Bike Clubs

[Bike Chick]

I would like some advice from the TE members involved in bike clubs please. A small group of us have formed a bike club in our area. We have a board, a website and a forum. We are planning monthly club rides and looking for ways to increase our membership and revenue. We are the only bike club in a multi-county, rural area.

My questions are:

1. If you are involved in a club, how long has it been established?
2. Do you have insurance?
3. How do you acquire new members?
4. Do you have fund raisers? If so, what are they?
5. What advice can you give me?

Any help would be appreciated.

[tulip]

Good for you for starting a bike club!

1. If you are involved in a club, how long has it been established? Not sure, but alot longer than I've been living here. There are nearly 1000 members now, and rides every single day.

2. Do you have insurance? Yes. Riders must sign in for rides, thereby signing the waiver.

3. How do you acquire new members? Website, new rider rides, lots of different paces and ride types, varied locations

4. Do you have fund raisers? If so, what are they? Membership dues are $25/year. There is comprehensive monthly newsletter that goes out to all members. The club puts on a ride called the Hearth of Virginia. I think the proceeds go partly to the club and partly to another nonprofit (like Habitat, but it varies each year).

5. What advice can you give me? I'm not one of the club's officers; I just ride with them. My advice is to include rides of varying levels and abilities. Having a ride calendar is helpful for people to plan ahead. Don't forget to have fun.

Here's the website of the club that I belong to. You might find it helpful. If you want to talk to some of the officers, I'm sure they would be happy to share their experiences with you. www.raba.org.

[Bike Chick]

What an awesome club and helpful information. We are struggling to get off the ground but there is a small group of us determined to see this through. Thanks so much, Tulip!

[shootingstar]

My questions are:

1. If you are involved in a club, how long has it been established?

I am only a member and volunteer for the cycling advocacy organization which does advocacy, cycling skills training and some rides. This organization has been around at least 15 yrs. THere is a bike club which focuses primarily on just rides for all levels,but non-competitive. Also another group for randonneurs.

2. Do you have insurance? Our group does. For every ride, people do sign waivers. My dearie recently negotiated the latest contract with the organization's insurer. He negotiated for a good deal (by spending over 50 min. It wasn't just blindly signing a deal. ) because the membership is getting big.

3. How do you acquire new members?

Website, newsletter, special events that involve all city and suburbs, ie. 2 Bike to Work Wks. annually, rides, local media exposure by sending out/contacting main media (newspaper, radio and tv). Joint public events with other related organizations. Exposure, exposure to the media and to other community groups is important. Having a email push listserve group is still easiest to reach everyone...especially when not everyone is on Facebook, Twitter. Is there a web link to your group from the municipality's website? Membership also provides some discount with partner bike shops, etc.

4. Do you have fund raisers?
If so, what are they?

They have raffles by partnering with local businesses who donate items. T-shirts. A small amount from rides. Very tiny. They also have paid staff who assist. Note paid staff only occurred in last 5 years or so. They have applied for on specific projects for some funding from municipal and provincial govn't. This funding is more tied to their cycling advocacy work, not for rides.

5. What advice can you give me?
If you don't know already, there is always a small handful of dedicated board members and volunteers. Make sure you have events that draw across your communities..to get new blood in. Necessary for long-term club sustainability/growth. Survival of a cycling group isn't the budget..it's the people who are willing to carry onward consistently to organize events, speak on cycling, etc. I was in a bike group for women...it wasn't the budget that was our downfall, it was the lack of new volunteer blood 5 yrs. later. In fact our budget was less than $5,000 but we had the support /attendance of 300 women over a wide provincial region. But the core volunteer work was done by 8-10 people in 1 city. There was no other way to handle the coordination efficiently.

Develop friendly relationships, even if distant (if you are not into cycling advocacy), with municipal transportation/engineering depts., municipal council. It will help the club in the future when their support is needed.

Be not afraid. You will GROW. In cycling knowledge, connections, etc. Be a fun group first that helps others learn without blowing the budget. Then everything else will follow.

[MartianDestiny]

1. If you are involved in a club, how long has it been established?
This is the second year
2. Do you have insurance?
Not to my knowledge, but it is shop run, so may be covered through the shop for major liability
3. How do you acquire new members?
Through the shop mainly
4. Do you have fund raisers? If so, what are they?
No
5. What advice can you give me?
Once a month is not very often for rides. Once a week, or even every other week would probably be better and appeal to more riders.

