Cycling UK Forum

A new resource for Touring Cyclists - a new website is being launched today. Early days in the thinking process but the plan is to create an online community for like-minded cycle tourists - not another Facebook but a website full of resources for a wide variety of touring and technical matters.

Have a look at http://www.touringcyclistclub.org.uk - the new Touring Cyclist Club website and help shape the direction it takes and, if you want, offer your assistance to run it. On the site you will be able to add your thoughts on the site's direction through the discussion Forum and I'm interested form links.

Together we can build a new resource and, if people want it, even a new Touring Cyclist Club.

Rob

So what's the back story here?

Is there a likelihood or possibility of it becoming a CTC affiliated club?

To answer the two immediately preceding posts - the "back story" is obvious and well-aired here and on Facebook - and I assume the affiliation question was in jest? The vision is perhaps the antidote.

Rob

Can I be the first to be an ignoramus? I haven't heard/seen the FB issue so please excuse me. I understand there are objections towards ideas about the future of the CTC as a charity/club but these are largely beyond my comprehension.

My question is: What's wrong with this forum as a resource for Touring Cyclists? Thank you...b

Heltor Chasca wrote:Can I be the first to be an ignoramus? I haven't heard/seen the FB issue so please excuse me. I understand there are objections towards ideas about the future of the CTC as a charity/club but these are largely beyond my comprehension.

My question is: What's wrong with this forum as a resource for Touring Cyclists? Thank you...b

We're not just talking about a "Forum" - the focus is on resources (routes, stories, tips, suppliers ... etc in an indexed and usable form) and from immediate feedback in the last 3 or 4 hours the potential for lots more.

Rob

robgul wrote:

Heltor Chasca wrote:Can I be the first to be an ignoramus? I haven't heard/seen the FB issue so please excuse me. I understand there are objections towards ideas about the future of the CTC as a charity/club but these are largely beyond my comprehension.

My question is: What's wrong with this forum as a resource for Touring Cyclists? Thank you...b

We're not just talking about a "Forum" - the focus is on resources (routes, stories, tips, suppliers ... etc in an indexed and usable form) and from immediate feedback in the last 3 or 4 hours the potential for lots more.

Rob

Thanks Rob. So a similar set up to CGOAB? But hopefully with a modern appearance/structure?

(Caveat and apologies to a devout and skilled Webmaster for CGOAB if he ever comes across this: I understand the restrictions and I love your generous resource)

and I assume the affiliation question was in jest? The vision is perhaps the antidote.

No it wasnt.

I was wondering about something akin to the Fridays, so members can get their CTC affiliate membership at a cheaper price than full membership and have the third party insurance.
Also the club then may be able to have permission to resurrect the and use "The Winged Wheel".
It could save the historic tradition of "The Cycle Touring Club" and let the CTC (or CyclingUK) get on with all the other stuff that are they are now so keen on.

However, it was just a question from somebody who is rather isolated from all the politics and I am happy to see and support any vision and direction that is being offered. I am sure you have given it all much more thought than I have.

Potentially interesting. I'm not tempted to sign up yet, but will look back in a week or so to see if anything's happening there; being the only voice in a forum doesn't appeal! But I'd ask who you are trying to attract: touring cyclists, of course, but who do you think they might be? I ask because the lower picture on the home page, the 1950s style illustration, I find off-putting. I'd hope this resource is not intended to become a nostalgia fest!

Bmblbzzz wrote:Potentially interesting. I'm not tempted to sign up yet, but will look back in a week or so to see if anything's happening there; being the only voice in a forum doesn't appeal! But I'd ask who you are trying to attract: touring cyclists, of course, but who do you think they might be? I ask because the lower picture on the home page, the 1950s style illustration, I find off-putting. I'd hope this resource is not intended to become a nostalgia fest!

No not anostalgia-fest - but traditional values in the modern world ... Dennis and I both have Titanium tourers (although I have to own up to having a 1975 Galaxy as well !)

Rob

One comment on the forum implementation: allow it to take the full window. Having it embedded in the page ends-up reducing the size and you (or I) end-up with two vertical scroll bars, one on the full page and another on the forum "window". Nightmare and seriously limits it (and will not encourage people to join). I appreciate it is early days but I'd put this near the top of your priority list. (I appreciate that you have link through to get it full page using new tab/window, but not ideal and something some wont appreciate.

Ian

This is what I tried to do with http://www.biketouringtips.com . I started with the idea that bike tourists would enter useful information they knew or found out as they went on tours.

The site got its start when I pulled into a park that used to have a hiker/biker site that had closed the previous year. I wanted a place to put this (it was still in the guide books) where it wouldn't simply scroll off the front page and be lost. So, I created the above site with every entry indexed by topic and, if appropriate, by location. I also decided to make it a free site without advertising. It was up and running in 2007.

But, no one entered anything. So, after a few months, I started searching the web myself for interesting tidbits and entered them. I've probably entered 95% of the (more than 2400) entries. The other 5% point back to the website of the person who entered the information, which is Ok if it is something valuable to other bike tourists.

In the intervening 9 years, I've added my own journals, written articles, and created a way for bike tourists to organize their touring plans so they can be shared with others. Last year, over 50,000 entries were downloaded from the site.

Good luck with your endeavor. I hope you are successful and create a truly valuable site that helps people interested in bicycle touring get useful information and new ideas. But, be aware that creating a new site further fragments the location of information, making it harder to find.
I hope that you'll take the time to put an entry about it on my site. If not, I will, eventually.

Psamathe wrote:One comment on the forum implementation: allow it to take the full window. Having it embedded in the page ends-up reducing the size and you (or I) end-up with two vertical scroll bars, one on the full page and another on the forum "window". Nightmare and seriously limits it (and will not encourage people to join). I appreciate it is early days but I'd put this near the top of your priority list. (I appreciate that you have link through to get it full page using new tab/window, but not ideal and something some wont appreciate.

Ian

Thanks for the comments - the readability, scroll-bars etc are obviously of paramount importance - it's all about the amount of "real estate" available with the display, be that PC screen, tablet or phone.

We have been experimenting with different ways to integrate the Forum component into the main TCC website - the reasoning being that it MUST be part of the TCC and not a separate "semi-unrelated" Forum (does that sound familiar? )

To keep the technical part as simple as possible the whole site is almost totally based on an open-source Content Management System with add-in components - the Forum is one of those components and how it displays with the main site may change in the coming days - the option for full-screen that is there as an alternative will remain.

Watch the website for developments!

Rob

UPDATE : a couple of changes this morning based on feedback ... we aim to listen and respond!

The main "MENU" has been moved to run across the site, under the heading rather than in a column on the left - the Forum then displays at full screen width (that, of course, retains the Forum within the main site, q.v. my earlier comment) - and the option is still there to go to the Forum in full screen.

Rob

robgul wrote:...the Forum then displays at full screen width (that, of course, retains the Forum within the main site, q.v. my earlier comment) - and the option is still there to go to the Forum in full screen.

Rob

Improvement but you've still got the double vertical scroll bars which is "just horrible". Have confidence and set the forum to be full page (like the CTC do). If the site is interesting enough, people will return. It is the 1st time I've seen people use a "windowed" forum as the main use of the forum (with small text to "Full Screen" once you've arrived at the windowed one).

Needs to be a very slick site. As people often comment Crazy Guy on a Bike is a fantastic resource but were t to start-up today with it's current User Interface and design it would probably not get enough activity to work.

Ian