Route Design and Submission

Designing a successful brevet route is about much more than reaching the required distance. A good route is safe, enjoyable, easy to navigate, simple to administer, and straightforward for RUSA to review and approve. This chapter outlines the process used by PA Randonneurs, from the initial concept through final route approval.

RUSA Route Creation Guidelines: RUSA Route Creation Guidelines

Cue Wizard Guide: Cue Wizard Guide

Route Design Principles

Before opening Ride with GPS (RWGPS), think through the overall experience you want riders to have.

A good brevet route should:

• Follow a logical, reasonably direct path between controls.
• Use roads that are safe and appropriate for cycling.
• Include sufficient food, water, and restroom opportunities.
• Minimize complicated navigation whenever practical.
• Showcase interesting roads, scenery, or destinations.
• Be realistic for riders of varying abilities and arrival times.

Remember that riders will experience your route very differently depending on whether they are among the fastest or slowest participants. A convenience store that is busy at noon may be closed when the last riders arrive after midnight.

Designing with RUSA Approval in Mind

The RUSA Routes Committee reviews every submitted route using RWGPS and Google Street View. Understanding what they look for can save significant time during the approval process.

When designing a route:

• Design reasonably direct routes between controls.
• Avoid creating shortcuts that would allow riders to bypass more than approximately 5% of the route distance between controls unless there is a compelling reason.
• Verify that the cue sheet exactly matches the mapped route.
• Check for accidental loops, parking lot shortcuts, and routing errors using RWGPS's Review Cues feature.
• Look for potential hazards such as railroad crossings, high-speed roads, steep descents, and surface changes.

Choosing Controls

Controls should serve two purposes:

1. Verify that riders completed the route.
2. Provide useful services whenever possible.

Whenever practical:

• Use businesses that provide food, water, and restrooms.
• Confirm business hours before selecting the location.
• Avoid excessively long gaps between resupply opportunities.
• Add custom cues warning riders when long stretches without services exist.

Information or photo controls work well in remote areas where businesses are unavailable.

Pre-Riding

Every new route should be pre-ridden.

During the pre-ride:

• Verify every turn.
• Confirm road conditions.
• Check traffic patterns.
• Verify control locations.
• Confirm business hours.
• Look for construction or seasonal closures.
• Identify confusing intersections and/or missing street signs.
• Evaluate whether additional warning cues should be added.

Always communicate your pre-ride plans with the RBA. Before your ride, send the planned date, start time, and the names of any riders joining you.

Preparing the RWGPS Route

RWGPS serves as the master source for the route.

Once the route geometry is finalized:

• Review every generated cue.
• Add spotting notes where appropriate.
• Include hazard warnings.
• Add food and water notes when helpful.
• Create Control-type cues for every control.

Using Cue Wizard

Cue Wizard automates nearly all event paperwork once the RWGPS route has been prepared correctly. See Cue Wizard page for more instructions.

After entering the required control tags, Cue Wizard can automatically generate:

• Cue sheets
• Brevet cards
• Event web pages
• GPX downloads
• Control opening and closing times
• Event statistics
• Route files

This greatly reduces organizer workload while ensuring all materials remain synchronized when route changes occur.

Control Tags

Control tags are included in the RWGPS cues. Create a custom cue at the location of the control, set the type to “Control”, and include the following information in the “Description” field of the cue.

#name

#address

#style

Information controls additionally require:

#question

Photo controls require:

#photo

Example of a control cue:

These tags allow Cue Wizard to correctly generate cue sheets and brevet cards.

Final Review Checklist

Before submitting your route to RUSA:

☐ Route has been successfully pre-ridden.

☐ All business controls have verified operating hours.

☐ Route is reasonably direct between controls.

☐ No significant shortcuts exist.

☐ Cue sheet exactly matches the route.

☐ Start and finish controls include proper opening and closing times.

☐ Hazards are identified.

☐ Long gaps without services are noted.

☐ Cue Wizard reports no errors.

☐ Cue sheet and brevet card have been regenerated after the final RWGPS download.

Submitting to RUSA

Routes should normally be submitted at least five weeks before their intended first use. Include all required submission information, and avoid resubmitting the route to correct mistakes. It is preferred that the RBA submit the route to streamline communication between RUSA and the PA Rando club.

Schuylkill River Trail (SRT) Cue Recommendations

Many routes beginning or ending in Philadelphia include a segment on the Schuylkill River Trail (SRT). Unfortunately, Ride with GPS (RWGPS) often generates numerous unnecessary or confusing cues along the trail. To provide riders with a cleaner and more useful cue sheet, PA Randonneurs recommends using the following cues—originally developed by Chris Nadovich and refined through years of use by CJ Arayata and Chris. Adapt them as needed based on your route and direction of travel.

Recommended Cues

Entering Phoenixville

• SO b/c Bridge Street [Phoenixville]
• WARNING: Pedestrian traffic. Twisted Cog Bike Shop.

After crossing the Schuylkill River in Phoenixville

• R Walnut Street (TFL) after crossing Schuylkill River and canal bridges. Produce Junction at corner.

Port Providence Trailhead

• R Port Providence Trailhead parking
• Bathrooms and water available.

Leaving Port Providence

• L Join Schuylkill River Trail toward Valley Forge (paved) at left rear of parking.
• Follow the SRT for the next 20 miles.

Perkiomen Trail Junction

• L ***TRO Schuylkill Trail immediately after passing under bridge.
• Follow sign for SRT East to Philadelphia
• Climb hairpin to cross bridge. NOT straight onto Perkiomen Trail!

Leave trail

• Slight right onto Nixon St, leaving Trail
• WARNING: Cross traffic. Look right.

Manayunk

• Turn left onto Shawmont Ave
• Sharp right onto Minerva St bike lane
• Continue onto Umbria St bike lane
• Turn right onto Leverington Ave
• Turn left onto Main St
• Slight right onto Ridge Ave
• Turn right onto SRT next to Kelly Dr ramp

Direct riders to the exact finish location from there.

Acknowledgment

Special thanks to Chris Nadovich for developing these standardized SRT cues and to CJ and Chris for refining them through extensive route development and organizer experience. These cues have significantly improved the clarity and consistency of PA Randonneurs cue sheets and serve as an excellent starting point for any route using the Schuylkill River Trail.