England : Avon Organising a group ride

[livpoksoc]

Similar to another thread I started, I am currently trying to organise a charity cycle ride for my company employees & their friends/families (approx20-50 participants).

The idea is to ride from Bristol - Southampton in one day, offering either the full route or for participants to enter as teams of 4 entering as a relay.

I have contacted a coupe of tour operators but it's not big enough for them to be able to run it cor us, so I just wanted to get a sense check from those more in the know about this sort of thing, about considerations I need to make and how to go about them. So far I have recognised the need for the following:

Route:
Markers
Maps
Contingency help for anyone getting lost (checkpoints/mobile nums for if u get lost)
Contacting local authorities

Logistics:
Van hire (transporting bikes to/from start & end)
Volunteers to man feed stations/checkpoints

Catering:
We're considering self catering but will take packed lunches to relevant feed stations for participants
Water/squash available at feed stations

Health & safety:
Do we need something like st. Johns ambulance?

Insurance:
We advise all participants to arrange their own support

Mech support:
Could local firms be interested in providing mobile repairs for a fixed cost?
Rental bikes?




Apologies if it seems a little sporadic but I know many of the readers/users here are more in the know about this than me, so I really would appreciate any advice on the above & if there's anything i've missed out.

Thanks
Livpoksoc

 

[dellzeqq]

deep breath.........

do you have any relevant experience? If not, then you need somebody to show you the ropes. Get in touch with your local CTC branches and ask for help. Go out on organised rides and learn what you can. And you must get yourself organisers insurance.

If you are truly starting from zero, then.........don't. No list of dos and don'ts is going to get you in to shape.

 

[livpoksoc]

I have organised events for our company before like regular 5a side football tournaments & one off fitness classes, but nothing on this scale. I personally have taken part in Ldn2Par & Ldn nightrider plus one or two other little events, but never sat down & organised an event myself.

We have arranged a meeting with someone from Bristol council & have tried to make contact with CTC & British Cycling, neither of which have responded. Our Bristol office are next door to Sustrans so we are also hoping to speak to them, but I'm hoping the wider cycling community here can point out anything I've missed so far or need to consider.

Thanks

 

[dellzeqq]

well, as an indicator.......I'd probably been on a hundred CTC group rides and helped to organise a five day event before I started running group rides. And when I did it was under the umbrella of a CTC DA, with insurance cover in place.

Start with a written plan, move on to a risk assessment covering rider preparation, the route, all procedures that follow from those risks, and then seek insurance. The kind of consideration that goes in to writing stuff down is essential.

 

[livpoksoc]

Thanks. In the throws of doing a risk assessment & plotting the route. We've figured out much of the logistics in principle, just costing them now & putting that together to see what we can pay for & see what we have to pass on to participants.

 

[dellzeqq]

I think you're still missing the magic word. If you haven't got experience of group rides.....don't

 

[livpoksoc]

Ok, i see where you're coming from but how does one get experience without working for a tour operator or organising a ride in the first place? Forgive me for my ignorance, but I am doing the best I can to pool together a team of people with experience of attending or organising these sort of events to make it run smoothly. Thankfully we have got a triathlete & a cyclist who organise an annual ride between Bath & Belgium.

I was hoping some of the community here may be able to shed some light or point out anything blatantly obvious to be wary of.