Ride leaders and back markers are invited to attend a workshop on 8 March. Below is an explanation as to what people should get out of it. Lunch at the pub follows afterwards, and the club is stumping up for the first round. Not that bribery should be necessary to induce you to come because it should be a very interesting, not to mention useful, morning. Organiser Brian Ross would appreciate being advised if you intend to come.
Brian Ross writes…
We ride in groups to be with friends and to make new friends. I hope this workshop will develop the friendships between those who have volunteered to lead groups and be back markers by helping each other make the responsibilities easier and the difficulties more manageable.
Thanks to everyone who has given us their thoughts on workshop content. We’ve already enough material for at least three workshops, which we’ve split into thee main areas:
We ride under the banner of the CTC, which brings in a bit of bureaucracy. By hearing how other ride leaders manage the admin, you can choose how you are going to cope with it in future. Additionally, none of us wants conflict, but how could we handle the rider who won’t cooperate with the bureaucracy?
Everybody wants to ride as freely as possible, but group riding brings in some mutual responsibility. Skills for group riding are additional to those for riding on your own, may not be obvious, and can only be learnt when riding in a group. How do we help/educate existing and new riders?
If one of the group is in trouble for any reason, someone has to take charge – often the ride leader. We shall ask you to think through and discuss what you might do, in what order, for one scenario, so that we’ll all be better prepared.
The plan for the morning:
10.00 Doors open at The Bird in Hand, Mayford, GU22 0NL
10.15 Introduction
10.20 Discussion 1 – lead by Liz Palethorpe, John Sadler & Brian Ross
10.50 Tea, coffee, biscuits
11.00 Discussion 2 – move to a different group
11.30 Discussion 3 – move to third group
12.00 Closing session
12.15 Adjourn to the bar
Liz will referee the “trouble scenario”, John the group riding skills and I the admin.
Please don’t forget to advise Brian of your intention to attend.
