garysol1 

Help me design a century. I am looking to come up with a plan for a ride for my club that is located in Memphis TN. We want an EVENT more than just a ride. 1000+ riders would be our goal but I need your input on idea's that would help us to draw that many people. We have very nice routes here so that will not be a problem. We have plenty of personnel to pull it off. What I need is idea's to differentiate this ride and make it into more than a ride but an event that people look forward to every year. A few ideas I have are these.

1. Memphis is known for music so why not have a live music at every rest stop. Maybe have a Blues singer at stop one, A Elvis impersonator at the next and so on....

2. We are known for our BBQ so of course we would have a BBQ picnic after the ride.

Please give me some more ideas that could make this ride one of the best!!.

blonduathlongrl

after being in business for many years, ill tell you the things that will make people come for sure.

Free/Discount

Food

and something they can take home and talk about.


Free/discount : get as much sponsers as you can, they like it, it's free publicity.

In the form of coupons so that it's easy for the cyclist to carry in thier pockets, at every stop give away free something from the sponsers or say the first one to get to the first stop gets a free something and then at every tenth person or so they can get a discount at a store or a free item from the store. it makes it exciting for them to go to one stop to the next and it makes it a great subjet of conversation.
no matter how corny the prize is, people love winning something period.


Food/ even if you have a BBQ remember how much people judge a century on how food or drinks were accessible at every stop.( make sure there are plenty)
I think an ice cream stand could make quite a few happy as well.

Something to remember and bring home/ maybe try and arrange something with a local photographer.
even if not free but at least very cheap, people love to bring back home pics of themselves when they get to the finish line and option to have more pics taken for let's say 5 bucks a piece with the people they rode with.

FIVE ONE SIX

i don't know about you, but i personally love the t-shirts that i get when i do a du or tri, maybe something like that may be nice. it'll only cost you about $3.25 a shirt, if you order 1000 or so, with a few colors...

how much do you plan on charging for the ride?

i used to deal with Jak Prints when i owned a skateboarding company, they're pretty good, and have good prices...

https://www.jakprints.com/apparel/?p=tshirt

voltman

See if you can get the Predators to sponsor. And if Kariya happens by, whack him for me.

BikeWNC

There are some very successful rides out there. I would suggest riding them and see how they work. Two of my favorites have been the 3 State - 3 Mountain in Chattanooga, TN and the Triple ByPass in Evergreen, Co. I think the TBP had the best sag stops of any ride I have ever done.

blonduathlongrl

Love the t-shirts when I sign up for a race. How about something printed in the back that reads as
"IF YOU CAN'T READ THIS ANYMORE
YOU'RE ABOUT TO GET DROPPED"

or more friendly

"IF YOU CAN READ THIS
IT MUST BE THAT MY SHORTS FAILED TO RETAIN ALL YOUR ATTENTION"

I could go on and on..
but yes, t shirts are always a plus!

Little Darwin

I like the idea of a themed ride, but live entertainment at the rest stops seems too much. I don't think that most people are at a rest stop for more than a few minutes maybe 10 at the most....

Perhaps live music at the beginning, at the lunch stop in the middle of the long rides (metric century or century?) and of course at the end.

Maybe have a vintage car and/or bike at each rest stop, and music appropriate to the theme on a sound system would be nice.

If you have a metric century or century option (or both), along with the usual short family ride (10 miles or so) and 20-30 mile options and assuming the routes for the different rides may not necessarily share the same roads as the other rides, you could be easily looking at more than 10 rest stops to staff... You need to keep them simple.

I have never organized a ride, but the above seems pretty intiuitive based on the rides I have been on. The below is strictly thoughts... without any real basis other than they just sound right.

A local celebrity or two would be a good draw...

Publicity is key... Get the graphics done professionally to keep from looking cheesy. This includes the flyers and any print ads in the local papers. Make sure that any bike shops and clubs within 100 miles are in the loop. send out some sort of mailing every month or so to keep the ride on their minds... and maybe include a little something for their bulletin board. Start this at least 6 months before the ride.

