Quote Originally Posted by Bike Chick View Post
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?!

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!!!!