly.co.uk)
Availability of suitable start/finish and/or control venues. Many village halls, schools etc. can be booked up well in advance.

Events such as car boot sales, football matches etc. or school or holiday traffic can have a significant influence on traffic volumes
You should look to decide on your date early, and once decided register your event in the Event Planner to
allow other organisers to see what you’re planning and avoid clashes.
Once you’ve decided on a date keep an eye on the planner to ensure that no other organisers inadvertently clash with your date. If a clash arises, you may need to negotiate with the other organiser and inform your events delegate of your actions. It is your responsibility to schedule your event to avoid clashes. The Events Team may decide not to publish clashing events unless you can show that you have reached an agreement with the other organiser(s).

Most events start on the outskirts of towns or, where facilities are available, in the countryside. This minimises the risk that your riders will have to cycle in heavy traffic. However, remember that a road that is busy during the day may be quiet when your riders are setting off or returning.
Here are a few suggestions of where to look for a base for your event.

Car park – basic events often start in a car park, ideally with a public toilet and shops nearby. For a very basic “X rated” event you could have an un-manned, postal finish where the rider collects a receipt from a local business and posts the card back to the organiser. Ensure your riders have full instructions for including all proofs of passage, signing their cards, and a postal address.
Your own home – convenient for long events with small fields and long finishing times
Village/church halls and other venues for hire – there are thousands of halls in the UK, and in some areas competition is fierce for business. This means you might find one to hire for as little as £80. However, weekends can be popular, so it pays to book as far in advance as possible.
Cafés or pubs – if you don’t want to cater yourself, or risk the outlay of hiring somewhere, then you might be able to bribe a local café to open early or close late for you. It’s usual but not mandatory to have the finish at the same point or very close to your start.

The base that you use for your event will determine what facilities you offer.

Car parking – Ensure entrants are forewarned if you have limited parking facilities at the start. Give clear instructions about where to park and where not to park.
Train station ‒ Let riders know if you have a nearby station, and check that your start time fits with the train timetable if possible.
Toilets – Access to toilets should be provided if possible. Check whether public loos are open before the start time.
Refreshments – It’s not vital to provide anything at the start, but more important at the finish. If catering yourself keep it simple, especially if you don’t have a food hygiene certificate. Remember to cater for vegetarian/vegan diets and to ask about food allergies.
Luggage – It's helpful to offer a left-luggage facility if possible.
Accommodation – if your event is 300km or longer, or in a remote part of the country you might want to consider offering accommodation for riders before and/or after the event to make an early morning start easier and encourage riders to rest before travelling home. Tell your riders if there are Travelodges or Premier Inns nearby.

CHILD PROTECTION: Please consult the Child Protection Policy (in appendix of this Handbook and also on the website) for guidance on sleeping facilities if you have any entrants under 18 years of age.

On events of 400km and over you may also want to consider providing sleeping facilities at one of your controls.
If you want to offer accommodation you will need to check with your hall trustees that they will allow this. You could ask riders to bring their own bedding.

Budgeting & Setting Your Entry Fee
Once the nature of your event and the facilities you will offer has been decided you will be able to prepare a budget and set an appropriate entry fee. Audax events should not be run to make a profit, but you will certainly want avoid making a loss. To calculate your entry fee you will need to consider the following expenditure:
• Audax UK registration, brevet card & validation charges.
• Hire of start/finish and control venues
• Catering at start/finish and/or controls
• Your own organiser’s expenses e.g. for route checking etc.
• Expenses for your helpers
• Printing route sheets etc.
• Donation to charity/club funds
Aim to set your entry fee to make a small surplus based on your expected number of entrants; and related to the costs of putting on your event and the facilities offered.
If you’re running your event to raise money for a charity make this clear in your event details and publicity.
If you’re providing facilities such as food and accommodation with your event you will have to choose whether to price these within your entry fee or not. An all-inclusive “no extras” will give you a higher entry fee, but frees up volunteers from having to collect money on the day; and also provides a measure of budgeting stability as all your money will be paid up front.
Whatever you do, make it clear to prospective entrants what they’re getting for the entry fee – an important part of rider satisfaction is perceived value for money and events with excessive entry fees will gain a bad reputation.

Entry Restrictions
Audax UK events are in principle open to all who wish to take part. However, you may wish to consider a maximum limit on the number of starters. This may be down to the limitations of your start/finish venue, car parking capacity, control venues, roads used on your route (especially early on) or simply the number of helpers you have available.
Don’t be afraid to set an entry limit if you can only handle a certain number of riders – having more riders than you can cope with will only lead to bad feelings with riders, your controls and quite likely the local residents too.
Any entry restrictions you choose to impose must be fair and transparent.

Late Entries & Entries on the Line (on the Day)
The traditional advice for Audax UK events was that entries should be received two weeks in advance of the event to allow you time to order Brevet cards and organise catering. But nowadays, with most entries being online, riders are increasingly entering events later, particularly for shorter events. It’s up to you to decide when your cut-off date for entries will be, but make it clear in your event details.
If you accept EOLs then you might need extra helpers and time at the start to process their entries. You may want to charge extra to cover postage and dissuade such entries (and a nice round amount saves having to rustle up change for the inevitable £20 note!). We strongly recommend that you discourage unknown riders entering on the line as such riders may not be adequately prepared and unaware of the risks involved; particularly if they are receiving the event details and route sheet at the start.
3.5.4 Online Entries
The traditional way of entering Audax UK events was by post, with an entry form, cheque and 2 SAEs. However nearly all organisers are now offering online entries. This makes it easier for both organiser and entrant.
Audax UK offers organisers an integrated online entry system, available to all entrants, whether Audax UK members or not. This system pays you directly and populates your Start/Finish List.
To use the AUK online entry system you’ll need your own PayPal or Stripe (a new system being rolled out during 2022) account to receive your entry fees. A Premier account is recommended (rather than a Personal account) so you can receive payments by credit & debit cards as well as Paypal balance transfers.
If you accept online entries this way, you’ll need to budget for postage for return of the rider’s Brevet card if you’re not doing instant validation at the finish, plus PayPal’s transaction processing fees.
There is an option for organisers to select whether they wish to accept postal and/or online entries. You obviously have to accept at least one form of entry so people can actually enter your event! Remember that some riders may only be prepared to enter using only online or postal so you may potentially be reducing the number of riders who enter your event.

Planning Your Route
What makes a good route; Timing; Basic route shapes.

Controls
Where to place controls – controlling for route integrity, rest & refreshment; types of controls – full controls, free controls, information controls & checkpoints

Verifying Your Route
Actual distance; route integrity & shortest distance; physical verification.

Getting Your Route Approved
Route approval process & guidelines; minor route changes.

Route Sheets
Writing your route sheet; checking your route sheet.

Planning Your Route
Whilst there are many factors which contribute to a great event, a good route is fundamental. Designing a route for an Audax event is not always easy and can be daunting at first as you have to balance sometimes conflicting demands.
There is no single magic formula that describes the ideal route, but the sections below give some guidelines to help you on your way.

It’s always good to plan an event in an area that you know well. Your local knowledge will help you decide which roads are best to cycle along, and when they are likely to be quiet. You’ll also know where the best views are.
If you’re starting out, keep things simple. Start with an “out and back” or “circuit”
Plan your route with potential control locations in mind from the outset. Designing a route and then attempting to fit controls to it afterwards rarely works well.

What Makes a Good Route?
Audax routes need to meet a number of requirements, some of which are more important than others. The ideal route would meet all of these requirements, but in most parts of the UK you will have to make compromises e.g. Easy navigation and good road surfaces are often sacrificed to avoid traffic.
MANDATORY REQUIREMENTS: YOUR ROUTE MUST

Comply with Audax UK rules on distance and controls (see “Getting your Route Approved”).

PRIMARY REQUIREMENTS: YOUR ROUTE SHOULD

Have low traffic volumes.
Taking into account the time of day, for example start a midweek 100 at 10am to avoid the rush hour; consider overnight traffic volumes on otherwise busy roads – they may be deserted and suitable for night riding.
Be easy to navigate.
The challenge of the event should be in completing the distance; it is not supposed to be an orienteering exercise.

