Glossary
The words Audax riders use, in plain English. Search for a term, or narrow the list to one kind.
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- 4 Nations SR
- A Super Randonneur series with one ride in each of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales, within four seasons, from 2024/25. Full rules
- 4 Provinces
- A calendar event of 200 km or more starting in each of Connacht, Leinster, Munster and Ulster in one year. One can be a permanent, outside your home province. Full rules
A
- ACPAudax Club Parisien
- The Paris club behind BRMs. It sets their rules, gives each finished BRM its homologation number, awards the Super Randonneur and the Randonneur 5000 and 10000, and runs Paris-Brest-Paris. How Audax is run
- ACP account
- A free account on ACP’s site where your BRMs are listed, under Results, then BRM. Choose Non French as your federation and add your clubs. Checking your results
- Audax
- The name used in Ireland and Britain for randonneuring: long rides on a set route inside a time limit, where nobody is ranked and you look after yourself. From the Latin for bold. What is Audax?
- Audax Ireland
- Ireland’s volunteer-run Audax club. It keeps the Irish calendar of events run by it and other clubs, the permanents list and its own awards, and sends Irish results to ACP. Membership isn’t needed to ride events. Organisers
- Audax season
- 1 November to 31 October, written as 2025/26. Super Randonneur and Brevet 2000 and 5000 count within one season, and 4 Provinces within one calendar year; RRTY, 4 Nations SR and the ACP awards run across seasons. The Audax season
- Audax UK
- Britain’s Audax club. Some of its terms and practices, such as BP, differ from Ireland’s.
B
- BPBrevet Populaire
- Audax UK’s name for rides under 200 km. The tracker uses it for Ireland’s 50, 100 and 120 km calendar events, with 7 hours for a 100; the 100s and 120s count towards RRTY 100. Shorter rides
- Brevet
- French for certificate: an Audax ride on a set route inside a time limit, with proof at each control. BRMs are the standard ones, 200 to 1,000 km.
- Brevet 2000 and 5000
- Audax Ireland’s season distance award: 2,000 or 5,000 km from Irish events and permanents of 200 km or more, and BRMs abroad. You get the higher one. Full rules
- Brevet card
- The card every rider gets at the start, listing the controls. In Ireland proof is usually a WhatsApp photo, so you keep the card; some controls ask for a stamp or an answer on it. At PBP the stamped card is your proof. Proof of passage
- Brevet Hiberniae
- Audax Ireland’s challenge to visit 128 landmarks around Ireland by bicycle, in any order and with no time limit, with a photo of your bike at each. Members claim a medal for each province. How it works
- BRMBrevet de Randonneurs Mondiaux
- A 200, 300, 400, 600 or 1,000 km ride on a set route and date, run by a club and recognised by ACP so it counts the same worldwide. It’s the only ride with an ACP homologation number. BRMs
- BRM 600 with 8,000 mSR600 Modern
- A calendar 600 km BRM with at least 8,000 m of climbing, in the usual 40 hours. ACP’s Randonneur 10000 has asked for one since November 2022; the tracker calls it SR600 Modern. SR600s
C
- ControlContrôle · Checkpoint
- A checkpoint on the route where you prove you passed, usually with a selfie in the ride’s WhatsApp group in Ireland. Proof of passage
- Control times
- Each control opens and closes at set times, opening at 34 km/h and falling to 28 km/h on longer rides. On a BRM they’ve been a guide since 2024; only the finish time is compulsory. Control times
D
- DNFDid not finish
- You started but stopped before the finish. Stopping is always allowed; tell the organiser. A late finish doesn’t count either. In the tracker a DNF stays in your history but never counts towards an award. If you stop
E
- Eventmaster
- Where every Irish event entry goes, usually €5 plus a booking fee. It adds a €10 event licence if you don’t give an annual one. Entering an event
F
- Flèche
- A team of three to five bikes riding its own route to a shared finish at Easter: at least 360 km in 24 hours, with at least three riders finishing together. Full rules
- Flèche de France
- A French ACP ride from Paris to one of twenty towns. Ridden at Gold or Silver speed, and not to Dieppe, it adds distance to the ACP awards. ACP Randonneur 5000 and 10000
- Flèche Nationale
- ACP’s name for a national Easter Flèche, such as Ireland’s. France’s own is the Flèche Vélocio. The Easter Flèche
H
- Home province
- The province you set in the tracker’s Settings. A permanent there can’t count towards 4 Provinces.
