Club Rides

It’s a Saturday in May, no rain in the forecast and there’s only one ride posted. This is the second consecutive Saturday that I’ve not been able to find a BRBC ride that matches my preference and abilities. Is this due to the new classification system?

I thought the old program was rather clever and convenient and in all the years I’ve been a member of BRBC, I can’t recall not getting a notice for a B ride on a decent Spring Saturday morning. What’s going on here?

David,

I'm really glad you posted this. Before answering I checked the calendar for the last year (not October through January due to Helene) and there were a few other Saturdays with no rides at all and others with no B rides. But usually there are a number of rides on Saturdays as you say.

But the question you pose is interesting. I don't think it's the ride levels, but it may be the new posting process that is putting off the RLs and limiting their posting.

However first of all, the point was to make it easier to post by removing the email part of the process (though the full event part is hard the first few times). And second of all, the RLs aren't telling me that. And those that are posting aren't having trouble. In fact after years of no "A" rides, as soon as we switched to the numbered ride levels, there were level 1 and level 2 rides posted overnite. SO I don't think it's the ride levels.

I'm going to put this on the Ride Leader Forum and see what the response is.

Thanks for putting this out there.

Lew Insler

BRBC Ride Director

I’ve also noticed that the rides were more “on my radar” when they were emailed regularly whereas now, rides are out of sight, out of mind.

Not sure the reason for the change but it used to feel like I was constantly missing out on rides as I saw them announced in my inbox—a good guilt trip to prioritize getting on the bike. But now I’m not sure anyone is even riding and it’s out of process for me to check the website for rides.

I agree! I do not care for the system of no longer emailing out all the rides for the level you have signed up to receive. But it also doesn’t seem like there are many group rides happening regularly anymore. I see the Tuesday trail side ride and not too many others regularly.

I'm sorry. I hate to be *that* guy, but this seems like a lot of whining to me. You want to see more rides posted? Become a Ride Leader (if you aren't one already) and post some! There really is no special skill required, other than an ability to herd cats. Or do some rides, make some friends, and organize small rides among yourselves! I've lived here 3 years, and I can honestly say that after doing a couple of BRBC rides, it has been very rare that I can't find *someone* to do a ride almost any day. In fact, I sometimes have to pass on rides. This is a *club*, not a tour business, and it is incumbent upon the members to make it successful... or not.

As far as email notifications go... really? Is it that hard to check the website if you want to find ride? If you need an email to remind you to ride, perhaps you don't like to ride as much as you think. And if you check the website and can't find a ride that suits your needs and skills, well... see the above point.

This isn't rocket science or thermonuclear engineering, folks.

I also liked receiving the ride emails. It increased awareness and made me feel like I was missing out on something. The calendar is great. Thank you for creating the calendar. Isn’t there a way to have both the email notifications and the calendar? I still seem to get emails about the trail side ride and Claudia’s ride.

Things change from time to time. We adapt. If we don't like the change we can become part of the club leadership to offer our ideas and help direct the club in a positive direction. The club leaders read these posts and hear you. I have heard their discussions at the start of rides. Going away from emails was a measured decision since some ride leaders had reasons for not sending emails out. The club leadership feels that we will end up with more rides, not less, as club members adjust to the change. Initially I didn't like the change but since I'm not part of the club leadership I gave it a chance. Now I feel it will be a good change. I know the effort required to send out a club email and understand why some ride leaders would rarely would announce rides.

Folks are willing and able to lead rides. Le Tour de Transylvania (TdT) will have 54 club members leading 162 rides over a 21-day period in July. The difference with TdT is that the ride leaders do not need to send an email or post on a calendar, they just show up and lead a ride. 24 club members will be leading over 5 TdT rides. The first seven TdT rides are on the calendar, the rest will be posted soon. The plan for TdT is to send a weekly email with a summary of the upcoming rides but there will not be a daily email as in the past.

The club leadership is trying to make it easier to announce the rides so we end up with more rides. Be patient and adapt to the change, it will work out.

FOlks, Change is hard and frankly the complaints are all about resisting change. It is no harder to check the calendar on the website than it is to check your emails. In fact, it's easier- you don't have to look through all your emails, all the rides are in one place. There's either one there for you or not.

