Bike Events Handy Reference Guide
Compiled by Tim Baldwin
Thanks to one and one all who offered great advice on putting together bike
events. Here's a handy reference guide with all the responses we received. - Tim Baldwin
Event Advice
Links to some successful rides:
http://www.transalt.org/calendar/century/index.html
http://www.labikecoalition.org/events/larr2003.html
http://www.waba.org/new/ride_with/bikedc2002.php
Major One Day Rides
Washington Area Bicycle Coalition
WABA was in a similar situation a few years ago, when our board wanted to
expand our presence and our influence. We had been doing a small scale city
tour (34 miles, cue sheets and directional arrows, rest stops) that was
drawing about 1200 people and they wanted to beef it up. We looked at big
city tours like Montreal's Tour d'ille and the Five Boroughs Ride in NY and
decided to start closing streets to traffic to get our numbers up. We first
closed a section of a parkway in 1999 and doubled our participation to
3,000. The next year we went to a completely closed course and had 6,000.
The year after 7,000 (10 days after 9-11). Last year 9,200. We offer a
discounted membership/registration packet that has doubled our membership in
that time frame and we manage to retain a lot of those new members. We
charge a straight registration fee, with discounts for members, students and
children.
Bear in mind that this is no easy task. BikeNY has a staff of 5 dedicated
3/4 of the year to the event. WABA has only two people on staff to do the
ride and all of the advocacy work that we do. We do contact out to handle
media, sponsorships and some event logistics, but it is a HUGE commitment
for the organization. It is taking a long time to figure out how to run the
event and to actually make money off of it. We don¹t expect a windfall, but
we want to be able to fund some other programs with the profits. So far we
have not lost money, but have not made as much as expected either. In DC we
have to pay for each police officer that closes our ride course. When you
need 150 cops for an average of 5 hours at $45/hr it really adds up, not to
mention the time it takes to negotiate permits (we begin a year in advance)
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and to recruit, train and assign 400 volunteers.
Eric
BikeDC Tour Director
Las Vegas Bicycle Club
Our fledgling coalition is planning its first-ever fund-raising Poker Run
event in May.
But my bike club conducted its an annual century without a private promoter
for the first time last year. We raised more than $30,000. We bought helmets
for Safe Kids, gave money to the local Ronald McDonald House and made money
for our club.
We teamed up with Ronald McDonald House because they agreed to do all the
bookkeeping. And teaming up with a more general charity opens the field of
potential sponsors. However, if you allow someone else to do bookkeeping,
insist on full, anytime access to the registrations and financial
spreadsheets, as we had.
We plan to raise $50,000 this year and attract 1,000 riders.
Our one-day century event has routes of 100, 62, 37 and 15 miles. We
partnered with the Regional Transportation Commission, which likes the link
to alternative transportation and therefore arranges for a Bikefest at the
start/end point that has booths from various bike-oriented and alternative
transportation and commuting interests.
We get sponsors to pay for all the up-front costs. Last year we put it on
with about $20,000 in such sponsorships. The club spent $200 on national
magazine advertising. You need to pick a date/location first and get info to
the national or statewide publication ASAP. Any advertising done less than
two months before the event needs to be very local.
We had one $5,000 sponsorship spot, which was the only sponsor listed on the
jersey and front of the T-shirt.
We obtained that sponsor in two days, with three other companies clamoring
to get it. This year we're raising the top spot to $7,500 and upping the
other categories as well.
Sponsors of lesser amounts are listed on signs at the start. You can also
get companies to sponsor rest stops or give in-kind donations such as
printing the brochures for free, donating lunches, etc.
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The Sierra Club donated the pre-ride breakfast for our 450 riders in
exchange for being allowed to set up a table at the Bikefest. They did
surveys on bike commuting and gave info on alternative transportation. This
year, they're going to display an electric car and electric bike.
You need a good core of rest stop volunteers -- plan on six for the lunch
stop and three or four for the others. You can offer the local bike club
some money
in exchange for some bodies.
Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts and Girls and Boys clubs also are good sources for
volunteers. But you'll still need a couple of adults to help them.
