3. Ride Proposals – The Process
3a. Ride Concept. Club rides often start when a club member has an idea for an enjoyable cycling experience that can be shared with other members. The club member may be very familiar with a local region or they may be interested in cycling in an area that is unfamiliar to them. Sometimes members are interested in repeating a past successful club ride. The Club member’s ride idea and developing plans are then discussed among friends and with the appropriate Ride Director for Hub & Spokes or Tours. The Board encourages Club members to submit their proposals to the appropriate Ride Director (RD) before November for a ride event planned for the following year to avoid potential conflicts in ride scheduling. At least 3 to 5 months lead time is suggested for the CCCTS Board’s review and approval process from the initial draft proposal submission to the appropriate RD, the CCCTS Board’s review and approval, publication on the Club’s website, member registration and member lottery-based selection before the ride event’s start date.
See section 3c below for the information required in a CCCTS Ride proposal. The appropriate RD will vet the proposal, often offering constructive suggestions to the Ride proposer / Ride Leader RL. Note: the Ride Proposal is the RL’s idea and initiative, planned to their personal satisfaction. The thoughtful and dedicated work of the proposing Ride Leader will lead to a successful club ride for fellow club members. In order for a proposing RL to gauge Club members’ interest and support for a ride concept, where some uncertainty exists, an “expression of interest” can be advertised via the RD in the Club’s monthly Newsbrief outlining the ride concept before proceeding.
3b. Ride Approval and publication. A final draft Ride proposal will be submitted by the RD to the Board of Directors for approval, following which the proposal may require modification based on the Board’s comments. These changes are to be carried out by the RL working with the RD. The RD then publishes the final Board approved Ride proposal on the Club’s website. A summary of the Ride proposal is also submitted by the RL or RD to the Newsbrief Editor for publication. An all Club member Ride invitation email note should be issued at this time by the RD. Allow at least 7 days minimum lead time between the Club website’s “Public” publication date, the date a Ride invitation email note is sent to all members and the new ride’s lottery opening date. This will allow sufficient time for members to consider registering for the Board approved ride.
3c. Required Ride Proposal Information. The following information is required by the Board when proposing a Club ride. See Appendix B of these Ride Guidelines and review any recent Hub & Spokes descriptions or Tours descriptions under those headings on the Club’s website. Identified RLs and RDs have access to the Club website’s “Dashboard” and its proposed Ride’s webpage template. A few key elements of a proposed ride are identified by the Ride proposer/RL in discussion with the appropriate Ride Director for either Tours or H&S Rides. Once the RD has entered these key elements on the Club website the RL has access to complete the Ride Description template in draft/proposed mode. The RD may provide assistance and suggestions to the RL if help is needed.
Ride Leader(s) and Ride Co-Leader(s): name(s), phone number (s), and E-mail address(es).
Ride Location: will be identified in the Ride name, along with a rough itinerary.
A Featured Image: a high resolution (preferably >2MB) .jpg photo that represents the Ride’s character to appear at the top of the Club website’s Ride Description.
Ride Dates will be chosen by the RL with the RD’s assistance to avoid conflicts with other Club Rides and functions. The Ride start date and Ride end date are respectively when the group first gathers to prepare for the first full day’s ride and when the Ride is officially over. Often start and end dates are not full cycling days.
Ride Type: Will CCCTS Tour participants use their tents or stay in hotels? Will the Tour event be fully vehicle-supported or only “Sag Wagon” supported? Will the Tour event be fully self-supporting, or a fully or partially supported contract tour? The source of meals, i.e., whether in restaurants, self-catered, by cook teams or a combination of these will be outlined as will vehicle driving responsibilities, i.e. to be rotated among tour participants or to be carried out by a dedicated driver. If the latter, will tour fees be waived for the dedicated driver?
Will the Hub & Spoke be a single Hub Ride or a Double Hub Ride? How will participants be expected to travel between multiple hubs?
Ride Physical Classification: Use Appendix B, along with advice from the Ride Director (RD). A CCCTS Board update of this Classification has been proposed for winter 2020/21.
Minimum/maximum number of participants: The minimum number of participants will generally be dictated by a desire to maintain a reasonable fixed cost. The maximum number of participants will depend generally on accommodation limitations and the desire to maintain a cohesive group, i.e. staying together in one facility. Usually a CCCTS Tour group will consist of no more than 24 cyclists, which is the maximum number for a camping tour using Club equipment. Some RLs may prefer a group of about 16 cyclists.
CCCTS Hub and Spokes Rides are more flexible with respect to the number of participants. Small groups of 12 to 24 cyclists, medium size groups and no size limit groups are all possible if the Ride is well organized and well supported by Club member Co-Leaders. Some Chapter hosted Hub & Spokes rides have exceeded 100 cyclists.
Tour fees coverage: provides an explanation of what is covered and is not covered by the fee. Be specific about such items as campground and park fees, ferry trips, number of meals per day, Happy Hour snacks, RL recompense, RL reconnaissance costs, etc. Planning for a small refund for tours is recommended rather than having to ask for additional funds during the tour. One can allow for a 10%-15% contingency for tours or more if costs are uncertain. Beware of grossly overestimating tour fees which will discourage potential participants. RLs should tap into the considerable experience of the RDs, CCCTS Board members and experienced fellow Club members when developing a tour budget. Tour budgets should be calculated using the minimum and maximum number of participants. The highest cost, usually for the minimum number of participants, should be represented in the proposal.
The Tour Deposit – “Go List” cyclists first instalment amount, should be sufficient to cover all fixed costs such as hotel reservations, and it should be approximately 20 percent of the total estimated tour cost. Setting this deposit amount too low may result in some registrations by some member who have little serious intent of actually joining the tour. Payment of all subsequent tour fee installments should be paid 2-3 months prior to tour departure date.
Hub & Spoke Ride Registration Fee: The minimum Hub and Spoke Registration fee set by the Board on Nov 27, 2023 is $50. Do make it clear that the Hub & Spoke registration fee deposit is nonrefundable for all ‘go list’ participants. Wait listed cyclists who don’t make it to the Ride’s “Go List” are entitled to a refund of their registration fee, should they decide to cancel, at any time while they are on the wait list. See Ride Guidelines Appendix C: Ride Participant Selection Process for definitions of “Go list” and “Wait list” participants.
Refunds of a member’s H&S Registration Fee is initiated by an email request to the Hub & Spoke Director (HD).