As for the person who liked the calendar AND the emails and asked isn't there a way to do both. Yes, in fact that's what we've been doing for the past few years! We are eliminating the email part to make it easier for ride leaders to post rides- one less step.(And sending an email through the website is a pain!) Many of us come from clubs where only calendar posting is the method. You will get used to looking at the website and it really won't take long.

As for no regular rides,as John said, step up and become a ride leader! Then you can post a ride whenever you'd like.

Change isn't always easy, but this isn't really hard. As Hank said, it is being done in an effort to get more rides posted. See you on the road.

Lew Insler

BRBC RIde Director

How about this idea?

Scrape the current rides from the calendar and send a single email once or twice a month to members with a link to the calendar so when people see the list, they are reminded to click on the link to see what's upcoming.

While it may be just as easy to go to the calendar as to go to one's email, email is used for a lot more things than club activities and is, therefore, easier to remember to do. By getting an email, one is reminded to check the calendar, especially if the scraped list shows a ride of particular interest.

I like John's idea, though it would require some already busy person to take on that role. For me that is the crux of the issue. Ride leaders tend to be leaders and there is a ton of leadership needed in our area at the moment. Like some others, I've been holding back on rides as higher priorities are taking up my time. I like having fewer emails. I appreciate seeing what folks are doing out there, but I'm just too busy to contribute much. I have total confidence that this will work its way to a much better usage of the group rides in time. I also like the new ride levels a lot better, even as I seem to be drifting "up" in level !

Jim Carroll, Route Mgr, North WNC & TN

The club leadership spent many hours over multiple meetings to arrive at the changes and considered all the issues being discussed. The primary goal was to increase the number of club rides, we identified 2 major impediments:

• Posting a ride on Club Express is cumbersome. Calendar entries and emails are two independent processes, a ride leader had to effectively post the ride twice, many ride leaders could not remember all the arcane technical steps involved and complained about the difficulty. Solution: Eliminate half the work, just do calendar.
• Ride leaders complained about riders showing up for a ride and riding faster or slower than the intent of the ride leader, the club wants folks to ride together for safety, cohesion and comradery. It was evident the letter system of A,B,C,D based on a 3-4 MPH spread of speed was highly subjective and did not correlate to the wide range of elevation profiles here in WNC. Solution: Rigorously define ride speeds based on elevation derived from actual club ride data, use a new designation to avoid confusion with prior subjective letter system.

It is a change from the past. Change can be difficult to adjust to. We believe the changes will serve the club membership well and over time will help increase the number of club rides and make group rides more enjoyable for everyone. Let's give it some time and see how it works, Feedback is always welcome and appreciated, it's your club.

John Dennis - BRBC VP

As a leader of mt bike and gravel rides, I want to post rides using the simplest system (convenience): for me its post a ride with details on the BRBC website calendar so all club members need to do is check out the calendar. Sending an email about the ride is redundant when an easy to use calendar exists. 

I see there is a lot of discussion about ride paces. When a ride leader labels the ride as casual pace or certain level pace, please respect that.

As a new member, I like the way that rides are being defined. My biggest problem at the moment is getting back into riding I'm not sure where I fit, especially when it comes to climbs. I worry about being the last person and slowing up the entire group, and I know that while people will say it is not a big deal, that for some it in fact is a big deal.

Any recommendations on how to best align yourself to a ride and/or leader when you are brand new to the group and just getting back into the saddle? Also - I lived in TX for the last 30 years, so I'm also getting used to actual climbs that last a long time, which is fun, but also killer.

My thanks to all of the leaders of rides and I look forward to my first ride w/ a group in the very near future.

Jason Coleman - Newbie Member and Rider in Training (once again)

Great to see this discussion on rides! As Ride Director, Lew Insler, one of his main goals is to increase the number and variety of club rides. All BRBC members want to see rides that are at their level and convenient (day/time/location). That's why we joined BRBC - to go on group rides!

As several members have already commented, the challenge is in the details - including communicating the rides. If you'd like to be part of the solution, work with Lew. Who wants to take action on the great ideas in this discussion? Ride Leaders are already going above and beyond, how can you make it easier for them? Talk with Lew.

BRBC is a club of volunteers - help make it the club you want to be part of!

See you at Cycle N Suds!

Dawn Barr

BRBC President

Being one of the clubs mountain bike ride leaders, my take on this issue of ride cohesion is that if ride leaders led rides without participants all having a cue sheet but just following the leader there would be no choice but to stay with the group. I find it very successful for MTB rides.