There is a ride in Philadelphia that distributed flyers to go in the goodie bag of a different area ride almost a year before the ride is to happen... So take advantage of any other organized rides in the vicinity if possible. That is your target audience.

Come up with a catchy name.... and be sure that Annual is in it... There was one ride I went on the Wine and Cheese ride... We passed a dairy that made cheeses, and a vineyard. There are two different Covered Bridges Metric Centuries in Pennsylvania... There is the Gap to Gap, there is the Seagull Century...

Are there any natural wonders to serve as the focus, in the Harrisburg area is the Three Creek Century...

Is there an interesting name of a town that would work, "To Hell and Back"

Any historical parks or monuments? In Maryland I thnk it is, there is a Civil War ride that rides past a couple of major battle fields. Are there any historic plantations near Memphis? That could be an element.

I just glanced through Wikipedia about Memphis... Are there any sites to commemorate the Chikasaw tribe? Maybe you could use your ride to promote cycling and the commemoration and/or preservation of the Chikasaw nation...

"Memphis in May" seems like a great time, can you tie in with those activities to get on their coat tails?

Well, anyway, now I am just rambling...

Good luck!

garysol1 

Great Rambles.....Ramble anytime Thanks for the input so far guys....n gal's

blonduathlongrl

anytime, sounds nice to not be called a guy
I forgot to say good luck to you, wished I lived closer and went to check it out.

Dewbert

Riding Elvi !!!!

garysol1 

We have the mighty Mississippi river but there are no roads that allow a view of the river besides right downtown. We could maybe use the river park that is right on the water as a start and ending location but that would be about the only time it would be in view........Hmmmmmmm

johnny99

1. beautiful scenery
2. low traffic
3. challenging climbs
4. route is easy to follow
5. fresh fruit and fresh high quality bread at all the rest stops (cheap stale bread tastes worse than Power Bars)
6. plentiful and clean toilets
7. really good dinner afterwards

cmh

Can you partner up with an event that is already happening? Maybe Memphis has a blues festival that you can start/end the ride at so there is entertainment built in. Also, you may be able to piggy back on their sponsorship, permitting and other stuff.

mkadam68

+1

johnny99

That would work well in a small town, but in a city, a music festival is often downtown where parking is difficult and traffic is heavy.

garysol1 

Darwin mentioned "Memphis in May" which features music as well as a huge triathlon. These events are spread around the city. I am thinking that may be a good tie in.

Machka 

No one seems to have mentioned it yet .....

Don't forget about insurance. Maybe your club has that covered, but if you are doing this independently, check with your local cycling association to find out what sort of insurance deal they have. Otherwise you might have to find an insurance provider yourself.

The last thing you want is to have someone crash, and then sue you.

Another option I wish more organized rides would consider is this: Offer two "packages". One package is the "full support" option where riders are provided with food, beverages, medical and mechanical services, the T-shirts, etc. ... this one might cost riders $25 or so. The other is the "reduced support" option where riders can take advantage of the medical and mechanical services if they need them, but they can opt out of the T-shirt, and they are on their own for the food and beverages ... this one might cost riders $10 or so. Something like that.

That way, if there are riders with food allergies, they can bring their own food, and support themselves ... without having to pay the full price that the other riders, who are getting food for the price, are paying. That's one of my little pet peeves. I can't eat peanuts, and yet I've been on organized rides where I paid full price (because that was the only option) only to discover that the main food they were serving at all the rest stops was peanut butter sandwiches. I don't mind bringing my own food ... and I always do anyway, but why should I have to pay for food I'm not going to touch? Just something to keep in mind.

I'm in the process of organizing 4 events (a Super Randonneur series) and all 4 events will be completely self-supported.

castaway

I hesitate to make this suggestion because it seems too way out...
Video tape the event from a helicopter. This would probably run into big bucks, but the rare opportunity to see oneself riding from the air might lure participants. No?