- Homologation
- The official recognition that a ride counts. The organiser checks everyone’s proof of passage and sends BRM results to ACP. Shorter events and permanents are recorded by Audax Ireland, and rides of 1,200 km and more by LRM. Which rides get a number
- Homologation numberPending homologation · no number yet · no number
- ACP’s reference for one finished BRM, usually a few weeks after the ride. Some organisers email it; you can always find it in your ACP account. In the tracker, a finished BRM without one shows an orange “no number” and still counts. Checking your results
I
- Information control
- A control where you answer a question about something there, on your brevet card, instead of a stamp or photo.
- ISRInternational Super Randonneur
- LRM’s award for a 200, 300, 400 and 600 each in a different country, with no time limit. The UK counts as one country. Full rules
L
- LicenceCycling Ireland licence
- A Cycling Ireland licence is your insurance: an annual one that includes events, Leisure upwards, or a €10 event licence. Permanents need an annual one. Licence and insurance
- LRMLes Randonneurs Mondiaux · RM 1200
- The body that recognises rides of 1,200 km and more and awards the ISR. A 1,200 has 90 hours; Ireland’s is Míle Fáilte 1200. Paris-Brest-Paris isn’t an LRM ride. 1,200 km and more
- LRM certificate
- LRM’s number for a finished ride of 1,200 km or more, in the Cert column of its results database. Which rides get a number
P
- PBPParis-Brest-Paris
- 1,220 km from Rambouillet to Brest and back in 80, 84 or 90 hours, every four years; next 22 to 26 August 2027. To qualify, ride ACP brevets of at least 200, 300, 400 and 600 km between 1 November 2026 and 30 June 2027. PBP 2027 guide
- Permanent
- An approved Audax Ireland route, 100 to 600 km, ridden on a day you choose after sending an entry form to its organiser. It counts for Audax Ireland’s awards, not ACP’s or PBP. How permanents work
- Proof of passage
- Evidence you reached a control: in Ireland usually a selfie in the ride’s WhatsApp group; elsewhere a stamp, receipt or answer on your card; on a permanent often your GPS track. Miss one and tell the organiser: they decide. Proof of passage
R
- RandonneurRandonnée
- Anyone who rides audax; formally, someone who has finished a 200. A randonnée is the ride itself.
- Randonneur 5000 and 10000ACP 5000 · ACP 10000
- ACP’s distance awards: 5,000 km in four years or 10,000 km in six, including set rides such as PBP and a Flèche. Apply through Audax Ireland by 31 October. Full rules
- Rolling window
- How the tracker shows the ACP awards: the last four or six years from today. ACP itself counts from your first qualifying ride. ACP awards in the tracker
- RRTYRandonneur Round the Year
- A ride of 200 km or more in each of twelve months in a row, starting in any month and running across seasons. RRTY and RRTY 100
- RRTY 100
- The same as RRTY with rides of 100 km or more, so the 100 and 120 km events count. RRTY and RRTY 100
S
- Secret control
- An unannounced control somewhere on the route. You still need to pass it.
- Self-sufficiency
- No support between controls: you carry what you need and fix what breaks. Other riders can help, and friends can meet you at a control. On the Rules page
- SR600
- Two rides share the name: the Super Randonnée, and since November 2022 the BRM 600 with 8,000 m. The tracker calls them SR600 Original and SR600 Modern. SR600s
- Super RandonnéeSR600 Original
- A 600 km mountain permanent with at least 10,000 m of climbing: 60 hours as a randonneur, or at least 75 km a day as a tourist. Ireland’s is The Rocky Road to Dublin. SR600s
- Super RandonneurSR
- ACP’s award for a BRM of each of 200, 300, 400 and 600 km in one season; a longer ride can’t stand in for a shorter one. Full rules
T
- Time limit
- Start to finish, every stop counted: 7 hours for a 100, 13½ for a 200, then 20, 27, 40 and 75 hours up to 1,000 km. The full table
Sources and further reading