Help needed drafting rules for our cycling club

Dippydog3

We are a newly formed road cycling club and are going to draw up a few basic rules (guidelines really) so everyone understands what they are getting to if they ride with us.

The idea is that we all submit our thoughts and then we meet to discuss.

Of course, anything the Velominati have come up with is banned, and I have been struggling with suggestions.

How would you add to my meagre list?

1. Just like the Navy Seals, we do not leave a man behind. However, if you puncture and we wait for you, the bill at the next coffee stop is yours.

2. You are required to drink one bottle of wine (or the equivalent) per 50km cycled. You are allowed to wait until the ride has finished to comply with this rule, but failure to do so will make you vulnerable to an accusation of "over-zealous training".

florerider

The first rule of drafting is don't be a wheel sucker.

pblakeney

florerider wrote:

The first rule of drafting is don't be a wheel sucker.

No point in drafting if you are not sucking.

Monty Dog

No half-wheeling

cubedean

I think the puncture coffee shop rule is a bit unfair, especially if you're in a big group. Could work for a group of 5 maybe, but I certainly wouldn't want to be picking up a bill for 20-25 people all because I got a flat.

madasahattersley

Pay for the bill?! I'd rather have you all bugger off than have to buy each Tom Dick & Harry a cake and coffee. Crazy crazy rule. All friendly clubs in the land will wait for you, normally lend a tube or CO2 if necessary and not ask for anything in return.

No half wheeling is a good shout as all of the chronic half wheelers in any club I've ridden with, no matter how reasonable they are as human beings, end up being very unpopular on a personal level with most members. It's one of the most irritating things you can do on a club ride.

The wine rule though is brilliant and I'm amazed it doesn't already exist in most clubs

RideOnTime

The only rule should be that there are no rules.

Now see if you come back alive.

and if in Wales no biting.

oh hold on that's a rule.

Yes, no biting that's a good one.

oh and Hi-Viz jackets worn at all times.

crescent

Mudguards in winter.
Several members of my club don't bother with them and it is more than a little annoying in the rain. Fine if you're on your own, it's only you who's getting wet and dirty, but in a group it is bordering on ignorant.

ugo.santalucia

Crescent wrote:

but in a group it is bordering on ignorant.

People pay good money to get sprayed mud in the face from the wheel in front and you get it for free and complain... MTFU some would say... not me, of course...

DeVlaeminck

Why do you need rules, it's a cycling club not a military dictatorship.

Colinthecop

No touching.


There's nothing more annoying when the bloke alongside you strokes your hand or tickles the back of your neck. I mean, his intentions might be honourable, but just No.

RideOnTime

Colinthecop wrote:

No touching.


There's nothing more annoying when the bloke alongside you strokes your hand or tickles the back of your neck. I mean, his intentions might be honourable, but just No.

big problem is it?

whoof

Don't empty the contents of your nose over your shoulder unless you are 1. sitting at the back or 2. have learnt to do it under your arm towards the ground.

capt_slog

whoof wrote:

Don't empty the contents of your nose over your shoulder unless you are 1. sitting at the back or 2. have learnt to do it under your arm towards the ground.

ah, but how do you learn that without practice and feedback

Colinthecop

RideOnTime wrote:

big problem is it?

Not now i've been told to stop... :oops:

cougie

Mudguards in Winter,
No riding through red lights,
Do your marshalling duties each year,
Don't whinge about the club unless you're prepared to take a post in the club.

crescent

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Crescent wrote:

but in a group it is bordering on ignorant.

People pay good money to get sprayed mud in the face from the wheel in front and you get it for free and complain... MTFU some would say... not me, of course...

The unspoken rule in our club is mudguards in winter for a social run, but not necessarily for a training run or event. Personally, I hate them, but they do the job of keeping my feet dry and my bike reasonably clean. It kind of defeats the purpose though when others don't bother and you end up mingin' anyway.

madasahattersley

Crescent wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Crescent wrote:

but in a group it is bordering on ignorant.

People pay good money to get sprayed mud in the face from the wheel in front and you get it for free and complain... MTFU some would say... not me, of course...

The unspoken rule in our club is mudguards in winter for a social run, but not necessarily for a training run or event. Personally, I hate them, but they do the job of keeping my feet dry and my bike reasonably clean. It kind of defeats the purpose though when others don't bother and you end up mingin' anyway.

I had a great deal of fun trolling a local CC to me who have just introduced a "mudguards only" rule for all rides when the clocks are at GMT.

Fortunately I've got a few mates who aren't @r$€h0!€ cycling club types and won't make me ride a the back if I chose not to do what is akin to putting a roofbox on my Lamborghini and put mudguards on my fine machine.

ugo.santalucia

Serious question: is there anything duller than a cycling club?