YOUR ROUTE MAY

Take in particular points of interest or attractive scenery (But an intricate route with many controls will need a rethink)
Have good road surfaces (unless it’s Off-Road/Rough Stuff)
Use good cafes, pubs etc. for controls
Include a bit of a challenge e.g. a challenging climb, or a distant destination

Timing
“When” riders will be riding your route is often as important as “where” it goes in the first place, and by considering the day and time of day you can often meet more of the above requirements without actually changing where your route goes.
In considering the timing of your event, remember that Audax UK events may be ridden by riders of widely varying abilities. Particularly with long events this means that riders will be riding the same section of the route at varying times.

Your route should not disadvantage either faster or slower riders (e.g. through forcing slower riders to negotiate heavy traffic which a faster rider would avoid or limiting control options). If in doubt plan for the slowest riders – they are invariably the ones who require the most support.

Basic Route Shapes
The essential points to remember are that the route between any two controls should be the shortest practical distance; the route should be simple enough that riders do not lose any significant time navigating; the overall distance should be close to the nominal distance. A favourite club-run may not be an ideal AUK route.
Audax Club Parisien advises that linear routes are preferred because they minimise the temptation to pack early. However, the UK is smaller and more densely populated than France, with busier roads, so AUK will tolerate multiple loops on longer events and other compromises.

OUT-AND-BACK:

The out-and-back is the classic audax route, riding to a distant destination via one or more intermediate controls and returning by the same route. Many classic events are simple out and back rides including Paris-Brest-Paris and London-Edinburgh-London.

PROS:

Out-and-back routes are the simplest to design and control
They allow you to use the same control points for both directions, minimizing the number of controls (and potentially volunteers) you might need
They get the riders the maximum distance away from the start, possibly into remote areas far from their familiar riding grounds.
Discourages shortcutting to find a quick way home

CONS:

Some riders perceive these as being less “interesting”.

CIRCUIT:

The circuit travels in a single loop, calling at each intermediate control once before heading back to base. The majority of audax routes today are like this, and there are a host of different variations on the theme, from elongated circuits to triangular, rectangular and circular routes.

PROS:

Allows more freedom to pick a scenic route.
Offers riders new scenery throughout.
Depending on terrain and the road network, an elongated circuit, triangular or rectangular route may not require many more controls than the out-and-back

CONS:

As routes become more complex additional controls are required. On any route if too many controls are required then a re-think is necessary.

LOOPS

combines two or three circuits and/or out-and-backs (each finishing back at base) into a single event. Such routes can be popular on longer events (e.g. a 600 run as 400 + 200 loops), but should be avoided for shorter events. You must not repeat any significant part of a route during an event.

PROS:

Allows organisers to concentrate resources in a single control.
Novice riders are re-assured that they are never very far from the start, and can short-cut back to the start if they have any problems.
On longer rides, riders have access to change of clothes or equipment part way through the ride

CONS:

Routes of this type might require more controls. If too many controls are required then a re-think is necessary.
Encourages riders to pack each time they return to the start/finish. Rides of this type tend to have higher than average non-finishing rates.
Riders never get very far from the starting point and are likely to be riding on familiar roads the whole time (of course this could also be seen as an advantage by some!)

POINT-TO-POINT

offers the chance to cover the most territory but they can be logistically challenging both for riders and organisers. One way to organise such an event is to start and/or finish near train stations so as to facilitate travel to or from the start point.

Another way to mitigate the logistical challenge might be to organise two back-to-back events or a relay (a chain of multiple events).

Alternative Routes
All riders should essentially be "riding the same event" but in certain situations you may provide alternatives to parts of your route:

In response to foreseeable conditions which may be unlikely but could occur on a given running of your event. (e.g. road closure for a weather related reason, or to avoid a restriction which may be difficult or impossible for non-standard machines)
Where the alternative does not penalize riders arriving at a certain time. (i.e. neither faster nor slower riders must be forced to wait or ride further)

Controls
Audax events use controls to prove that riders stay on route and have successfully completed the event. The following sections provide guidelines for determining the location and type of controls to use for your routes.

Where to Place Controls
There are two factors determining how many controls you will need and where to place them:-
CONTROLLING FOR ROUTE INTEGRITY
he primary placement of controls should be to ensure the distance ridden is of the standard distance being validated by Audax UK (e.g. 200, 300km etc.) preventing any material shortcuts.
CONTROLLING FOR REST & REFRESHMENT
Where possible there should be food and refreshment available at or near a control. This becomes more important on longer events. If this is not possible then riders should be warned in advance to carry supplies.
The availability of suitable controls may well influence the design of your route.
Checkpoints and information controls are simple controls for distance only. For instance you might wish to create a dog-leg to keep riders off a busy main road. Keep information control answers simple and easily seen, but preferably not visible on Google Street-view.

Design your route so that it does not require too many controls. Convoluted routes which require excessive numbers of controls are inherently unsuited to Audax events. The table below gives a guide to how many controls to aim for (plus the start and finish).

Distance	Distance between full controls	No of full controls	Total no of controls
100)	30-50km	1-3	1-6
200	40-70km	2-4	2-8
300	50-75km	3-6	3-10
400	50-80km	4-8	4-12
600	50-100km	7-12	7-15

If you want to claim AAA points then you may need additional information controls or checkpoints in addition to the numbers above to guarantee the amount of climbing. However, if too many controls are required then a rethink is required.
Conversely you should also beware of having too great a distance between controls. Audax UK’s standard Risk Assessment is based on full controls being placed at intervals of approximately 50 – 100km. Shorter events are likely to have more closely spaced controls; longer events will generally have greater distances between controls. If you have controls spaced further apart than this you will need to consider this when completing your Risk Assessment.

Types of Controls
FULL CONTROLS,br />Have food, drink, shelter and toilets available to allow riders to rest, eat, drink and have their card stamped, timed and signed. At the most basic, this will be a garage or shop. Some larger events hire village halls and cater for riders themselves. Most commonly though controls are in cafés or pubs.
Most controls will specify a particular address, but you may also allow riders to choose their own control facility within the specified town (known as a free control). This allows the rider to eat at a cafe, grab a snack from a convenience store or simply collect an ATM receipt and move on according to their preference. This can also be useful where the control opening and closing times are not conducive to a single business being open and available for the full duration. Where you use free controls you should suggest possible control facilities on your route sheet.

INFORMATION CONTROLS:
Are unstaffed points that you can use to control the route. Use them sparingly. You cannot use information controls on any section of the route that is traversed more than once (e.g. on an out-and-back route section). Questions should be easy to answer, but preferably not visible on Google Street-view. Some organisers use coloured tape on lamp-posts or numbers in phonebox windows. The question should be on the brevet card but not on the routesheet.
If you run your event annually, then you will need to change any information control questions each time. You cannot use the same question two years in a row.

CHECKPOINTS:
Are simple outdoor controls either staffed by a volunteer or two, generally in a lay-by or anywhere where it is safe to stop.

SECRET CONTROLS:
Are like checkpoints but their location/distance is not listed on the brevet card. These may be used on mandatory route events to ensure riders are following the prescribed route. The number of secret controls and their location is entirely up to the organiser but you should not tell the riders before the event. Stating that there may or may not be secret controls on the event will persuade most riders to follow the entire mandated route. Telling riders a false number of secret controls may cause them to backtrack looking for a non-existent control and should not be done.

Route Integrity & Shortest Distance
Having established your “on the road” distance, you need to ensure that your controls are correctly placed
to guarantee the distance ridden and prevent any material shortcuts. The shortest distance between your controls should be at least the nominal distance (e.g. a 200km event should be at least 200km), although a small tolerance is allowed (see “Getting your Route Approved”).

A visual check of your route marked up on a map will show up any obvious shortcuts, Google Maps (set to “walking” mode) is a reasonable way to check for the shortest route, but will need examining for any unrideable sections and other things such as vehicular one-way systems.

