Challenge Rides

Please make sure you read this page through and are sure you are certain you know what you need to do before attempting any of the Challenge Rides. If you have any questions please email me.

Details of Challenge Rides

Challenge Rides differ from Touring Rides in that the ride is completed in one journey.

A Challenge Ride can be completed as a Bronze, Silver or Gold Award. Individual rides give details of requirements for each award. They list minimum requirements e.g if you have to visit 5 landmarks for a Bronze Award, and 10 landmarks for a Silver Award, then visiting anything between 5 and 9 landmarks will gain you a Bronze Award.

An award will be granted upon providing evidence for the three separate demands of each ride - these include:
1. visiting and photographing the required number of landmarks;
2. collecting and photographing receipts from the required locations listed for each ride;
4. photographing evidence of the time you were at each landmark.

To provide evidence for the time you were at each landmark you will need to provide photographs taken of your GPS, showing the coordiantes of the landmark and the time. To prove you were there on that day you will be given a number before starting the ride which must appear on a sticker on your GPS in each photograph. To get this number you need to contact me before the ride (at least 2 weeks before if possible) with details of how you can receive a message (email or text) the evening before your ride. This message will tell you the number which needs to be written on the sticker on your GPS unit.

Note the screen on your GPS unit may look different from this but needs to show time and coordinates. If you are unsure which screen you need to use feel free to email me examples - I will add more here as I collect them. (Note some more modern Garmin GPS units including Zumo 550 and 660s no longer have this capability - in this case you must ensure your camera will show the time and date of the photograph when taken as in the example above).

After completing the ride you need to send me all your photographs (landmarks, GPS photos, receipt photos) and a copy of a completed Award Application Sheet and a completed Ride Record Sheet (you can download these from the links on the appropriate pages or email me for Word documents, along with a cheque or paypal payment of the ride fee. These need to be sent as soon as possible after the ride - preferably within 24 hours, and may be sent by email to grim@thegrimrider.com or in the post to Grim Rider, Verger's Cottage, 101 Rectory Road, Old Arley, Warwickshire CV7 8FL.

After checking your photos and record an award certificate will be issued and your achievement recorded on the list of Completed Rides.

Checklist for Challenge Rides
1. Decide on ride and award to be collected.
2. Decide on date ride will be attempted.
3. Contact me with details of your ride and date and email address or mobile phone number you can be contacted on the evening before the ride (anytime in week before the ride).
4. Obtain a small sticker to put onto your GPS unit.
5. You will get an email or text with a number - write this number on the sticker on your GPS unit.
6. At every landmark take two photographs - one showing the landmark, your year rally flag and your bike (if you cannot get your bike in the photo, take another photograph in the immediate area e.g showing a village name sign); the second showing your GPS unit screen with the landmark coordinates and time.
7. At the end of the ride complete an Award Application Form, a Ride Record Sheet and collect together all your photographs. Email or post all these to me with the ride fee.

Thanks to Chris McGaffin of IBA Ireland for his help in putting these ideas together.