Long Distance Competition/Ultracycling, Randonneuring and Endurance Cycling - PBP 2011 Qualifying Brevets

For the 2011 PBP a rider would need to complete the following brevets: 200, 300, 400 and 600km. Now do these brevets need to be French specific one.

or could say someone do these 4 distances in Australia and then travel to France for the PBP???

Chris

You can do the rides outside of France.
Theses a couple of NZ rides that would qualify too. Taupo (http://www.cyclechallenge.com/) certainly and maybe K4 (http://www.arcevents.co.nz/k2cycle/content/?page_id=44).

To qualify, Australian riders must complete a Super Randonneur series (200km, 300km, 400km and 600km rides) within the southern hemisphere qualifying period (usually from 1 Nov in the year prior to PBP to 31 May in the year of PBP). During this period there are many rides to choose from in all regions of Australia. To register your intention to participate for the 2011 event, please contact...
http://audax.org.au/public/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=2&id=17&Itemid=160

Yes, they just need to be ACP sanctioned events. Here in the U.S., we have RUSA events, many sanctioned by ACP, some not. I'm sure you will have those opportunities, too. Try a PM to Machka; I'll bet she would point you to the right place.

There is also the issue of the 'bump list'. You can get higher priority in signing up by riding more in 2010(You'll still need the series in '11 as well). The latest RUSA newsletter suggests priority will go to those completing 1000k rides in 2010, then 600, then 400. It's still murky, but there will be a limit to the number of riders allowed to each country. It's hard to say the chances of being bumped, or what it will take to be safe. But, it's good training, so you might consider doing the SR series, or even more, in this upcoming season, to improve your chances. Good luck.

Here's the Audax Australia website.

http://www.audax.org.au/public/

And here's some info on qualifying for the PBP if you live in Australia ... it varies somewhat by country:
http://audax.org.au/public/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=2&id=17&Itemid=160


And in case you or anyone else wants to know, this is brand new information regarding the 2011 PBP selection process ... in Australia, and possibly elsewhere too:
http://audax.org.au/public/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=428&Itemid=160


If you are planning to ride as an Australian, be sure to follow the Australian advice, rules, etc., not the advice, rules, etc. of RUSA, Audax UK, or any others ... they do vary somewhat.

Thanks everyone for your help. I've been browsing the Audax Australian website alot tonight.

Also Machka; I have been doing my 71km rides for a while now, I have decided that tomorrow morning I will attempt my first metric century :) I hope I succeed.

There is a group that do regular brevet rides from Sydney, usually leaving from Hornsby way and also a smaller group running rides from Wollongong. Details are on the Audax Australia website, under "Events" "Calendar".

I hope your metric hundred went well. Keep riding...

If you're a strong fast rider that just never thought to ride a 100k, you can likely get into longer distances without much problem. But for the average rider, I would say just don't worry about PBP if you've never done anything over 100k. Just work on longer rides in general (ie, 200k and stuff) and see how that goes. I find for myself that some things are easier to dream about than they are to do. I just finished my second 200k of the year, and there's no way I'd even try a 400k right now. Maybe in another year or two, we'll see.