[Eden]

1. If you are involved in a club, how long has it been established?
Well, technically we are a club, though we are a racing team. The team has been around for at least 10 years, probably more.
2. Do you have insurance?
No
3. How do you acquire new members?
We have once a year recruitment. It's not that hard for us, as riders who want to race seek out teams. Our state racing association organizes "meet the team" rides too.
4. Do you have fund raisers? If so, what are they?
We have a membership fee and we have sponsors. It might not be as easy, but I would guess you can get sponsors for a non-racing club. (of course in this economy its tough all around to get sponsors...) They pay a set amount of money to the club each year for the privilege of having their logo on our jerseys. The more they pay the better their placement. We have non-cash sponsors too, who offer us discounts on their merchandise, some as good as 60% off retail.

[SheFly]

1. If you are involved in a club, how long has it been established?

I am the current president of our club. It is the longest running (oldest) bicycle club in the Northeast, and we celebrated our 50th anniversary two years ago. The club typically has over 300 members, with one third being women. While the focus is on racing development, only approx. 1/3 of our membership are active racers.

2. Do you have insurance?
Any club/team registered with USA Cycling is covered by USAC insurance. The only additional insurance that we carry as a club is for our BOD in the case of a lawsuit. All members sign waivers as part of their membership, and for any of our rides/events, non-members must sign waivers for those specific events.

3. How do you acquire new members?

Club rides, outreach at races, website, etc. I, personally, will try to recruit new members by letting them know the benefits of joining such a large and established club.

4. Do you have fund raisers? If so, what are they?

Membership and sponsorship are our primary incomes for the year. We also host other events where we may make a small, or even significant profit. Some of these are clinics and race series that we are required by USAC to host.

5. What advice can you give me?

[B]If you don't know already, there is always a small handful of dedicated board members and volunteers. Make sure you have events that draw across your communities..to get new blood in. Necessary for long-term club sustainability/growth. Survival of a cycling group isn't the budget..it's the people who are willing to carry onward consistently to organize events, speak on cycling, etc. I was in a bike group for women...it wasn't the budget that was our downfall, it was the lack of new volunteer blood 5 yrs. later. In fact our budget was less than $5,000 but we had the support /attendance of 300 women over a wide provincial region. But the core volunteer work was done by 8-10 people in 1 city. There was no other way to handle the coordination efficiently.

Shootingstar hit this one on the head. I have been a BOD member in other [non-cycling] clubs, and all of them suffer from STP syndrome (same ten people). It is important to understand what your membership wants, and to try to provide it to them. Do they want team rides? Put together team rides. Training plans? Find a way to get them.

A successful club/BOD member will search out a successor. I am always looking at the club to see who may be a good replacement for the time when I step out of my role.

Hope this helps.

SheFly (http://nebc.us)

[Bike Chick]

Everything has helped tremendously. We currently have about 15 members; four of which are the Board members. Monthly club rides are planned with distances for both beginning and advanced riders. We just ordered jerseys with the club logo and plan to ride in a group at local charity rides. We are also planning to prepare brochures for distribution at 5k runs, charity rides, local gyms and bike shops. I feel its a good start.

One more question I have for you ladies is this:

Did you join your club because you wanted to receive something tangible (ie. a t-shirt, discounts at bike shops) or because you just want to ride bikes with other folks that have the same interest as you? There has been a difference of opinion among some of our board and some feel that we need to offer our members something in return for their membership fee. We don't have the money for postage on newsletters much less passing out t-shirts. What are your thoughts please?

[shootingstar]

One more question I have for you ladies is this:

Did you join your club because you wanted to receive something tangible (ie. a t-shirt, discounts at bike shops) or because you just want to ride bikes with other folks that have the same interest as you? There has been a difference of opinion among some of our board and some feel that we need to offer our members something in return for their membership fee. We don't have the money for postage on newsletters much less passing out t-shirts. What are your thoughts please?

I joined in Toronto the group where I became a board/committee member because I wanted to ride and share cycling with others with same interest also.

We did not charge a membership fee. Instead we charged per monthly ride and for workshops. Also had a conference every 2 yrs. where it was 2 days of workshops. It was great. All were fee-based inlcuded T-shirt, water bottle.

