Ride Leader Training

Anything relating to the clubs associated with Cycling UK
pedals2slowly
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Ride Leader Training

Post by pedals2slowly »

I'm looking at a 'Club Leader Course' manual and have been part of a couple of CUK Ride Leader courses over the last few years.
The cost of a one day course is about £120 per attendee, with 6 members at a time CUK charges around £720 per day.
My affiliated club has plenty of funds to pay for this but member group could not.
However from my experience of commercial courses this rate seems 50% too high for the type of course being provided.
In addition I find the course manual full of errors (Despite being a mature document several years old) and the course tutors lacking in knowledge of the finer aspects of course content.

Do any other forum members have any experience of these courses and can they offer any advice- for example is the British Cycling course any good (it is cheaper)
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chris_suffolk
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Re: Ride Leader Training

Post by chris_suffolk »

Why on earth would you need a course to 'teach' you how to lead a group ride?

I'm in a FB group, and rides are orgainsied by people on a regular basis. Nobody (to my knowledge) has done a course to show them how to do it, and we've never had a problem. People respect that it's been organised by a given person, and then respect the speed, route, stops etc that that person wants to do. If some (part way round) want to do their own thing, then that's fine, they just leave the group after letting people know.

All nice and amicable, even between people who have never met or riden together before, and never had an issue. On a personal level, I'd deliberately avoid any groups that tried to tell me 'how it must be done' by sending me on a course.
Mike Sales
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Re: Ride Leader Training

Post by Mike Sales »

The CTC has been going for rather more than a century. Has it been thought necessary to train leaders before the 21st. century?
I have read of buglers marshalling groups of old ordinary riders, so I guess the buglers had to learn to blow the calls.
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It's the rich what gets the pleasure
Isn't it a blooming shame?
pedals2slowly
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Re: Ride Leader Training

Post by pedals2slowly »

chris_suffolk wrote: 18 Jun 2021, 4:12pm Why on earth would you need a course to 'teach' you how to lead a group ride?

I'm in a FB group, and rides are orgainsied by people on a regular basis. Nobody (to my knowledge) has done a course to show them how to do it, and we've never had a problem. People respect that it's been organised by a given person, and then respect the speed, route, stops etc that that person wants to do. If some (part way round) want to do their own thing, then that's fine, they just leave the group after letting people know.

All nice and amicable, even between people who have never met or riden together before, and never had an issue. On a personal level, I'd deliberately avoid any groups that tried to tell me 'how it must be done' by sending me on a course.
Our club and I are exactly the same, we've had lead rides since the late 1800's and I've lead CTC rides for 40 years.
However we are open minded and found that there are lots of people who don't have the confidence to lead a ride and are encouraged to do so having done a course.
VERY experienced ride leaders have attended a course with an open mind and have learned how to improve their rides and enjoy them more knowing the riders enjoy them more as well. Contrary to popular belief you can teach and old dog new tricks.
mattsccm
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Re: Ride Leader Training

Post by mattsccm »

buttock covering.
PH
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Re: Ride Leader Training

Post by PH »

mattsccm wrote: 5 Sep 2021, 5:50pm buttock covering.
By who? No one is saying ride leaders have to have training, pedals2slowly has already given the reasons why some groups and ride leaders, old and new, find it beneficial.
pedals2slowly wrote: 18 Jun 2021, 4:33pm However we are open minded and found that there are lots of people who don't have the confidence to lead a ride and are encouraged to do so having done a course.
VERY experienced ride leaders have attended a course with an open mind and have learned how to improve their rides and enjoy them more knowing the riders enjoy them more as well. Contrary to popular belief you can teach and old dog new tricks.
I agree with the original post, it should be more accessible and better run.
mattsccm
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Re: Ride Leader Training

Post by mattsccm »

By who? People are worried that if they don't have paper work they won't have back up when something ends up in court.
Of course we do live in a society where bought instant "skills" are seen as more valid than, to me, those genuinely earned from experience.
pedals2slowly
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Re: Ride Leader Training

Post by pedals2slowly »

Come and lead a ride and I'll be happy to 'teach' you how to do it better.
In the good old days the wise elder statesmen would gently ( or not so gently) advise the less experienced on how to improve their cyclecraft including leading a ride.
These days there are plenty of competent people who haven't come up the club system from school age. They appreciate a more formal learning system.
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Si
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Re: Ride Leader Training

Post by Si »

All of the CTC /cuk ride leader courses that I've attended or taught part of would better be termed 'Ride Management' courses....which is what they used to be called.

