'DIY by GPS' route creation query...

[andyoxon]

Might be a silly question, but for sucessful validation of a submitted 'DIY by GPS' ride, how close a proximity to the gmaps auto-selected 'marker' for a town checkpoint is required of the rider.  e.g. for Abingdon gmaps choses a position up a residential street in central Abingdon...   Is it OK to move the gmaps route marker to the main road? 

[Banjo]

Put the road you are going to control on as the address for gmap to go to.
If you can find a specific shop or pub you may be able to enter the full address and post code.

[tonyh]

Yes, move the marker to a position that you intend to ride through. (Easy to do this with by zooming in on the map, then clicking on each control location on the list on the left.)

Otherwise, you may risk having "not visited your controls". Or, if your counting distance is apparently 200.1 km, the real counting distance might be an inadequate 199!

(And remember you can place your control markers anywhere, needn't be towns, or places you intend to stop at; makes it easier to avoid your riding distance being hugely more than the counting distance.)

[SR Steve]

The control points don't even have to be in towns. Just use the grid reference of a strategic junction on the route that you want to use. The shortest distance between your control points using Google maps on walking should be greater than or equal to the points distance (e.g. 200km) but you can choose your own route, which is usually a bit further.

Use gridreferencefinder.com/ to find grid references.

[tonyh]

And if you can send a Googlemaps link with your entry, all your control locations are thereby precisely specified, so grid refs are no longer required.

(There's the possibility of different DIY Orgs thinking somewhat differently, though.)

[notlobgp14]

In the past, pre GPS, there was the 'tangent' effect; where if you got within the gravitational pull of a town or village being used as a Control that was good enough.  So a receipt was collected on the 'by pass' at a filling Stn. and off you went.  I'd say the OP is right to ask the question.  Don't road distance signs relate to the Town Post Office?

[tonyh]

(Yes, certainly it's a good question, thanks Andy, meant to say that before!)

Even on the old system, if you use the "tangent" effect, it was still your job to ensure that the shortest road distance between your actual controls was sufficient.

[Wobbly]

Don't road distance signs relate to the Town Post Office?

In my experience, only if the Town Post Office is on wheels.

I've seen signs saying "Prentice Winclok 5 miles" and 3 miles later it's "Prentice Winclok 4 miles". Once I recall Huntingdon actually got further away on one ride...

[andyoxon]

Thanks all - that's helpful. 

[Ivo]

In smaller places I usually head for the tallest tower, circle around the building, and continue. That usually is the centre of a village or a small town. A bridge is also a good reference, at least when you can ride over it.

[andyoxon]

I created a local wish list 300km 'DIY by GPS' route, where if I decide to leave out the last intermediate control and head for home it turns into a 200km...  Is it possible to submit for a 300km 'DIY by GPS', but decide (for whatever reason) to miss out the last control and still have it validated as a 200km ride?

[LittleWheelsandBig]

No. Pass or fail, no consolation prize.

[Manotea]

DIY's are governed by the same regulatory principles as any other Audax event, so you cannot enter a 200km and a 300km at the same time either...

[andyoxon]

I suspected not... 

[Aunt Maud]

You could always register for the 200 and if you feel the urge do it as a 300 instead. You may have to pedal a bit harder to stay within the time limit though.

[andyoxon]

On a more general note (sorry if this is covered elsewhere - couldn't seem to find anything recent):

having bought a virtual brevet, is this vb 'committed' once I send the form in stating that I intend to do my DIY by GPS on ...?  If it turned out to be icy, and I DNS my DIY on the stated date, does the vb become invalid for the same route on another day, or a different route of a future date.

Is the DIY by GPS route checked by the organiser on receipt of the form with gmaps route URL, & what's a good rule of thumb minimum time before ride to submit for route to be approved?

[Chris S]

On a more general note (sorry if this is covered elsewhere - couldn't seem to find anything recent):

having bought a virtual brevet, is this vb 'committed' once I send the form in stating that I intend to do my DIY by GPS on?  If it turned out to be icy, and I DNS my DIY on the stated date, does the vb become invalid for the same route on another day, or a different route of a future date.

Is the DIY by GPS route checked by the organiser on receipt of the form with gmaps route URL, & what's a good rule of thumb minimum time before ride to submit for route to be approved?

Speaking personally, I'll always allow reuse of a brevet because of ice, or illness. I'd rather riders were safe. If you DNF because your bike broke in half, or you had a row with the cafe staff at the half way point - probably not.