Do NOT use Google Maps set to “driving” modes as this will produce routes using major roads suitable for car drivers. Similarily, don’t be tempted to use “cycling” mode as this can produce some very convoluted variations.
By comparison of your shortest distance and the “on the road” distance you should be able to identify if there are any material shortcuts, and where they occur. You can then fine tune the location of your checkpoints and/or information controls to minimize any shortcuts – sometimes even small changes in locations can produce significant changes in your shortest distance.
You should aim to get the shortest distance between controls as near to the nominal distance as possible. A discretionary tolerance is permitted, to take into account inaccuracies in calculating the shortest distance (there’s no available method which will produce a definitive answer), and also to accommodate a degree of flexibility in route planning without requiring too many controls.

Physical Verification
Planning your route on a computer doesn’t tell you anything about road surfaces, ease of navigation or traffic conditions (although facilities such as Google StreetView mean that the level of detail available from your armchair is increasing all the time). If there’s a section of your route that hasn’t been recorded by Google StreetView there’s a strong chance it may be a track or path unsuitable for cycling. The best way to do that is to get out and check your route on the ground. You can do this either by car or by bike (the best choice as roads can appear surprisingly different on a bike).
You should take care to ride the route during the same time of day and day of week (and in some cases the same season) as your event. This will allow you to judge traffic conditions, which may vary greatly.
Riding the route will highlight any issues that may not be apparent from maps. For example you may find that your planned route has a section of poor road surfaces; or is difficult to navigate because of a lack of signposts; or acts as a rat-run for rush hour or holiday traffic. It will also highlight any hazards which you will need to take account of when preparing your Risk Assessment.

This is a good chance to try alternative routes, to see what works best. Take your time with this, and don’t
get wedded to a route too early.

Getting Your Route Approved
Audax UK requires that all routes are approved whenever a new event or route is planned, or if major revisions are made to an existing route. The Events Team may also re-validate a route if minor changes have been made over a number of years.

Route Approval Process & Guidelines
STEP 1: ENTER YOUR CONTROLS
Enter your control locations into the Online Event Planner. At this stage you don’t need to identify actual questions for any information controls, just their locations. You need to provide enough information for all controls to enable your events delegate to identify the control location on a map (e.g. the name of a town or village or, if required, a grid reference coordinates number).

E-mail your events delegate when you’re ready to request that your route be checked. You will also need to supply your actual route with the controls clearly marked. A gpx file is the best way to do this.
You should submit your route to be approved at least 3 months before your event publishing deadline to allow time for any issues to be ironed out.
STEP 2: CHECK ROUTE
Your events delegate will check your route against the following criteria:

The route is of a suitable design (i.e., not repeated passes over a single loop).
The route is of sufficient length.
If your event is to be BRM validated, the route is not more than 5% over the nominal distance.
There are a suitable number of controls, correctly spaced.
The controls are located to ensure route integrity and there are no material shortcuts

NOTE: The Events Team does not certify that the route is safe or actually passable for cyclists; or that it is pleasant to ride. These are unfeasible to evaluate without local knowledge or detailed information. When any of these issues are apparent, the Events Team may raise them with the organiser, but it is the responsibility of the organiser to design a safe, passable, appropriate route.
If your events delegate is unable to adequately check your route solely using your control locations as entered in the Online Event Planner, then they may ask you for more detail on your route:

Exact locations of controls (Postcodes, Lat/Long and/or OS Grid References)
Any additional notes on any apparent route integrity issues, explaining why additional controls aren’t required.

STEP 3: APPROVE / REJECT ROUTE
Your events delegate will approve or reject your route. If your route is marginal on any of the criteria then a consensus decision will be made with the rest of the Events Team. The Event Secretary’s decision is final in any such cases.
If your route is rejected, your events delegate will let you know where the problems are and why it is unsuitable, but they are NOT responsible for suggesting solutions – that is the responsibility of the organiser (and their mentor if appropriate).

3.5.2 Minor Route Changes
Once approved, you may make minor changes to the route without the need for further approvals.
EXAMPLES

Moving a start/finish point or intermediate control to a nearby location (within 5km of the original point is reasonable)
Re-routing for new road construction, changes to one-way systems etc.
Re-routing to avoid temporary obstacles (e.g. closed bridges, roadworks or other road closures), so long as route integrity is not affected</li

Minor changes may add up to significant changes over the course of several years and the Events Team may re-validate your route if successive minor changes have been made over a number of years.

Writing Your Route Sheet
When you have created a likely looking route, you’ll need to draft your route sheet. These days you can usually get a pretty good first draft using online mapping services without even leaving your armchair:

Plot your route on Google Maps (or another online mapping service – most use Google as their underlying mapping service). This will give you a basic cue sheet of directions. These won’t always correspond to actual junctions on the ground, so…
By switching to satellite view and zooming in; or using Streetview you can identify junction priorities and signage to construct your draft route sheet.

At some point you do need to go and check your route out on the road – signposts get removed (and added) and road priorities changed over time, plus you’ll pick up on other useful directional clues by being there which aren’t always obvious online. Make sure you carry a pen and paper, a camera and an odometer. A GPS unit is useful, so take it if you have one and record your route.
As you ride the route, stop at each junction, and write down the instructions that would allow the riders to know where to go. Make a note as well of the distance since the last instruction. It may be worth taking a photo of the junction, so you can check your notes when you get home.
There is no approved way to write a route sheet. Some people like symbols, others prefer letters. For example, if you want people to turn left at a T junction, onto the B1023, and sign at the junction says ‘Bangor’, then you may write either: L@T (sp Bangor) B1023 or: ﬢ B1023 BANGOR
It’s up to you how you go about it, but here are a few tips.

Use a sans-serif font, (i.e. one that has no ‘feet’); and a large font size. Arial 11 or 12 point is a good choice.
Use black type on a white background. Don’t use grey to highlight different lines, as some people
find this difficult to read.
Keep it simple and don’t add too much information. Distance to each instruction and perhaps total distance are useful additions.
If you have to use a busy junction or a road in very poor condition, you may wish to mark it on your route sheet or give a verbal warning at the start.
Remember to acknowledge that your event is being run under Audax UK regulations. A copy of the Audax UK logo is available to use from the organisers' page.
Print your route sheet on a laser jet printer or photocopier if possible. Most ink jet printer inks will
run when they get wet.
Increasingly, you will send most or all of your routesheets to riders via email or uploaded via the AUK website. You should make sure you’ve saved your routesheet in a suitable format that can be viewed by all riders, irrespective of the device or operating system they’re using. PDF is a universal format useable by all but it’s generally uneditable by the recipient without specific software.
You might want to also consider making your routesheet available in an Open Document Format as some riders like to change the size of the font, colours, etc. to their own preferences.

Checking Your Route Sheet
When you’ve written your route sheet, check it by riding the route. Better still get somebody else to check it for you, as it’s hard not to ride a familiar route on autopilot.
Finally, check the route one last time, as close to the day of the event as possible. Roadworks can appear without warning (although local authorities will often announce road / bridge works in advance in local media and on the internet), and in the summer it’s common to find that foliage has grown over a sign that was clearly on view a few months earlier.

Route Sheet Format & Distribution
When you’ve finalised the text of your route sheet give some consideration to how it will be formatted and distributed. If you only send out route sheets by post then any software package that you are comfortable can be used. Many riders like to use route sheets of an A6 format (an A4 sheet folded into quarters) so stick with that if you can.
If you are sending route sheets electronically then you should make it available in PDF format, and again an A4 sheet divided into quarters is appreciated by many riders. Most office software will save (or 'export') its output as a PDF these days, so there is no need to purchase any special software for this.
Some riders prefer to re-format and re-print just about any format, sometimes colour coding, or making the font larger for better legibility. Consider offering your routesheet in Word or Excel format as well as PDF to ease the task of re-formatting.

