How to plan a DIY ?

[nuttycyclist]

Yes I know I should find this in the FAQ or on the Audax site, but after a lot of searching I'm struggling. 

I have the routesheet for the Raid Essex 200 which I couldn't ride.  The organiser has said it's fine for me to use it but a couple of controls are tricky (roadsign infos).  I was thinking of marking it up on the PC, then adjusting the route south from Chelmsford towards Southend so that I can make some controls easier (I'll start from home, so the nearer it is to home the shorter my ride to the start).

I haven't done a DIY before.

All I can seem to find on the net is that I need to email Andy Uttley, but I can't find an email address.  Can somebody PM me an address and note in this thread that they have done so so that I don't get swamped.

But what do I need to email?  Is it just the control points, then the start date prior to riding?

Is it correct to do this as a DIY as it's based loosely on an existing ride?  (I noted when I started using the mesh map to plan a different ride the website said it wasn't a DIY for Andy but a mesh ride for Daniel to authenticate  )

What about Brevet cards?  Do I need to use one?  Where can I get it from?  Is it sufficient to just collect receipts/ATM slips?

Why am I seeming to make this look so complicated?

[Chris S]

You have checked the AUK website for info, haven't you?

This document may help - and also includes contact info:

http://www.aukweb.net/cal/perms/diy.pdf

As I may have mentioned somewhere else - the Raid Essex route is a more difficult one to ride as a DIY because it had four (I think) info controls and only one "actual" control, and even that was the boot of someone's car. I don't know what you'll do for a control at Bradwell On Sea - the place seems to consist of a marsh, a car-park and a nuclear power station (not known for their Brevet stamping duties).

Would a DIY from Southend to <somewhere via somewhere else> not be an easier approach?

[Ian H]

You have checked the AUK website for info, haven't you?

This document may help - and also includes contact info:

http://www.aukweb.net/cal/perms/diy.pdf

I notice that has two wrong email addresses. PM to Mr Nutty.

[nuttycyclist]

You have checked the AUK website for info, haven't you?

Yes I know I should find this in the FAQ or on the Audax site, but after a lot of searching I'm struggling. 

...

Couldn't find a sodding thing.   Thanks for the link to the pdf

[border-rider]

Couldn't find a sodding thing.   Thanks for the link to the pdf

It's in the Audax FAQs sticky - has been for a while

[Greenbank]

All I can seem to find on the net is that I need to email Andy Uttley, but I can't find an email address.

The one listed here is correct: AU06

But what do I need to email?  Is it just the control points, then the start date prior to riding?

A list of control towns (where you'll get proof-of-passage), in order to agree the controls and check the distance. The DIY organiser doesn't care about the route you'll take, only the total shortest (reasonable) distance between controls.
When that's agreed you print out, fill in and sign an entry form (blank forms on the AUK website) including the agreed controls, date of your proposed ride, etc and send it to the DIY organiser. The 2 quid entry fee will get you a Brevet card as long as you remember to include an SAE.

You then do the ride collecting the proof-of-passage (including one at the start). Info control answers from other rides aren't acceptable, you'll need something with time, date and location. Fill in the brevet card appropriately, sign it, attach the proofs-of-passage (photocopy it all if you're paranoid) and submit to the DIY organiser with another SAE.

If you post your proposed control towns on here then a few of us can check for you, knowing how the DIY organisers do it themselves. That'll save them some work.

Why am I seeming to make this look so complicated?

Because it is quite complicated, and you've not done one before, and not many people do them. I seem to remember a stat along the lines of fewer than 200 individuals did DIY rides last year.

[Chris S]

Another approach might be to team up with some like minded souls, at least one of whom has done it before, and learn the ropes from them. Finding it all out for yourself can take some digging; and digging only really works if you have some good ideas as to what you are digging for.

[nuttycyclist]

Couldn't find a sodding thing.   Thanks for the link to the pdf

It's in the Audax FAQs sticky - has been for a while

I shall have to take more care over my searching.  The sticky was one of the places I made sure I looked before asking stupid questions.

[Weirdy Biker]

I seem to remember a stat along the lines of fewer than 200 individuals did DIY rides last year.

That's actually quite a high proportion of the active AUK membership.  Probably around 25% to 50%.

DIYs look complicated at first but are wonderfully straightforward when you are familiar with them.

Be prepared to ride around 10% more than the shortest distance route.  I can't remember the last time I submitted a DIY 200 that didn't turn out to be 215km or so long, despite the shortest distance being pretty much bang on 200km.  As a result, you'll have to pedal faster.

[Chris S]

Weirdy Bikeman speaks Words of Power; overdistance is the name of the game with DIYs.

However - I consider it part of the challenge to minimise the effect. The shortest distance for the 600 I made out of the Raid Essex 200 was 603km - I managed it in 615km which is rather good I think... 

[mattc]

I seem to remember a stat along the lines of fewer than 200 individuals did DIY rides last year.

