HowTo: Organise a Ride

Spring is in the air, summers round the corner and the forum has 6K members, give or take a few aliases.
So with so many new members eager to get on their bikes and roll. Here's a few things you should know if your organising a ride - as I'm sure many of you want to, and will do in the coming months.

First things first, with the forum growing so fast, gone are the days when you could post up a ride six weeks to a month before the event. We had a 150 for the Tweed ride, and well over a 100 for the last bridges ride, and right now approx 60 odd are signed up for the latest bridges ride. So to point number...

1. If your organising your first ride, don't post it up ages before the event, you'll get too many members and it'll be a nightmare to get everyone from point a to point b. Post it up a week to two weeks before and hopefully you'll have a comfortable, enjoyable experience, with a smallish crew.

2. Recce your route, ride it a couple of times and see how long it'll take, ideally recce it on the same day and about the same time you want the ride to roll out. This gives you an approximate timing for the route, give or take whatever mishaps, may or may not happen during the event. This also means you can adjust your route if it isn't as great or enjoyable as you first thought, and finally also means you can give people a finishing time - approximate of course, essential if your ride is on a school night.

3. There's loads of different riding abilities on this here board, and you should be aware of that. Most rides have a leave no man behind policy, so will wait for people to repair punctures, and have meeting points so slower riders or latecomers can catchup/meet up. If this isn't going to be the case with your ride let people know from the beginning.

4. If your ride is really popular and gets innundated with people signing up, get a core group and turn them into stewards to make sure people get to where they need to, and the ride is kept together. The stewards should know as much as you about the route, ideally have ridden it with you when you recce'd, and will be able to lead it if you can't.

5. Produce maps, cribsheets, directions so people know where they are going as well, so if they fall off the edge of the route and there are no stewards around they'll know where your going and how to get back to you.

6. Have fun, ain't nothing better than riding with a crew from the forum.

Below is Ma3k's checklist from the bridges ride, slightly amended for you to post up with your ride so that people know what to bring, check and be aware of before they set out...

A few things to read before you go:
**
Check over your bike
Make sure it is roadworthy**
-Check your tyres for wear and glass/flints/sharp objects
-Pump up the tyres(correctly inflated tyres puncture less)
-Check your lights and batteries (if a night ride)
-Check for loose bolts
-Oil the chain
If you are not mechanically competent, get a friend to help you.
Make sure you do this a couple of days before, not the day of, it'll save you a stressful couple of hours if there is something you need to sort.

** Prepare for self-sufficiency **
-Bring a spare tube and tube changing tools
-Bring spare batteries
-Bring extra layers, for if it gets colder
-Bring a rainjacket for if it gets wetter
-Bring a Fully Charged Mobile
-Bring a mapbook

** Help out, sound off about hazards and if people have been dropped of the back**
Usually if we are riding the first person over a nasty bump or hidden grate, sudden drop, glass, whatever will let those immediately following them now about it by shouting or pointing.

So if you hear about it from the front, pass it back.

Conversely if you see people being dropped off the back, at the lights or because they are slow or having some mechanical difficulties, pass it forward so the people leading the ride know and can take steps to either wait up, slow down or go back and help them out.

** Get other peoples mobile numbers**
You can collect these in either the numbers thread or at the beginning of the ride, worth having in case you get lost off the back(or front).

Take a few minutes to check out the route
Either from the route posted up or grab a map/cribsheet/directions so if you plan to leave early, arrive late or if you get separated you can get back on to the ride

Be sensible
As with all forum rides we will endeavour to help out any stricken rider with their punctures and mechanical problems but on a large ride this might be difficult.
Do not bring arcane or speciality equipment that needs non standard tools or esoteric knowledge in order to sort out failures and malfunctions.
Of course if you can change a 650 tub in complete darkness in under ten minutes and have all the tools and glues, be my guest.

========================================

Anyone else whose organised a ride, Dogs, Ma3k, Pajama's, Lebowski, feel free to post up any information I may have missed out.

So get out there and start organising rides, hope to see you on some of them...

Lets' Roll!!!

Nice one Corny. Looking forward to a summer(?) of long rides!

all good advice I reckon

It's a long way from when 5 or 6 of us would just email around, and set out the same evening and generally only have beer money on us. But that's what happens when the place grows, and it's good advice.

its still doable vb, still very doable, I'm looking forward to a summer of spontaneous jaunts off to wherever with beers as a reward at the end, nothing but the road, a good group of friends and the opportunity to turn the pedals...

i'll add a few points:

• if it's your first ride, don't be afraid to limit numbers. but make it clear from the outset to avoid frustration.

• think about the route carefully. if your group is going to be wrestling through rush hour traffic, it's not going to be so much fun

• if you end up with a ride that has 100+ people, think about notifying the police about the route

• try to, uhm, plan around gaza strip protests...

• try to, uhm, plan around gaza strip protests...
  
  

+1

It's a long way from when 5 or 6 of us would just email around, and set out the same evening and generally only have beer money on us. But that's what happens when the place grows, and it's good advice.

2-up Bridges Ride VB? :-)

2-up Colapaluza ride, Brett? :-)

Think there's plenty of opportunity for spontaneous rides as a way of keeping things manageable. Also think there's opportunity for some rides marked out as for experienced riders as there's a vast gulf between riders who cycle down to the local drinks and those for who are a bit more closely acquainted with the country lanes outside of London

2-up Colapaluza ride, Brett? :-)

Meh.. that never took off. Bloody climbers.

Wanna run it again?

Ban lists!

Banned:

1. Skully
   

Banned:

1. Skully
   
2. hippy
   

Meh.. that never took off. Bloody climbers.

Wanna run it again?

I was out in the hills on Sunday testing out my leg. Few laps of Highate West/Swains Lane then a few sprints round the Outer Circle.
Felt really good. Think I am almost back to normal. I got myself some nice new shoes and raised the saddle by about 5mm and I think it makes a lot of difference.

I am always up for some spontaneous hill climbs

Ban lists!

nah, fuck that.

Ban Rides!
More Prevaricating!

I was out in the hills on Sunday testing out my leg. Few laps of Highate West/Swains Lane then a few sprints round the Outer Circle.
Felt really good. Think I am almost back to normal. I got myself some nice new shoes and raised the saddle by about 5mm and I think it makes a lot of difference.

I am always up for some spontaneous hill climbs

Interesting, I find I prefer the saddle slightly lower if doing lots of climbing. I lowered my saddle at the top of the first big hill on a sportive last year, and haven't put it back up, anyway.

Climbing? What's this ***'saddle' ***thing you're both going on about?

Climbing? What's this ***'saddle' ***thing you're both going on about?

It's a hill in New Zealand:

Saddle Hill, Otago, New Zealand.

I don't think lowering or raising that by 5mm is going to make much difference.

I don't think lowering or raising that by 5mm is going to make much difference.

I just measured. It's about 4cm from the bottom of the picture, so 5mm would be 12.5% of that. It seems to be about 1.3cm high in its own right, so 5mm will make a massive difference, q.e.d.

woteva

Serious answers to serious questions. :)

meh x ∞

back on track people....
any other thoughts about organising a ride, hints, tips, etc or even possible ride ideas?