Route Distribution for GPS Units
Organisers usually offer some form of file suitable to download directly onto a rider’s GPS unit.
If you decide to provide a GPS file to your riders it should:

Be in the universally accepted GPS EXchange Format (.gpx file)
Contain a GPS track (not a GPS ‘route’).
Pass through all the controls.
Follow exactly the same route as the instructions in your route sheet.

Whilst the above are the ‘golden rules’ there are other ways in which you can make your file useful to, and useable by, the greatest number of riders.

Add ‘waypoints’ to the file to indicate the location of your controls.
Each .gpx file should contain only a single track (some popular GPS units cannot cope with multiple tracks in the same file)
Downsample the track to a maximum of 500 trackpoints for each 100km
For longer events, you might wish to split the track into two or more tracks, but place each track in a separate file.
You can create your GPS track by recording your check ride and then downsampling it, however it is usually a better option to use an online mapping service such as Komoot or RideWithGPS. Giving your riders a link to your track hosted online at one of these allows them to tailor it to their own devices.

Getting Your Event Published - When does my event need to be ready?
How to get your event published
Alterations to Your Event
Cancellations

5.1 Getting Your Event Published

5.1.1 When Does My Event Need To Be Ready?
All Audax UK events need to be published in at least one edition of Arrivée before they happen. Check your latest Arrivée for the copy deadline for the subsequent edition. Your event should be set to 'published' in the online events list before the Arrivée deadline.

There is an additional deadline if you want to register an event with ACP as a Brevet de Randonneur Mondiaux (BRM). BRM events must be ready for publication by the end of September the previous year This deadline is set by ACP.

5.1.2 How to Get Your Event Published
To get your event published you need to do the following:

STEP 1: ADD YOUR EVENT TO THE EVENT PLANNER
If you’re a first time organiser your events delegate will have created an outline for your first event.
Otherwise you’ll need to add it to the planner yourself. Go to the Event Planner and either:
• To repeat a previous event, go to the Main Edit Page for that event and use the ‘Duplicate This Event’
link. This will create a copy of the existing event. Or
• To set up a brand new event, use the ‘Add New Event’ link in the sidebar You can then enter the basic details for your proposed event.
You should add your event to the Event Planner as early as you can. Adding your event lets other organisers
see what you’re proposing for the next season and plan their events to avoid clashes.
Note that you must supply a date for your event – if you’re uncertain of the date enter a possible date and use the Organisers Notes to leave a message to say that the date is provisional, with any alternative dates you may have in mind.

STEP 2: GET YOUR ROUTE APPROVED
If you’re organising a new event, or making significant changes to the route of an existing one you’ll have to get your new route approved by the Events Team to ensure that it meets the necessary standards for AUK events. For more details see “Getting your Route Approved”.If you’re simply repeating a previous event using the same route then you don’t need to get your route re- approved every time you run the event.
When you’ve entered your basic event details and have an approved route your events delegate will assign a final event number to your event in the planner.

STEP 3: PLAN YOUR EVENT
If you’ve not already done so you can now complete the remainder of your events details:
• All information control questions. If you’re repeating a previous event you’ll need to supply fresh questions;
• All contact information.
• Risk Assessment. You must actively review and update your Risk Assessment every time you run your event, taking into account any incident that has happened in a previous year.
Your events delegate will let you know what needs completing using the Organisers Notes section.
When you’ve entered all the necessary details your events delegate will update the status of your event to
“Planning”

STEP 4: REGISTER YOUR EVENT
To pay the registration fee, simply click on the “Register” link in the Event Planner and follow the on screen instructions. You can either pay online using a credit or debit card or PayPal account; or you can pay by cheque through the post.
You can pay the registration fee at any time after your final event number has been assigned. But you should note that fees are non-refundable so it’s not a good idea to pay too early.
When you’ve paid the registration fee your events delegate will update the status of your event to “Planned”.
If all your other event details are complete at this stage then it will soon move to the published stage.

5.2 Alterations to Your Event
Once your event is published it will be ‘locked’ and the majority of details can no longer be edited by you.
Despite all your planning however, things can go wrong and you may need to make changes to your event. If you need to make changes after your event has been published get in touch with your events delegate. They can unlock the event to enable you to make changes.

CHANGE OF DATE, START POINT OR OTHER CALENDAR INFORMATION - Try to avoid making changes to published calendar information unless absolutely necessary. Changes of date in particular need to be advertised in Arrivée in time for members to be made aware of the alteration and are therefore subject to the same deadlines as publishing a new event. You may also have to offer refunds to any riders who can’t make a new date.

CHANGE OF ROUTE – You may be let down by establishments on whom you’re relying for controls. Your first option would be to find a replacement in the same or a nearby location. If necessary use a free control and allow riders a choice of control.
If there are no alternatives in the immediate area then you may need to either replace your control with an
information control or checkpoint, or revise your route to use a new control venue.
You may need to make last minute changes to your route to accommodate road closures due to road works; events such as carnivals, fetes etc.; or flooding. You may do these without further approval from your events delegate as long as the integrity of the route isn’t affected. If your changes add distance then remember to get in touch with your events delegate so the control distances (and opening/closing times) on the brevet cards can be updated. In extreme cases you may need to make significant revisions to the route requiring a change to, or additional controls.

5.3 Cancellations
You should try to avoid cancelling your event wherever possible. If you have booked an expensive hall but only received 5 entries, cancel the hall and make alternative arrangements for your 5 riders. Always consult your events delegate before cancelling your event.

5.3.1 Weather Related Cancellations
As an Organiser you have a Duty of Care to take “reasonable measures” to ensure the safety of your event, for both participants and volunteers. Plan ahead for adverse weather conditions - whilst you can’t control the weather there are plenty of things you can do to maximise the ability to run the event.
There will be rare occasions when the conditions dictate that it simply is not possibly to hold your event safely (e.g. Met Office Red weather warnings) either for the riders, yourself or your helpers.
Riders have THEIR responsibility to assess the conditions and decide for themselves whether or not to ride (they should not assume that conditions are safe because you haven’t cancelled the event). But this does not mean that you are absolved of your responsibilities, so in extreme weather circumstances you may have to make a decision whether to go ahead with the event or not at short notice.
Audax UK policy is to try to avoid unnecessary cancellations. But if you do decide that you cannot hold your event because of weather conditions, you can agree with the Events Team to run your event as a “Weather Cancelled Event” – this allows you to re-run the event for the original participants within 30 days of the original date. Within this period you can choose whether to allow riders to ride at a time of their own choosing (permanent style), or to arrange your own re-scheduled date (or a combination) – different options will suit different events. You should contact the Events Secretary for more details.

5.4 Risk Assessment
Before Audax UK will publish your event you must complete the Risk Assessment section of your online event information. This is evidence that you have taken proper care in the organisation of your event and, if there should be an incident involving injury or damage the Risk Assessment may be requested by Audax UK’s insurers.
A risk assessment lists the different hazards that people might encounter whilst taking part in your event.

People assess risk all the time in everyday life. E.g. Every time you cross the road, you assess the risk of being hit by a car, and make your decision about when and where to cross based on minimising this risk.

When you are organising activities with your group, you will also already be assessing risk in a common sense
way, even if you’re not aware that you’re doing it.

A formal risk assessment is a recorded account of the risks associated with your event and the steps you have taken to reduce them to an acceptable level.

Risk assessment is about achieving a balance between a reasonable level of risk, and being able to get on with organising your event. Remember, no activity is completely free from risk, and doing a risk assessment is not about making your activities risk free.
Instead of trying to make your activities risk free, think about measures you can put in place to reduce risk. If you think something is particularly dangerous, and you are worried that someone will get hurt, think about what you change to make it less dangerous.
Think back to the earlier example about crossing the road. Crossing the road will never be completely risk free, but this doesn’t mean you decide never to do it. Instead, you do your best to minimise the risk, by looking and listening to see whether any traffic is coming, and crossing when there is space to do so. If you decide that the risk is too high because the traffic is moving too fast and you are likely to get hurt if you walk into the road, you are unlikely to just give up and turn back. Instead, you might decide to change your plans slightly, for example by walking to a pedestrian crossing. This way, you can do the thing you want to do (get to the other side of the road), but more safely than if you had not thought at all about the risk involved.

