Ride Leader Courses

[robgul]

Has anyone been on one of the Ride Leader courses that CTC is running at various venues around the country?

I'd be interested in views and comments.

Rob

[gaz]

viewtopic.php?f=45&t=100071

[robgul]

http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=100071

Yep - I saw that but I'm more interested in the actual experience of the course from participants.

Rob

[PH]

I'm booked into the one in Derby on 14th Nov, will let you know.

[wirral_cyclist]

I did one, it seemed more for club committee level and just theory and practice of implications of riding(!) and got truly bogged down in legalese of liability insurance, and had no 'ride' content as a result of faffage and misdirection.
I do have a club mate who did the full paid for course and found it invaluable. You get what you (don't) pay for in my case...

[David Cox]

Rob I did the one on Sunday with Nigel Cole in Wolverhampton along with about 20 other people. I thought it was excellent and it has wetted my appetite for doing the more advanced course. I've been leading runs since the 1980s and led 11 Sunday rides over the last year at least as many mid-week rides. I served a long apprenticeship on the lanes of Worcestershire and Warwickshire with Oscar Hopkins and other experts. The course leader responded well to the varied needs of the participants. It is a "theory" course but I'd recommend it.

[Vitara]

I attended the course (workshop) recently. As someone starting out as a ride leader I would say it was very informative. There was a lot of content fitted into one day & I came away feeling that it had been a worthwhile attending.

[PH]

Did the one in Derby today. It's very much a workshop rather than a course. A segment is explained, ideas come from the floor and then smaller groups (4 or 5) discuss this before it's opened up to the whole group again for more discussion. You're not expected to agree on everything! Our instructor, Damian Bonsall, was knowledgeable, good at explaining points and able to keep things moving. The format is evolving, insurance has been moved to one of the first segments which probably avoids wirral_cyclist's experience and there's new literature to go with it. The ride at the end has been dropped from the plan, probably a good idea today with a gale blowing, the sessions ran till 5pm.
I enjoyed it, getting at least as much from the exchange of ideas with people from other clubs/groups as from the more formal parts. I consider myself an experienced ride leader, but there was enough in today to make me consider some things slightly differently when planning and leading my next ride. Like David Cox, I'd now like to do the full course.
I don't have much experience of this workshop type activity, I imagine that on a different day with a different group of people the experience might be different. I'd recommend it to anyone who leads rides, there's nothing to loose, it's free, you get lunch and there's a goody bag! If it doesn't change your ride leading in any way, I'd suggest it was still worthwhile. IMO this is a very good thing for CTC to be running.