The other option is to provide a blog in lieu of a newsletter. A person can sign up with wordpress for basic service and preset templates for free. Server memory should be enough. It's well over 1 gig per registered primary account user/administrator. You can make this blog exclusive just for members or later open it up to rest of world so people will find you.

Maybe you can include an annual picnic or luncheon...make it simple on yourselves after a ride. You're tiny group right now. Any coffee shops willing to give a discount with membership card? Think of some partnerships with local businesses.

[SheFly]

Did you join your club because you wanted to receive something tangible (ie. a t-shirt, discounts at bike shops) or because you just want to ride bikes with other folks that have the same interest as you?

I joined because these were my people :D. I wanted to ride with and learn from other avid cyclists/racers. When I recruit, that is the carrot I use - we don't provide anything "tangible" to our members. In fact, if members want a jersey, t-shirt, etc., it is something for which they will pay.

Stay within your means. If you have a charter, stick to it. Eventually, people will see what you are doing, that you are doing it well, and having fun, and they will want to join you.

Good luck!

SheFly

[bikerHen]

I am in a club that has experienced a great deal of change in the last few years. I think the women who started the club didn't realize what happens when a group of friends start a club. Here are a few of the issues my club was dealing with . . .

You have no control over who joins "your" club.
New members have new ideas.
Bike riders come in all shapes, sizes and abilities.
As the club becomes more successful, the more work you have to do.

This is not said to be negative. I am the "second generation" of leadership for this club. Our founder mothers, if you will, wanted to keep the club the way they formed. Which was kind of a female off shot of a local racing team. But in forming a club and recruiting members, not everyone who joined was a "racer". The club acquire a reputation for dropping new less speedy members. Very few women hung around for more than one club ride. A few us did, because it was the only game in town for women riders. After a few rather hard years of membership the orginial board finally threw up their hands and walked away. Although some still pop up and jab us in the back from time to time. :( Us second generation leaders are trying to pick up the pieces, clean up the reputation and generally make the club more user friendly. It's a slow process of one step forward, two steps back, but we keep plugging away. It's almost like starting a new club. I wish you all the luck with your club. I have met some wonderful women who are now good friends through the club. We have a lot of fun riding together. Just remember, guide the club, but let it choose it's own path. Be open to new ideas and always include food stops in every ride! :D bikerHen

[IFjane]

Hey BikeChick! I don't feel my responses can equate to those already posted because I live in a very rural area and there are only a few of us who ride regularly (road bikes, that is). However, there are several very active larger clubs in the area who have much larger memberships.

Our club is loosely organized & we communicate through a yahoo group site. According to the site we have 42 members +/-, though we usually have an average of 5 show up for a ride - sometimes 10+, mostly not. Like I said, we're out in the boonies of VA ;)

I didn't join the group - the group sort of evolved around us. We found out through happenstance that there were a number of us living in the area who all loved road riding & we started riding together. The rest kind of "happened". We help sponsor the only large fund-raiser ride in our county each year. This coming year is the 22nd or 23rd year and it continues to be one of the more popular in the region, simply because of the location - roads, scenery, etc. The proceeds benefit the local recreation department.

Tulip had some great comments & RABA is an awesome club. Much bigger than anything we locally will ever have. Best of luck to you!

[TrekTheKaty]

I am in a club that has experienced a great deal of change in the last few years. I think the women who started the club didn't realize what happens when a group of friends start a club. Here are a few of the issues my club was dealing with . . .

You have no control over who joins "your" club.
New members have new ideas.
Bike riders come in all shapes, sizes and abilities.
As the club becomes more successful, the more work you have to do.
:D bikerHen

This also happened to a group of my non-cycling friends. We met once a month for happy hour and someone turned it into a chapter of a national organization (then moved out of town--"good luck!") I (and several other "founding" members) walked away.

Props to you for starting a club. Just be ready to look out for the groups interests instead of yours.

[Jaclyn]

The League of American Bicyclists is again offering a class for club leaders. This might be a great opportunity to get off to the right start with a new club. Here's info below (note - I am a League member and a League Certified Instructor).
- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Are you involved in a bike club? If you are, consider attending the League’s Club Leader Training in Milwaukee, Wisconsin! Join other club leaders on April 9-11, 2010 at the Wisconsin Exposition Center for a great seminar on club leadership. Learn ways to run your club more effectively, how to make the most of your club’s resources, and how to best utilize the talents and skills of your club members.

