Of course it is bullshit that "The team must ride until the end of the 24th hour." Virtually no team actually does that, unless they are finishing short of their target.
yes it's poorly worded, as for completion, you need to get your PoP before 24hours are up, so you can't possibly still be riding at the end of 24 hours, unless you are late/short of distance.
I'm sure it's not the expectation that everyone records where they are at 24 hours and then arrives at York some time later.
*yes we really were only 1km short of york at 10:00, I know it took us half an hour but we had two punctures*
Perhaps there should be a clarification, after all if people are expected to get PoP in the 22nd hour, and then continue on at least 25km before completing at the end of the 24th hour, that means that last 25km is covered at between 12.5km/h and 8.33km/h unusually slow for audax.
To LWaB: [""The team must ride until the end of the 24th hour." Virtually no team actually does that unless they are finishing short of their target."] With a 0800 start, our team rode till about 0820. At 0800 we were 10km short of York centre 'in the middle of nowhere' on the cyclepath so rode on to Bishopsthorpe to get a PoP at the shop there. This was by my design: we were not finishing short of our target, we were riding on to achieve 'over-distance'. If the team captain plans too short a route, or the team rides at a speed above that expected, then of course your assertion would be correct. But if the route/distance planned is a 'stretch target' - because the aim is to achieve as high a mileage as possible, using every minute of the 24 hours - then quite likely a team will ride through and beyond the 24 hour moment, and whether that's short of the declared distance or managing a bit of over-distance is irrelevant.
To Wycombe Wheeler ["you need to get your PoP before 24hours are up . . . it's not the expectation that everyone records where they are at 24 hours and then arrives at York some time later.]:
You don't need to get your PoP "before the 24 hours are up". The rules specifically direct how this is to be handled. Some will arrive at their 'finish' before the 24 hour point, nevertheless having done 25km since their 22nd hour PoP. Others will find it easier to ride through the 24 hour moment and get a PoP later.
The rules on riding (and being credited for) more than a team's declared distance are there and Martin's guidance (shared in my post above) points the way. At Easter I deliberately designated Selby as our team's finish, expecting we would get past there, but not being able to predict with how much time to spare. We would be riding on to York regardless. But not designating York offered more flexibility and meant no time was wasted arriving at our 'finish' early and losing the opportunity of extra miles.
If we got to Selby in very good time, I had various excursion options planned, to maximise the distance achieved by our team, going via Tadcaster or even Wetherby to York.
In the event we controlled at Selby at 0718 and headed straight for York. We would have been close to York 'Spoons by 0800 (our 24 hour moment) but 20 minutes earlier @Vorsprung on second wheel indulged in some spectacular A19 acrobatics and damaged his hand during the dismount/landing procedure. We rode on - chapeau to @Vorsprung who got patched/splinted in York hospital and caught his midday train.
With regard to a need for 'clarification' and regarding inferred slowness of the last two plus hours' ride, the key phrase you seem to have disregarded is "at least" or as per the rules "a minimum". IF a team only does 25km in that last period then, yes, the average speed will be slow. But I'd expect teams to be cracking on to their finish, and beyond if they have spare time. Of course this will depend on the team's motivation and ethos: are they just aiming to ride to York or are they trying to achieve as great a distance as they can?
Note the aim/goal of the Easter Arrow: "The aim of these events is to ride as a team, with the goal to cover the longest distance possible during 24 hours". The rules are clear "The team
must ride until the end of the 24th hour." Why would one stop enjoying a 24 hour ride before the allotted time was up?