Taking the register

[mattheus]

Our club has just affiliated with CTC. So we need to "take the register" on every social ride to comply with the insurance.

Has anyone got any tips on streamlining this? I'm particularly interested in any process that will encourage the 'ordinary rider'
to help out i.e. so that the same poor sod doesn't have to do all the work, every single week. (and of course for when the poor sod neglects his ride leading duty and can't be buttocked to turn up 1 week).

I _might_ even consider possible "hi-tech" solutions (e.g. using biros instead of quill pens).

Thanks,
Matt

[Si]

We just have a small note-pad type book, it gets passed around at the cafe stop and everyone writes their name in it. this part of it doesn't really cause much work, just as long as the ride leaders have arranged beforehand to make sure that someone there has the book with them.

It takes a bit more work to collate the data in the book (although this is only done out of interest rather than as a requirement I believe) - all names go into an XL spread sheet and they get a cross ref to each date.

Nothing really hi-tech or too onerous.

But another part of it is to get the details of new riders at the start - someone is responsible for checking or newbies and making sure that they have signed the right paper work etc. It's normally not too bad but can be a bit of a chore if there is a really big turn out.

[mattheus]

Thanks SI. To be honest, I think this _will_ be quite onerous:

... just as long as the ride leaders have arranged beforehand to make sure that someone there has the book with them.

Never mind, we'll sort ourselves out. Might have to be some whip-cracking ...

[gaz]

We just have a small note-pad type book...Nothing really hi-tech....

I recommend NotPad for these types of applications . Although generic versions are just as effective.

[David Cox]

We pass a piece of paper around in the cafe, post names on message board and then keep a record. You get points - 1 for starting and 1 for reaching the cafe and 1 more for leading the run. This is a surprisingly effect incentive! Rider with most points gets a prize at the end of the year but we all enjoy seeing our names in the rank order and make sure we are not passed over.

[Keith]

On CTC Suffolk rides, the leader simply makes a note of who's at elevenses, lunch and tea and passes the info on to the rides secretary. Sometimes we manage to use a pre-printed list and tick off names but often it's just on a piece of paper. The Rides Sec keeps a list of everybdy who goes out on the rides, and they get a point for each of the stops. We have a trophy for the highest points on Sundays and on Thursdays... it's a bit of fun but it also enables us to keep track of the level of support on the rides. We plan our rides on a three-monthly list and it's useful to be able to see how much support we've had for things we've tried.

Keith.

[Simon L6]

I take a register at the beginning of the ride, and insist that people are there in time to get themselves signed in and to hear the safety talk that precedes every ride. I've a list of people who've registered for the ride (pre-registration is required) and I tick people off. If the ride is more than about eighty strong I divide the list in to two and hand the two halves to trusted club members, having already e-mailed all the registered riders to tell them which sheet they're on and who will be holding the sheet. The register has mobile telephone numbers on it, and notes re any impairment that the rider thinks I should be aware of. If a registered rider hasn't turned up and hasn't let me know that he or she is not coming, then I call them to make sure that they're ok. Likewise if a registered rider has been held up by a train or whatever he or she can text me to let me know that they are delayed. Occasionally a rider will realise that he or she is not going to make the start in time, and calls me. I'll sort something out - if the ride is at right angles or less to their line of approach we'll arrange a meeting point, and all they have to do is to get word to me when they join the ride. Occasionally we leave two or three members behind to relay the late-arriving rider to the back of the bunch - on one occasion a late arrival from 100 miles out of town had to be relayed about seventeen miles to catch up, but the alternative, leaving him in the centre of London with no easy way home, was unthinkable.

All the riders are offered an escort service (just don't....) from mainline stations to the start. This reduces the likelyhood of late arrivals, as well as adding to the club feel of the ride

All the registered riders have already signed up to 'the basics' http://fnrttc.blogspot.co.uk/p/basics_05.html

We meet under an arch, but on wet rides I turn up with a pencil rather than a biro or felt tip pen.

I've not thought out what I'll do for the tour http://fnrttc.blogspot.co.uk/p/hpcjog-fridays-tour.html but I expect I'll have a sheet for each day and tick people off - they'll be dotted around the stops, sometimes five miles apart, so we'll have a meeting point each morning. One thing we are doing which might come in handy - everybody will have pre-printed labels for their luggage so the support van knows where to drop it off.

Occasionally a long-standing member will turn up without registering - and that's fine, although they'll have effectively volunteered for Tail End Charlie duties. If a new person turns up without registering they're politely told to go home.

[thirdcrank]

SimonL6

That's truly impressive.

Having seen how people will neglect (even mock) that level of attention to detail when it's a part of their job, I take my hat off to you for devising it and making it work in the context of a series of popular bike rides. Hopefully, nothing will ever go wrong in terms of a rider coming to any sort of harm, but if it does, you will have the immeasurable benefit of having had foresight, when others would have been left to bleat that hindsight is an exact science.

I hope others have the qualities to keep it up if ever you are absent for a length of time.