Register now – space is limited! Contact Lisa Reitz at lisa@bikeleague.org for more information. Check out the Meeting Agenda!

Full registration $100
One-day registration $60

Topics include:
- Club leader transitions
- Reaching new members
- Budgeting
- Insurance
- Managing membership
- Organizing rides and volunteers
- Marketing
- Local advocacy issues

** The seminar will be held in conjunction with the Wheel and Sprocket Bike Expo Sale (in the same building) - so come to Milwaukee to pick up some great bike gear AND get great tips on bike club management. (The Wheel & Sprocket Bike Expo - 1500 bikes on sale, thousands of accessories, and presence from the best rides and clubs from the state of Wisconsin! If you love bicycling, or if you are looking to get into the sport, there is no better time to shop! Free admission.)

[Jiffer]

1. If you are involved in a club, how long has it been established?
2. Do you have insurance?
3. How do you acquire new members?
4. Do you have fund raisers? If so, what are they?
5. What advice can you give me?

1 - I'm not sure how long it has been around. Maybe 10 years? But it was pretty small until the last couple of years. Maybe 10 to 20 people and now it's over 100 members.

2 - I don't believe they have insurance. They have everyone sign a waiver before their first ride with them.

3 - I think their growth is primarily word of mouth. They are also on website club search lists and such. I would make sure all your local bike shops are aware of your existence and maybe leave flyers at each, maybe even hang posters or flyers if they'll let you. Your club's growth is great for their business, so they should be happy to advertise your club. Which reminds me, our jerseys are sponsored by several bike shops and It's A Grind coffee shop, which we meet at for weekly rides, which brings them business. So we have local business names on the backs of our jerseys.

4 - I don't recall any fundraisers for the club itself, though there may have been some. The "family rate" for membership is $36 per year. (Can't say what single rate is.) Members pay for the annual Member Appreciation Dinner, which I laughed at last year. "We have to pay to be appreciated?!" But it's all good. ;) They do actually raise funds for a bike donation thing they do every Christmas. They buy and give away as many bikes as they can to kids who's parents can't afford one. They do this by selling raffle tickets at meetings. And they have people donate items to raffle off. Sometimes the person coming to speak at the meeting donates products, sometimes they get products from local bike stores, sometimes members donate things, or they raffle off club products (socks, bottles, hats or even a jersey). They also ask for direct donations toward the bike drive, especially as it gets closer to Christmas and they haven't raised the goal amount.

Fredwina can probably tell you a lot more than I can. She's been around a lot longer and involved in the planning and all that. If she doesn't post here, you might want to private message her.

I assume you intend to get club jerseys. Ours are navy blue and neon yellow. Neither color being a choice I enjoy wearing, so I rarely wore the one dh bought me when I started riding tandem with him. I'm all about PINK! At one of the first organized rides I did with a club member friend, there were several other club members there, but none of them knew we were with the club until the middle of the ride. Afterward, one of them says, "You should wear a club jersey so we know you're with the club." I looked down at my pink jersey and said, "Well, I would ... if only they were ... pink!" I really meant just about ANY other color combination than navy blue and neon yellow, but figured since I'm just dreaming, might as well say what I'd REALLY want. One of the guys says, "Why don't we get some pink jerseys?" You mean we can DO that?! :eek:

At first the board turned down the suggestion, but later agreed we could do it if at least ten people pre-ordered and paid for them (a minimum order). They are the same design as the other jerseys with pink, white and a little blue to tie them into the original jersey. I was delighted they went for this plan and LOVE my pink jersey. Even a couple of the guys bought one. ;)

I guess I say all this to encourage you to be open to more than one color combination if you want more people to be excited about representing your club ... particularly women who will care more than men. ;) We do a "Three Club Ride" where three clubs in the area get together and do a ride together, hosted by one of the clubs. We take turns hosting. At the last Three Club ride I had a woman come up to me and ask me about my jersey. She was jealous their club didn't offer anything like that for the women. In fact, their jerseys didn't even "fit" women very well. I had at least one or two other comments from women that day as well. I may have started something. ;)

I would say to do what you can to make your club multi level. We have all levels in our club. On Saturday, we offer three different bike routes of different lengths and difficulty. All three rides start in the same direction, so everyone is together and goes at a warm up pace. Eventually, the faster pace members take off and do their thing and the group starts to break up. But there is always someone to watch out for new riders and make sure they know the route. They regroup at certain places, a turn they want to make sure no one misses, or the top of climbs where people really get separated.

