Over the last few weeks a group of people that I ride with as well as do advocacy work with has had this ongoing ebb and flow discussing the idea of what makes a good ride leader. It turns out, this is a really hard thing to nail down, because the definition of a good ride, and how to achieve that is largely dependent upon the goals of the person evaluating it.

Perspective is a strange thing, because when you evaluate anything, your own perspective ultimately colors your evaluation. For example to a driver approaching a ride group, they might evaluate the ability of the ride lead based entirely upon how that encounter works for the driver. To them, a good lead would have the group single file, as far right as possible, and actively working to get the driver around the group as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, evaluated by a rider in the same group who is entirely safety focused, they would view these actions as elevating rider risks and thus be a bad leader. To a rider whose goal is to go as fast as possible on the ride a lead concerned about keeping a group together might be a bad ride lead.

It is a complex discussion, but one that is important to people who are out there organizing rides, working with communities on bike related advocacy, as well as being engaged in the communities themselves. Despite that, these discussions have kind of led me back to a single concept that seems to work well in almost all of the contexts:

_ Pride in the Product _

Conceptually, this single idea anchors everything else in the ‘what makes a good ride lead’ discussion. How you go about that, well, that evolves based upon the goals of the group and is based entirely upon preexisting expectations. When a ride lead sets and expectation, manages the group to meet or exceed the expectation, and engages with the group to get them to those expectations, they are taking pride and ownership of the end result, or in terms of the concept, the product.

In Practice – Some Practical Examples

Case: A Group – Speed, Drop Ride, Pace Line

1. Set the Expectation: “This is a drop ride, and will have an average speed above 20 mph. Riders in the group will be expected to take their turns on the front, and we will utilize a rotating pace line”
2. Manage the Group: “Start the ride with a nominal neutral warm up” by controlling the pace and letting riders get organized into the pace lines, communicating when the pace will start coming up. Once the warmup is complete, elevate the pace, and start the rotation by moving into the rotation yourself.
3. Communicate: “Call out your intentions, when needed engage with riders in the group to encourage them to do their part”.
4. Engage: “Check with riders as you rotate to ensure that the group is hitting expectations, and adjust based upon that feedback”
5. Post Ride: “Follow up, check on riders that might have struggled or seem to need a bit of encouragement, even it that encouragement is to join a slower group for a few weeks to get stronger and rejoin”

Case: B Group – Pacing, No Drop

1. Set the Expectation: “This is a no-drop ride, and will have an average effort equal to a ?? mph ride. Please make sure to communicate if a rider is struggling. We will have regroup points. ”
2. Manage the Group: “Start the ride with a nominal neutral warm up” by controlling the pace and letting riders get organized into the group, communicating when the pace will start coming up. Once the warmup is complete, set the pace and identify riders in the group capable of pacesetting so that you can engage within the group.
3. Communicate: “Call out your intentions, when needed engage with riders in the group to encourage them to do their part”.
4. Engage: “Check with riders as you ride to ensure that the group is hitting expectations, and adjust based upon that feedback”
5. Post Ride: “Follow up, check on riders that might have struggled or seem to need a bit of encouragement, even it that encouragement is to join a slower group for a few weeks to get stronger and rejoin, or to move up to a more pace appropriate group”

While these two examples exist, the pattern remains. Set the Expectation, Communicate, Adjust, Engage and Follow Up. Or more simply “Take Pride in the Product”