let's rate the socal organized rides!
 

someone brought this up a bit ago.... before we can make a stickie thread with the info.... we need to figure out what and how we want to rate!

i think things like route (scenic? traffic? too many stop lights/signs? etc), sag foods, sag vehicles, after ride meal (if provided), etc....

input**********?

then we can either start a discussion thread (or use this one) to gather the ratings.... maybe put in quotes, etc.... but keep the actual "rating" thread kinda clean.... with just the individual rides rated in it?

what do ya all think? talk to me!!!!!

i moved my post from down below to up here!

that sounds good! than i can cut and paste the ratings/comments into the stickied rate thread!....

i wonder though... rather than trying to average everyone's ratings.... just cut and past that part too? (discussing this... mateo has said he can do the output of everyone input for the averages)

we could set up a template.... so everyone's would look the same.... (or if we average the input.... we can take the comments from the discussion and add them**********? so we'd have one set of averages... but several comments... giving credit to the author**********?)


so far we have (i added a couple.... input?) UPDATED with other input

ride name (self explainatory)
ride description (mostly often taken from the website)
link to site if available
cost lotsa dollars! lol! if prices differ per length... can probably combine cost and length
ride lengths different course lengths offeres

food: 1-5
support: 1-5
clarity of route (markings or route slip): 1-5
difficulty (hilly/flat?): 1-5
overall satisfaction: 1-5
comments: text

You mean like those product reviews on the internet? Where people rate different factors like traffic, scenery, route map readability, etc. Sounds good, maybe rate everything 1-5

maybe i just should be the official judge. at least im independant.....best pics, storys and follow up posts wins hehehe. although id make every ride the winner cos they all look amazing when you arent riding them :p :cry: :cry: :cry:

Great idea. I think a 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent) rating on 5 or 6 specific aspects of the ride (food, support, clarity of route, etc). Then perhaps two final questions: (1) a 1-5 rating of the overall satisfaction with the ride, and (2) all things considered, how likely one is to do the ride again.

Then maybe some way for the person to write some comments.

Sounds good.

I could easily produce the summary statistics -- for each ride, perhaps the average response for each item (so readers could tell which ride has the best food, etc), and the average of the overall satisfaction ratings (giving something like an overall ride rating). Another could be the average of all the items (combined) except overall satisfaction, but I think this wouldn't tell you much more than the average of the overall satisfaction (since overall satisfaction would already be some kind of average of the other items).

Just to point this out.....difficulty of ride ratings will be different from other categories that are rated from bad to excellent if we're going to average out the overall ratings for each ride. Perhaps difficulty rating should stand alone or perhaps rated if as advertised accurately (accuracy of ride description, ie...elevation gain).

Right. Averaging the items separately would be easiest and least ambigious. The overall satisfaction item is close enough to a summary of the other items.

Let's add size of crowd. Some of these show as big rides on the website but only have 50. This would be something I would consider in doing an event as much of the fun centers around conversation, hanging with others, etc.

Sheldon

Oh, thought of another one...expected/experienced weather.

Sheldon

that one is SO subjective.... there are some you could have snow one year and HOT HOT HOT the next!

Yeah, you cannot penalize a ride due to unexpected foul weather....

Most regulars know, for instance, there's always chance of heavy rains for the March Solvang ride.

How about Cost?

On the summary Template should be ride name, lengths offered, and length done.

(Welcome back existence!!!)

and the butterFLOOD! lol!

How about adding a variety of routes/distances? It might not be all that important to the century monsters, but a ride where you can have friends join because they can do the 30, 50 whatever mile option is nice. OTOH, I wouldn't make that a judgement factor, just a nice to know descriptive item, kind of like the difficulty rating.

Yes ButterFLOD!

I rode that! We were expecting decent weather and what did we get?

Rain, Rain, Hail, Rain, Rain and more RAIN!

However, I did finish under the time limit (and I was dressed properly),
so no complaints.

Best Regs,
Rick / OCRR

how about rating of freebies: ie: goodie bags...???

Don't forget the ever-popular "How Many In-N-Outs Do We Pass" category for the ride ratings, please.

ummm DOUBLE DOUBLE....droolll

I swear after our Baldy ride two weeks ago, I went straight to In and Out:D

Too bad there isn't something like marathonguide.com for the biking world. Basically a master calendar of all the major events nationwide, plus a section for feedback from people who have paticipated in past events.

Am I too late to vote? Cali, I think it's a fantastic idea and I like the way you've separated it out (how to rate). :D

we haven't even started yet... still getting info gathered! i wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to give input! lol! although it still can be changed as we go along... but it's easier to have it almost down before starting!

We can talk about categories for a year, let's get to the ratings! I'm signed up for the March Solvang 07 century (my first century! and I've got my fenders ready to go) so I'd love to get people's thoughts on that one. Someone with more experience with these rides than I, give it a shot. Over time we'll figure out what does and doesn't work.

--Edit note:
In case this sounds like a jackazz note right after Cali's note, I posted this before I saw hers. I tend to believe in the theory: "you can't get it right the first time, so don't try, just do and do it again til it's right" .

Well, I'd love to give input but to keep it contained, Cali - your thoughts? How do you want it layed out? Separate post with ratings/polls, what? then Ronjon, I'd love to tell you all about Solvang (as I'm sure 25 other BFers will want to do as well). :D

There's a 60% chance of heavy rain and lightening right about the time you start climbing the "wall".

Oh, you stop that. Don't scare the boy away from an awesome ride...really, it's about a 70% chance of rain, but who's counting...rain clouds...honestly...:p