The Saturday ride usually gets the most riders at one time. They also offer two rides on Sunday. A long ride, somewhere between 50-70, which changes weekly. At the beginning of the month a list is posted of what rides they are doing that month. They also offer a shorter distance ride on Sundays, also different weekly.

Sunday afternoon there is a women's only ride, which is shorter and slower than pretty much any of the Saturday rides. This was started by a woman who was newer at riding and saw the need for a ride that would be less intimidating for slower women.

Tuesday and Thursday evening is a ride that is a little more hardcore. Not everyone who does it is hardcore, but it has evolved into a ride where a lot of the faster guys like to go nuts and chase each other up a climb.

More recently, a club member started spreading the word that he'd be riding every Wed and Thu morning if anyone wanted to join him. He was surprised that there were actually people who could ride on a week day morning.

There are certain organized events (centuries, etc.), that our club does annually and encourages other club members to participate in. When you know there will likely be several other club members, it's fun to go and ride with people you know and/or have dinner with them afterward.

I have very much enjoyed being a part of our club. Everyone is pretty friendly and encouraging of each other. It makes getting out and riding enjoyable when you know you are going to see your cycling buddies and take off on a familiar route with them, doing your best to improve and keep up with one's that used to be faster than you, watching their technique and learning from them.

I suggested to our club that they have a clinic of some sort, to teach members how to handle their bike properly, particularly in emergency situations. They liked the idea, but it hasn't been implemented yet.

Well, that's plenty of rambling for now. Good luck with your new club! Get pink jerseys!!!! :D

[Fredwina]

Jiffer,
CC is about 15 years old, and yeah, it was moribund until about 2005(like when moi showed up from the east coast).
We do have Insurance through the LAB. One of the things I pressed real hard on when I was on the board. The waiver forms are required by the insurance company. I would definitely not organize any thing without it.
A couple of other words: what are trying to do? as a club , you're open to the public - you have no idea if the guy who just bought a huffy from walmart yesterday is going to show up on the 20+mph paceline. If you want to go for the big tent - which is what we did - beware that you might spend a fair amount of toddling along. about 10 years ago , I was the Secretary for RABA (tulip's club) - back when the heart of Virginia was the Lake Anna Century. I think i rode to Ashland and back at a 10mph pace at least once every 3 months:cool: but it will push you outside the usual circle.
A lot of work - but of a lot of rewards - the question is it worth it to you?

[Bike Chick]

Thanks everyone for taking the time to answer my questions. It has been a great help. In fact, I'm thinking about going to Milwaukee in April.

[Jiffer]

There's been a thread on our club forum that I made me think of your new club. Someone was asking about changing up a couple of the routes they do consistently the same way each week. While there is nothing wrong with that idea, and suggestions like that are how new things are born, which could be great for the club ... someone replied that one of the things that seemed to help the growth of the club was having consistent weekly rides. People know what to expect. There's no guessing game. I know for me, I used to be pretty intimidated by rides that I wasn't familiar with. On the Sunday rides, which change, if I wasn't sure about the route and my ability to keep up with the club on a longer distance or more climbing, I wouldn't go. The Wed/Thu morning rides are completely flexible. The route isn't decided until the people show up, a decision is made and they go. Sometimes I like that. Mixes things up and you discover new roads or routes that other people take you. But sometimes I need to know I'm getting a specific kind of training ride in that might not work with their "lets decide the day of the ride" plan. It's nice to have both options. The consistent rides on the same day of the week, and the variation on other days.

But like I said, the Sunday rides change weekly, with a schedule made at the beginning of the month and a separate list of all the routes to look up a description of what a particular route is like.

[Fredwina]

I alwayd liked how RAB organized the Ashland Breakfast club rides:
You started out by riding 10 flat miles and then had breakfast. after that, several groups formed based on distance and diffculty - anywhere from straight back to 50 hilly miles - sorta of the "best of both worlds" approach of course you do have to put with breakfast at Hardee's every Saturday:)