Strangely though I found the summer, holiday, months the most difficult. We go away for 3 weeks in July/August. It only takes an extra social event to leave you short of a summer weekend.
Me too. Finding a spare weekend to do a 200 in July and August was the toughest part of my two consecutive RRtYs. I ended up doing a Perm on Friday 31st July to keep my 2nd one alive. And I did a perm during my family holiday in August!
It's a good idea to get a few perm entries in early so all the paperwork is done and you have the brevet ready to go. If you get desperate you can just call on one of those to keep your RRtY alive. Just let the organiser know the morning of the ride (or the day before) that you are using the entry. I've still got one to use!
I did calendar years BTW, starting in January and ending in December. A mixture of calendar, perms, ECEs and DIYs. In each year I did a different ride each month as I set myself the rule of not repeating a ride. It wasn't my plan to do a 2nd but after I finished the 1st in December I ended up doing a ride in January, then February and then the OCD kicked in!
It's a very satisfying achievement