FIVE ONE SIX

i thought that was take care off, and he was looking for things to attract riders. if you're going to bring up insurance, don't forget to take care of the SAG wagon too. the last century i rode had a great sag wagon, and there were a few spots with sand on turns that could have definitely led to severe injuries, and they stopped ahead of the turn and told us to slow down and warned us about the sand. it was a definite help, and a reason i would ride another century with that club in a heartbeat, they definitely went out of their way to make sure every rider was safe from road hazzards...

garysol1 

insurance, sag's, marked route's....etc....... are all given's. Very needed but they are par for the course. I am looking for more "out of the box" idea's that would make this event special, better and bigger than the typical ride. The things that make RAGBRAI such a hit or what is it that makes Hotter than Hell such a huge hit. Things that would make you as a rider say to your friend....I can't wait to do this again next year.........

Machka 

I see from his next post that insurance is taken care of, but I have encountered numerous people who have posted on these forums announcing that they want to create some wonderful and amazing event ... but they haven't taken into considering things like: government/police permits to hold an event of the magnitude they are thinking, insurance and safety issues, etc. etc. So, since it wasn't specifically mentioned, I thought I would mention it.

For me, I don't really care about the food provided at an event. If you don't want to provide any, that's fine with me, I'll bring/buy my own. I don't really car about the free T-shirt and all that stuff. My closet is full of these free T-shirts. I don't care about getting another free waterbottle, I've got a box full of them already ........

But what I do care about, and what will bring me back to an event, are things like:

-- Safety. I want to ride on a route that generally has a low quantity of traffic, or wide shoulders where there is heavier traffic, or if heavy traffic and narrow shoulders simply cannot be avoided over certain short distances in the middle of the event, then there should be "Cycling Event In Progress" signs posted or something that will attract the attention of the traffic to let them know that the cyclist belong there, and have a right to the road too.

If there are sandy or gravelly sections, or sections under construction, or railway crossings that are particularly bumpy, those things should be marked ... paint on the road, or a sign by the side of the road, or a volunteer stationed nearby to give warning or something.

-- Accuracy. You may know the area and the route like the back of your hand ... you might be able to cycle it in your sleep ... but if someone from a different province/state comes for the event, that person might not know that "we always make a turn on Hwy 721, even though the sign was knocked down 3 years ago, and never replaced". Ride the route in advance as though you've never seen those roads before. Mark the turns.

Make sure the distance is accurate (I use Streets and Trips to calculate out the route, then drive it to double check). Some people like to use street signs, specific addresses, and north/south/east/west to tell directions (I'm one of those people), others prefer landmarks. If you can, use both in your cue sheet ... have it set up so that cyclist read that they have to travel north on Hwy 42 for 17 kms, then left on Hwy 562 and head west for 4 kms, etc. ... and then in a comments section at the side put something like "old church on north-west corner" or something to help the visual riders locate the turn.

There is nothing more annoying than being on an organized event and thinking, "should I have turned back there?" ... "am I on the right road?" ... "my computer indicates that I should have made a turn 5 kms ago, but there was no road there, I wonder where the road is" ... "according to my computer, I should turn here, but there are no road signs, and no markings on the pavement to indicate whether I'm supposed to turn or go straight" .....

If I can find my way around a course easily, smoothly, and with very little hassle ... I like those courses and that's what will make me think favorably about a ride and make me want to come back.

garysol1 

Thanks for the posts Machka. Here is a link to our club... Hightailers
As you see we do put on lots of rides including several large events every year. Many of these rides start in downtown area's and we do work with local government for our permits to use city and state property as well as local police to help with road closure's. This ain't our first ballgame as they say. We just want to take what we already have and take it to the next level....or maybe the level after that. Here is a link to our info page from last years ride. I think this would be the ride that we try to grow...Bluff City Blues 100