Gravel ride leadership development planning

Background

  • Gravel rides have had informal “leaders” since the club started doing gravel/cx rides, and they’re a crucial part of every ride–reliably choosing a route and navigating the group

  • The club has never actively recruited leaders nor provided any guidance on what’s required of a leader

  • This has mostly worked fine, but it has resulted in a fairly static roster of (awesome) people who lead the gravel rides, and it sometimes means a group will gather without a plan, which is then done on the spot, delaying the ride start

  • The club and its gravel offerings continue to grow, and demand is building for even more pace and ride options

Qualities of a gravel ride leader

  1. Have a reasonable understanding of the trail network and/or be good at navigating by GPS head unit, on the fly

  2. Have some experience doing Tripleshot gravel rides for at least a few months, ideally in more than one pace group

  3. Be interested in assuming a “light” leadership role within the club (see duties listed below)

  4. Be willing to contribute your knowledge and experience to enhance others’ enjoyment of the rides

  5. Be happy to ride at the pace of the group - even if this means sometimes slowing down from your usual pace

Ride leader duties 

Pre-ride

  • Post a comment on Spond the night before (or sooner), offering to lead a specific ride

  • Share a route link or general description in Spond the night before (or sooner) 

  • Check who has signed up on Spond; if it’s more than 8-10, ask for a second ride leader, and have the group split up before leaving 

  • Arrive at the start 2-3 minutes early so people know where to gather and that the leader is ready

  • Learn names of anyone new, welcome them, and introduce them around

  • Decide on and communicate which coffee shop you’ll hit after the ride

  • Wait up to 2 minutes for all to arrive; post a message on Spond if leaving before someone arrives, saying you are leaving

During the ride

  • Lead a route at the appropriate pace for approximately 90 minutes

  • Decide on (and vocalize) your plan for keeping the group together, such as:

    • do regular visual checks and headcounts yourself (difficult if it’s dark or group is larger than 6)

    • ask all riders to watch for the person behind them and to call out if there’s a gap big enough that someone could miss a turn

    • assign a “tail guide” to ride last who also knows the route and can keep riders together from behind

  • Ride at the front of the group, WITH the group - your role is to lead, not to demonstrate how fast you are 

Post-ride

  • Attend coffee, if possible

  • Ask for and graciously receive feedback, especially if you’re a newer leader - we can all learn from each other

  • If unsure of any etiquette or safety items that came up, connect with the board or a more experienced leader to seek guidance

  • Provide any feedback to the board so we can keep open communication among members, gravel leaders and club leadership

Why do we want more gravel leaders?

  • More people riding = more groups needing leaders 

  • We don’t want our currently active leaders to burn out, nor for riders to feel “lost” in cases where there are none of the usual leaders among them

  • We want to expand our gravel offerings - for example, to fill the acknowledged gap between A-paced rides and B-paced ones

  • With more leaders at the ready, we could better fill this and other gaps

  • And with a better understanding of what’s required of a leader, people can more easily decide whether they are ready to step into that role (and hopefully more will!)