Why write it down?
Writing your decisions down demonstrates that you have exercised your duty of care to your riders, helpers and others. It can provide a template for others in your team - especially important for larger events. In the event of an insurance claim your risk assessment may be a critical document for determining liability.

What if something happens that we hadn’t thought of?
With the best will in the world, you cannot predict everything that might happen. Even if you have a written risk assessment, you must continue to make common sense judgments about danger and hazards as your event goes on. Update your risk assessment as necessary, and in any case review it regularly. AUK insists on you reviewing your risk assessment for each rerun of your event.

How to conduct a risk assessment
You need to think through each element of your event. Think about what could go wrong, and what you are going to do to avoid this. Then write down your decisions, and the reasons you have made them. Make sure you include things that you have already planned to do (e.g. if you are already planning to warn riders about a dangerous section of road, you should still include this in the risk assessment).

AUK provides a basic standard risk assessment. This covers risks that are common to any audax event. It is designed for you to complete it with risks that you have identified as particular to your event.

The introduction to the risk assessment says -
The vast majority of AUK events take place on public highways. As such the relevant authorities are responsible for safety and maintenance and it is reasonable to assume that roads are fit for purpose when used with normal care and attention. Riders are reminded when they enter an event that they are bound by the rules of the road.

The Organisers' handbook gives advice on suitable routes including advice to avoid any substantial sections of busy major roads. You should read the handbook thoroughly before planning your route.

However, you might need to assess the impact that factors special to long-distance cycling might have on the safety of your riders. These could include tiredness and lack of food or drink, particularly on longer events. Mitigations may include information/warning to prospective riders that your X-rated event has few facilities laid on, and perhaps having a supply of water at the start. If you are providing facilities such as food or sleeping stops, these count as mitigations.

You cannot eliminate all danger. There are elements of risk inherent in our events. However, you must exercise a duty of care in ensuring to the best of your ability that your riders are fully aware of the nature of the event they are riding, and that it conforms to their reasonable expectations.

NON-RIDING HAZARDS
em>Hired halls and other premises such as private residences used as controls should be checked for general suitability (e.g., slip & trip hazards). Hazards associated with catering are covered elsewhere in the handbook.

List the hazard you have identified in the left-hand box. List the mitigations you have introduced to reduce the risk in the right-hand box (mitigation may be advice to riders, alteration to route, or perhaps marshals to direct riders at busy starts, etc.)

Completing the risk assessment is mandatory. We will not publish your event in the calendar until you have completed your risk assessment.

5.1 Publicity
There are a few events in the Audax UK calendar that attract hundreds of entries, simply because they have a certain cachet, such the Bryan Chapman Memorial. For other events, including yours, a bit of publicity can not only drum up entries for your event, it could also introduce new riders to audax cycling in general.

5.1.1 Publicity Within Audax UK
ARRIVÉE: Arrivée is Audax UK’s magazine, published quarterly and posted to all of its members. Your event, when published, is included in the magazine’s calendar of events. However there are other ways to make your event better known to Audax UK members:
• Any organiser can ask for a free advert in Arrivée. You don’t need to design anything; simply write down the copy you want to include in your advert, and email it to the magazine editor for the edition that is published before your event. You can find out the details of the editors on the Audax UK website or in each issue of the magazine.
• Many organisers take photos of riders at their events, and submit them to Arrivée. If these are published, they usually include details of the event.
• If you can persuade a rider to write a ride report, ask them to send it in. If you plan to run the event again, ask them to send it a few months later, so it’s published just before you run the event next year.
AUDAX UK WEBSITE: All events validated by Audax UK are listed on its website, which is widely used by riders planning their audax cycling. There’s a lot you can do to persuade riders to pick your event over somebody else’s.
• Add lots of extra information. If your ride is called “Midland 200” and starts in Uttoxeter, then it gives potential riders very little to go on. Is it a hilly ride? Does it stop anywhere pretty? Are there any nice cakes served at the end? Use the extra information panels to sell your event.
• Add a route sheet and GPS track of your ride. A lot of riders like to see exactly where events go. You can also add a map which a lot of riders find really helpful.
• Link to your own website. See below for more details about your own website.
AUDAX UK FORUM: The AUK forum is another good place to publicize your event to members. If you link to a ride report of a previous edition potential riders will get a good idea of what to expect. Include pictures, outlines of the route, and any special features of your event. A bit of humour is often expected in Internet forums.

5.1.2 Local Clubs and Shops
Audax UK has only about 8,000 members, so unless you look wider, you’re not going to have many people to persuade to try your event. It’s a good idea to try and attract other local cyclists, especially if you a running an event that’s shorter than 200km. Try these ideas:
• Produce some homemade leaflets and posters, and ask your local bike shops to display them.

• Post leaflets to your local cycling clubs, and ask them to distribute them, perhaps at club runs.
• Ask your local club, or other nearby clubs, to include details in their club magazine or newsletter.
• If your local clubs have their own internet forums, then post details of your event.
• If you ride with your local club, then bend ears on club runs!

5.1.3 The Internet
BUILDING YOUR OWN WEBSITE – If you know what you’re doing, then building a website for your event can really help to drum up business. You have a lot more control over the look of the web pages, and you can include a lot of information that you couldn’t on the Audax UK website, such as photos.
TOP TIP! If you are new to website design, then WordPress is an excellent tool to help you produce a professional-looking website very quickly. For more information, go to www.wordpress.com.

You can also ask people to enter directly from your website, either by linking it to the Audax UK website listing for your event.
INTERNET FORUMS - Many audax riders are members of a least one cycling forum. These can be useful to publicise your event, particularly if you can get a few regular contributors to ride your event. Often, the ‘buzz’ caused by the contributors can snowball, resulting in more entries for your event. The forums that are popular with audax riders include:
• YACF – www.yacf.co.uk
• Cyclechat – www.cyclechat.co.uk
• BikeRadar – www.bikeradar.com

FACEBOOOK AND TWITTER – If you have a Facebook account, you can set up a group or page about your event in moments. This can be a good way to get people talking about your event. You can attract more people to your group via other clubs and association’s Facebook groups, but take care not to be seen to be spamming.
Audax UK also has its own Facebook group www.facebook.com/groups/audaxuk/ which has over 18,000 members and a Twitter account twitter.com/AudaxUK

A lot of events make their own Facebook pages to promote their events and act as a news source and social focal point for riders.
CTC & OTHER WEBSITE LISTINGS – There are a number of other websites where you can list your event. These listings are usually free. They include:
Cyclosport – www.cyclosport.org
British Cycling – www.britishcycling.org.uk

If you organise on behalf of a CTC member group, your event will normally appear on the CTC web site under ‘Events’ (www.cyclinguk.org/event-listing),
5.1.4 Local and National Press
LOCAL PRESS - Local newspapers seem particularly keen on cycling adventures. Most people find the idea of cycling 200km extraordinary. Take advantage of this, and turn your even into a local story.
NATIONAL CYCLING PRESS – cycling magazines often carry listings of events taking place over the next few months. They also usually print a calendar of events at the beginning of the year. Inclusion in these listings is often at the whim of the relevant editor, so you may need to do a bit of ringing around to speak to the right person. You may be able to get them to write an article about your event by offeringa free entry, but beware you won’t have any control of what they publish!
In all publicity and press releases, please mention Audax UK. If you’re asked for some more details about
Audax UK, then the following facts may be useful:
• Formed in 1976 to provide qualifying rides in the UK for the Paris-Brest-Paris 1200km event run every four years by Audax Club Parisien.
• AUK is one of the largest long-distance cycling associations in the world with over 8000 members in the UK and worldwide.
• In 2022 over 700 AUK events will take place in the UK. They range from 50km to 1200km.
• Audax events are run to maximum and minimum time limits, with control points along the route. They are measured in kilometres. The standard distances are 200, 300, 400, and 600km, but others are offered, including shorter, often hilly, events.
• Audax UK produces a glossy A4 magazine quarterly.
• The Audax UK website is one of the largest devoted to cycling: www.audax.uk
• The club is a founder member of Les Randonneurs Mondiaux, the international long distance cycling organisation.

