Group Ride Etiquette

I thought it would be a good idea to put together some guidelines for participating in group bike rides particularly for those with little experience with riding in groups.  These are not "rules" per se, but instead tips on how we interact on group rides inorder to maximize safety while enjoying ourselves at the same time. For more information on cycling safety check out the online BikeSense Manual.  To request one please send me a Facebook message or an email to ValleyVeloRiders with the subject "BikeSense Manual" and instructions on how to get it to you.

Group Riding Guidelines and Etiquette

1. Be predictable. Ride in a safe, straight and consistent manner. Avoid sudden acceleration or braking.

2. Communicate verbally and/or with hand signals.

• Obstacles or hazards on the road may not be easily seen by the rider behind you. Call out and point to road hazards.
• Always indicates turns with appropriate hand signals.
• Give a verbal warning for automobiles coming from behind. For example "Car Back or Trcuk back" are suitable warnings.
• Give verbal warnings if you or cyclists ahead of you are slowing down (Slowing) or if coming to a stop. (Stopping).
• When passing other cyclists pass on the left and offer a verbal warning of "On your Left".
• Give verbal indication to cyclists behind when going through an intersections. If no vehicles shout "Clear" and if there are vehicles coming shout "Car Up".     Motorists see cycling groups a single unit so try to cross or tturn as a group when signalled to do so by a motorist.
• Warn pedestrians if approaching from behind. Use a bell, horn or verbal indication far enough in advance so as to not startle them. Indicate verbally with a     "Passing on the Left" or "On your left".
• Warn of upcoming railroad crossings. This is usually communicated with a downward arm left to right waving or a verbal "Tracks ahead".

3.  Ride single file unless riding on a wide shoulder or bike lane.

4. Always wear a helmet.

5. Always obey all traffic laws.

6. Insure that your bike is in a road worthy state to insure yours and other riders safety.

7. Carry identification.

8. If you run into mechanical difficulty, flat tire, chain off etc. call out to riders ahead so that communication can be passed to the ride leader so he/she can stop the group and wait or offer assistance.

9. It is recommended that you carry a spare tube and a patch kit. You do not necessarily have to be prepared to fix your own flats as others with expperience can assist you. It is a good skill to learn in case you are riding alone.

10. Communicate with the rest of the group to insure that no cyclist is left behind.

11. Riding at nights requires front and rear lights as well as reflective clothing and/or reflective material on the bikes. The idea is to be visible to others.

Valley VeloRiders Lunch Meeting

Hi all,
We we are now almost through February and the weather is starting to warm up, so it is time to start thinking about sceduling a few rides pretty soon. To start things off I would like to schedule an informal meeting over lunch in the TWU Reimer Student Centre cafeteria on Friday, Feb. 27 between 12-1 PM for those who can attend. I know that some are off campus or away and won't be able to attend,but as I stated it will be an informal meeting to find from as many as possible to just bounce around some ideas for the group such as:

Group ride starting points
Types and locations of group rides - For example would there be an interest in group rides on Vancouver Island or to Lynden, etc.
Seek volunteers for maintaining group ride FaceBook Group, Web Blog, calendar and leading rides.

Also I will bring a laptop to the lunch meeting to demonstrate the various online tools I have set up for the group.

Please let me know if you can attend this meeting. I will probably schedule another meeting the day of our first ride. (1-2 hours prior to the ride for example). This announcement will be posted in the Facebook Group, the web blog and added to our group Calendar.

Richard

This will make you glad you cycle in BC...

Thought you all would enjoy reading this article by a hardy Winnipeger (spelling?):
Enjoy!

A dry Saturday in February

Hi everyone,
Hope some of you took advantage of this dry spell and went for a ride today! I did a short (20Km) loop north of Abbotsford (for any of you who live in Abbotsford here's the route). Lot's of fun, my legs are sure sore now!

Bikes for Bibles

To all of you going to Mission Fest this weekend, make sure you head over the Canadian Bible Society booth. They have brochures for this year's Bike for Bibles. The web site is not yet updated  but the brochure gives the dates. The long ride is a seven-day excursion around Vancouver Island, beginning August 1. At the Mission Fest booth you can fill out a ballot for a free registration for the Ride ($250)!

Potential Group Rides

I have created a couple of routes on Bikely.com for everyone's perusal. They cover similar ground but I fell they would be a good starting point for our first couple of rides when the weather improves. Check them out and feel free to discuss them here.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/TWU-Derby-Reach-Ft-Langley-Rawlison-Loop

These two are actually the same ride but one is all road and the other includes the Fort to Fort trail and the dyke road along Nathan Creek. They are a little longer at about 60km and both also include one fairly steep hill along 272nd so they might be a better option for mid spring after everyone has been on a few rides and better able to handle bigger hills.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/TWU-Derby-Reach-Fort-Langley-Road-Loop

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/TWU-Derby-Reach-Fort-Langley-Alt-Loop

The above rides also meet at TWU, but for those in the Abbotsford area feel free to suggest other areas as a meet and start point or other areas to ride. More routes will be created as time permits.