The annual HBC Spring Kickoff was held on May 10th. There was a big turnout, along with about 6 guests from Meetup (some joined the club, too!). Many members pitched in to make this a memorable time, starting with the folks who arrived at 8 am to clean the picnic tables and set up breakfast. Four rides of varying speeds and distances were led, from relaxed to “lower” moderate, “upper end of” moderate and brisk. As always, the potluck featured a nice variety of old and new favorites. We cannot give enough thanks to the organizer, Mary Buss, and all the behind-the-scenes volunteers who made this a success!
The annual Ride Leader Refresher was held a few weeks ago. For those of you who are not Ride Leaders, this meeting reviews the basics of leading rides, and included a group discussion about how to make the upcoming ride season a success. There are several new Ride Leader candidates, so let’s all support them this year as they complete the rest of the requirements for becoming Ride Leaders.
The Ride Leaders discussed the chronic concerns from some members about ride speeds. Everyone has a different opinion, but I believe it boils down to this statement found in the Ride Leader Manual:
“Lead the ride you advertised and keep track of the people doing the same.”
Let’s once again consider the moderate ride category (10-12 mph). Both are moderate but a group of riders will likely split into more than one group if some are averaging 10 mph versus others averaging 12 mph, leading to the perception of “slower” and “faster” groups. At the Spring Kickoff, it was interesting to see that the two moderate rides were advertised as “upper end of moderate” and “lower moderate”. While these designations are not currently club policy, it was quite helpful for the ride descriptions to be clear about the Ride Leaders’ intentions. As the season continues, I look forward to getting feedback on whether members find this helpful or not.
Respectfully,
Lisa Soldat
HBC Club President
