I'll do my first one this spring and I can't wait! I've had to endure tales of past glory from all the local fleche anciens (and anciennes) with envy.

I recall hearing that the route and distance rules are a bit arcane -- something along the lines of, you only get credit for the shortest distance between controles, not for the distance of the route you actually take between controles. Can someone confirm or deny? If that's accurate, that means your route, to be a "good one" -- i.e., efficient -- will run in a fairly straight line (or be an out-and-back) and will have more controles than you're used to in a brevet. In my neck of the woods, it also means a lot of good back roads are effectively off limits, as the rules reward taking state and US highways that tend not to meander from point to point (like us cyclists like to do!).

Anyway, I'll second the recommendation that your team acquire (if its not already in the bank) some night riding experience. And some experience riding in crappy weather. (Is rain a requirement on a fleche? Seems that every fleche story I've ever heard involved at least one good soaking.) That'll increase the odds of finishing and finishing while still having fun.