Your Club Needs You (To Lead a Ride)!

It’s so easy and rewarding to lead a SIC ride!

Step 1: Talk to a Ride Coordinator of a weekly club standing ride OR plan a route
Step 2: If you have planned a special ride, Invite club members on Facebook
and the club Strava page

Leading a SIC ride is simple and rewarding in many different ways. It is one of the easiest ways you can volunteer your time for the club.

You can be a Ride Leader for any of our weekly standing club rides OR it does NOT need to be a regularly scheduled ride. It can happen any time and any place!
Not comfortable leading a group but you want to try? Ask a ride leader on any ride to shadow them for a ride or two – you’ll be feeling like a pro in no time when you see how easy it is.

Skills you need…

FLAT REPAIR You should be comfortable helping change a flat tire (but shouldn’t we all be OK with that anyway?). If you are not, ask any club member to show you how! NOTE: I’ve never been on a group ride where at least one rider was not competent in this process.
PRE-RIDE BRIEF You have the ability to communicate a few simple group guidelines before the ride (see below).
THE ROUTE Know the route ahead of time or be able to follow the cues on your cycling computer.
KEEP IN TOUCH WITH THE BACK No one wants to get dropped so as a ride leader you will want to maintain contact with the back of your group. Make sure your group is riding your advertised pace.

If you are planning a route that is not among our standing rides, these following tips might also prove helpful.

IT’S YOUR RIDE – Think about a route YOU want to ride.
SCOUT YOUR ROUTE – If it is a new route for you check it out ahead of time. If that’s not possible, let riders know there may be a few unknowns.
MAP YOUR ROUTE – From fancy to plain the only need is to be able to share your route with your riders. You can use online resources like RideWithGPS.com or just write the turns down on a sheet of paper with some mileage estimates.
NO ROUTE? Let’s be honest, sometimes you just want to ride without a destination. That’s OK, just let everyone know the plan. Or maybe it’s on roads everyone rides frequently and knows – just make sure any new riders have a buddy in the group that is familiar with the roads.
PLAN and POST YOUR RIDE! Basic information should include date, starting location, clip-in time (when the group is rolling away from the start), mileage, terrain, pace, regroup locations, any additional details including stops, and what could possibly cancel the ride like the weather. POST your invitation on the SIC Facebook group and ask riders to RSVP.
RIDE DAY & TIME! Arrive at your starting location a little early and greet riders as they arrive. Before you clip-in and roll out, gather your riders and brief them on the route. This is also a good time to go over some basic group ride practices such as; pointing out road obstacles to other riders, not overlapping wheels, communicating both verbally and using hand signals, and regroup locations. Take a couple of photos and roll! For purposes of liability coverage, participants in SIC rides should be SIC members. Encourage any non-member participants to join the SIC if they plan to continue attending club rides.
HAVE A GREAT TIME AFTER THE RIDE. A visit to a local coffee shop or eating place is never unwelcome.

So it’s pretty easy, it’s a great way to meet new people and other riders, and you earn the respect and thanks of your fellow club members!

PRE-RIDE BRIEF

Membership – we LOVE guests, but we do ask if you are going to regularly ride with the club (more than 3 rides) that you JOIN the club.
Insurance – guests are covered for their first ride. Club insurance for our rides provides members with BOTH general liability insurance AND secondary health insurance.
Communication – we use both our voices and hand signals to communicate throughout a group. Call out and point out hazards, cars and pedestrians we encounter during rides.
Safety – be aware of crossing wheels (don’t do it), stay to the right of the white line where practicable and as far to the right as practicable all other times (this doesn’t mean riding the white line), and never cross a double yellow line.
Use of the word CLEAR – at SIC we believe it is safer for each rider to determine their ability to clear a turn or intersection. Therefore, we do not call “CLEAR” to signal riders behind whether an intersection or turn is available for entry.
AERO bars – we love triathletes, but the use of AERO bars on a group ride is unsafe. Therefore, we ask that if you have aero bars you do not assume the aero position while in a group.
Regroup points – most standing rides have standard regroup points. If you don’t know where they are ASK someone.