Pedalan keeps a short set of rules. They are written here so you can judge how much weight to give what you read on the site.
We show our sources
Every guide, route, rider profile and news story ends with a list of sources. These are the news reports, records and public pages the facts came from. You can open them and check for yourself.
When sources disagree, we say so. Our short history of the Philippine tours, for example, notes where two records give different distances for the same race. The details on an event page come from its organizer, who is named on the page.
We leave blanks instead of guessing
If something is not confirmed, we do not fill it in. An event with no confirmed venue shows “Assembly point to be announced”. An event with no confirmed start time shows “Start time to be announced”. A route page leaves out any figure we could not confirm.
The same rule applies to people. A rider’s profile says only what a source supports.
How the news is prepared
The news is drafted by an automated news desk. This is software that writes each story from published reports about Philippine cycling and links to those reports.
The desk cannot publish whatever it likes. The site itself checks every story at the moment of publishing and refuses any story that falls short. JP Caparas, the curator, sets these rules and supervises the desk.
A story is refused unless it has all of these:
- At least one source. The first source must be the outside report the story is based on, not a page on Pedalan.
- Two to four key points, so a reader in a hurry gets the story at a glance.
- At least 300 words of text, under a headline and a summary of set lengths.
- A credited photograph that meets the rules below.
- At least one place, such as a province, or “Nationwide” for a story about the whole country.
- A news category, such as “Races and results” or “Roads and bike lanes”.
The site also refuses repeats. A story with the same headline or the same main source as one we already have is stopped. A second automated check compares each new story with those already published, and stops one that only retells an earlier story. If that check cannot be run, the story waits.
Photographs
News stories carry real photographs only. We do not illustrate the news with computer-generated images, and a poster, a logo or a screenshot is not accepted in place of a photograph. The picture must show cycling or what the headline is about.
Every news photograph must:
- be at least 1,200 by 675 pixels, so it is clear on any screen;
- have a description in words, for readers who cannot see it;
- name the photographer or the organization that released it;
- give the web page it was taken from;
- state the reason we may use it.
We accept five reasons. The photograph was released for press use by an organizer, team, federation or sponsor. It was published by a Philippine government agency or news service. It carries a Creative Commons license or is in the public domain. The owner gave written permission. Or it was taken by or for Pedalan.
Corrections
If you see a mistake, please tell us through the contact form. Say which page, what is wrong, and where we can check the right answer. We fix what we can confirm and add a note to the page saying what changed.
Independence
Pedalan does not sell placements. No one can pay to have an event listed first, a story written or a route recommended. Listing an event is free at this time.
When an event page names sponsors or gives thanks, those are the organizer’s sponsors and supporters. They are not sponsors of this site.