Having been among the founding members of a rather successful one, my experience is:

1) Endless arguments about riding pace and riding standards

2) Endless talks about nonsense things like "riding etiquette", "two abreast policy" and "mudguards in winter"

3) Endless grief with club kit that is always inevitable shabby, loose fit, dreadful in quality and late, but somewhat compulsory to comply with the club policy and BC insurance.

4) Endless changes of group rides to accomodate for every level of ability, down to "I have just removed the stabilisers" level

5) Endless search for volunteers to lead 10 mph beginners rides that nobody wanted in the first place

6) Endless arguments between committee members for micro-power and micro-management

7) Endless greed and need for an increasing membership fee, which inevitably gets accumulated in a bank account, as nobody has a clue of what the money should be spent on or why the club actually needs any money in the first place

8 ) Endless number of charity initiatives, which you feel compelled to contribute to or volunteer for

9) Endless talks of "we need to have more women and more diversity in the club" when you just wanted to go for a bloody ride with a few mates!

I guess if you work in a call centre and you are used to that kind of day in day out nonsense, it probably works for you...

DeVlaeminck

90% of those with mudguards don't have them long enough to protect the following rider anyway.

pblakeney

I believe that Groucho Marx had a very relevant quote regarding clubs.

Colinthecop

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Serious question: is there anything duller than a cycling club?

Having been among the founding members of a rather successful one,

Well the irony made me laugh....

Dippydog3

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Serious question: is there anything duller than a cycling club?

Having been among the founding members of a rather successful one, my experience is:

1) Endless arguments about riding pace and riding standards

2) Endless talks about nonsense things like "riding etiquette", "two abreast policy" and "mudguards in winter"

3) Endless grief with club kit that is always inevitable shabby, loose fit, dreadful in quality and late, but somewhat compulsory to comply with the club policy and BC insurance.

4) Endless changes of group rides to accomodate for every level of ability, down to "I have just removed the stabilisers" level

5) Endless search for volunteers to lead 10 mph beginners rides that nobody wanted in the first place

6) Endless arguments between committee members for micro-power and micro-management

7) Endless greed and need for an increasing membership fee, which inevitably gets accumulated in a bank account, as nobody has a clue of what the money should be spent on or why the club actually needs any money in the first place

8 ) Endless number of charity initiatives, which you feel compelled to contribute to or volunteer for

9) Endless talks of "we need to have more women and more diversity in the club" when you just wanted to go for a bloody ride with a few mates!

I guess if you work in a call centre and you are used to that kind of day in day out nonsense, it probably works for you...

Come and ride with us. You are welcome.

1) Endless arguments about riding pace and riding standards
We never argue about anything. Fast riders go fast if they want to. Slow riders always go slow. No point joining a club if you just want to ride at your own pace.

2) Endless talks about nonsense things like "riding etiquette", "two abreast policy" and "mudguards in winter"
We have never mentioned or discussed any of this.

3) Endless grief with club kit that is always inevitable shabby, loose fit, dreadful in quality and late, but somewhat compulsory to comply with the club policy and BC insurance.
No club policy, no club kit, No BC insurance, But quite nice kit that you can buy if you want to. Or not. Don't confuse us with a club that gives a whatsit.

4) Endless changes of group rides to accomodate for every level of ability, down to "I have just removed the stabilisers" level
We are a bit more market driven. If you want to ride then turn up. If you don't like what happens then don't turn up again. Seems to work. We have gone from zero to 60 members in a year in a small area.

5) Endless search for volunteers to lead 10 mph beginners rides that nobody wanted in the first place
The owner of the LBS is a member and he always does these. Good way of meeting new customers.

6) Endless arguments between committee members for micro-power and micro-management
No committee, no management. If something needs doing we are normally thrilled if someone just does it.

7) Endless greed and need for an increasing membership fee, which inevitably gets accumulated in a bank account, as nobody has a clue of what the money should be spent on or why the club actually needs any money in the first place
No fees, no bank account.

8 ) Endless number of charity initiatives, which you feel compelled to contribute to or volunteer for.
Oops, none of these either. :oops:

9) Endless talks of "we need to have more women and more diversity in the club" when you just wanted to go for a bloody ride with a few mates!
Age range from 17 year old girls to 70 year old blokes, but I guess the majority are middle aged men and younger women. Form a membership queue here.........

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Dippydog3

Sorry if I have mislead anyone.

We don't really want any serious rules.

The club is about having fun with friends. Not really a club at all I suppose. Just a Strava group we started to make it easier to find people to ride with locally and meet up.

We did speak to BC and they told us to not bother with anything formal. So, no constitution, fees or insurance required.

pblakeney

Dippydog3 wrote:

Sorry if I have mislead anyone.

We don't really want any serious rules.

The club is about having fun with friends. Not really a club at all I suppose. Just a Strava group we started to make it easier to find people to ride with locally and meet up.