Rather than being aimed at leading groups of moderately experienced MG riders they were aimed at teaching one to lead groups of new riders, riders lacking in confidence or fitness, children, groups of disperate abilities, etc etc....something that is not so commonly encountered by the average MG leader. Thus the leader is not just riding a route with a group of cyclists following, with the odd instruction shouted back, and the odd check on the back marker to see if they are still there; rather the leader(s) manage all group manoeuvres and junctions such that participants have the confidence to ride in situations that they may otherwise never attempt (e.g. on public highways for many).

Likewise, it's not just about ensuring a safe ride is had by all, but also that everyone enjoys it and is inspired to continue cycling.

In my local MG there are ride leaders who can lead MG rides better than I can. But give them a group of people who have recently learned to ride and ask them to lead the ride through the city centre at rush hour (like I used to), and they would soon run into problems simply because they don't have experience of the ride management techniques required.

And, to be fair, if I lead MG rides with experienced riders I do it in a traditional MG style rather than a Ride Management style.

It's horses for courses.

As for the cost...I think it's similar to BC. I did try to teach the course to local community groups for free but CUK wouldn't let me for reasons I never fully understood, and that they chose not to divulge when asked.

Course materials - I've not seen the latest, but in my day the course tutors tended to pick and choose which bits of the "manual" they taught based upon the group that they were teaching. And the manual certainly wasn't intended as a stand alone document, but rather an aid to the taught course. It wasn't as flash as the BC one by a long chalk.
mumbojumbo
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Re: Ride Leader Training

Post by mumbojumbo »

I have led tours in Uk.Europe and USA,including running the finances,booking flights accomm etc.I had no training but did apply some commonsense.All trips were executed safely,books balanced with many riders having second,even third holidays.Would be happy to earn £720 a day leading six novices.hat equates to £250,000 pa.
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TrevA
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Re: Ride Leader Training

Post by TrevA »

I’ve not done either the BC or CUK course but you may be able to get some Local Authority funding to cover part of the cost. Especially if you emphasise that the training will enable you to lead groups of new cyclists. I’ve done a BC coaching course aimed at getting children to ride and managed to get 50% funding from the local council.
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davche
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Re: Ride Leader Training

Post by davche »

BC costs were £100 per attendee back in 2018

WFIW - it was great for leading a group through an urban environment safely, but for our club ultimately not worth the investment in future sessions.
AndyK
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Re: Ride Leader Training

Post by AndyK »

An online course is being released on 9th Jan for member group ride leaders. It's said to take about two hours to complete. Initially all registered ride leaders are being invited to try it, then later it'll be made available to potential new ride leaders when authorised by the member group secretary. I'm not a big fan of online courses but if it means that all ride leaders get a consistent briefing on what's expected of them, that would be a good thing. No charge for using it, obviously. I'll report back when I've tried it!
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gaz
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Re: Ride Leader Training

Post by gaz »

AndyK wrote: 20 Dec 2022, 11:55am An online course is being released on 9th Jan for member group ride leaders.
https://www.cyclinguk.org/news/cycling- ... ber-groups
High on a cocktail of flossy teacakes and marmalade
AndyK
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Re: Ride Leader Training

Post by AndyK »

gaz wrote: 11 Jan 2023, 1:39pm
AndyK wrote: 20 Dec 2022, 11:55am An online course is being released on 9th Jan for member group ride leaders.
https://www.cyclinguk.org/news/cycling- ... ber-groups
Yup. I've received my invitation for it.
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