Originally Posted by
kk27
Yes this route design Rule or should I say Philosophy made life difficult for us Randos in India. The thing is there's no Organization there as yet so we are the organizers & the riders too and Volunteers are usually friends or family or ATM machines. But the lack of understanding or clarity of rules makes it difficult to design routes. Heck we were even disallowed to setup Unmanned Permanents, and because of this very reason we only have just 2 SR series to cut it to PBP & it's all packed in 4months it makes us quite nervous. At this stage we'd be happy if we can use the Loops atleast Family volunteers will not have to travel 600kms just to wait around for a few cyclists to pass by.
Of course you can use loops. Many of the routes here in Australia are loop routes, and they're great. When I heard about the loop routes in Australia, I created one for my 600K event in Alberta, Canada (I was a ride organiser there). I had a 400 km first loop off in one direction, and a 200 km second loop in another direction. Worked very well for me as a ride organiser because I didn't feel like I had to round up volunteers or anything, and it worked well for the participants because they had a place to catch a nap, shower, and something to eat at the end of 400K ... their own hotel room.
Regarding having manned or unmanned events, in both Manitoba and Alberta where I started randonneuring and where I've done most of my randonneuring, there was no such thing as manned events. You were completely and utterly on your own out there. We got our cards signed at grocery stores or cafes and then mailed them in to the organiser when we were finished. Some of the events here in Australia are like that too, but some actually have people ... volunteers ... at the controls. It's a novel experience for me!
And regarding the SR series, in Manitoba we had from mid-April to mid-June to get the rides in. They would run two 200Ks, possibly two 300Ks if they could fit them in, and then one each of a 400K and 600K ... one weekend after the other, with a weekend break between the 400K and 600K. The 600K was finished days before the cut-off for qualifying for the PBP. We had one chance to get the series in ... or we were out of the PBP.
In Alberta, the season is even tighter. Several years in a row I tried to run two 200Ks, and one each of 300K, 400K, and 600K ... but my first 200K on the last weekend of April was cancelled because of blizzards. So I no time for anything extra.
Read the Audax UK article I posted above. They've got some good tips on route creation.