Turnaround time varies - some organisers don't work and can be very responsive, I tend to batch up my DIY work because I have a life, so if you email me, there could be a few days delay. I'm considering some improvements to this such that there's a "hotline" address you can email me on if you need a fast turnaround, otherwise it's the slower, weekly batch-processing.

[Feanor]

On a more general note (sorry if this is covered elsewhere - couldn't seem to find anything recent):

having bought a virtual brevet, is this vb 'committed' once I send the form in stating that I intend to do my DIY by GPS on?  If it turned out to be icy, and I DNS my DIY on the stated date, does the vb become invalid for the same route on another day, or a different route of a future date.

Is the DIY by GPS route checked by the organiser on receipt of the form with gmaps route URL, & what's a good rule of thumb minimum time before ride to submit for route to be approved?

Don't send in the entry until you are sure you are going to ride.
I've often sent them in the evening before.
Some people submit them 5 minutes before going out the door.
The entry only needs to be submitted before you set out, not weeks in advance.

Regarding route checking: You don't need to have the route pre-checked; it's your responsibility to ensure it meets the requirements.
However, many DIY orgs will happily do a pre-check for you, before you submit an entry, if you feel a little unsure about it.
If you want the org to pre-check your route, I'd allow at least a week.

If you are sufficiently confident, just submit the entry and ride.

[andyoxon]

Thanks both.

I'm confident in as much, as my route is 1 2km over distance on old gmaps walking (the ride is 15km over).   I gather that there is other 'validation software' used on route submitted vs GPS log, so perhaps it's not just down to the simple gmaps fugure.  I could stretch the controls a bit if necessary.

[Jaded]

When I've done DIY by GPS I've previously has the route checked by the very much appreciated organisers, then I do the online form after I've got up and checked the weather. I've wimped out once, after getting up to find 30mph plus winds - the route was on little used roads in NW Scotland.

[L CC]

I've never asked the GPS organiser to check my route- if I stick it in googlemaps (previously ViaMichelin) and it comes up 202km I'll take that as good to go.
I've never had a problem.

(Now I'll get one!)

Shit, just remembered that's a lie. I asked Danial way back when in Jan 2010 if the route I submitted from St Malo to St Brieuc via some coast was all good. I think that's only because it was in FORRIN. It didn't get validated after riding 230km because somewhere between finishing and getting home I lost the receipts after riding in torrential rain and far too much headwind, with panniers. Ahh, happy days.

[spokenword]

I'm just about to do my first one and being retired the method lends itself to just getting up and deciding to do it that particular day. 
I was wondering if anyone has tried filling in the online form some days before and saving it so that I don't need to waste time filling in the details of controls etc. on the day I do it.  Do you know if clicking the "submit" button on a saved form would actually work?

[rabbit]

My routes seem to be getting more and more overdistance as time goes on.  The last one was 19km over on a 200 

[tonyh]

Spokenword:

I don't know if you can work it in the way you say, but you can probably* send in the form with a way-ahead date for your ride (eg 31/12/15)(it won't let you leave it blank or "to be notified"), and then send a brief "doing my xxxx ride tomorrow/today" when you decide to go.

*check with your organiser to be sure it's ok. If your org is me, it is!

Rabbit:
Same here, in spite of the advantages of GPS controls. About 9 extra km of pleasure on Tuesday's 200, when but for a couple of diversions, and acting on whims, it might have been only a couple.

[Lars]

The "conflict" between paperless DIYs and papered perms is quite annoying.

I've been trying to have a mindset that DIYs should be committed a few days in advance to make
them similar to calendar events. Which would mean DNS a DIY once in a while likely to happen. But
why risk that since it can be avoided? You buy six vcards and think that means six rides. If you'd need to cancel
due to awful weather, sore throat unexpected weekend work or whatever easy to think what's the
problem? Just let me ride whenever it works for me. Who would or should care? This isn't a competition
after all. So it all gravitates towards submitting an entry 5 minutes before you start since that is allowed.
Why not just allow DIYers to submit an entry to do a ride whenever he wishes once the entry
has been submitted? Wouldn't it make sense to change the rules to either:

- entry must be submitted, say, five days in advance. If ride isn't completed it's a DNS or DNF.
- entry is for a specified route ridden whenever the rider wishes to ride.