6.2 Helpers
Plenty of great audax events are run single-handed, however, having people to help takes a lot of pressure off you. It also minimises the risk of the event falling through, if you are unable to be there on the day.

6.2.1 Managing Without Helpers
If you’re determined to go it alone, with plenty of planning and good organisational skills you can still run a
successful event. Here are some tips to help:
• Use commercial controls – this removes the cost and time needed to hire a venue, provide refreshments and recruit volunteers. Tips on how best to use commercial controls:
◦ If the control is small, post them a stamp or stickers, along with a sign instructing riders to help themselves. That way, the impact on the café is minimal.
◦ Double-check everything with the control a couple of days before the event.
◦ Be sure to call afterwards, to make sure everything went OK.
• Don’t bite off more than you can chew – Don’t plan extravagant catering. Focus on the basics first.
• If your event is an X-rated (shoestring) event, make sure riders know – X-rated events are popular, and riders are happy to enter basic events. However make sure they know what they’re entering.

6.2.2 How to Find People to Help
Helpers do not need to be Audax UK members. In fact, they don’t even need to be cyclists. Cycling clubmates, fellow cyclists, family and friends can all be asked to help.
Local groups such as WI or Scouts might be persuaded to fund-raise by supplying food and drink, and perhaps prfemises.

If you use volunteers, make sure that you have a system and that everyone has a job and knows what it is.

Volunteers are covered by AUK’s insurance, so you must keep a list of all your helpers in case of accidents. Remember the Child Protection Policy is relevant for helpers under 18 years of age as well as riders.

6.2.3 Helpers Expenses
If you use helpers for your event, you should offer them reasonable expenses – it is unreasonable to expect volunteers to pay for costs out of their own pockets.

6.2.4 The Helper’s Ride
To help you check your route, as well as encouraging people to volunteer to help, Audax UK allows the organiser and helpers to ride the event on another date and still be credited with completing the calendar event. This rule allows riders to help on events without losing an opportunity to ride. There are however a few rules to be aware of when riding a “helpers ride”:
• Organisers and helpers may ride up to 14 days before the event for all events, or 7 days afterwards for BP and BR events only.
• This concession is available only to the organiser and those who have given substantive help in preparing or running the ride which may include route checking, however it is expected that route checking will be performed by one or two riders only. Helpers riders should not be used as a device to run secondary events or enable riders to resolve scheduling problems.
• You (or a helper) cannot ride an event as a Helpers Ride, and then ride another event (calendar or permanent) on the day of the event as this is not an option that would be available to a normal entrant.
• All riders must complete a standard AUK entry form so they’re covered by AUK’s insurance.
• Riders will need to obtain their own Proof of Passage, as if they were riding a Permanent. If there are no alternatives (e.g. the event uses a staffed control with no alternatives nearby or outside opening hours) then you should collect a receipt from the nearest available location instead.
• Process the Brevet cards and submit your Helpers Riders for validation with the rest of the results of your event..

6.3 Before The Event

6.3.1 Processing Entries
POSTAL ENTRIES – YOu have the option of refusing postal entries using the controls within your online event page.
Riders entering by post should send you a completed entry form, the entry fee (cash, cheque or postal order) and 2 stamped, self-addressed envelopes (SAEs). When you receive a postal entry:
• add the rider to your entry list;
• if the rider is aged under 18, make sure a parent or guardian has signed the Parental Consent section of the entry form;
• check the entry form to ensure that all non-AUK / CTC members have completed the Temporary Membership section and paid the temporary membership fee; and
• file away the entry form and SAE’s. One of these is to send the entrant the route sheet and event information before the event; the second is to return the rider’s validated brevet card after the event. You should keep hold of entry forms for seven years after the event in case of any legal issues.

ONLINE ENTRIES – Riders entering online will send you nothing. Instead you’ll receive the entry fee (via
Paypal or similar), and an email notification of the riders entry. When you receive an online entry:
• the rider will be automatically added to your start list;
• You can at any stage download the entry list to a spreadsheet which will include address details. Use this facility to mass email your riders with pre-event details.
• Under 18’s can enter online but MUST bring an entry form with the parental consent signed with
them to the start. It may be a good idea to remind any under 18’s to bring the form with them.
KEEPING TRACK OF YOUR ENTRIES – The online Start/Finish List is the best way to keep track of your entries. It has several advantages as it:
• enables easy checking of the entrant's Audax UK membership (& therefore insurance) status;
• saves on fingerwork when assembling an address list etc;
• works well with Paypal online entries which will be automatically added to the list;
• takes you most of the way to an online Finish List which you need to submit your results after the event (see “After The Event”).

TEMPORARY MEMBERSHIP – All entrants who are not members of either Audax UK or CTC need to pay an additional fee for temporary membership of Audax UK for the duration of the event.
INSURANCE – All entrants must be covered by 3rd party insurance to take part in an Audax UK event. Audax UK provides this insurance cover for Audax UK members normally resident in the UK (including temporary members). Cover lasts for as long as the rider is taking part in your event.
Members of CTC are covered through their CTC membership.
Audax UK’s insurance policy only provides cover for entrants “normally resident in the United Kingdom”. As 3rd party insurance is required for all AUK events any overseas riders (whether members of AUK or not) will have to arrange their own cover; and it is the riders' responsibility to ensure they have such cover.
Note: If you’re organising an early season event, make sure you check the membership status of your entrants carefully. The Audax UK membership year runs out on 31st December. Members who have not renewed by 31st December do not benefit from Audax UK’s insurance until their membership is renewed. Expired members must be charged the temporary membership fee (unless they are also CTC members).

6.3.2 Information & Route Sheets
Email all your riders at least a week before the event, giving extra details of the event as necessary and linking or attaching routesheet and gps file.

6.3.3 Ordering Brevet Cards
About two weeks before the event, you’ll need to order your event’s Brevet cards. As a rule of thumb, about two thirds of your likely entries for an event will have arrived two weeks before your event. So, if you order your cards two weeks before, it’s a good idea to order half as many cards again as entries already received. Bear in mind though, that shorter events attract a greater number of late entries.
To order Brevet cards, simply email a copy of the completed brevet card order form to the Brevet Card Secretary. You can also order by phone or post. You can find a copy of the form by following the “Event Forms” link from the main edit page of your event in the Event Planner or the Brevet Card Secretary will send you one by email. Don’t send any payment with your order. You pay for everything after the event.
Your cards will normally be printed a couple of days after the Brevet Card Secretary receives your order and you should receive them a few days later. If you haven’t received them by then you should contact the Brevet Card Secretary.

Make sure your order reaches the Brevet Card Secretary at least 10 days before your event. Late orders are liable to attract an extra charge of 45p per card.

6.3.4. Medals & Badges
Organisers can ask to stock medals for sale at the finish. Otherwise riders can order online direct from the audax.uk website.

6.4 On The Day
6.4.1 The Start
At the start, you’ll need to hand out cards to riders personally, or lay them out for riders to collect. You’ll
need a printed copy of your Entry List, Your Brevet cards. It’s a good idea to complete the riders’ details on the back of the cards in advance. To save time, use printed stickers generated with a mail merge or there’s an option to print labels on the AUK website (make sure you’ve bought the right size of labels first!)
When everyone’s set off, check who has started by crossing off riders from your entry list whose cards are not claimed to form your start list. You must for insurance purposes and rider welfare be able to identify who has started your events.
ENTRIES ON THE LINE - If you’ve decided to accept entries on the line; you’ll also need some spare Brevet cards and copies of entry forms and your route sheet. Have a dedicated helper with a separate desk just to deal with EOL’s – make sure riders who have already entered get priority and don’t allow EOL riders to impede them.

