Ride Leader Guide

NVP Ride Leader Guide

Updated 2021.10.21

Thanks for being willing to lead an NVP ride. Without ride leaders, club rides could not happen.

The information here will help you lead a safe and fun club ride. If you have not led a ride before, you may want to consider partnering with a more-experienced ride leader to find out just how easy it really is. A ride leader does not have to ride at the front of the group, ride with the fastest group or be the sag. You ride at your own pace and enjoy the ride!

If you have questions, please contact the NVP Activities Director or reach out to other NVP ride leaders.

Setting Up a Ride

  1. Choose a date, time and route. We have a great library of routes for you to choose from. If you create a new/cool route, ask the NVP Activities Director to have it uploaded to the NVP routes library

  2. When selecting a start location, consider the availability of parking, whether permission is required, if any special events are happening on that day and if bathrooms are available. When choosing a route, consider traffic volume, try to avoid busy intersections, closely-spaced turns and roads in bad condition

  3. Contact the NVP Activities Director to add your ride to the NVP calendar. This makes it an official club ride

  4. Print a few non-member waiver and minor release forms

  5. Within a few days of the ride you should drive or ride the route to get a “rider’s eye-view” of the road, and current safety conditions. This might require rerouting for safety and added fun.

The Day of the Ride

  1. Check the route weather. If conditions are unsafe or beyond what would be a fun ride, contact nvprides@gmail.com to cancel the ride asap

  2. Bring a (floor) pump just in case someone needs some air and the non-member waiver and minor release forms

  3. Arrive earlier at the start location to greet the riders

  4. Gather riders for the Ride and Safety briefings

Ride briefing:

● Introduce yourself, provide your mobile # in case anyone gets in difficulty

● Introduce any new riders and make them feel welcome

● Insurance requires that non-members sign the non-member waiver and for minors, a parent or guardian signs the minor release form [Do minors who are members have to sign a waiver?]

● Reminder to help fellow riders, eg flat tire, mechanical. Don’t leave anyone stranded!

● Give a short route description. GPS Route name/distance options. Highlights, rest stops, lunch stop

● Ask who’s doing each route distance if there’s more than one option

Safety briefing:

● Follow all rules of the road, especially stop signs and red lights. It's the law!

● Max 2 abreast and only when safe to do so

● Call out and use hand signals for turns and any time you’re slowing or stopping

● Call out and point out any road hazard that could cause a safety hazard, eg:

■ Bumps, holes, gravel, glass, branches, water (ice)

■ Parked cars

■ Riders, runners/walkers

● Overtake only on the left, call out “on your left”

● Avoid surprise swerves and slowdowns that can take a fellow rider down

● Don’t overlap your front wheel with rider in front’s rear wheel

● Use a good front and especially a rear light, “blinkey”

  1. Now you can send riders out in groups, starting with the fast group (18 mph + average). Stagger riders into groups of about 10 as needed. This makes it safer for vehicles to overtake the group.

● If there is an accident:

■ Fill Out the LAB Accident Form: https://americanspecialtyexpress.com/uploads/page/incident_form.pdf

■ Let the Activities Director know and send them the form.

After the Ride

  1. Scan/email the non-member and minor release forms to the NVP Activities Director. Alternatively, snail mail to:

Nashoba Valley Pedalers

P.O. Box 2398

Acton, MA 01720

Non members on our rides are a great way of soliciting potential new club members.

  1. Feel free to email a short ride report to the NVP Activities Director. This will let us see how things went and if we should be changing anything.