Please feel free to contact the committee with details of any rides you would like to lead, or any new ride ideas.
This guide provides information to assist Ride Coordinators in preparing for, and conducting, Peninsula Pedallers rides.
Ride Coordinators play a critical role in the effective operation of the Club. Its continued success depends on your involvement.
While each participant remains responsible for their own safety and compliance with road laws, Ride Coordinators must be familiar with, and apply, the Club’s Ride and Risk Management policies when leading rides. The objective is to ensure all rides are conducted in a safe and enjoyable manner.
Ride Coordinators are authorised to cancel or amend a ride if conditions require it. This may include adverse weather, bushfire risk, traffic, or other concerns.
Before The Ride
Ride Calendar – Check that the published description (distance, terrain, route) is accurate.
First Aid Kit – make sure you have one.
Welcome & Briefing – Greet riders - especially new members and visitors - and cover (as much as possible):
Route and distance
Road/track conditions
Hills or challenging sections
Expected traffic conditions
Sections requiring single-file riding
Importance of keeping track of following riders
Ride Participation Sheet – Ensure that you can keep track of riders and have emergency contact numbers for all riders.
Tail-End-Charlie – Nominate a Tail-End-Charlie (ideally someone with ride leader experience).
During The Ride
Ride Coordinators must actively manage the group throughout the ride to ensure safety and smooth operation.
Set a pace appropriate for the abilities of participants.
Stop and regroup at suitable points along the route. Confirm with the Tail-End-Charlie that all riders are accounted for.
At intersections and turns, ensure that all riders have followed. To keep the ride flowing you can post helpers to point riders in the right direction.
If a rider is experiencing difficulty, ask an experienced member to provide assistance.
If necessary, ask an experienced member to ride back and check on any missing or delayed riders.
Encourage a safe and enjoyable ride for all participants.
After The Ride
Ride Coordinators must complete the following actions at the conclusion of each ride:
Confirm that all riders are present or otherwise accounted for.
Pass on the first aid kit if necessary.
Retain the Ride Participation Sheet for a minimum of one month to assist with incident reporting or follow-up. The sheet may be passed to the Risk Management Officer at any convenient time after the ride.
The Club provides first aid kits for Ride Coordinators who regularly lead rides. Coordinators requiring a kit should contact the Risk Management Officer, the Ride Calendar Manager, or the President. Contact details for these roles are listed under the Contacts menu.
Weather Underground - I find this weather site to be fairly reliable and is good for getting local predictions. This link is set for Karingal but you can quite easily change the location to match your ride point. You can set the temperature scale to °C using the setting cog usually found in the top right hand corner.
BOM Rain Radar - Good for showing you where the rain is on the morning of your ride.
Zoom Earth - Advanced weather predictions (or just look at it for fun).
Lightning Maps - Shows where lightning is occurring in the world. (Can be fun. Ads are annoying.)
Google Maps - Useful tool for planning routes.
Topographical Map of Melbourne - Useful for working out where the hills are. Check out the CyclOSM layer.
Mapometer.com - Another useful tool for planning routes.