February 22, 2024
Weekly Open Ride Program
The weekly Open Ride program for 2024 begins Friday, March 15 with a ride to Comox Lake. Check out all the details on the Open Rides page of the Comox Valley Chapter website (available to Comox Valley Chapter members only). Read about the website below.
2023 saw the introduction of “Pace Groups” as an attempt to satisfy the various speeds that members are comfortable riding. The initiative failed to garner widespread rider adoption. The Comox Valley Rides – 2023 Statistics table summarizes the results, clearly showing that chapter members are not open to formalizing pace groups into the weekly rides. Consequently, the Comox Valley Chapter Executive has decided to revert back to a generic ride speed format for 2024.
The Chapter Executive however, continues to encourage seasoned membes to step up and volunteer to coordinate one or more rides per season so that every ride has someone who
- ensures that no one is left behind by appointing a sweep that is familiar with the day’s route and that will accompany new and/or slower riders
- welcomes new members and sees that everyone is introduced and made to feel included
The success of the Chapter’s ride program depends on these volunteers.
If you are a Comox Valley Chapter member PLEASE VOLUNTEER to coordinate one or more of our Friday rides. Links to the Coordinator Handbook and Volunteer Coordinator Signup sheet are in the Quick Links section at the bottom of this post.
Dedicated Website for Comox Valley Chapter Members Only
The Comox Valley Chapter Website went live in 2022. It is restricted to Comox Valley Chapter members. Note too, that it is separate and distinct from the CCCTS website you are currently reading this on. It’s purpose is to provide access to much more information and links to resources specific to the Comox Valley Chapter than is available here in the Local Chapters section of the CCCTS website.
For example, the About page has short bios of the Comox Valley Executive Team and links to past Chapter reports and meeting minutes.
The Open Rides page explains the weekly Open Ride Program. It has a “Quick View” of upcoming weekly rides and access to the more detailed 2024 Ride Schedule.
The Photo Gallery page provides access to the Comox Valley Chapter – 2024 Ride Season Google Photos album where Chapter members can now upload photos for 2024. There is also access to archived albums of older ride seasons and Comox Valley Hub & Spoke events. And there are links to Weekly Ride Posts from 2016 – 2019. The source of these posts is the website you are currently on but the links mentioned provide the ability to find and view posts from every ride more easily and directly.
Another page on the site provides direct access to the Comox Valley Route Catalogue – a document that summarizes dozens of routes in and around the Comox Valley for road, gravel and mixed surfaces. As well as providing summary statistics on each route, there are also links to Ride With GPS for even more detail. This is an invaluable resource for organizers of rides to select a route or for individuals to source a route for personal riding.
The home page of the website provides a direct link to the CCCTS Comox Valley Riders Google Group online communication forum.
New information pertinent to the Comox Valley is added regularly.
Technical details: The site was developed using “Google Sites” and as such, site security is maintained by ensuring that only Comox Valley Chapter members with a Google Account can access it. If you are a Chapter member with a Google account and are having problems accessing the site, send an email to the Comox Valley Ride Coordinator describing your issue. If you do not have a Google account, see the Quick Links section below for a link on how to create one.
Photo Sharing:
The Chapter encourages all its members to share their cycling experiences through photos. There are Google Photos Albums for every ride season from 2020 to 2023. A new photo album for the 2024 season is in the works.
The Comox Valley Chapter – 2024 Ride Season album is now available for photo uploads. This album is like a diary and regular commentary will be added by the Ride Coordinator. The photos are in chronological order. Follow the link, then “Join” and upload or transfer your photos.
Similar “diary style” albums exist for the 2020 to 2023 ride seasons. These albums are closed for uploads but users can still comment on photos.
Comox Valley Chapter – 2023 Ride Season
Comox Valley Chapter – 2022 Ride Season
Comox Valley Chapter – 2021 Ride Season
Comox Valley Chapter – 2020 Ride Season
The final album is comprised of all photos dating from 2018 and includes photos of the 2018 and 2022 Hub & Spokes. This album is in a “latest photos first” format. There is no diary commentary and photos cannot be uploaded to this album.
Comox Valley Chapter – Photo Album (Latest First)
Quick Links:
- CCCTS Comox Valley Riders This is a Google Group that is used for email communication between group members. The link provided here is to the Group web page where users can easily send new messages to the rest of the group or refer back to previous email threads on topics of interest.
- Comox Valley Chapter Website. Read about it above.
- Comox Valley Rides – 2024 Schedule
- Comox Valley Rides – Open Ride Program An outline of the Open Ride Program.
- Comox Valley Rides – Volunteer Coordinator Handbook Describes the roles and responsibilites of Volunteer Coordinators.
- Comox Valley Rides – Volunteer Coordinator Signup A Google Sheet for Volunteer Coordinators to sign up to coordinate a Pace Group for a weekly ride.
- Comox Valley Route Catalogue A summary of routes to assist in choosing a route to ride. It can also be accessed via the website mentioned above.
- Comox Valley Rides – Limited Capacity Ride Signup A Google Sheet for riders to sign up for Limited Capacity Rides.
- How to set up notifications in Google Sheets (instructions on how to be notified when a new ride is posted for example)
- How to create a free Google account A Google account is needed by Comox Valley Members to access the website mentioned above as well as to edit the signup form.
- Getting to Google Sheets on your PC (one of many ways to go to Google Sheets on a PC. On a mobile device simply download the Google Sheets app from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store)
- CCCTS Communicable Illnesses Policy