We did speak to BC and they told us to not bother with anything formal. So, no constitution, fees or insurance required.

Sounds like what we do.
No rules.
We are all connected on Facebook after meeting each other either on the road or originally at a club as described above.
Basically if the weather forecast is good and someone is planning on heading out then they post along the lines of - "Usual time, usual place? Route is decided at the time depending on who is there, the weather and the inclination.

Seems to work.

madasahattersley

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Serious question: is there anything duller than a cycling club?

Having been among the founding members of a rather successful one, my experience is:

1) Endless arguments about riding pace and riding standards

2) Endless talks about nonsense things like "riding etiquette", "two abreast policy" and "mudguards in winter"

3) Endless grief with club kit that is always inevitable shabby, loose fit, dreadful in quality and late, but somewhat compulsory to comply with the club policy and BC insurance.

4) Endless changes of group rides to accomodate for every level of ability, down to "I have just removed the stabilisers" level

5) Endless search for volunteers to lead 10 mph beginners rides that nobody wanted in the first place

6) Endless arguments between committee members for micro-power and micro-management

7) Endless greed and need for an increasing membership fee, which inevitably gets accumulated in a bank account, as nobody has a clue of what the money should be spent on or why the club actually needs any money in the first place

8 ) Endless number of charity initiatives, which you feel compelled to contribute to or volunteer for

9) Endless talks of "we need to have more women and more diversity in the club" when you just wanted to go for a bloody ride with a few mates!

I guess if you work in a call centre and you are used to that kind of day in day out nonsense, it probably works for you...

Couldn't agree more. In fact I'm thinking of printing this post out and carrying laminated copies around with me to hand out to certain members of certain clubs around my way (including the one I started out with which on the whole I like but is ruined by the simple fact that it bares some resemblance to a typical cycling club).

Joeblack

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Serious question: is there anything duller than a cycling club?

Having been among the founding members of a rather successful one, my experience is:

1) Endless arguments about riding pace and riding standards

2) Endless talks about nonsense things like "riding etiquette", "two abreast policy" and "mudguards in winter"

3) Endless grief with club kit that is always inevitable shabby, loose fit, dreadful in quality and late, but somewhat compulsory to comply with the club policy and BC insurance.

4) Endless changes of group rides to accomodate for every level of ability, down to "I have just removed the stabilisers" level

5) Endless search for volunteers to lead 10 mph beginners rides that nobody wanted in the first place

6) Endless arguments between committee members for micro-power and micro-management

7) Endless greed and need for an increasing membership fee, which inevitably gets accumulated in a bank account, as nobody has a clue of what the money should be spent on or why the club actually needs any money in the first place

8 ) Endless number of charity initiatives, which you feel compelled to contribute to or volunteer for

9) Endless talks of "we need to have more women and more diversity in the club" when you just wanted to go for a bloody ride with a few mates!

I guess if you work in a call centre and you are used to that kind of day in day out nonsense, it probably works for you...

Apart from 8 and 9 this is spot on, the club I ride with is more of a organised Facebook group, although there's nearly 900 members all from the local area, most rides total around 20 strong, but honestly the bickering is unbelievable, it's even got to the point where a founding member had a meeting trying to outcast another member in secret that lead to the other member leaving and forming his own group!!

The Facebook page is littered with arguments and insults, usually kicks off on a Friday and provides great entertainment over the weekend!!

Colinthecop

Where's the link JB...?

NeXXus

Colinthecop wrote:

Where's the link JB...?

This

Anonymous

DeVlaeminck wrote:

90% of those with mudguards don't have them long enough to protect the following rider anyway.

No one (on here as well as on the ride) seems to care about this for some odd reason.

You can club ride with a short rear guard like a standard Race Blade and everyone is happy, but go out with no guard and you get moaned at by some guy who has a slightly longer rear guard, but is still throwing loads of water over everyone behind him :roll:

ugo.santalucia

Joeblack wrote:

it's even got to the point where a founding member had a meeting trying to outcast another member in secret that lead to the other member leaving and forming his own group!!

The Facebook page is littered with arguments and insults, usually kicks off on a Friday and provides great entertainment over the weekend!!

It's pretty simple... we are apes and we are naturally drawn towards a hierarchic structure... democracy where everybody is equal is against our genes, so as the group gets larger, someone feels inevitably the need to take the lead and light the way. Shouting and screaming is inevitable to establish order and no different from looking at an unsettled family of baboons... a new order is finally created, maybe with outcasts, which lasts until someone else wants to have a go at running things differently, as things need to change, always. Despite our awful diet with an unbalance in Omega 3 to Omega 6, that prevent us from evolving any further, we still feel compelled to have a go at the Darwin roulette.
If, like me, you are indifferent to your role in society, there is no place in an organised cycling club.