Under NO circumstances allow anyone to have a route sheet “just to ride round” The rule is No Entry Form – No Ride (although you may not legally stop anyone just setting off to follow others)

6.4.2 On The Ride
Intermediate controls - If you rely on commercial controls en route, then they may have their own ink stamp or you may have to supply one, or rely on a till receipt. If you use a volunteer, or hire a venue, then keep these points in mind:
• If there is more than one volunteer, designate someone as chief volunteer, to take responsibility for any issues.
• Make sure that they have a list of riders to expect, and that you update that list once all your riders have set off.
• Provide all staffed controls, including the base, with the contact details for all other controls and ask them to pass information between themselves and base.
It’s good practice to have a mobile phone number on the brevet cards for the riders to contact if they need to inform you of a DNF or incident during the ride.

6.4.3 The Finish
At the end, you’ll need to check the returning riders’ cards to make sure they’ve collected all the necessary
stamps and information.

• Check that all controls have been visited in time, and all information control questions answered
• Enure that the rider has a valid stamp or receipt for each control. Once you have checked the receipts you complete the brevet card and discard the receipts (or return them to the rider).

• Check that the rider has signed the card
• Collect and record money for any badges or medals
• Record any accidents which have occurred
• Note any comments from the riders concerning errors on the route sheet, quality of controls etc.
As riders return, check them off against your start list. This will tell you how many riders are still on the road. Hopefully riders who pack will get a message to you and you can mark them as “DNF”. Otherwise your only options are to wait until the official finishing time, or phone their home.

POSTAL FINISHES - Postal finishes (where the rider posts their completed Brevet card back to you after the finish for validation) can be useful for basic events or long events with few riders, but they have a few pitfalls of their own, so please follow the guidelines below if you’re using one.
• The deadline for validation is the same as it is for a Permanent i.e. you need to have received the Brevet card within 14 days of the event.
• Make sure you remind your riders in your event literature that they need to send their cards back promptly. A reminder by email afterwards is also a good idea and lets you establish who finished and who didn’t so you know how many cards to expect.
• Help your riders remember by including an SAE with their brevet card (cost this into your entry fee)
• Only send the results for your event to the Validation Secretaries once, when you’ve collected the cards 14 days after the event. Don’t send them in dribs and drabs as they arrive

INSTANT VALIDATION – The Validation Secretaries offer a process of “instant” (i.e. at the finish) validation
to selected organisers, and this is now available to all organisers, providing you meet a couple of conditions:
• Your event is 200km or less (and not BRM)
• You use the Start/Finish List to submit your results online, and
• You have a previous record of prompt and accurate submission of results.
If you want to offer instant validation on your event…
• Before your event, email the Validation Secretaries requesting the facility and the number of
validation stickers you’ll need.
• You’ll receive your validation stickers in the post
• At the finish of your event, you can simply record the rider as finished, attach a validation sticker and hand their Brevet card back to them.
• Submit your results as normal using the online Start/Finish List (see “Validation & Organisers Return”)
This process won’t work for everyone – you do need to be organised at the finish and have the facilities (and manpower) to deal with the Brevet cards there and then. And of course you don’t have a pile of cards to be able to check through afterwards, so you do need to ensure you get your finish list right first time as the riders finish.

EXTENDED CALENDAR EVENTS – Occasionally you may get riders riding your event as part of an extended calendar event (ECE). There’s no need to do anything different for these riders and their brevet cards for the calendar event should be treated the same as everyone else’s.

6.5 After The Event

6.5.1 Validation & Organisers Return
After the event you have the task of preparing and sending the cards for validation. Here's how to make the process as smooth and error-free as possible.
STEP 1: GET ALL YOUR BREVET CARDS IN ORDER.
If you haven’t done instant validation at the finish then sort all your completed brevet cards in alphabetical order by surname. This makes the next stages easier for you and the validation team.
Remove cards of riders who did not finish and either send these back to the riders, or throw them away…
STEP 2: COMPLETE THE FINISH LIST.
All results need to be submitted to Audax UK using the online Start/Finish List facility.
If you’ve used this list to record your entries and create your start list then you’ll just need to add any extra riders who finished (e.g. EOL’s), and mark as DNS or DNF any riders who failed to finish. Riders who finish should either have the time completed to finish the ride entered in the “Time” column (mandatory for BRM events) or left blank. You are likely to be charged a validation fee for anyone not listed as DNS, DNF or DNE. Temporary membership is payable on all riders including DNS AND DNF.
If you’ve used your own spreadsheet or database to record your entries, then the easiest way to submit your results is to use the “Upload Excel Finish List” facility to upload your results. There is an .xls template you can download from the AUK website which is the format that any upload of finishers to the AUK website should be in. It’s normally easier if you’re using your own start list to base it on this template.

When you’ve got your final finish list, check all the following:
Check the accident report buttons at the top of the finish page. Either click 'no accident' or click to complete the online accident form.
• Make sure all your successful riders are there; mark riders who fail to finish as DNS or DNF.
• If any successful riders bought a medal, then tick the ‘Medal’ box for that rider.
• Check that the insurance details for each rider are correct, either: AUK - AUK member, CTC - CTC member; or TEMP – none of the above.
• If you are running a BRM event, then add the time the rider took to finish, using the following format. xhxx For example if rider A took nine hours, 45 minutes. Type in 9h45.
NOTE: The time is the riders’ total time for the event NOT the time of day that the rider finished
• Click on the “Update” button to ensure all the results are saved to the database
• Check carefully, then press the “Mark as FINISH List” button.
STEP 3: THE ORGANISER’S RETURN
Open the pre-filled form from the “View/Download Returns Form for this Event” link which can be found at the top of your finish list. This online return form will already have all the information completed and totalled from the information provided on your finish list.
Pay your event fees as shown on the return sheet via PayPal to validations@audax.uk. Make sure you add the event number to the payment detail.

STEP 4: POST YOUR CARDS TO THE VALIDATION SECRETARIES
Send your completed cards to Audax UK’s Validation Secretary. Completed brevets must be in alphabetical order (unless you are allowed not to send your event of 200 or less which is not BRM).
You might wish to downlaod and keep a printed copy of your Finish List, Organiser’s Return and Accident Report in case they go astray; and keep all paper entry forms for at least a year (up to 7 years if there has been an incident).

NOTES: Please:
• Send your return in within a fortnight of your event. If you’re not going to get your results in on
time, please let the Validation Secretaries know – it will save them time in chasing you down.
• Send your returns using normal First-class post, NOT Recorded, Registered or Special Delivery. If, however, you have experienced difficulties with the post, please contact the Validation Secretaries to make arrangements to use a tracked delivery service.
• Even if nobody completed your event, you still need to complete the online paperwork.
• If you don’t need to send in your brevet cards and you’re paying your fees online via PayPal there’s normally no need to post anything to the Validation Secretaries. Make sure you have stated on your PayPal payment which event you’re paying for and if there’s any accidents. If there is an accident you will still need to submit an accident report form. The Validation can access your online return form so there’s no need to send that.

6.5.2 Accident Reporting
Audax UK needs details of any accidents that happened during your event. It also needs to know if there were no accidents.
If there were no incidents on your event simply tick the “No accident to report” box above the finish list Otherwise you need to complete the accident form. You should try to only include facts in your report and avoid speculation on cause, outcome, etc. If there any witnesses record their details and indicate on the accident report which information that you gathered from which witnesses.

If there has been an accident on your event which may give rise to an insurance
claim please let the AUK Secretary or Events Secretary know immediately.

6.5.3 Thanks to Helpers & Commercial Controls
After the event, be sure to thank all your volunteers, verbally if possible and in writing afterwards. Make sure you pay any expenses claims promptly.
Don’t forget to thank cafes or other commercial controls.

6.5.4 Final Touches
When the validation secretaries have received your paperwork, they will check everything is in order, and record successful rides on the Audax UK database. BRM events will then be validated by Audax Club Parisien/ Les Randonneurs Mondiaux.
What happens next depends on whether you sent in your brevets cards.
• If you sent your brevet cards in, you will receive the returned cards with validation stickers attached, to be sent back to the successful riders.
• If you did not send in your brevet cards, you will receive a strip of validation stickers. Attach a sticker to each brevet card, and return them to the rider.
• If you did not send in your cards and have done instant validation, you don’t have anything further
to do.
Return the validated cards to your riders. Postal entries will have sent you an SAE for this. For online entries you’ll need to provide the envelope and postage. A short note to the rider with the returned card is always appreciated.