That's actually quite a high proportion of the active AUK membership.  Probably around 25% to 50%.

That's huge! Is the 200 figure right?

[Greenbank]

Roughly 50% of auk members ride events, so that's about 2200, so it's more like only 10%

[Wowbagger]

Nutty planning DIY... bandages, germolene, eyepatch, chloroform.

[Weirdy Biker]

Roughly 50% of auk members ride events, so that's about 2200, so it's more like only 10%

Ah, I forgot there is a large rump of the membership who stick to 100km rides.  When I said active, I meant those who do BR events - it would be very unusual for those who do 100km rides to bother with DIY events.

[Greenbank]

OK, it's prompted me to check for sure from the real figures. From the 2008 Progress Graph page

50.2% did not ride any events, so that's 49.8% that did, it says that 50.2% is 2107 members so we'll assume 4197 members in total, and therefore 2090 did ride events.

1039 only rode populaires this year, so that leaves 1051 members who did ride something more than a populaire.

*scrapes results list of DIY rides*

464 DIY rides (not including 50s or 100s) by 132 individual riders. That's 12.6% of Randonneurs.

551 DIY rides (including 50s and 100s) by 153 individual riders. Or 7.3% if you're counting populaires (153/2090). (The extra 21 individuals who DIY'd only populaires represent only 2% of the people who only ride populaires).

So it is between 25% and 50%, but only for suitably large values of 12.6%.

[Weirdy Biker]

 

Facts vs Intuition.

Facts win.

Nice analysis.

[Swarm_Catcher]

... in order to agree the controls and check the distance.... When that's agreed you print out, fill in and sign an entry form (blank forms on the AUK website) including the agreed controls, date of your proposed ride, etc and send it to the DIY organiser...

Greenbank, do the controls have to be agreed beforehand?  Its only been 5 days since I emailed Andy Uttley, but  I'm thinking, could I send an entry form, ride the ride and complete the brevet card (I once bought 6).  I'm pretty sure of the route, since its out and back and over distance by 20km.

[Ian H]

The DIY guidelines are specific - you are responsible for the route:-

"D. Organisers cannot enter into
correspondence concerning routes and
distances."

[Swarm_Catcher]

I guess, I didn't mean 'the route', rather, the 'controls'.  But its probably all the same, my conclusion is that you don't have to get anything validated beforehand (but you can).  Thanks IanH, for your reply. 

The DIY guidelines are specific - you are responsible for the route:-

"D. Organisers cannot enter into
correspondence concerning routes and
distances."

[MSeries]

I guess, I didn't mean 'the route', rather, the 'controls'.  But its probably all the same, my conclusion is that you don't have to get anything validated beforehand (but you can).  Thanks IanH, for your reply. 

The DIY guidelines are specific - you are responsible for the route:-

"D. Organisers cannot enter into
correspondence concerning routes and
distances."

You have to enter the ride beforehand. Without an advance entry you aren't doing the event, just the ride, so can't get points awarded for completing it.

[Chris S]

But, an entry form  is just a formality (for insurance purposes mostly) and validation of the distance is a different thing.

AFAIK you don't need prior validation of distance before you enter and ride a DIY, but if the route is questioned and found to be underdistance, you won't get the points.

To be safe, I usually get Danial to check my distances.

[mattc]

I was just about to type this:

But, an entry form  is just a formality (for insurance purposes mostly) and validation of the distance is a different thing.

AFAIK you don't need prior validation of distance before you enter and ride a DIY, but if the route is questioned and found to be underdistance, you won't get the points.

To be safe, I usually get Danial to check my distances.

... so if I was going to ride anyway (i.e. the points were not the point of the ride!), I'd take a chance and not wait for confirmation.

[MSeries]

But, an entry form  is just a formality (for insurance purposes mostly) and validation of the distance is a different thing.

AFAIK you don't need prior validation of distance before you enter and ride a DIY, but if the route is questioned and found to be underdistance, you won't get the points.

To be safe, I usually get Danial to check my distances.

You can't get points for a ride you haven't entered.

Joe tells me in advance if he considers my submitted route under distance.

[MSeries]

I was just about to type this:

But, an entry form  is just a formality (for insurance purposes mostly) and validation of the distance is a different thing.

AFAIK you don't need prior validation of distance before you enter and ride a DIY, but if the route is questioned and found to be underdistance, you won't get the points.

To be safe, I usually get Danial to check my distances.

... so if I was going to ride anyway (i.e. the points were not the point of the ride!), I'd take a chance and not wait for confirmation.

If I was going to ride anyway and the points were not the point (!), I'd probably not enter it as a DIY and relieve myself of the burden of speed limits and predefined stopping points, gather receipts and stamps. Just ride.

[tonyh]

And as long as you notify the Organiser of the date of the ride before you actually start, you can put "date to be notified" on the entry form. (I hope this is correct!)