POLICIES AND PROCEDURES
On Road GPS Unit Support

On Road Support • Paper Cue Sheets and Maps • Other Participants • Extra GPS Units • Power Charging
Weak or Lost Satellite Signal Reception • Physical Damage

On Road Support
We consider all individual GPS units (whether personally owned or provided by us) to be an "accessory" and will provide technical assistance and support for them as a Level 1 mechanical situation according to our mechanical support services policies.

• Click Here for more information about Handling Situations Requiring Mechanical Support.
• Click Here for more information about Parts.
• Click Here for more information about our Mechanical Support Services.

Paper Cue Sheets and Maps
Paper cue sheets and maps for all routes will still remain our primary navigation means and will always be provided to all participants regardless of whether you will ride with an individual GPS unit or not.

You MUST ALWAYS carry all paper cue sheets and maps with you on the road as a backup against any type of GPS failure, particularly in case you end up riding alone with no other navigation means. Accordingly, a SAG vehicle will NOT come out to your location on the road and provide additional assistance in case your individual GPS unit fails because you will still be able to ride because you will still have the paper cue sheets and maps with you.

• Click Here for more information about our Cue Sheets and Maps.

Other Participants
Having many participants riding together as a group significantly decreases the effect of any one individual GPS unit failing. In fact, even if only one person in a group has a GPS unit that group can still ride as long as that person calls out turns, lets everyone else know where they are at, etc.

• Click Here for more information about Riding With A Buddy.
• Click Here for more information about Watching Out for Each Other.

Extra GPS Units
We will also carry a couple of spare GPS units with us as a backup in case of unexpected technical problems. We would much rather have an extra unit and not need it than for you to need a unit because yours won't work properly and not have it. If a technical problem does occur on the road, we will generally swap out an entire unit instead of attempting to fix the specific problem so you can continue to ride without delay.

• Click Here for more information about our GPS Units.

Personal GPS Units
If your personally owned GPS unit fails during the event we cannot guarantee to be able to provide you one of our GPS units even if there are extras available. This is particularly true if we provide GPS units to other participants who do not own their own as a contingency against one of our own units failing and you may need to rely on another alternate means of navigation to continue riding instead.

Power Charging
By far the most common way that a GPS unit will fail on the road is simply running out of power.

• Click Here for more information about GPS Unit Power and contingencies against running out of power, depending on the type of power source each GPS unit relies on.

Weak or Lost Satellite Signal Reception
Although it is extremely rare, it is possible that satellite signal reception could be become weak or lost due to weather or other conditions. If this happens your specific location indicated on the GPS may become much less accurate and bounce around and drift. This is particularly possible going through downtown Chicago due to tall buildings blocking the satellite signals. Since we began using GPS units for navigation in 2006 however, we have never had an issue where our GPS units lose satellite reception for more than a few seconds and we test every one of our GPS units for the proper functioning of its satellite reception hardware before each event.

Luckily, the loss of satellite reception is only a temporary condition, although it is impossible to know how long it will last. You will need to rely on another alternate means of navigation to continue riding until satellite reception is restored.

Physical Damage
Even though most GPS units are waterproof and very rugged and resistant against shocks and impacts, it is possible that they can become broken and inoperable by getting wet, cracked, crushed, etc. In addition, units can also get lost or stolen.

If your individual GPS unit becomes inoperable due to some type of physical damage or is lost or stolen, you will need to rely on another alternate means of navigation to continue riding.