Start: Noon on Thursday, May 2, through 10am on Saturday, May 4, 2024

Group finish time: 7:30am on Sunday, May 5 (this means you start at 7:30am on Saturday)

Finish location:
The Rozelles, 1300 Friendly Way S, St. Petersburg, FL  33705

We’ll have breakfast together and tell big lies about our rides. The communal finish and post-ride celebration are integral to the tradition of the flèche.

Teams Registered as of 4/12/2024:
1.  Coasters (Rozelle P, Rozelle S, Thompson, Ashby)
2.  Knight Riders (Brillhart, Babilonia, Singer, Martyny, Mandus)
3.  Team M&M (Schenkel, Manning, Shanklin, Spence, Williams)

Registration & Details:
The flèche is a team event. You can read more about it here.

First, each team should select a Team Captain. The Team Captain is responsible for registering the team. (This isn’t your strongest rider. It’s a paperwork job, so pick someone who is responsible and well organized.) Registration information should be submitted by email to prozelle at gmail dot com.

To register a flèche team, the Team Captain must:

(1) Identify the team members. For each team member, include that person’s:
–Name
–RUSA number (required)
–mailing address
–phone number
–Emergency contact name & number (cannot be someone on the ride)

If you have team members riding tandems or triples, note that, too. Remember a team is 3-5 machines (a tandem is one machine).

(2) Identify your Team Name. Cute is ok; profane is not. Assuming you finish, your Team Name will be printed on your finisher’s certificate.

(3) Ensure that each team member signs and returns the waiver. Each team member can print out the waiver and send it to me by mail (Paul Rozelle, 1300 Friendly Way S, St. Petersburg, FL, 33705), or they can email them back to me as a .pdf, or the Team Captain can collect them and submit them to me. Electronic signatures are not acceptable.

(4) Submit a starting location and a list of controls for your proposed route. For each control, include the full name of the establishment and the complete address. Specifically identify your 22-hour control. I will check your controls to ensure that the shortest, legally cycleable distance between them is at least 360km and that your 22-hour control meets the requirements.

(5) Once your controls are approved – I will email you generally within 24 hours of your submission – the Team Captain will need to submit a cue sheet. You don’t have to use my format, but your cue sheet must contain about the same level of detail. Maps are great and very much appreciated — any online mapping program is ok with me, as long as I don’t have to sign up for anything to view your map — but do not substitute for the cue sheet requirement. Cutting and pasting the auto-generated cue sheet from something like RWGPS or MapMyRide usually isn’t sufficient: If you wouldn’t give it to a stranger to navigate your route from, then  please don’t submit it.

(6) Submit by mail (address above; checks payable to “Paul Rozelle, RBA”) the entry fee of $5 per rider (not $5 per machine; for example, tandems are $10).  PayPal is fine, too, to prozelle at gmail dot com. The Team Captain must submit the entry fee for the team. Do not have your teammates send me the fee separately.

Deadlines:
(1) Submission of controls: 4/22/2023
(2) Submission of Team Members’ information and entry fees: 4/29/2023
(3) Submission of cue sheets: 4/29/2024
(4) Receipt of signed waivers from each Team Member: 5/2//2024 (waivers for all riders must be in my hand, prior to the ride start)

Absolutely, positively without any exception for any reason will changes to your start time or controls be permitted after 4/29/2024. Accordingly, put some good thought now into the route you’re riding. Commit now so you don’t feel like you want to change later.

Other Logistics and Considerations

(1) Once I receive from the Team Captain the list of team members and have verified that the controls meet the requirements, I will prepare the brevet cards for that team and will mail them to the Team Captain. The Team Captain is responsible for distributing them to the team.

(2) Substitution of team members is not permitted without my prior, written approval.

(3) You’re recommended to finish at 7:30am Sunday and join us for breakfast at  my home.

(4) Although point-to-point routes are in keeping with the tradition of the event, any starting location outside St. Petersburg is acceptable.

(5) There are many rules to the flèche (and don’t forget the RUSA Rules for Riders). Spend time now learning and understanding them. If you have questions, ask me. The biggies are:

Finishing at least 3 machines TOGETHER. “Together” means at the same time. Straggle in and you’re disqualified. Anyone who comes in after the 3 machines together is DNF. The flèche is a team event. Ride with your teammates is good; finishing with them is required.

Being stopped for more than 2 hours in any one place. The flèche is a 24-hour event. Faster riders are advised to plan longer routes to avoid running ahead of schedule. Or slow down and enjoy the ride.

Respecting the 22-hour control. Leave that control before the time on your brevet card, and you’re DQ’d. Same goes for arriving at that control more than 2 hours before the time on your brevet card.

(6) Creating a good flèche route is an art. Likely you don’t want to ride the shortest distance between two controls – typically, around here, that would mean riding some busy roads. Designing a route with good roads but that’s not larded up with controls requires some thought and planning.

(7) Pick your team (or join one) carefully. I’ve done flèches that have covered anywhere from 360km to 560km, and as you might imagine, the team that rode 560km had a very different dynamic than the one that covered 360km. To ensure everyone has a safe, fun, and successful ride, make sure your team is “all on the same page” as far as pace, expectations, rest, what the stops and meals look like, and general riding philosophy.

(8) Other than the start, the 22-hour control, and the finish, there are no opening or closing times for the other controls on a flèche. You still need to obtain proof of passage through the controls — either a store stamp or receipt plus the initials and time of day from the store clerk. Postcard controls are ok, but info controls are not. A good flèche team will plan arrival times at the controls and how long they want to spend there to ensure that they say on pace for completing their route within time.

(9) Plan your route and controls with an eye toward when you’ll be there. Departing or arriving into a big city is no big deal in the hours before daybreak or around sunrise; it’d be terrible in the middle of the day. Similarly, call your controls to make sure they’re going to be open at the time you’ll likely pass through them.

(10) If you are interested in riding but don’t have a team, or if you’re a team and are have interest in others joining you, email me and I’ll try to play matchmaker.