Guidelines for the EBAC Road Cycling Club Group Rides
Revision 2 (dated 03/21/17) - Download PDF
Purpose:
The purpose of these club guidelines is to provide a charter for EBAC Road Cycling Club (EBCC) members to read, understand, and follow when participating in group rides organized by the EBCC. All guidelines, described herein, are to be followed by all members of the EBCC. If any guidelines are determined no longer to be appropriate, a revision may be proposed and agreed upon by members of the EBCC.
Description of Terms:
Club Commissioner: Appointed by the EBAC, this individual has primary responsibility of overseeing and organizing the group rides.
Ride Leader: May be other than the EBAC Cycling Club Commissioner and may change, week-to-week. Each club ride needs a designated Ride Leader and he/she is responsible for general ride organization as well as assuring that everyone on the ride has read and understands these by-laws.
Group Riders: Each group rider participates in each group ride under his or her own desires and is ultimately responsible for the safety and well-being for himself or herself as well as the effect of his or her riding on others participating in the ride.
Group Ride Guidelines:
The Club Commissioner, in collaboration with other riders of his or her choosing, will develop a Ride Schedule for the season, which typically runs from mid-March until the end of October. The Ride Schedule will show the starting location, which will typically alternate between EB / New London and EB / Groton facilities. For New London rides, the starting location will be at the parking lot at the ex-Day Care Center, 50 Pequot Ave. For Groton rides, the start location shall be from the parking lot outside of the Colonel Ledyard Building.
If weather cancels a Tuesday ride, the ride schedule may be adjusted otherwise as deemed appropriate by the Club Commissioner.
Unless specified otherwise, Group Riders need to be at the start location and ready by 4:15pm to permit the ride to start promptly at 4:30pm.
Regroup locations may be designated for a scheduled ride as defined by the ride leader. If deemed appropriate, the Group Riders may agree to divide the larger group into smaller groups based on the anticipated pace. A group must consist of at least two riders. All riders in individual groups have identical responsibilities as defined below.
Group Rider Responsibilities:
It is important for the continued safety of the EBCC rides that he or she acknowledges and agrees to the following responsibilities. All Group Riders shall:
- Bring his or her own bike that is in good working order.
- Show up to the group ride start location with sufficient time to prepare himself/herself plus get his or her bike in working order to support starting the ride on time.
- Wear a helmet for all group rides.
- Have proper identification on his or her person during the ride (i.e., Road ID or other acceptable identification).
- Bring sufficient food / fluids in support of completing the ride.
- Be aware of the route that is made available from either the EBAC Road Cycling Club website or that is otherwise furnished by the designated Ride Leader.
- Carry sufficient supplies to be capable of fixing at least one flat tire/tube. A cell phone is recommended to be carried by each Group Rider.
- Any rider with a flat shall be attended by at least one other rider until the Group Rider is ready to continue.
- The designated Ride Leader should be contacted if the issue cannot be resolved.
- Wear cycling clothing that is functional, preferably with bright colors for improved visibility and that does not contain pictures, figures or words that could be found objectionable by others.
- Utilize his or her bicycle in a safe manner. This includes, but is not limited to:
- Riding to the far right of the roadway as much as practical, except:
- When making a left turn.
- When passing another vehicle proceeding in the same direction (as appropriate).
- When passing pedestrians, parked vehicles, animals or other obstructions on the right side of the roadway.
- Use hand and audible signals to identify upcoming turns, stops, slow-downs, and lane changes.
- Use hand and audible signals for possible roadway obstructions such as road hazards / potholes, joggers, walkers, other cyclists, cars approaching from the rear as well as cars approaching from other areas (e.g., driveways, intersections, etc.).
- Only pass other cyclists on the left and after an audible that he or she is doing so (e.g., "on your left"). However, the leading cyclist, after checking that is safe to do so, may pull off to the left and signal one or more Group Riders to pass on the right.
- Obey the same traffic signs and laws which motorists must abide to. This includes stopping at stop signs and not taking a right turn at a red light if a sign does not permit that.
- Minimize the instances of riding two or more abreast. This should only be used for a short duration, such as to pass another Group Rider or when deemed acceptable on low traffic roads.
- Avoiding quick and/or unannounced stops or rapid reductions in cycling speed in reaction to things such as dropped water bottles or other bike parts, immediately realizing road hazards, etc.
- Ride his or her bicycle at a position relative to other Group Rider bicycles that provides a satisfactory amount of safety. Drafting should only be done by cyclists that are familiar with the techniques of drafting and familiar with the behavior and tendencies of nearby cyclists.
- Not ride on sidewalks unless necessary. If it is required, cyclists must yield to pedestrians and give audible signals before passing pedestrians.
- Not ride with wheels overlapping the rider in front of him or her.
- Not half-wheel when riding in a dual paceline (i.e., push the pace unnecessarily).
- Not use aero bars if in the close vicinity of other Group Riders.
- The Group Rider shall inform the Ride Leader (preferably before the ride begins) if he or she:
- Will vary from the designated route to add miles at some point.
- Will vary from the route to subtract miles and will return to the start location.
- Will vary from the route to ride his or her bicycle home or to another ending location.
- If he or she is familiar with the roads, has supplies to fix a flat plus a cell phone to use in case of an emergency, and wishes to ride at his or her own pace without the rest of the Group Riders necessarily waiting for him or her at any subsequent location.
- For the entire ride, each Group Rider that is next-to-last of the full group or of sub-groups is responsible to maintain some level of contact with the Group Rider that is last in the full group or sub-group (unless that Group Rider had previously and clearly specified that he or she is familiar with the roads and is fine on their own as described in the paragraph above).