How does your club rides work?
Comments
-
Those links are really good and I would recommend that all clubs take a look. The CTC also has some good info. Whilst the BC do state that certain best practice guidelines are not legal obligations, the way most things work is that the more you can point to a national good practice guideline and say "we do all that", the more robust any defence will be.
Unfortunately, ride leaders are not really covered personally because, although they are undertaking a club activity which we (the club) have insurance for, I think it is the club that is protected. Hence, whilst we are being really careful to make sure the cover we have is valid, we do stress to all our riders that basic liability cover is something that anyone who rides should consider, particularly if riding with anyone else (club or not). We are currently seeking clarification with BC and CTC on a number of points associated with this issue so I am hoping to get a better idea in the next few weeks but it is clear that insurance will force some real changes in the 'turn up and ride' nature of a lot of clubs.
To be honest, it is all a PITA as getting ride leaders is always a struggle, add in the extra hassle of extensive ride organisation prior to depart and the possible risk of getting sued if the basics aren't in place and it all adds up to folks asking themselves "why bother". Ho hum.0 -
Would it not be better to insist that anyone who leads a ride for Cheltenham & County CC has the cover that you urge regular members to have?
Its reasonable for someone who tries out ridding with the club for the first time on a non 'members only' 'trial' day, to assume that anyone leading the ride would have the cover you urge all members to have, isn't it?0 -
Sounds like a prudent condition for any club BUT at the end of the day, its still only for the ride leaders benefit, not the Clubs. (like wearing a helmet!!)Would it not be better to insist that anyone who leads a ride for Cheltenham & County CC has cover?
Its reasonable for someone who tries out ridding with the club for the first time on a non 'members only' 'trial' day, to assume that anyone leading the ride would have the cover you urge all members to have, isn't it?0 -
Sounds like a prudent condition for any club BUT at the end of the day, its still only for the ride leaders benefit, not the Clubs. (like wearing a helmet!!)Would it not be better to insist that anyone who leads a ride for Cheltenham & County CC has cover?
Its reasonable for someone who tries out ridding with the club for the first time on a non 'members only' 'trial' day, to assume that anyone leading the ride would have the cover you urge all members to have, isn't it?
Why is it a benefit for the ride leader?
All they have to do in the event of causing damage through incompetence, is leave the scene without speaking to the other person involved, and then refuse to ever talk to them about it.
Not even ask how they are getting home! Just run and hide :shock:
If their (in my opinion very odd and un 'club' like) behavior is sanctioned by the club, then why do they need any cover?
Thinking about it, not having any cover may make the ride leader more likely to behave like that 8)0 -
Mandatory Cycling Ireland membership for us which includes all the insurances and generally 3 groups every week + different leaders. A B C, c being the "cruiser" and slowest run..
No grey areas reallyAnd the people bowed and prayed, to the neon god they made.0 -
I was only asking about regular club rides for members - not events. so I think this is going a little off-topic.
My club uses Eventbrite as a sign up method for the rides ahead of time.
You can make phone number/contact details a condition of entry, and then there's a phone app so you can actually check in riders as they arrive. It works really well, is easy to administer and so long as you aren't making people pay to ride via the system, the service is free.
If you have lots of riders you can publish lots of smaller rides with the same date/time, we divide ours by speed & distances (A, B, C groups) and limit the numbers. Managing 3x12 groups is very easy to do.
There's no way our club would expect to have members register for a Sunday ride!!
Rob
Oh this isn't for events, this is for our regular club rides. We're fortunate in that we have a lot of members, but we are occasionally short on ride leaders. It means we can keep things organised, and if we are oversubscribed for a weekend (pretty common) club members can just pick a route up, stick it on their Garmin and roll out with a few friends.
We do it to make sure we've got a good matched set of riders, and the organised groups are held at a reasonable size. We don't send huge groups out, it's too hard to manage on the road.0 -
In 14 years club cycling I've never been on a group ride with a ride leader ? Are they really a legal requirement - or insurance requirement - I've been in a cycling club all that time, I've been on the committee for a lot of it and the club secretary for BC purposes and still never come across the issue of needing a ride leader. Big club too well over 300 members now.
I guess it depends on how well controlled rides are, and if there are people who naturally take control. I used to ride with a big South London club who always put designated people in charge of each group on the road.
We do it because our rides run to an advertised average speed, and the ride leader is there in part to make sure we stick close to it, keep an eye on who might be doing well/struggling a bit in the group and generally making sure everyone has a good time.0 -
Would it not be better to insist that anyone who leads a ride for Cheltenham & County CC has the cover that you urge regular members to have?
Its reasonable for someone who tries out riding with the club for the first time on a non 'members only' 'trial' day, to assume that anyone leading the ride would have the cover you urge all members to have, isn't it?
Fixed that for you
Giant Propel Advanced Pro 20 -
Would it not be better to insist that anyone who leads a ride for Cheltenham & County CC has the cover that you urge regular members to have?
Its reasonable for someone who tries out riding with the club for the first time on a non 'members only' 'trial' day, to assume that anyone leading the ride would have the cover you urge all members to have, isn't it?
Fixed that for you
I am better at maths :oops:0 -
We have around 5-6 ride leaders in our club so always have 1 on each ride. We are a small club of around 40-50 members and club runs can be anywhere between 2-3 (bad weather) to 25-30 depending on who’s racing/resting etc.
We organise different rides throughout the week depending on what you want to get out of it, but do try to adhere to the nobody gets dropped mantra.
Summer:
Tuesday/Thursday – Chain gang ride which quite quick and not for beginners, we publish average speed and distance beforehand so those who want to ride can judge if they can handle it, but it is widely accepted that this is a quick ride and frequented by those who race.
Saturday – Slower club ride, all levels turn up and we ride at a brisk pace but usually at the pace of the slowest riders, the weaker riders do not usually do turns and we re-group at the top of each hill. For the quicker riders or those who race and want a harder session we had loops on to the club run (we do the same route every week) which are longer and add hills then we have to chase to get back onto the club ride, you get a great workout on the additional loops as there is one big hill to climb which is done at pace. We also have a sprint and a through and off session towards the end of the ride.
Winter:
Tuesday: 90 minute hilly ride, we ride at the pace of the slowest rider and when we get to hills we quicker riders will ride up, then come back down and do the hill again, this was we usually either arrive at the top together or the slower riders have to wait for a minute or so at the top. One ride leader will always stay with the slowest rider.
Saturday – Same as summer ride
Sunday: Quicker/longer clubrun, always have a ride leader and a pre agreed route, ride is around 50-60 miles fairly brisk, we do wait for the slower riders but we are also quite honest in so much as this ride is quicker than the Saturday ride so newer/weaker riders generally stay away until they are fitter. Ride leaders are happy to have that conversation if needed, but usually the slower riders usually agree before the ride that if they get dropped then they ride home/onwards alone or take a shorter route to the coffee shop so we all arrive together, usually there are 2-3 who may drop off so they do not ride alone.
No idea about insurance as I am not on the committee (and happy to keep it that way)Obsessed is a word used by the lazy to describe the dedicated!0
