[LEL17] Brevet card return

[Veloman]

"Being an old codger, I like to hark back to my glory days. I find it comforting."

Oh dear, how sad, perhaps you could adopt a cat?

Comments like this do not show excellence to each other which is a fundamental requirement of YACF.

Your comment does you no favours in attempting any input to be seriously considered.  By all means argue your point, but please try to avoid any snide comments or belittling others.

I support comments by jsabine regarding systems falling over and also like the option of hard copy in the form of a brevet card.

For information purposes, I also volunteered in 2013 and rode in 2017.  Many others on YACF volunteer and/or ride events.

[Fidgetbuzz]

"Being an old codger, I like to hark back to my glory days. I find it comforting."

Oh dear, how sad, perhaps you could adopt a cat?

It would seem to me that you do not know Hellymedic and are unaware of the serious illness that she suffers from. Your comment is totally out of order .. and a carefully considered apology for this derisive comment would be  appropriate.

[LMT]

For me a Brevet card signifies the bond between rider and the ride - it's a treasured possession and they should be kept. I've still got my half completed one in my draw at work.

[LMT]

Perhaps time to drag the AUK into the 21st century on the whole brevet card thing?

It would be possible to create software in a cloud based programme that could eliminate the need for a paper carried around a brevet route. The programme would be hosted on computers at each of the check points and instead of the invigilator signing off the cards, the riders number would be inputted into the system providing a current logging of the rider's progress available to any who had access allowing supporters to see where their rider is at all times.

We use a similar system on our ultra races logging in the racers at they pass a time point such that at the end of the races or at any intermediate point, we know precisely how long or how many miles the racer accumulated.

For an event such as LEL where scrolling down a list of 900+ riders would be impractical, a simple  entry system would algorithmically sort the number into the control numerator.

The next LEL being 3 1/2 years away, there is adequate time to move onto a computer controlled brevet recording system and away from paper. Having a system which removes the need for the kind of end of event activity your post describes and at the same time providing an instant result should make the job much easier and could attract more volunteers to do the work of managing brevets and the LEL.

If there was an interest among the top dogs of the AUK to go into the direction I suggest, there is a person who could very adequately to the job if she was interested (and if she is an AUK member), and I could provide the name if you would like to PM me.

You are forgetting that a brevet card is enshrined in audax riding and you are presenting a solution to a problem that does not exist imo.

[hellymedic]

For me a Brevet card signifies the bond between rider and the ride - it's a treasured possession and they should be kept. I've still got my half completed one in my draw at work.

+1

[Slightly OT]

My partner seems to be unable to access files and recording of music written in previous decades due to:
Degradation of media
Obsolescent media and reading equipment
Lack of software support for old programs
Scatterbrained filing

My brevet cards are in a drawer under my bed.

[Somnolent]

In partial answer to Greenbank's #10 upthread:
The total number of problem validations - things like missing cards, cards missing stamps, barcode scans missing for some controls was of the order of 5% of the total.

Being able to compare the paper record (stamps on cards) with the electronic record brought that down to approximately 1% where the validators had to call on 'other resources'.
The validation team's job would have been much more onerous without the two elements working in parallel.

[jiberjaber]

Card received, many thanks guys! 

[Charlie Polecat]

"Being an old codger, I like to hark back to my glory days. I find it comforting."

Oh dear, how sad, perhaps you could adopt a cat?

HOW many more do you want me to take on?

We are currently feeding five uninvited guests. David has fallen in love with them.

Over the years we have given homes to 11 pets who wandered up to our door and asked if we would give them a home and care for them and each one has returned in spades the love we gave to them.

It is extremely rewarding to take in an animal that people have got tired of. Sadly, we live in a throw away society and that includes pets who were bought from puppy mills on the side of the road but discarded when found to need looking after. My son has nine dogs he currently is homing, three are Great Danes and one of which he and his wife found on a deserted country lane with a paint bucket tied around its neck, presumably so he wouldn't chase after the vehicle that dumped her.

So, thanks for looking after your five 'guests'. 

[hellymedic]

We are currently feeding five uninvited guests. David has fallen in love with them.

It is extremely rewarding to take in an animal that people have got tired of. Sadly, we live in a throw away society and that includes pets who were bought from puppy mills on the side of the road but discarded when found to need looking after. My son has nine dogs he currently is homing, three are Great Danes and one of which he and his wife found on a deserted country lane with a paint bucket tied around its neck, presumably so he wouldn't chase after the vehicle that dumped her.

So, thanks for looking after your five 'guests'. 

The three junior cats shun any attempt to be stroked and the seniors only just tolerate it. Love is somewhat unrequited with these feral beings.

I am unable to squat to deal with feline business and our kitchen is the only uncarpeted room in the house.

I am physically incapable of dealing with these visitors and don't want our extensive piano collection damaged. I know why I did not want pets though we are kind to our visitors.

