Big Ride Revival?

Comment

Comment by MadameBike on February 13, 2010 at 4:05pm

John,
I don't know how many riders June gets on the Silver City Treadlers rides but 1000- 1500 riders is definitely too many for one person to deal with.
As I was the Route Manager on the last BNSW ride, I can also add to Andrew's list that the involvement of the VRA (Volunteer Rescue Association) is essential. Not surprisingly, many people, including those in BNSW are not aware of the contributuion of the VRA but they do a fantastic job at setting up communications - for the Marshalls, RTA, St John and Police. They set up radio communicaitons relay points on the hills in remote areas along the way and they provide radios for the esential services people. Bike Vic do not have such communications assistance on their rides and that is the single most glaring deficiency in the GVBR system. When there is no mobile phone coverage on a Bike Vic ride, there is potential for disaster. That was never the case with a BNSW ride. Participants do not realise how safe they were because of the "invisible" participation of the VRA. The VRA volunteers set out before dawn each morning to set up their radio relay points and they have their caravan set up as a communications base where they follow the first and last riders on a whiteboard. They are the unsung heroes of the ride. They also are involved in the Gong Ride and all of the rides run by Huw Kingston ( Highland Fling, Mountains to Beach, Polaris Rides, etc, etc)

Comment by John H on January 27, 2010 at 9:17pm

Also as a former BNSW Board Member, I agree with all of Andrew's comments. One of the criticisms of the ride was it was full of "Oldies". BNSW membership was also quite óld'as well but I can't see too much wrong with 500 to 1,000 people with an average age of fifty riding bikes enmasse across NSW. The financial benefits alone to the communities involved is huge. There were stories of pubs running out of beer fulfilling Gordon Parson's prophesies of a pub with no beer & of schools raising as much money in a single day from a cake stall as they could expect to raise in a whole year from all of their fundraising activities.
I have ridden with the Silver City Bush Treadlers for the past three years on their annual jaunt around outback Australia. Usually only 30 or so people, but the amazing thing is the whole event is organised by one woman, the amazin June Files & a small band of dedicated volunteers. June does everything from route selection & review to organising catering,accommodation & entertainment. I appreciate it is not on the scale of a Big Ride, with the exception of distances ( 2008 was from Broken Hill to Darwin with three separate events in the one ride & over 60 riders) but the level of organistaion is similar. June's lead up is usually 18 months. The 2010 ride is well into planning now & the 2011 route will probably already be in June's head as I write.

A new Big Ride would be a mammoth task, but achievable.

Comment by Andrew on January 26, 2010 at 10:49am

Also I will state I also like having no kids (more free time at the pub)

Comment by Andrew on January 26, 2010 at 10:47am

As someone that was still on the BNSW board in the last days of the Big Ride, you really need at least 18mth planning. Also if you want large amounts of kids it does usually bring in its own issues. It was one of the reasons that BNSW always had the ride outside school holidays.
The other issue that was begining to become apparent (and not counting that last ride which BV organised for BNSW), for BNSW was people were becoming time poor. It seemed to be getting harder for people to take 10 days off work (the ride may be 8 days but a day getting there and a day getting home).
Also you need
St Johns on site and available
Police (and it is a user pays charge - RTA use to sponsor with that)
RTA traffic (once again user pays - part of the sponsorship with RTA again)
Councils - all need to have DA's for events lodged and council approval. Especially if they are in drought (means carting in water)
Insurance (no need to say anything else - we all know it is required)
Also be prepared I, wenty on two and both times someone died. The first a heart attack on day 4 or 5. The second the first day leaving Kosciuszko, came off the edge. This is also traumatic for staff and all involved, there is always a police debriefing etc.
And so much more, toilets, showers, food, security, haulage - the list goes on

Comment by Nicole Lloyd on January 24, 2010 at 8:43pm

The idea of having a seperate ride for families and school groups is a good one. Traditionally the BR is 500+ km's. That is a fair distance for them to ride, So maybe a shorter one for them would be better, say weekends or three to four days. I agree that we need to encourage cycling with the younger generation. I know that with the BR I wouldn't have enjoyed it half as much if I bought my kids along. Too much like hard work for 9 days, a couple of days would be ok.
With the date being in March..... 2003 ride was during an election.... you just need to pre poll before you go....easy.

Comment by Jules on January 24, 2010 at 12:09pm

This sounds good. I never got a chance to do a big ride, but knew about them (didn't have any cycle friends then, I have one now, gee I move fast). From an outsiders point of view, maybe (in an ideal world, with inlimited resources?!) it might be more appropriate to have a separate ride for school or family groups/populations for various reasons.

Comment by MadameBike on January 24, 2010 at 10:52am

I think the issue of kids on the ride is something the organising committee needs to sort out as a priority. I have ridden on many GVBRs with the school kids and have expereinced first hand the problems that that creates. On the other hand, as a cycling advocate, I have to say that getting the younger generation into cycling is establishing a network of future cyclists to keep cycling moving forward. It is true that the NSW rides traditionally do not encourage school groups to attend bt children are allowed, if accompanied by parents. There are pros and cons with both systems.

Comment by Neil Alexander on January 24, 2010 at 9:00am

March 2011 was the date I had in mind

Is the NSW election a possible problem at this time? Early April might be safer, esp. if you go to the north of the state.

Comment by John H on January 24, 2010 at 8:39am

There is certainly a market out there for a "Big Ride"& NSW has so many great options. The organisation of such an event needs a dedicated & permanent staff as it is almost beyond the capabilities of a group of volunteers. I believe the problems encountered by BNSW were that they employed people on contract to run the event & therefore had to re-establish relationships with all parties every year. Perhaps a partnership with a large charity organisation or even the Cycling Promotion Fund as it could be a great fund raiser. There must be a few retirees out there with event experience who could do some permanent part time work

Comment by Nicole Lloyd on January 23, 2010 at 9:03pm

Personally, I wouldn't do the VIC rides because of the amount of kids on it. The NSWBR was great because there weren't many on the ride. The ride as I saw it was mainly for adults to enjoy with out too many kids. I know that the adults with kids complained about the noise at night disturbing their sleep. The ride is not just a ride but a social occassion. Also having done the Gong ride and cycle sydney the kids have no clue of road rules and can cause accidents.

Let's keep the ride as it was, unique, not in holidays. March was a good time of the year, not too hot and not yet too cool.

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