Ride Leader and Ride Credit Guidelines
Franz|	April 1, 2010 12:06 pm
Update 5/28/2010
These guidelines are not being implemented as stated below. Please see the following information by clicking here.
Update 4/5/2010
From Sandy Lorber, ACTC President: "I've asked Marie and the board to postpone the implementation of the guidelines until June 1st. We would like to give Marie a chance to bring all of the feedback we've received to the board and discuss your concerns."
by Marie Becker, ACTC Ride Coordinator
To address concerns that have come up over the last few months, the following guidelines are being published to ensure rider safety on club rides:
All Ride Leaders should lead their rides at the pace listed in the Ride Schedule.
All ride participants should only attend rides where they feel comfortable riding at the listed pace. If they are unsure they should contact the Ride Leader prior to joining the ride.
All Ride Leaders should strive to provide clear and correct route sheets. These can be distributed in either hard or soft copy.
Soft copy location (or link) should be identified in the ride description on the Ride Schedule.
Hard copies should be brought to the ride start. If more riders show up than anticipated the Ride Leader should stay with the group to ensure no rider gets lost.
All rides should strive to include periodic re-groups to make sure all riders are present and accounted for. If the ride will have no re-groups it should be stated in the ride description and caution any participants to be prepared to ride alone.
If riders join a ride and wish to ride faster than the listed pace, it is at the Ride Leaders discretion whether the faster rides who "go off the front" will receive credit.
To encourage members to join group rides we should strive to have consistency in how we lead our rides. We have a variety of riders in our club and these guidelines should accommodate all.
Ride Credit Guidelines
The historical goal for recording Ride Credit was to encourage members to join club rides. The Billy Goats were added (and expanded) over the years to promote trying new hills. Maybe you wouldn't try a new hill by yourself, but would if a club ride did. And this program proved to be very successful. As the popularity of the Goats grew, another enhancement was added to encourage riders to ride their bikes to and from ride starts, and so ride credit was given for that. Also over the years the Awards system has evolved to motivate the membership for participation in and to lead rides. Riding miles outside of the listed rides for credit was not intended, but an outgrowth in the recent past as a "race for the most" evolved.
The guidelines listed below are intended to reinforce the original goals. The stats are intended to reflect those who participate in club rides, and reward those who do the most. Accumulating stats for the sake of the biggest number isn't in that vein. While more time on the bike is a goal most of us have, the goal with ACTC ride credit is to recognize those who do the most club rides and miles, i.e. promoting club ride participation, not mileage accumulation. While not mutually exclusive there is a difference.
Going forward the guidelines for Ride Credit will be:
Credit for listed rides will only be given for the miles and goats listed. If a rider does less than what is listed they will only get credit for what they do.
Any additional miles ridden will be given credit under a new category to recognize those riders who ride to and from the ride starts. A new award will be given at the end of the year to recognize the rider who accomplishes the most in this category.
Riders must be at the ride start to sign in, or meet the ride in progress at a pre-designated place coordinated with the Ride Leader. (If a person arrives late and catches the ride in progress they will get credit).
Unless listed otherwise riders should stay with the group as is practical. We all will (and should) ride at our own pace, but we should also strive to regroup on occasion to stay with the Ride Leader. If a rider "goes off the front" it is at the Ride Leaders discretion to award credit, and should be listed as such in the ride description in the Ride Schedule.
These guidelines will go into effect May 1st. This is to allow us to publish them in the newsletter so that they are distributed to all prior to implementation. I believe that most rides now follow these rules, with the exception of separately recording the "additional miles". We will continue to record mileage in one bucket until we get the stats system automated and build in this capability.