Looking for input on creating an annual community ride/event for girls and women

[Becky]

*shrugs* I dunno what they used. My point was simply that neither option is perfect....

[indysteel]

That's just a matter of using the right paint. Paint formulated for road marking stays on fine, and any paint store has it.

And in my experience, some of the colors available for road paint last longer than others. We've had the best luck with white, then yellow.

[Catrin]

It is also good to recheck the markings the day before. We have had trouble with locals obscuring the markings...provide a good map with street names.

Indy will remember a ride in southern Indiana we did a couple of years back where I fell behind everyone and got very lost. I had a map, but it was poor and had very few street names. Thankfully I came across a lone cyclist who was able to get me back on track. There were enough riders that the 2 leaders had no idea I wasn't there for some time. It was an adventure... thankfully I like adventures. Provide good maps

[OakLeaf]

It is also good to recheck the markings the day before. We have had trouble with locals obscuring the markings...provide a good map with street names.

+1 on good maps. You have to zoom in pretty far to get all the road names - insets can help - also starting with a Gazetteer, if you can even find one of those any more, rather than online mapping that makes its own decisions about what level of resolution to show road names at. A link to the route ahead of time will allow those who have GPS to download it and both have the most accurate mapping, and save you some money on printing.

As far as markings getting paved over, it's a good idea to contact the County Engineers several months ahead of time in all the counties you'll be going through - and the Township Trustees if you'll be using township roads - to find out about road construction plans. Markings getting paved over, but having nice fresh reasonably cured pavement road on ride day, is one of the less disruptive things that can happen if you don't do your routing with road construction plans in mind.

If you have enough volunteers who don't have daytime jobs - either via shift work or retirement - we much prefer to mark on weekday mornings. That makes for MUCH less traffic to contend with, for one thing, but it also means club members who are not familiar with the route can pre-ride all the routes the weekend before the event, and return with feedback so you can tweak any markings and maps.

[Catrin]

Our problem wasnt markings getting paved over, but spray painted over by vandals

[azfiddle]

The whole concept of the painted streets is still a bit foreign - and eye-opening. My experiences with organized rides include two big local rides: El Tour de Tucson and Tour of the Tucson Mountains, which are big enough to have police at intersections, and the rides put on by a couple of Tucson organizations- GABA (Greater Arizona Bicycling Association) which uses the roadside signs. When we get to the point of deciding the route, that might help us figure out if we need to paint streets.

[shootingstar]

Painting streets seems like a huge effort ..for 1 ride.

I've never seen a bike ride in the cities where I've lived, with painted streets just for the event. And I've lived near cycling areas where certain roads get closed off for major rides..and runs.

[OakLeaf]

Every ride in our area marks the routes. And the one I did in Texas, too. How else can you let the riders know where the route goes? Not everyone has GPS, people can't be constantly checking paper maps, and it's pretty easy for someone to miss a turn and get off track if they have to check their map at every intersection.

Only the biggest rides have enough riders that there is a constant stream of riders and all you need to do is follow the person ahead of you ... unless you're the lead rider, which is not a problem I've ever had - but how do you show the lead rider where to go? And when I say "enough riders," I'm talking over 3,000 on *each* route, which obviously is not something the OP wants to attempt her first year out. Anything smaller you're going to have lags where groups of riders and single riders are separated far enough that they can't see the next group, and need to find their own guidance. And the big ones still mark their routes - even TOSRV!

[shootingstar]

I see signage posted and use of volunteers at various points, Oak. I've been on local self-guided rides myself on streets and path combination.

Most interestingly, in large guided rides for over 100 riders or more, I see high school students or older, usually paired in 2's at various points. (I know in some schools it goes towards their volunteer work efforts..especially for established non-profits.)

Use of spray on paint is incredibly rare. Just not a common practice in our neck of the woods: not surprising since municipalities have to deal with rules etc. and if some routes run through lovely looking neighbourhoods...near where I've lived, the routes do go through expensive areas.

