[svccridesupdate] Trial of new once a month arrangements for Tuesday and Sunday rides and other matters
1. *Trial changes for Tuesday winter rides and Sunday rides: *
We are planning to try out some new arrangements for Tuesday and Sunday rides on a trial basis, in each case on a once a month basis.
There is a view that rides which take up most of the day can be off-putting to some riders: The winter 11am start time for a Tuesday medium ride in effect means that most of the morning and the afternoon is taken up by the ride; and our Sunday rides are also now routinely of a distance which involves a morning coffee stop and a lunch stop, with all or most of the day taken up (which may well be out of step with what most other clubs do).
Everyone will have their own preferences on timing of rides and distances and number of stops; we will never please you all (!). However, we are keen to offer rides which appeal to the largest number of our riders and which also do not discourage participation in our club by any particular contingent (including those of you with busy lives and limited time and those for whom the additional cost of having a lunch stop may be off-putting).
With this in mind, we would like to undertake a trial which involves changes to the arrangements for one Tuesday and one Sunday ride each month. This will be on the first Tuesday and Sunday of each month, with the Tuesday change starting in October (when we otherwise move to the winter start time of 11am) and the Sunday change starting in November (in order to avoid a clash with the last Hill Teas of the year on 4th October).
*So, commencing on Tuesday 6th October and Sunday 1st November, and then on the first Tuesday and Sunday of each subsequent month, the ride for that Tuesday or Sunday will:*
a. *Start at 9.30am – so a change from the normal 11am (October onwards) start on a Tuesday, but no change for the Sunday ride; and*
b. *Be of medium distance, with one coffee / tea stop and aiming to finish by no later than 2pm. So the Sunday ride will usually be shorter than has become the norm for Sunday rides in recent years. In the case of Tuesday rides, these should continue to be a distance of about 35 miles / 56km (as at present).*
In summary, reasons for trying these changes out are:
· To widen access to Sunday and Tuesday riding for participants with less time available.
· To ensure riders are back well before dark (for Sunday rides).
· To avoid having multiple stops on Sunday rides (multiple stops elongate the ride, can be too much for some riders in colder weather and increase the cost, particularly when lunch is involved)
· To avoid the need for a lunch stop on the Tuesday ride (which can elongate the ride – a coffee stop is usually quicker – and increases costs).
The plan is to review whether this experiment proves to be successful after we have given it a go over the coming winter period, asking for your input via a survey.
Ride leaders will need to be aware of this experiment when completing details of planned rides on the rides list.
2. *Ride leaders and route planning*: All of our rides require a ride leader and we are always keen to encourage more club riders to take on this role. It may be that some of you are not sure how to create routes using Ride With GPS and that this aspect puts you off volunteering to lead a ride. Here are some thoughts on this (with a request to creators of RWGPS routes in (b) below):
1. If anyone requires any assistance in terms of use of RWGPS and linking this with your sat nav device, please feel free to let me know (perhaps providing comments about difficulties you encounter) and we can then consider how best to provide further guidance in the light of any responses received.
2. You can always use routes prepared by others, rather than creating your own routes. In order to assist with finding relevant rides using the RWGPS search function (in the route planner section of RWGPS) we would like to suggest that ride leaders who create RWGPS routes should always start the name of their ride with “SVCCS” or “SVCCM” or “SVCCL” + a few words which describe the route or names the main destination of the route. The final letter S, M or L (after SVCC) will indicate whether the ride in question is a short ride (no more than 29 miles / 47km), a medium ride (rides of 30 to 59 miles / 48 to 95km) or a long ride (rides of at least 60 miles / 96km). So, for example, a medium length ride to Tortworth Farm shop would be named “SVCCM to Tortworth Farm Shop”. If those of you with a “stock” of existing rides were able to change the names of the rides to reflect the above, that would be even better! This should then assist with searching for relevant rides. In time, this should mean that if, for example, you are thinking of leading a Tuesday medium ride, you could start by entering “SVCCM” in the RWGPS search field.
3. *The role of Backmarker: *This is a key role to be undertaken on all our rides, ensuring that no-one gets left behind (communicating with the ride leader for this purpose) and potentially helping anyone who may be having difficulties. We are grateful to those of you who volunteer to take on this role. We are adding something to the Information for Ride Leaders and Riders pages of our website to summarise what the role involves.
4. *Items to bring with you on a club ride:* For your information, we are adding something to our website (the Information for Ride Leaders and Riders pages) setting out items which we suggest riders bring with them on club rides (likely to be of more relevance to new riders rather than our existing riders).
If you have any questions about any of this, please do let me know.
Tom Daltry
Secretary Stroud Valleys Cycling Club, Member Group of Cycling UK *Cyclists’ Touring Club (Cycling UK) a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England No 25185, registered as a charity in England and Wales Charity No 1147607 and in Scotland No SCO42541. Registered office: Parklands, Railton Road, Guildford, Surrey GU2 9JX*