About RMCC

Starting an RMCC ride

If you've volunteered to start a ride, thank you! Being a ride starter is an easy way to meet more people in the club and we hope that you will find it to be a fun experience.

A Ride Starter is often the first person from RMCC that a new rider to our club will meet. Please take advantage of this opportunity to make a good first impression. As a ride starter you are the face of the club that the public sees and meets. Please be sensitive to the apprehension that a guest cyclist is feeling and go out of your way to welcome them to the ride and introduce them to other riders.

This guide explains the duties of a ride starter and what you should expect. These procedures cover the weekend club training rides. The Brevets and RMCC Challenge Series events have a somewhat different setup.

Ride Starter Resources

Maps and Cue Sheets
Waiver / Sign-In Sheet
Accident Reporting Packet 		Ride Start Coordinator
Ride Calendar Coordinator - to reschedule or cancel
Treasurer - for reimbursement

Before the ride

  1. Materials - Download and print the following:
    • The map and cue sheet for the ride - from the maps page. Please review them to ensure that you understand the route. Feel free to contact the ride starter coordinator with any questions. You will need to make copies of the map and cue sheet to hand out at the ride. It is better to make too many than not enough. You might make 50 if it's a ride closer to Denver; generally fewer are needed for rides at more remote start locations. If you have to make these copies at your own expense, the club will reimburse you. Please email the treasurer with the number of copies you made, the cost, and your address for reimbursement by check.
    • The sign-in sheet. Please have several copies of this ready in the event of a large turnout.
    • The forms packet from our insurance carrier. Please print out a copy of the minor release form (we only allow minors to ride with us if accompanied by a parent) and the accident report form. Note: do not use the ride sign-in sheet from this packet; rather use the one linked to above - with club logo at the top.
  2. People may contact you by phone or e-mail with questions about the club or the ride. Frequent questions are:
    • Are there places to get food/water? (answer = yes. We have designated regroup points at convenience stores where there are services available.)
    • How fast do you ride? (answer=On flat rides, our slower riders will ride about 15mph; our faster riders will go 20+. Obviously speeds are slower on climbing rides.)
    • Do you ride as one group or split up? (answer=we start out as a group and then it will split up into smaller groups. We have designated regroup points on the ride to help people get grouped back up if they end up on their own.)
    • Do I have to be a member to ride with the club? (answer=you do not have to be a member to try us out on non-event rides - Brevets and Challenge Series events do require membership. After three rides, if you wish to continue riding with us, you do need to join.)
    • Why are there not any no drop rides? We have 3 components to our club. Training rides, Challenge Series, and the RUSA Brevets. None of these formats lend themselves to the formal "no drop" but one never knows when it will happen.

The Day of the Ride

  1. Please arrive at the ride start before the start time. Most rides have a meet time of :45 past the hour; please arrive by :30 past at the latest.
  2. Have people sign in and take a map. Making sure everyone signs the release form - one of your most important duties.
  3. Look for people you don't know and introduce yourself. Look for people who have that "I'm new" look and make a special point to welcome them to the ride.
  4. Shortly before the top of the hour, take a few minutes to go over a few things with the group:
    • The route, emphasizing where the regroup points are.
    • That everyone is required to sign in and wear a helmet to ride with RMCC.
    • That we start out as a group for the first several miles (this ends up being shorter on Golden & Ken Caryl rides where we start climbing out of the gate), but that the ride will likely split up. Tell people that just because they see the fast group going away from them, that does not mean that they are last and on their own! Often, if you find yourself alone there are actually other riders not far behind you.
    • To follow the rules of the road. Tell people that if there are stop signs/red lights that they might blow through if riding on their own that we expect that they would stop while on an RMCC ride. Also, no more than 2 abreast.
  5. At the top of the hour, ask someone to lead the group out, and the ride is off! Use your best judgment as to the best exact moment of departure - it's okay to wait a couple of extra minutes if there were late arrivers, but if we wait too long, people tend to get antsy and the ride becomes a full-on race from the moment it leaves the parking lot; leaving on time is respectful to those who arrived on time and makes the actual ride a little more calm.
  6. From here, you can do the ride as you wish. You are not required to sweep the course, fix people's flat tires, feed people etc. (hence, our use of the term "ride starter" as opposed to "ride leader"). However, we do encourage you to continue to be helpful and friendly to people along the way.

After the ride

  1. Please return the sign-in sheets to the ride starter coordinator. You can either mail the paper copies or e-mail a scan or photo image.
  2. If you are aware of an accident that occurred on the ride, please fill out the accident report form as completely as you can (the board and our insurance company are both aware that you don't always have complete details). Contact the RMCC club secretary or president with any questions and to find a mutually easy way to return the form.
  3. Log onto rmccrides.com and look for another upcoming ride that needs a ride starter!

A Note on Inclement Weather & Ride Cancellation

The RMCC only cancels training rides if conditions are unsafe for riding at the ride start location on the day of the ride. Ultimately, this would be your call to make in conjunction with any RMCC board members who may be at the ride. As we always have people wanting to ride, we like to run the ride if we can, but won't if roads are unsafe (e.g. they are icy).

Sometimes, it's patently obvious ahead of time that the ride won't be a go. In that case, we will post a notice on the website and an RMCC board member will contact you to let you know that we have canceled it. Otherwise, please do plan to be at the start location to start or cancel the ride.

Thanks again for your help. As the foundation of our club is riding (we do over 180 rides per year), ride starters are what makes the club work! If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact the ride starter coordinator.

Rocky Mountain Cycling Club For People Who Love To Ride!