Kanata Nepean Bicycle Club - Tour Etiquette

Tour Etiquette

• Participants in a ride are asked to arrive 10 – 15 minutes before the ride departure time, slightly earlier if you need time to take your bike off the car. It takes time to distribute the directions and sign in for the ride, which is necessary so the tour leader knows who is on the tour. The tour leader will also make some introductory remarks concerning the route and safety tips. Members will introduce themselves, and then you'll be on your way.
• Usually it will be acceptable to ride ahead of the group, but make sure that the tour leader knows you are doing so, that you know where the next regrouping point is and that you go to that point and wait for the rest of the group to catch up. We take good care of you, so the tour leader needs to be able to account for you. If you find our touring groups ride too short and slow for you, you can always offer to lead some longer, faster tours yourself.
• Drafting is a technique whereby cyclists ride close in behind others so that they will encounter less wind resistance. A line of cyclists using this technique is known as a pace line. We don't normally draft on our tours and some of our riders don't like to be drafted, but we don't prohibit drafting, either. Once in a while a couple of our more athletic and exuberant riders form a pace line and blast off. However, if you do want to ride closer than half a bicycle length away from riders in front of you for any reason, make sure you do so only with their knowledge and approval.
  The flip side of this is, of course, that even if cyclists behind you are not riding particularly close, you should not suddenly apply your brakes or apply them without alerting those behind you.
• Our tour leaders do a lot of work preparing for a tour. Often our leaders actually drive or ride the route a couple of days ahead of the tour to make sure there are no surprises. And all those route descriptions and maps didn't appear by magic. Add to this the fact that we are known, and want to be known, as a club with a big social component and you'll see why it's important to work together and support each other. If you plan to leave early from lunch, or to take another route, please let the tour leader know, or ask someone to tell them.
• If you feel that the tour route is too busy, too rough, too long or whatever, you may wish to take a different route from the rest of the riders. However, please don't do so without the knowledge of the tour leader. Also, be aware that during the time you are not on the route taken by everyone else, you are not on the club tour. This means that if you told the tour leader you were going to take such-and-such a route and meet everybody in Perth it's up to you to get there on time on your own. If you break down, nobody will ride in the reverse direction along such-and-such in hopes of finding you.