What would you like to know?

[Starfish]

What would I like to know?

How to start a recreational cycling program for at-risk adolescent girls that would form the base for a life in cycling, regardless of whether that base led to competition, recreation, or commuting. Question areas I would have would include:

-Liability & parental consent issues
-Finding bike donations and mechanical support
-Finding volunteers to lead, teach, train
-Fund raising
-Involving moms for mother/daughter lifestyle changes together
-Mentoring issues to help girls compete if that was their wish
-Partnering with schools, YMCAs, or other existing programs
-Adding additional prevention components
-And probably lots more questions I haven't thought of!

[smilingcat]

The biggest problem I see in my area where there are literally hundreds of clubs for all walks of life and trying to get the word out to average Jane Doe. The women who might be casually interested in riding never try to find out on what is available to them.

We have clubs whose main interests are touring only, racing only, mtn biking, commuter oriented, socializing & riding, casual riding for fitness. But even for someone like me who is seasoned has a hard time finding all the clubs and groups around. You occasionally run across a free local cycling paper with a listing of "all" the clubs and groups. So how do you get the word out?? If you pick a LBS to meet, you won't be able to put a flyer in other LBS.

Then there is starfish's concern of if you wanted to start your own group biggest obstacle I see is liability. I don't want to lose my house just because someone had an accident.

and the other problem is how do you sustain the group once it started as pointed out by shootingstar. There are times when you just really feel burnt out with leading a ride. It's a lot of commitment so to spin this around a bit. How do you keep from burning yourself out as a ride leader or organizer? There are days when I JUST DON'T WANT TO GO OUT!! OR I JUST WANT TO TRAIN ON MY OWN

After ride/workshop social is a must. You don't have to supply with soft drinks snacks. The successful and ongoing rides usually finish at a bikeshop near a donut place or finish at a coffee house or a deli. Occasional party at one of the riders house also helps.

One thing that has irked me over the years is that there are always small group of people both men and women who tend to develop a clique and basically alienate new members. so how do you keep exisiting members from alienating potential new members

I guess I'm just reiterating what others have said.

These days, I prefer to ride alone because most groups never do what they claim.

They hog the road, rotating pace line is never smooth, squirrly riders allowed in pace line, hand signal or not to hand signal.

Biggest two peeves of mine is blowing through red traffic lights/stop signs and dropping people on no drop ride. I used to be the one who went back and picked up the straggler and encouraged them and humored them to continue with the ride. I ended up being the mechanic often times for the stragglers with impromptu "how to fix a flat clinic" out on the road.

Occasionally, I rode back to the starting point with a rider who either blew up or bonked. It's not easy to keep them motivated sometimes. How do you convince a newbie to a group that they are not inconveniencing an experienced rider in situation like this? I don't want them to become alienated just because they couldn't keep up on one of the outings.

I guess my thoughts are on how to get new members to join in on ongoing basis.

Smilingcat