Club Making Changes to Tour
 

As a member of my local cycling clubs century ride planning committee I am looking fo rideas or suggestions tips anything that you could offer to make a successful century ride. Some details, after 26 years our old route obvioously needed revamping, it was flat easy but unsafe in some sections. The new route is planned to have about 6000-8000 feet of climbing but shorter routes aval. with less. We are going to a mass start for the first time as well. We are a small club about 100 members with really only about 25 serious riders. What have you seen that has made a century ride memorable to you. We have not even come up with a name. The route will be in a section of the Oak Ridges Moraine a huge aquafuar in southern Ontario. Lots of hills, all paved, great views abound. I realize not many here are from my area but please make a suggestion or two.

Staggered starts for the different lengths helps a ton. The century hammerheads don't get bogged down by the metric folks, or the shorter options.

Keeps things safer too, from the group rides I've done with mass starts vs. staggered start times.

I agree that mass starts can be a big safety hazard. If this is not a race on a closed course, you should not organize it like one.

Some of the best organized rides I have been on had:
1. world class scenery, especially on the climbs
2. low traffic and no safety hazards (just one scary incident can ruin your whole day)
3. good road surfaces
4. easy to follow route (because of maps, route markings, course marshals)
5. fresh food at rest stops (breads, pastries, fruit, etc.)
6. plentiful and clean toilets at rest stops
7. start location is easy to find with lots of parking and/or public transit access
8. elevation profile is published ahead of time

To repeat my response to the same question you posted in the Long Distance forum ...

What have you seen that has made a century ride memorable to you.

I really enjoyed the Muddy Waters 100 the first few times I rode it, but the last few times weren't that great. What changed? The attitude that the people at the back of the pack didn't matter. That ride was a fast century, and all riders were finished within 8 hours, but still, the volunteer crews got in the habit of packing up rest stops before all the riders were through, and packing up the finish area before all the riders were in. That's just not acceptable!!

On the last one I did, there was a young deaf girl doing the century distance for the first time. She wasn't fast, but was on pace to come in within about 7.5 hours which is quite a respectable time for a century. Unfortunately the organizers saw fit to pack everything up about 7 hours, her last rest stop was closed so she struggling through the last part of the ride ... and the signs etc. were removed from the route ... so she got lost. When she made a wrong turn at a particular corner right near the end, someone tried to yell at her, from some distance away, to go the other way ... but of course she couldn't hear. That rider finished his ride, and immediately informed the organizers that the girl had gone the wrong way. The organizers shrugged their shoulders and responded with, "She'll figure out she's going the wrong way." and continued with the last bit of their packing up. I happened to be standing there, having just come in about 15 minutes earlier myself, and told them to get out there and look for her, and that this was no way to responsibly run a century. They found her, pointed her in the right direction, and she finished the ride.


I've ridden the Tour de l'Alberta with the Edmonton club two times now, and it's a great ride!! You should really contact them: http://www.bikeclub.ca/
They've got the support down, and they stay on the course until the last person comes in.

The first time I rode it, they started everyone, for the different distances, at the same time. I was one of the last people in, and thrilled to discover that they still had the BBQ running, and still clapped and cheered me in as though I was among the first ones coming in.

The second time I rode it (last year), they started the different distances at different times, and I actually liked that better. So the century riders went off at 8 am, the 100K riders at 10 am, and the 50K riders at noon. That way, we all ended coming in approx. the same time at the end. And then they had a big thing for us all at the end. Here are some photos of that ride:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/1430288...7606412996965/


So the thing that makes an organized century a great ride for me is when they take care of ALL the riders ... when they provide the same amount and variety of food to the front runners as they do to the last person through ... when they cheer all the riders in ... when they treat all the riders (fast, slow, and in between) as though each and every one was important to them and to the event.


That ... and provide an accurate cue sheet, and a good variety of food.


And I'll add ... if you feel it necessary to provide some sort of schwag ... don't be tempted by the idea of handing out those boxy cotton T-shirts. Do something creative ... hand out something people will actually use like fitted wicking tops ... or cycling goodies like tubes, rear lights, etc.

The Tour De Tuscon just had some casualties.. Good route planning is essential. Stay away from congested urban areas with motorists over 90 years of age..

Machka hit the high points. I do few rallies; mainly I cherry-pick the really special ones. What makes it special to me? The route.

But I'm a reasonably hard core rider; I dig hills and backroads and a bit of gravel here and there. So you gotta decide - can your venue accomodate routes for the tough guy hammerheads, while also having a challengig but not killer set of routes for the casual riders?

And +1 on "no t-shirt". Don't need another one. Take the $6 or whatever and spend it on police support, or better food, or donate it to the recipient charity. And SAY SO on the flyer so people will know and appreciate.

Will be interested to see where you plan to squeak out 8000 feet of climbing in and around Oshawa!

My stupid should say 4000-5000 duh

Looking forward to seeing the route.