Rules & practical info

Audax isn’t a race, but it has rules: a few to keep it fair, and more to keep you safe on open roads. This is what they ask of you before, during and after a ride in Ireland. The formats themselves are on Ride types.

1Licence and insurance

A Cycling Ireland licence is your insurance on the day. Any annual licence that includes events, Leisure upwards, covers every Irish event until 31 December; Commuter membership doesn’t include events. Otherwise Eventmaster adds a €10 event licence to your entry. Permanents need an annual licence, and riders under 18 need a parent’s or guardian’s consent.

Riding abroad, check what the organiser asks for and what your insurer covers there. A Cycling Ireland licence may not include medical assistance or repatriation, which some events, such as Paris-Brest-Paris, require.

2At the start

Irish rides usually start from a car park or a community hall. The organiser sends the route a few days before, checks you off the start list, and briefs everyone on the route and controls. You always get a brevet card listing the controls: keep it somewhere handy on the bike. The start closes an hour after it opens, and your time counts from the official start either way.

In winter an organiser may call a ride off for a Met Éireann warning of snow, ice or high winds. Check the ride’s WhatsApp group the night before.

3Proof of passage

Every control needs proof that you were there, and there can be a secret control you weren’t told about. The organiser tells you how, and if you miss a control, tell them: they decide. On most Irish rides it’s a selfie posted to the ride’s WhatsApp group, with something in the picture that shows the place: a sign, a shop front, the control itself.

• Your brevet card. Some controls ask for a stamp from a volunteer or the shop, or the answer to a question about something at the control (an information control). You usually keep the card afterwards.
• A receipt showing the place, date and time is the fallback when a shop is closed or a stamp isn’t possible.

4Time limits

The limit covers everything: riding, eating, fixing punctures and sleeping. Riding a 600 at 20 km/h leaves about 10 of your 40 hours for stops.

5Control times

Since January 2024, only the finish time is compulsory on a BRM. The opening and closing times at controls along the way are a guide to whether you’re on course, so arriving outside them doesn’t end your ride, as long as you have proof of passage. Controls open at 34 km/h over the first 200 km, falling to 28 km/h on longer rides, so nobody can race it. You may still see an older 30 km/h maximum quoted; the current bands are on Ride types. Paris-Brest-Paris and permanents can have their own arrangements.

6Self-sufficiency

• No following vehicle. Nobody may drive behind you or support you between controls. Friends and family can meet you at a control.
• Your own navigation. Routes aren’t signposted; follow the GPX or route sheet. Get lost and you find your way back: what matters is reaching the controls.
• Your own repairs. Carry what you need to fix a puncture and a small mechanical, and buy food along the way.
• Other riders can help. Riding together and lending a hand is part of it; what’s barred is support arranged from outside.

7Lights and being seen

Lights must be fixed to the bike and working, with at least one rear light on steady, and on from dusk to dawn and in poor visibility. Carry a spare: a dead light in the dark is dangerous, and organisers can refuse a start without the right kit. Irish law also asks for a red rear reflector at all times, a bell, and front and rear brakes.

Reflective clothing is required on every ride of 300 km or more, at any time of year, and whenever you ride in the dark. Wear a helmet: Irish events require one.

8On the road

• Obey traffic signals and signs. It’s the law, and a red light is never worth the time.
• Ride two abreast at most, which is the law, and single out on narrow roads or when traffic is passing.
• Signal, hold your line, and thank a patient driver.
• Buy something when a shop is your control.
• Carry your rubbish to the next bin.

9If you stop

Stopping is always allowed, for any reason. Call or text the organiser as they asked in the briefing, so nobody waits for you at the finish, and get yourself home. In the tracker you can mark the ride as a DNF: it stays in your history but never counts towards an award, and you can hide DNFs in Settings.

10After the ride

The organiser checks everyone’s proof of passage and sends the BRM results to ACP, which gives each finished ride a homologation number: the official proof that it counts. It takes a few weeks. Some organisers email the numbers, but you can always look yours up in your ACP account. Checking your results shows how.

Only BRMs get an ACP number. Shorter events and permanents are recorded by Audax Ireland, and rides of 1,200 km and more by Les Randonneurs Mondiaux. You can add the number to your ride in the tracker.