Got a Ride you want to share with
your fellow Valkers,
but you're not quite sure what is required?
Well, it's not all that hard, and here are some general guidelines.
We select our rides based on who is willing to host the ride, rather than on distance or location. Some are longer, and every few months we seem to do an overnighter. Some are shorter. Just depends on where the host wants to go. Some revolve around an event that a lot of riders would go to anyway (like Long Beach or like Laughlin in April). Some have a location to ride to (Techahapi), a destination event (a tour of Willow Springs Track) and, in this instance, lunch at a nearby member's home (the club pays for the food and stuff). Then everyone rides home on their own. Each one is different, and depends on the host.
So, what do you have to do?
Well, first of all,
being the host doesn't mean you have to (physically) lead the ride (although you certainly
may-and we'll help you). If you would be more comfortable with having someone else lead,
there are plenty of experienced riders. Dave, our Fearless Leader, is an excellent Ride
Leader, as are Ed, Greg, or Joe, as are many of our members who have hosted rides. So, you
need (or will be) the Ride Leader, a mid-pack experienced rider, and a couple of drag
riders (we carry out our dead and wounded).
Being a host means you have to do all the hard work of getting it together. You have to
figure out where to start, knowing that gas and food (coffee, etc.) are available, where
to go, how to get there, where to stop for gas along the way, where to have lunch and a
meeting and where to end the ride. If it's an overnighter, you need to find a place
to meet in the evening wherever we are staying. And of course you have to be there,
to be the host. You get to set the pace (presuming you lead), and are responsible for
anticipating if the ride should be broken up into smaller groups. Some may wish to
blast down the freeway, and drag their pegs through the twisties, some may wish to see the
sights. We will help you figure that out, and get the necessary group leaders.
You get to make the decisions, answer the questions and conduct the pre-ride
meeting. The best thing is, if any problems come up, you are with a bunch of your
friends, and all will help in figuring it out.
Additionally, a week or so before the ride, you need to do a pre-ride, covering the route
you plan on using for the ride. New road repair, construction, demolition, closed
restaurants, closed roads, closed gas stations are all things you don't want to find out
about the day of the ride. When you do the pre-ride, you do it with an eye toward
maneuvering a 20 bike train through the terrain you've selected. You anticipate that gas
stops will take longer with a bigger group (usually half an hour) and that lunch generally
takes an hour and a half. As you are working out the details, Greg, Ed (Stump) or
Rob will help you with any fine tuning. As soon as we agree on the rough outline of the
ride (date/general area), we will put up the ride page - and we're off!
I'm sure we're
making it sound a lot harder than it actually is.
We've all led some rides, and it's a good experience.
Give it a shot!
Want to know a little more about riding in a group - Go Here
Want to talk to us about it - send us an e-mail