User:Sexy
From ibikeu Wiki
The Guide to Sexy Ride Organizing
So you have decided to throw a ride. Congratulations. You are contributing to our wonderful bicycle culture. Giving back, to something that give us all so much joy.
He would just like to remind you to take some things in consideration. These are only suggestions, and you are the one posting the ride, so we will honor your freedom to facilitate the ride in the best you way you see fit. You have an idea of how you want the ride to go, and we wish you the best of success in the ride turning out even better then you planned.
Many of us at Midnight Ridazz have learned some good points to remember when putting on a ride, that we have learned through the years of facilitating rides and we want to share them with you. Take what you need and feel free to contribute to this posting so that others may have more successful rides.
Even if you have put on many rides in the past, it is easy to forget these little details and going over these suggestion may help you remember the little things.
Party Rides
Party rides are the main stable of rides posted on midnight ridazz.
These are some suggestion that we would like to make
Route
Did you plan a route or is this a not pre-planned route that is a follow the leader or leader-less ride? You may want to let this be known in your posting of the ride.
Planned Route, and route slips
If it is a planned route. It might be a good idea to post the route before hand or have a route slip at the beginning of the ride, that has turn by turn instructions. You may want to keep the route a secret, for the whole ride or up until the time the ride starts to meet, before the ride, this is all up to you.
The benefits of a route slip is that people who may have some mechanical difficulty or has to stop or decides to stop, can figure out how to catch up to the ride. Preposted routes will give people an idea of how difficult the ride will be, will it work with there schedule (say the person has to be up for work at a certain time, and the route will make or break them deciding to participate or not). Where automobile parking may be best ,if the start and stop locations are different (remember some people may have time restrains, be coming from long distances or not ready to be a bike only member of our community, you may not want to alienate people from participating.
Route Guidelines
Is the location meeting point good or bad for people who drive there cars to the rides. Is there safe spot for people to park their cars with out having to worry about receiving a parking violation before the ride is over.
The best and most commonly planned ride our usually around 18 miles long with two to three refreshment stops. Starting and ending in the same location.
If you plan to go farther away without posting the route or providing route slips, as a courtesy you may want to let it be know if you are going 30 mile or there are going to be challenging hills. Just because you train doing centuries or climbing the back side of Griffith park every weekend, doesn’t mean that most of the participants of this ride you are planning: is going to be able to handle this type of route, want to ride this type of route, or have the bicycle that will make it best to tackle this type of route with. Mixing this type of route with a party ride is not the best idea, but if you choose to do so, please let it be known, so that people who have no desire to do this, won’t participate in something they can’t or don’t want to handle..
Ride Leaders
Having a couple of ride leaders is a good idea. Have the ride leader stay in front, set the pace, call out turns, make decision on whether to stop the ride at traffic lights that have turned red or about to turn red or continue through an intersection. It is also a good idea to have some people in the back who have communication with the front, to let it be known if the ride is going to fast and needs to slow up to let the back catch up with the front. Or in the same vain, if it is going to slow and needs to speed up (though this is rarely if ever a problem). It will be a good idea to have communication between the front and the back, in case of a accident or a vehicle or police confrontation. The ride may have broken up, and the best thing to do in this situation is stopped the ride at the next available parking lot to wait for those that are behind you, or turn the ride around and meet back with the rest of the ride that got left behind. These are decision that are best made on the spot and through communication with the front and the back .
We would like to suggest when coming up to a red light, it may be best to stop and wait for the light to turn red (remember to call out “STOPPING”) this will allow the group to regroup, and get together to continue the ride in a more cohesive manner.
Remember this is a party ride the idea is to keep the ride together. Allow people to ride at a pace where they enjoy the ride, enjoy the people they are riding with, and enjoy the scenery they are passing by.
We haven’t added the obvious, such as spoke cards and promotions, this is would probably be redundant if you already know the LA bike scene
Announcements Before the Start
When at the rides start location and you are about to start. Now is a good time to make some announcements. If you take anything from this write-up, this is the one thing that may make the ride a great success without any problems or incidences. As always thanks everybody for coming and you may want to talk about the goals of the ride. To have fun, enjoy one another, dance, play etc. whatever. Announce the following guidelines so that the ride will go smoothly and most enjoyably for everyone.
You may be fortunate to have someone is who carrying amplified music system with a microphone so your voice may be heard. This is usually the case. Don’t be afraid to use it. Either way, microphone, megaphone, or just your raising you voice louder then normal. Make some announcements, and stand on something where you are above everybody, a bench, picnic table, statue, chair etc).
Who's The Leader?
Announce that so and so are the ride leader, (or the music trailer). That the ride leader will be setting the pace. Stay behind them and follow there lead for turns and stops and general directions of the ride.
Pacing
Let those that may want to go fast know, that this is not the ride to be going fast. You may want to let those that want to go fast know that there are rides that do just that. There is Wolfpack on Monday nights that meet at Tangs on Sunset and leaves at 10pm. There is cubcamp that leaves the bikerowave and bicyckillers that leave NoHo redline station at such and such a time.