Appendices

Child Protection Policy; Grievance Procedure

Child Protection and Vulnerable Adults Protection Policy
Audax UK’s primary objective is to encourage, promote, develop and control the sport and pastime of non- competitive long distance cycling in all its forms amongst all sections of the community in the United Kingdom and throughout the world. Our events are open to all cyclists and therefore there may be times when children and vulnerable adults participate.
This policy seeks to promote good practice in providing appropriate safety and protection provisions for children and vulnerable adults with participating in our events. It also provides event organisers and helpers with a framework to make informed decisions and prevent inadvisable behaviour during the event.
Child protection and safeguarding legislation and guidelines have been devolved from Westminster to national governments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, although all four legislative systems still share certain principles, for example,all agree that a child is defined as anyone less than 18 years of age. In line with good practice, Audax UK recognises that all policies and procedures described refer to vulnerable adults as well as children. The term parent is used as a generic term to include parents, carers and guardians.
Participation rules for all activities

All persons under 18 years of age must have a signed parental consent form with the exception of those over 16 living as de facto adults, i.e., no longer in the parental home, who may enter without parental consent. The parental consent form is identical for all events and may be returned by post or brought to the start of the event, parents do not need to attend.
Children under the age of 14 must be accompanied on the event by a parent or an appropriate adult acting in loco parentis; there is no younger age limit for accompanied riders.
The Parental Consent form must make clear the difficulty and nature of the event to enable informed consent to be given. Parents must be made aware that there is a possibility the child is likely to ride alone or with others at any time.
An unaccompanied young person must have a point of contact, such as a person, location or phone
number, that they can use in the event that they are lost, distressed or feeling threatened. For most events this would normally be the mobile phone number of the organiser printed on the brevet card. The organiser should be confident that the unaccompanied young person understands how to and has the means to make contact should the need arise or they may not participate in the event.
Events organised under Audax UK regulations are open to all cyclists and are not aimed specifically at children or vulnerable adults. Hence there no specific measures in place for the protection of children and vulnerable adults. However, Audax UK and event organisers will abide by the principles of good practice enshrined in CTC and BC policy.
The parents must be made aware there is no specific provision for young people with the exception of sleeping arrangements. Where accommodation for sleeping is provided, consideration should be given to young people sharing rooms with others of similar ages; to ensuring same-sex sleeping arrangements; and adequate supervision arrangements (e.g. if adults have to share sleeping accommodation with young people, ensure there are at least two adults, and more than one young person)
If a parent wishes to accompany a rider, spectate or meet them at a control, explain to them how they may do so.
Organisers should be fully satisfied that the child's participation is fully supported by his/her parents and that the above guidance can be followed or else the rider should not be allowed to take part.
Disclosure and Barring

The current guidance from the Disclosure and Barring Service states that a DBS check is necessary for “Any employment by a youth club, local authority or other body which is concerned with the promotion of leisure or recreational activities for persons under the age of 18, being employment which is of such a kind as to enable the holder to have access to such persons in the course of his normal duties.”
However, this does not include: “incidental contact – the activity is not being provided for children and the presence of a child or children is unforeseen,” meaning that Audax UK events not specifically aimed at children and young people are not eligible for DBS checks.
As Audax UK does not organise nor promote any events aimed specifically at children and young people nor engage in any coaching, teaching or instructing, the Audax UK Board affirms that DBS or Disclosure Scotland checks are unnecessary for any officials, organisers or volunteers engaged in Audax UK activities.
Safeguarding

Safeguarding is designed to minimise the potential for risk or harm to young people or vulnerable groups. It is important that Organisers & helpers know how to identify and report a safeguarding concern and the guidance below seeks to give everyone some knowledge of how to act.

Examples of safeguarding concerns may include health issues, poor practice by AUK volunteers, pushy parents or suspected abuse in any environment.
Safeguarding concerns should be reported to the Welfare Officer associated with the event. Your club may have a Welfare Officer, especially if it is affiliated to British Cycling or the CTC. If your club does not have a Welfare Officer, contact the Audax UK Welfare Officer who will support you in dealing with any concernsyou may have. You must always act on your concerns by speaking to the Welfare Officer, as the welfare of the child is paramount.
The Audax UK Welfare Officer can be contacted via the website
You can discuss any concerns you have about a child or vulnerable adult; the conduct or behaviour of an organiser, volunteer, rider or AUK official; the safety or conduct of a particular event. The Welfare Officer will require as much accurate information as possible, so it’s always a good idea to write things down as soon as possible after the incident. This will help you and the Welfare Officer address your concerns.

Grievance Procedure
1.1 Audax UK recognises that from time to time members, event participants, event organisers, event staff and others may have grievances concerning various matters relating to Audax UK, its activities and the personnel involved. In such cases the following procedures should be used. Audax UK would like to see all such grievances resolved as quickly and as fairly as possible.

1.2 Audax UK encourages members and others holding a grievance concerning the action or conduct of a rider or member, or the action or conduct of an event organiser or member of event staff, or a decision or conduct of an AUK delegate or director, to attempt, in the first instance, to resolve the matter informally through dialogue with the person involved.

1.3 If it is not possible to resolve the matter through such dialogue or it would be inappropriate to do so, for instance if the grievance concerns unreasonable conduct that makes dialogue impossible, then the aggrieved party should take the matter further using the following provisions, with dialogue being encouraged at all stages:

i In the case of a grievance concerning the action or conduct of a rider or member, the matter should be referred to the AUK General Secretary who will investigate and rule appropriately.

ii In the case of a grievance concerning the action or conduct of a calendar event organiser or member of event staff, other than a matter of validation, it should be referred to the Regional Events delegate responsible, or the Calendar Events Secretary, who will advise of the appropriate Events Team member whose task will be to investigate and rule appropriately.

iii In the case of a grievance concerning the validation or non-validation of a brevet by an organiser or event staff, the matter should be referred in the first instance to the Validation Secretaries (for Calendar events) or the Permanents Secretary (for all forms of Permanent events), who will investigate and rule appropriately.

iv If the grievance concerns the conduct of a delegate, or if there is a wish to appeal against a decision of a delegate, the delegate's supervising director should be contacted and made aware

of the details of the matter. This director will then investigate as fully and fairly as possible and rule appropriately. The director's decision will be given in writing, and will include the reasons for that decision.

v If the grievance concerns the conduct of a director, or if there is a wish to appeal against a decision of a director, the AUK General Secretary should be contacted with full details, and the matter will be put before a Board meeting. If the grievance or appeal relates to the AUK General Secretary, the matter should be put to the Chairman , who will put it before a Board meeting. The holder of the grievance will be able to attend the meeting and state his/her case. The Board's decision will be given in writing, and will include the reasons for that decision. Such a hearing by the Board will usually be the final stage in the process. A director whose decision or conduct is the subject of a grievance or appeal will not be party to making any Board decision about it.
1.4 In the case of BRM events it may be possible to appeal to Audax Club Parisien, as noted in the agreement between ACP and its UK representative (available on the AUK website).

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Organisers' Handbook

About Audax UK and AUK Events

Getting Started

Permanent Events

How to Become an Organiser

Organiser Requirements

Organiser Grades

Organisers' Mentors

Organiser Responsibilities

Insurance for Organisers

New Organisers

Upgrading Organisers

Returning Organisers

Planning Your Event

Distance & Types of Event

Audax Altitude Award

Overseas Calendar Events

Scheduling Your Event – Choosing a Date

Start & Finish Points

Facilities

Entries & Event Fees

Planning Your Route

Writing Your Route Sheet

Route Distribution for GPS Units

Getting Your Event on the Calendar

Risk Assessment

Before, During & After the Event

After the event

Vulnerable persons, Grievance Procedures