[OakLeaf]

Well, as far as places where the authorities ask for no paint, the substitute is signage. Your comment had to do with the amount of person-hours it takes to mark the routes by whatever means, and as I said before, planting signs saves a *little* time, but not very much. Signs are really easy for riders to miss, since they're clear over to the side, so they're definitely a second-best solution.

[goldfinch]

All the rides I have been on have used paint except for one. My most recent ride was a four day tour. Apparently parts of the route were popular for cycling events so there were other people's markings on the road. Our ride organizers knew that and used a different color plus the event name (BAAM) painted as well as the arrows.

The route was well marked, with the arrows both ahead of time and at the turns. Also, I understand that there were "missed turn" markings after the actual turn location.

The one ride that did not have road paint used signs. It was very, very hard to follow the course and many people made wrong turns.

[indysteel]

Most of the rides I've done have used painted signs, as have the rides that I've actually led, but I will say that there are better and worse markings, too. I did a ride in a Ohio a few years ago called the Great Ghost Ride Ramble. That year, they used these cute little ghosts as the ,arkings. You turned based on the direction the ghoast was painted. Yeah....no. You couldn't really see the ghost's orientation until you were right on top of it. Plus, they were so small that it was easy for them to get covered up by fallen leaves. It was a cluster. Everyone got off the route except those pretty familiar with it from past years.

Last year, I did the Horsey Hundred for about the seventh or eighth time. They used color coded markings this time. They worked okay, so long as you remembered what color you were supposed to follow, which some people didn't. And since it's a two-day ride, it was easy to get the colors you were following for each of the days confused. In years past, they used the route length and arrows to mark the route, but even then, they neglect to put road markings anywhere other than directly at the intersection. I realize it's a lot of work to put a ride like that on (multiple route lengths over two days), but I think it pays off in the end to over, rather than under, mark a route.

[Catrin]

... I realize it's a lot of work to put a ride like that on (multiple route lengths over two days), but I think it pays off in the end to over, rather than under, mark a route.

Hear Hear! I am someone who usually manages, somehow, to miss a turn on rides that are outside of my area. I've a good sense of direction so have been able to figure it out when it has happened but it would indeed be wonderful to see more "missed turn" markings, or at least a marking past the intersection going in the right direction so that you know before going TOO far that..."oooops, I didn't see the follow-up marker so I need to go back".

I've also been fortunate in a couple of cases that someone saw me take the "path less trodden....errrrr....ridden" and chased after me to bring me back

[Crankin]

We have tons of local clubs that have arrows painted on the roads around here... sometimes there are so many arrows, it's confusing. Personally, I hate them. DH once "arrowed" a 50 mile ride for AMC and said it was an experience he will never repeat. Three hours of spray painting. I really don't get why they are needed. Even if you don't use a GPS, the Ride with GPS site allows you print a cue sheet (which I do in some cases). Generally, people here have cue sheet holders to use on big, organized rides, where, even I can read the directions while riding. I have been on 2 smaller, more local charity type rides this year, similar to what you are planning. They put up brightly colored signs with arrows at turns. The key is, to make sure they are taken down in a timely fashion. Towns don't like it when the signs stay up for days, weeks, or even months! But, from what I've heard, they dislike the road arrows even more.

[tulip]

Chalk might be a better solution than paint. You can get powdered chalk, put it in old water bottles (lots of them), fill up your panniers with the chalk-filled water bottles , ride the route and mark the turns. Be sure to mark the turns clearly, indicating before a turn that a turn is coming up. Also mark the straight-aheads if there's a questionable intersection.

The chalk will actually turn to a kind of glue in light rain, but a downpour will wash it away. It's a great solution because it is not permanent and therefore does not (usually) require permission from authorities. You can use different colors for different routes.

Bike Virginia uses small arrow signs that are quite effective. They have many volunteers to man intersections--typically participants who get free or reduced entry fee.