Permanents Guide

Permanents are self-organised Audax rides that you can do on any date you choose, rather than on a fixed calendar date with a group. They follow pre-approved routes and are validated in the same way as other Audax events, but the flexibility of timing makes them one of the most accessible ways to ride Audax. For an overview of all event formats, see the Ride Types page.

What Are Permanents?

A Permanent is a pre-approved route that has been set up by a local organiser and registered with Audax Ireland. Unlike calendar BRM events, which take place on a specific date with a group start, Permanents can be ridden at any time of year, on any day that suits you. You ride alone or with friends, at your own pace, following the published route and collecting proof of passage at the designated controls.

Permanents use the same distance categories as BRMs (typically 200 km, 300 km, and occasionally longer) and the same time limits apply. The key difference is simply the scheduling: you pick the date, rather than waiting for a calendar event.

How to Ride a Permanent

Riding a Permanent is straightforward:

1. Select a route. Browse the list of available Permanent routes in the tracker's Calendar page under the Permanents tab. Each route has a description, distance, start location, and province.
2. Contact the organiser. Get in touch with the route organiser to let them know you plan to ride. They will provide you with a brevet card and any specific instructions for the route, including control locations and proof of passage methods.
3. Ride on your chosen date. Complete the route within the time limit, collecting proof of passage at each control. Return your completed brevet card to the organiser for validation.
4. Log it in the tracker. Add the ride to the tracker as a Permanent. You can do this from the Permanents tab on the Calendar page using the + button, or by adding a ride manually from the Rides page.

There is no group start and no sign-on. You simply head out and ride. This makes Permanents ideal for fitting Audax rides around your own schedule, or for getting rides in during quieter periods of the calendar.

Routes in Ireland

Ireland has over 40 permanent routes available, spread across all four provinces. Routes range from 200 km to longer distances and cover a wide variety of terrain, from coastal roads to inland hills. Many routes are designed to showcase the best cycling in their region, and riding Permanents is a great way to explore parts of the country you might not otherwise visit.

The variety of routes also means you can choose based on what suits you: a flatter route for building confidence, a hillier route for a challenge, or a scenic route for the pure enjoyment of it. The tracker's Calendar page lets you filter permanents by province, county, and distance to find routes near you.

Award Eligibility

Permanents count toward some awards but not all. The key distinction is between ACP-administered awards and other awards.

This distinction is important when planning your season. If you are working toward an ACP award, you will need to ride the corresponding calendar BRM events. But if you are building toward RRTY or 4 Provinces, Permanents are an excellent and flexible way to get the rides in.

The 4 Provinces Home Province Restriction

Permanents count toward the 4 Provinces award, but with an important restriction: you may use at most one Permanent, and it cannot be in your home province. All other provinces must be covered by calendar events (BRM or LRM).

For example, if your home province is Leinster, you could use a Permanent in Connacht to cover that province, but you would need calendar events for Leinster, Munster, and Ulster. Your home province is set in Settings.

SR600 and Permanents

A Permanent with 10,000 metres or more of elevation gain is automatically classified as an SR600 Original by the tracker. These are the original SR600 format: 600 km permanent routes through mountainous terrain. If you add a Permanent and enter 10,000 m or more of elevation, the tracker will recognise it as an SR600 completion.

Note that SR600 Original rides completed after 1 November 2022 no longer count toward ACP distance awards, though they still count as SR600 completions and toward other eligible awards.

Why Ride Permanents?

Beyond award eligibility, there are several good reasons to include Permanents in your riding:

• Flexibility: ride on any date that suits you. No need to wait for a calendar event or worry about clashing schedules.
• Winter riding: the calendar is quiet between November and February. Permanents are often the only way to get a qualifying ride in during these months, which is essential for RRTY.
• Exploration: with over 40 routes across Ireland, Permanents take you to parts of the country the main calendar might not cover. They are a great way to discover new roads.
• Practice: if you are building toward longer distances, a 200 km Permanent is a low-pressure way to test your fitness, nutrition, and equipment without the commitment of a calendar event.
• Backup: if you DNF a calendar event or one gets cancelled, a Permanent can fill the gap for awards that accept them.

Finding Permanents in the Tracker

The tracker's Calendar page has a dedicated Permanents tab that lists all available routes. You can filter by province, county, and distance to find routes near you. Each route card shows the distance, start location, and province. Click the + button to add it as a planned ride with the details pre-filled.

See the Managing Rides guide for more on how to add rides from the Calendar page.