Let it be known what kind of ride this is and that going faster then the pace of the rider will cause confusion of who is leading and where the riding is heading next, and cause the majority of it participants not enjoy the ride as it was planned. That those that want to ride fast will have a better time if they go at the pace of the ride.
If those people have an itching to really go fast, it might be best to suggest to them to let the ride go ahead of them and then try to catch up to after it has taken off. You can also suggest that they get to the front of the ride and cork an intersection when it is need, and then after all riders have pasted the intersection. Then they have can ride as fast as they want to get to the next intersection that needs corking and then chase the ride again. It is actually quite fun for those that like to go fast. It will allow them to ride fast and be a benefit and not a liability or hindrance to the enjoyment of the ride.
Announcements
Make an announcement, that those that are on there first group ride, are new to the ride, or haven’t been on a ride before, or haven’t ridden there bike on a ride in a long time. That it would be best that they start off with the front of the ride. Welcome them and thanks them for coming and insure them they are going to have a fabulous time. Tell them to go start with the front of the ride so they have the maximum fun with the least stress, it would be best that they start at the front and try to stay with the front after leaving from each break spot. That way, if they are a little slow, they may get passed and end up in the middle of the ride. Instead if they started at the back of the ride and got left far behind. NOTE: this is a common occurrence with newbie, they tend to start after the ride has left starting point in the back and end up getting dropped and left behind. It usually good to make this one of the last announcement. Don’t be shy about asking them to raise there hands and come up to the front, when making this announcement and point out to them who the ride leader is.
It is also important to make a pre announcement to the those that are out on their first ride to raise their hand and have some of the more experienced riders, help out those that our new to check over their bikes, or ask them to check over there bikes. Make sure the seat adjustment is in a good spot, (new riders tend to have the seat too low, and end up working harder then necessary to operate the bike) ask someone to raise the seat for them, have the person raising the seat explain the dynamics of why it is best they have there seat positioned correctly. Check there tire pressures, have someone with a pump, add air to there tire before leaving, this cause the Newbie to work harder then necessary and end up being left behind. It may end up causing them have a bad first experience on there maiden ride. Maybe even grease the chain if necessary and available. Usually low air pressure in the tires and too low of seat is a problem Newbies have with their bikes. Correcting this will assure less people being left behind.
Cleanup
Let it be known, when the ride stops for a refreshment break, to remind participants to pick up after themselves, and not leave a parking lot peppered with trash. This makes the ride and bicyclist look bad, and is just not considerate to others in the communities we are passing through.
You may also want to bring some heafty trash bags along to have for each stop, one for recyclable , and one for trash. If there are not trash cans around to place the trash in. Leaving two bags for those that own and/or maintain a property will be much easier to have to pick up two trash bags and disposing them in there trash, then picking up a bunch of trash that may take man hours and finical resources. Having a separate bag of recyclable may make someone day to find a bag of something that may fetch them $5.00 to $10.00. This may make the person maintaining the property happy that we stopped by, rather then annoyed by your visit.
Lane Use
Ask that all participants to stay in the far right lane, so to let motorist pass and especially emergency vehicles such as police cars, fire trucks and ambulances pass through to tend to life threaten calls that they are be summons to. This may save someone’s life.
Not only for life and death situations. It is just a good sense and common courtesy to not tie up traffic by taking over all lanes. Yes it can be argued that it is legal, and yes it can add another dimension of fun, but it could really just pissed someone off, and ruin their moment. Lets be good neighbors and make what we are doing inviting to those that may cross paths with us in a motor vehicle. That person may be sick, have a sick child, or just need to use the restroom really bad. Lets be courteous. A bunch of bikes on the road may also be nerve racking to a conscious driver, who would never want to hit or run down someone as vulnerable as a bicyclist. Be courteous they are only human, most likely doing the best they can in life in a situation that they may have never experienced before.
Hold Your LINE!!
Ask participants to not make sudden breaks from there direction of travel unless it is safe to do so. This is called “holding your lane”, or Hold your Line”. It is important while making turns, not to do this. The more “experienced rider” may not have problems with this type of actions. But many of the riders on these ride, have not been riding long enough to be comfortable with these type of maneuvers and may cause panic and an collusion or accidents among the bicyclist on the ride. Better safe then sorry.
Law Enforcement
Tell the participants of your ride, that you are not out here to make enemies with drivers or the local law enforcement department. There is no need to curse or yell at police officer if there is a complaint filed because of our actions and the police respond
Most law enforcement officers (especially with the LAPD) have not created a problem or sight bicyclist for infractions of the law (of course this does happen from time to time). They usually turn a blind eye to our partaking in libations or mother nature, and have even suggested to riders to continuing corking the intersections for safety when bikes are already in the intersection. This does not insure that they won’t sight someone in the future, and certain police departments (mainly Santa Monica police department, have come to rides looking to violate riders as a response to many complaints about rides blocking traffic and taking up all of the lane(s).) We have gotten away with much violation, and that is usually because we keep a good repor with the officers that respond to complaints about us. It is usually complaints of taking two lanes, if this doesn’t happen they will have no reason to stop the ride, (keep the ride in the right lane). If they come to break point, such as a public park, it is usually because of complaint from neighbors of the park. It is best to turn down any amplification of the music, and approach the officer, and apologize if there has been any complaints. If the officer say there has been complaints, it is best to apologize again, and let the office know we didn’t mean any harm and we will probably be for the best if we be on our way. It is best to get the ride together and continue on out of the area. Do not turn on the amplified music until the police are gone.
