For greater clarity, the BC Randonneurs club is revising the rules for rides… by “eliminating” them!
It has always been the case that ACP-sanctioned brevets are governed by the ACP’s rules, as per the club’s ACP partnership agreement. The old club website’s twelve rules, while largely consistent with the ACP rules, made it not obvious that the ACP rules also apply to brevets, therefore causing a confusing situation.
The revised ride rules are now a verbatim copy of the English version of the ACP rules, with annotations for interpretations and practices specific to randonneuring in British Columbia.
For comparison, here is the treatment of each of the twelve obsoleted rules:
- Participation of minors. This is now an addendum to article 2 of the ACP rules.
- Obeying traffic laws. This is covered in article 5 of the ACP rules.
- Helmets. This is an addendum to article 5 of the ACP rules, with a clarification that the club requires helmets to be worn even in jurisdictions that do not require it.
- Equipment. Night lighting are covered in article 6 of the ACP rules. Recommendations that are difficult to enforce, such as “bicycles must be in safe working order”, headlight brightness, and carrying backup lighting, have been eliminated.
- Personal ID. Impersonation fraud is covered by article 11 of the ACP rules. Immigration officials will enforce documentation requirements for border crossings.
- Qualifying for longer distances. ACP article 2 allows clubs to restrict participation; the club policy requiring randonneurs to demonstrate competence for longer distances is an addendum thereunder.
- Controls. Brevet cards and unstaffed controls are discussed in articles 8 and 9 of the ACP rules.
- Self-sufficiency. Self-sufficiency is discussed in article 7 of the ACP rules. As an addendum, we have retained the “Understanding the No En-Route Support Rule” section to clarify the extent to which help and accompaniment are acceptable.
- Straying off course. Article 8 of the ACP rules requires continuing at the point where the rider left the route.
- Time limits. Article 10 of the ACP rules states the time limit formula. Our addendum contains the time limits for the customary brevet distances, and also states the exceptions under which lateness is excusable.
- Penalties. We have retained the rule as an addendum to article 11 of the ACP rules.
- Geographical area. Article 16 of the ACP rules requires club rides to start in BC, in accordance with our ACP partnership agreement.
We believe that this seemingly radical change is, in practice, not so revolutionary, and that the new rule structure brings greater clarity and alignment with randonneuring practices worldwide.