[nnc-list] 2007 Ride Season

Sat Jan 27 21:41:13 EST 2007

Hello everyone,

Thanks for all of the good responses.  Steve Reiss sent me a detailed write 
up based on his experience with the Potomac Peddlers and Oxen Hill Bike 
clubs.  His response pretty much summed up all of the other responses.  Here 
is a revised ride plan based on all of the good responses that I received:

1.	We will have rides on Sunday only.  If the interest is there then we will 
extend the rides to Saturday.  A majority of the responses that I received 
suggested combining the rides into one.  That will give all riders the 
opportunity to work their way up to a faster pace.
2.	I like the idea of having the post-ride snack once a month.  This will 
alleviate the hassle of having snacks every week.  Steve Reiss even 
volunteered to have the post-ride snacks at his home.
3.	The main route will be 30 – 40 miles.  The route will offer opportunities 
for riders to do a shorter distance.  If a group of riders decide to go 
longer then they will decide on a route on ride day.
4.	Those who wish to form a pace line can do so at anytime during the ride.
5.	We will require two ride leaders.  One ride leader will guide the faster 
riders and another will guide the social ride group and ensure that no one 
gets left behind.

Steve Reiss suggested a later start time of maybe 9:00.  What do you all 
think?  Are you comfortable with the 7:30 – 8:00 start time or would you be 
more likely to ride if the start time was around 9:00?

I have included Steve Reiss’ response below for your information.  Steve 
really gave some good feedback and I think he has a lot of experience that 
we can use in our ride group:

<<
I have finally just completed my move to Irvington from NoVA and look 
forward to riding with group more often this year.

While living in Alexandria many of my cycling weekends have been with the 
Potomac Peddlers and Oxen Hill Bike clubs so my comments are based primarily 
on my experience with their group rides.

It appears that your two suggested groups are comparable to "CC" riders for 
the shorter distances and "BB-A" for the longer rides.

I would offer a slight variation to the two different rides. I would suggest 
that we have rides on both Saturday and Sunday, both open to all riders. 
Each ride should be, on a average, 50-60 miles, a manageable distance for 
most "CC" riders and long enough for a good "A" ride. On occasion you may 
want to increase the mileage to a metric century or possibly a full century. 
Perhaps the routes could be set up so that someone wanting a shorter 
distance could cut off from the group at some point.

The "A" riders could form their pace line at any point on either day and 
complete the ride at a faster pace. The "C" riders would have rest stops as 
you suggested. This approach would allow riders to ride with either group on 
any day.  This would also allow the "CC" riders to train up to ride a pace 
line at some point during the year while the "A" riders may want a pace line 
ride one day and a recovery ride the next. This approach would require two 
ride leaders. One to ride with the "A" group and another to ride sweep for 
the "C" riders.

I like the idea of having a hybrid/mountain ride every so often.

I know ride start times are difficult to agree upon but, for me, the start 
times of 7:30/8:00 seems too early, except in extreme heat or humidity days. 
I would think that a 9:00 start time on both days might bring more riders 
out.

The social time after the Sunday rides is a great idea and I'd be happy to 
volunteer my house during the year. Having the whole group ride the same 
route, even at different paces, would further the social aspect of the 
rides.

Now that I'm down here full time I'd enjoy working with you and the group to 
help increase ridership in the group.

Please let me know how I can be of assistance.
>>

Donald

>From: "Donald Mitchell" <dlmitchell71 at hotmail.com>
>To: nnc-list at northernneckcycling.org
>CC: brown at keyisp.com, fletchersfixit at keyisp.com, jwarren at kaballero.com, 
>dlmitchell71 at hotmail.com
>Subject: 2007 Ride Season
>Date: Sun, 21 Jan 2007 17:01:23 -0500
>
>Hello riders,
>
>Jeff Warren talked with me about taking our ride group to the next level.  
>He has a few good ideas about what he would like to see happen and I agree 
>with his ideas.  Our ride group participation dropped off a little last 
>riding season and we would like to see that participation go back up.  To 
>accomplish this we would like to offer more riding options.  Here are the 
>ride options that we came up with.
>
>First of all we would like to offer shorter distance rides for those who 
>prefer the shorter distances over our normal 30 mile rides.  Second of all 
>we would like to offer fast pace and slow pace rides.
>
>Short / Slow Pace - Sunday:
>
>These rides will take place on Sunday mornings.  Our shorter distance and 
>slow pace rides will encompass rides from 15 to 30 miles with a pace of 12 
>mph to 16 mph.  These rides will have occasional stops.  We will regroup at 
>each stop and no one will get left behind.  These rides may also contain 
>stretches of gravel road which will require a hybrid or mountain bike.  At 
>the moment I have one ride that is around 17 miles in length that will 
>contain a section of gravel road.
>
>We would also like to see one or more riders sponsor a small post ride 
>snack each Sunday.  The snack sponsors will rotate so no single person will 
>be responsible for this.  I liked the one that Fletcher’s wife sponsored 
>last summer.  I thought that was a great idea.  Since this is a social ride 
>this will be a good opportunity to continue socializing after the ride.
>
>Long / Fast Pace - Saturday:
>
>These rides will take place on Saturday mornings.  Our longer distance and 
>fast pace rides will encompass rides from 30 to 40 miles with a pace of 17+ 
>mph.  These rides will be non-stop.  Riders will ride in a pace line.  Each 
>rider will lead for 1 mile before rotating to the rear of the pace line.  
>The leader will set a pace that will be 17 mph or more.  If the leader 
>falls below 15 mph the pace line will pass up the leader.  We will wait for 
>no one.  If a rider has a mechanical failure then all riders will stop to 
>assist that rider.  That will be the only situation where we will stop.
>
>Please send me any comments (negative or positive).  I would also like to 
>hear your suggestions.
>
>Donald
>
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