REMEMBER YOU GET MORE BEES WITH HONEY THEN YOU DO WITH VINEGAR.
Stop Frequency
Remember when planning your route. The best rule of thumb is to ride for 20 to 30 minutes and then break, That is four to six miles, and then stop at a place where people can purchase refreshments. I have found that 5 miles or 25 minutes of riding to be the most optima before stopping. You may want to stop sooner, if the meet/start point of the ride did not have any place for people to purchase refreshments, drinks or snacks.
If you are planning a stop at a parking structure or a park that may not have a refreshment store around, you may want to have this toward the end of the ride. Participants may have purchased enough refreshments for the evening, or may be better for their own safety that they are not give the opportunity to purchase more
Bathroom Breaks
Try to plan stops where there is a bathroom for our lady riders can use the restroom indoor. Some of our lady friends may be experiencing there monthly cycle, or may not be comfortable with using the great outdoors as there restroom. Also people may have to drop a duce, do a #2, drop kick, leave the kids at pool etc. Having a indoor restroom facility is a good idea. I have found talking to a manager or owner of a place that sells refreshments prior to the ride may work this situation out. They will be happy to have your business when you let them know how many people you will be bring through there store to make purchase and may want to accommodate your needs. Make sure they will be working when you pass through, or to let there workers know to allow you use of there restroom.
If you are at stop that doesn’t have a restroom and girl ask you where there is one and you have to tell her there is not one, Remind her to use the buddy system (ask a friend to go with her) if she is going to use the outdoors as restroom, for her safety and peace of mind. This may leave our female riders feeling vulnerable to have to do this, having a friend with her will add to a sense of security.
PROTEST RIDE
So you want to put on a protest ride. With organized protest, with permits and presmission. Organizers find themselves placed on a street downtown on a weekend afternoon with the streets all closed off around you and nobody to hear your message accept those that came and the police in riot gear.
A bicycle ride where you can take your message to the street and share your concerns with others is a great vehicle for this from a protest.
Whatever you are protesting and where ever you plan to take the ride too, the main point of your action should be to get the maximum amount of people to see and/or hear your message. This can easily be achieved by following all rules of the road and law to the letter. It will work in your advantage, because you will have more people witnessing what you are doing.
Riding to the right of the road will allow more people in automobiles to drive by your ride and see your message. By stopping at all red lights and interesections, this give people riding in the same flow of traffic a chance to stop and see your message, read your signs, and maybe even dialogue with you about the issue you are bringing to peoples attention. This also allows all of the traffic flowing perdendictular to the ride, see that it is happening, and traffic stop at the light traveling in the opposite direction will also see the ride. Also all the pedestrians either crossing the street or waiting for there turn to cross the street will see you. By corking an intersection, you will miss out on so many more people that could will see your message and think about what the issue is you are putting fourth.
Riding in the right lane and allowing car traffic to pass by you also maximizes the viewing of your protest ride.
Choose street that our heavily traveled and has lots of pedestrian traffic and vehicle traffic. You may want to choose going to areas that is having an event with foot traffic. Even if it is a street festival, or farmers market.
Walk your bikes through, if you have signs on your bikes, it will bring the issue to people who happen to notice it and read it. Advertiser pay big money to put there message on a billboard, you are doing the same thing when you put a sign on your bike.
I would strongly suggest that participants of your protest ride add on signs to their bicycles or bodies. I have made some big banner type signs out of old bed sheets, Ten of these on ten bicycle with another ten or so bicycles, will make it look like you have a larger amount of people then 20 cyclist, it will have a bigger impact for your message. Thinkpeace from lapostcarbon.com has a page dedicated to teaching you how to post a sign on your bicycle.
If possible having a public address system is a good way to grab peoples attention about the issue(s) you are raising awareness of.
As with a party ride, it is important to bring these facts to the attention of the riders before setting off on the ride.
You may want to remind the participants of the protest ride, that people may flip them off, or say harsh things to them, for bringing issue up that others may not agree with. It is usually best, not to respond in harsh crude way.
It is best to remind the participants to keep a cool head and if they respond, to stay on the point of what it is you are protesting, and respond back reasonability without insult, or not respond at all if the participants are not able to come back with a reasonable response. Remember everybody is representing a view they feel strongly about and it is best not to taint the message with crude language or gestation to someone who might not agree with you. This will just make the message look bad.
