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April News

09 Apr 2016 11:56 AM | Anonymous member (Administrator)

Two Important Questions.

Recently, the marketing committee sent out a survey to our club members.  Among the findings from that survey were comments suggesting that one of the things our members value most about HBC was "fun rides, good ride leaders, opportunity to socialize, safe rides,  friendly people, and non-biking social events."  At the same time there were finding that the single most important thing we can do to improve our club is to have more rides at more locations.  There were also some comments about wanting more rides of varied nature and speeds and locations.  

So I have been thinking about this, and my conclusion is that those finding pose two very important questions:
  1. As a club, what can we do to encourage our ride leaders to lead more rides, to lead different kinds of rides, and to step outside the box on the kinds of rides to lead.  
  2. As a club, what can we do to encourage more of our members to become ride leaders?  
Our current ride leaders do an excellent job.  Last year we had 30 ride leaders who led 5 or more rides.  11 ride leaders led 20 or more rides and 22 of our leaders led 10 or more rides.  Given this, I believe the main thing we can do to increase the number and variety of our rides is to encourage more of our members to become ride leaders. But frankly, I am not sure how to do that.  

So I am asking for your help.  If you are a rider, but not a ride leader, could you take a moment and think about what might encourage you to become a ride leader?  If there is something the club could do to help you gain the skills and confidence to lead a few rides in 2016, please talk to a board member or talk to me.  We would love to hear from you.

And, for you ride leaders out there, who have been leading the same ride for many years, is there something we could do that would encourage you to do something different, let us know.  


Ride Leader Training.

Speaking of ride leaders, there are two ride leader training sessions coming up, one on Saturday, April 30th at 09:30 in the morning and the other on May 5th at 6:30 PM.  Both sessions are at the Bloomington REI, 750 West American Blvd in Bloomington. All ride leaders must attend one of these sessions in order to lead rides during the 2016 ride year.  If you cannot attend one of these sessions, contact Leon Webster who will review the changes to the ride leader manual and rules with you.  You can find a copy of the current copy of the Ride Leader Manual on our website.  

If you aren't a ride leader, this is your chance to start the process to become a ride leader. There are many advantages to leading rides
  • You get to choose the starting location, the route, the food stops, in short, the whole kielbasa.  If you are unhappy because no one starts rides in your area, here's your chance to fix that.
  • You get to meet people who share at least one of your interests
  • You can share other interests with HBC members. In the past we have had rides that are geared around railroad history, historic house tours, music festivals, camping rides, moonlight ramble rides, etc. 
  • You can inspire people, motivate them and get them excited about bicycling.  Many ride leaders have tales of the novice who showed up, barely knowing how to shift gears, but was an enthusiastic member by the end of the season.  
  • Every now and then you can take club members down a rode they have never been on before.  You can go looking for neat rides, and share your discoveries with others.
  • Leading rides gets you on your bike.
  • You get to give something back to HBC.  As mentioned above, the thing that members value most about HBC is the rides.  By being a ride leader, you provide our most valuable commodity.



Ride Stats updated.

The Ride Stats on the website are now current through the end of March.  We are missing two rides that have not been reported.  I contacted the ride leader and hope to hear back in the very near future.  Just a reminder that you can find many interesting facts under the "RideStats" Menu at the top of the web page:
  • The "Top 20"  -- the top 20 riders by mileage and number of rides, broken down by male and female.  And the top 20 ride leaders in March.
  • Last Months Ride List -- A list of all the rides in the last month, organized by date.  Leaders, please check this to make sure all the rides you led are being reported.
  • Last Month's Dashboard -- a summary of how many rides we had, how many were cancelled, whether they were short, medium or long, which rides had the most riders, and who the mileage leaders were. 
  • YTD Dashboard -- similar to Last Month's dashboard, but shows information since the beginning of the ride year (November 1)
  • "MyStats"  -- a web page personalized for each member.  Includes a list of each ride that you have attended, the distance, the route and whether you were a leader or a rider.  Allows you to compare your progress to previous years.  This page is available for 2014 through the current ride month. 
  • the mileage dashboard and rider miles reports for 2014 and 2015.  You can see how the club as a whole did in the past two years, and see a list of each rider and how many miles they rode in 2014 and 2015


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