[Bikeabilityman]

Brevet cards (and routesheets) work. You just have to make sure they don't get wet (the organisers provide adequate wallets). I wasn't inputted on the tracker at the penultimate LEL 2013 control, but my card showed I was there. This year I was clocking out at a control and the volunteer said I'd only been there 40 mins or so, looking at the computer, when I'd been there a few hours. My Garmin drained and wouldn't recharge from the dynamo in the cold at the weekend, but the paper routesheet was fine. Don't businesses still have paper copies?

I received an envelope from Norwich today. Oh what joy when I opened it! Thanks Fidgetbuzz et al ☺

[Terry2wheelz]

Many thanks to LEL team.
My LEL Brevet card arrived this morning along with my LEL jersey & gilet.
I can't begin to comprehend your hefty workload with this years event & all the associated tasks around the periphery - but please accept my honest & sincere appreciation. The clothing fits a treat & my completed brevet card has made me smile.  THANKS .
Terry ( From Bury) 

[Lee Velo]

There could always be the option not to 'validate' at the end of the ride. I'm sure there were a significant percentage who perhaps were not interested in points or being listed on a website in France?

A simple scan at the end, confirmation that a final time has been allocated to the rider, a stamp on the back and away home with your LEL card. Those who require validation from Paris could wait for official validation and a returned brevet card.

Out of interest, did all Brevet Cards come back to loughton? I'd imagine quite a few people may have kept them?

[DCLane]

I got mine back today as well - which has made my weekend. 

[Tomsk]

Mine arrived yesterday, having had an extra adventure...envelope found, opened but brevet intact, in the local Tesco car park by a kind person who then delivered it to my door!

[Veloman]

Mine arrived yesterday, having had an extra adventure...envelope found, opened but brevet intact, in the local Tesco car park by a kind person who then delivered it to my door!

Almost as epic as the ride: the adventure continued!

[Exit Stage Left]

There could always be the option not to 'validate' at the end of the ride. I'm sure there were a significant percentage who perhaps were not interested in points or being listed on a website in France?

That could work as a way of rewarding those with commitment to Audax. Charge more for the event, and send a rebate back with the card. That would be a good way to encourage those most likely to volunteer.

[Plodder]

Out of interest, did all Brevet Cards come back to loughton? I'd imagine quite a few people may have kept them?

Not all. Hummers spent time searching for his in a field in Lincolnshire after it was ripped from his bike by the wind. A picture of this went as viral as can be achieved in the niche that is Audaxing.

Mine has been returned and will be treasured along with many others filling a shoebox. Long may they live! To my mind looking at a screen can never replace the feeling of holding something tangible that has memories attached, be it a brevet card, a book, a family photo (or daguerreotype!), or whatever.

[Redlight]

Mine arrived yesterday, having had an extra adventure...envelope found, opened but brevet intact, in the local Tesco car park by a kind person who then delivered it to my door!

Given that it was your card, I'm surprised it wasn't found in a bus shelter or outside a 'Spoons

[Tomsk]

Mine arrived yesterday, having had an extra adventure...envelope found, opened but brevet intact, in the local Tesco car park by a kind person who then delivered it to my door!

Given that it was your card, I'm surprised it wasn't found in a bus shelter or outside a 'Spoons

 

[Fidgetbuzz]

That could work as a way of rewarding those with commitment to Audax. Charge more for the event, and send a rebate back with the card. That would be a good way to encourage those most likely to volunteer.

Sounds pretty impractical to me ..for this year say 100 did not require the return of  brevet card .. so that would be 700 riders to either send cheques to .. or get full bank details .....  including IBAN numbers etc for overseas riders . and then set up these 700 payments from the LEL account.  Count me OUT for adding this extra layer of work in.

[αdαmsκι]

Not all. Hummers spent time searching for his in a field in Lincolnshire after it was ripped from his bike by the wind. A picture of this went as viral as can be achieved in the niche that is Audaxing.

It always seems worth reposting that photo

[Redlight]

Countryfile’s search for its new presenter appears to be over.

[Exit Stage Left]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfnhmuZ27eQ

[alwyn]

For the record, we appear to have lost an equal amount of data via physical and electronic means. In either case we haven't lost very much at all.

Although at the time the website wasn't always showing scanned data, the control laptops were busy caching it to download later. By the end of the event we had managed to extract pretty much all of that data.

We were a lot more ambitious this year in how we presented data during the event. We were also confounded a little by someone who was determined to steal personal data and post it online, potentially compromising the safety of at least two riders who required confidentiality while riding. Hats off to Phil to pulling it off though, and for working his socks off to deliver the tracking. He will be a very hard (and hugely expensive) act to follow in 2021.

[Terry2wheelz]

Perhaps a non prize winning competition is in order ?   
Add a witty caption to the above photo of Hummers in field.
Tis' the season to be merry  - apparently..