Pace Lines
by Kathy Hoke
The days are getting longer, and we all know what that means.
Evening rides, weekend tours, early and late deadlines for TOSRV and GOBA. They'll be here soon. To help you get ready, bicycling program leaders have been focusing their attention on training. Just before deadline, 17 people attended our first leadership training session at First Unitarian Universalist Church in Clintonville. Gordon Renkes, our expert in effective cycling, and Kim Sacksteder, COP's risk manager, gave excellent presentations on key issues for COP bicycling leaders. Two more sessions, including one on March 2 in Canal Winchester, will complete our early training for ride leaders.
For members wanting to learn how to cycle camp or handle roadside repair, members Joe Cofer and Jim Scowden are offering two great classes March 9 and 16. For more information, call Joe at 614-486-7295 or Jim at 614-848-8787. Later this spring, Gordon will offer his course on effective cycling, which includes handling varied traffic situations in Clintonville. More training sessions on various topics are being discussed. Please contact me to share your ideas.
Fueling our leadership training is a grant of nearly $4,000 from the risk management committee. Much of that sum will be used to buy jerseys for our ride and tour leaders who go through the training and go on to lead rides and tours this year. These jerseys will not be for sale. A committee headed by Tim Faigley is working on a COP design. Other ways to appreciate and reward our ride and tour leaders are being considered. Stay tuned.
Expect to see new ride classifications starting in April. Jon Schaer is leading an effort to reconsider how we define the various rides in an effort to be more specific and to prevent misunderstandings than undermine fun. The Dutch Kitchen ride also will be streamlined to make it friendlier to new riders. In addition, we are in the early stages of organizing family rides.
Keep sending us your ideas. We want to know what you're thinking, and especially, how you would like to help.