Any ride leaders out there?

[OakLeaf]

It really depends on the club.

I belong to three clubs.

One has leaderless rides that follow the same route on a fixed schedule. Who shows up, rides.

Another club has two weekly rides; one person for each ride is responsible for posting the route each week to the club forum. I'm one of those people. I'm not really a ride leader and this is made clear on the forum. I watch the weather, etc., ahead of the ride, and post if I'm not planning to make it, but if anyone else wants to ride it's up to them.

The third club I belong to is a large and well-regulated club. Every ride has a leader who's been through a training that lasts at least one day and I think two. Paper maps are provided, and the "big" Saturday rides are marked as well. Every rider has to sign a release and the leader is responsible for making sure everyone gets back okay.

So there's really a range.

If you'd like to give yourself a bit of wiggle room, mark the route with paint

That's an enormous undertaking. I mark routes for the ride one of my clubs puts on once a year, and this past year I coordinated the marking teams. My estimate is that it takes about 10 person-hours per 30 miles of route. And I insist that my marking teams go out in pairs for safety. You don't want to be kneeling down in the road without someone else watching for/signaling to traffic.