This year, we're getting kids at an elementary school to design our
T-shirt. We found one that has a really good bike safety education program,
so it'll be a bike safety message.
- Susan Snyder, Las Vegas
Transportation Alternatives
First and foremost, you should set very specific goals for your events. Are
they primarily fundraisers, membership pushes or advocacy outreach attempts?
Though it's certainly possible to craft an event that appeals to all three,
you should be clear about which is most important. For example, our Century
ride is primarily a fundraiser, then a member push and then an advocacy
event. This means that we downplay the advocacy aspect of the event and use
a more corporate sales tone to attract riders who might not necessarily be
interested in T.A.'s mission. This is different from Bike Week NYC, which
we treat as primarily an advocacy event, allocating the majority of our time
to reaching out to the City and targeted community groups rather than the
masses. I bring this up because, in your introduction to your specific
ideas, you lump them all together. Your resources will be better spent if
you create a hierarchy.
The second most important factor is the extent of your human resources,
particularly for your one big annual event. Though you can plan the staff
time needed to put on a variety of the one big annual event options, you
cannot predict your volunteer turnout. Getting volunteers on the scale
needed for a ride that spans a large area requires a huge amount of staff
time and still may not result in good turnout on ride day. I can't
emphasize this enough; it has been a consistent problem for us for many,
many years. We do a one-day ride of five distances around New York City.
This requires at least 300 volunteers, including 175 rolling marshals, who
are nearly impossible to find.
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Last year we spent about $80,000 and pulled in about $188,000 from
registration and sponsorship (very minimal) from 4,000 riders. This was a
large increase in revenue. Obviously, the marginal cost of putting on the
ride decreases as you add more riders. I think we started out with 400 or
so back in 1989. I think the increase in registration has come from both
better targeting our market and using the internet and e-mail. People who
choose our ride like the fact that they do not have to do any fundraising.
Keep in mind that, if you use the fundraising model like the disease rides,
your riders will expect a great deal more in terms of ride day amenities and
support. This may impede upon your advocacy goals. By doing a non-pledge
required ride, you can get away with being more 'grassroots. You should
also think about how much you want to get involved in sponsorship. WABA was
able to launch its large Bike Washington because they secured huge
sponsorship. Bike New York is huge for the same reason and because it
relies upon substantial involvement of the City. Our Century ride and CBF's
BLT are smaller because we don't get as much support from the City (CBF has
channeled its resources and the City's into the new Bike the Drive) and
don't invest as much in sponsorship.
So, in terms of the one day event, you should ask yourself what your goal
is, how many volunteers you'll need and can reasonably expect and how much
support from the City you can get.
As for the mobile event kit, we don't really do this, though it's a great
idea. I imagine that the biggest challenge will be making sure that
everything gets put back in working order (banners deteriorate quickly when
mishandled) so that you're not constantly scrambling to find duct tape or
replacement parts. You can find corporate event suppliers by looking
online. I don't know of any national suppliers of tents, banners and valet
bike parking hardware. I can tell you that we spend $450 on a banner. Also,
it's possible to buy a pop up display kit that folds up and rolls, has
Velcro, etc. That will probably cost about $1,000 at least and will not
work outside.
I hope that this helps. Please let me know if you have any further
questions. Feel free to give me a call at 212-629-8080.
Kit Hodge
League of Michigan Bicyclists
Bike Event Planning - Points to Ponder
Bike riding is a healthy activity and meshes with social justice, public
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health, environmental, land use planning, family promoting, community
building efforts. Organized bike rides generate millions of dollars every
year in Michigan for groups such as Habitat for Humanity, AYH, American Lung
Assoc., MS, school band boosters, small museums and historical societies.
First, start planning right this minute if you intend to have your ride this
summer. If it is next year you can relax and not start planning until
tomorrow. And no, I am not kidding!
These tips are just that, tips, and shouldn't be construed as either
all-encompassing or legal advice. Planning and running a successful bike
event takes planning, time, energy, dedication, common sense and dedicated
volunteers or staff. A really good sense of humor and the ability to laugh
at yourself helps too.
Providing that the event and organization are non-profit and the proceeds go
to a non-profit or public service organization we offer the following to
organizations presenting a bike event.
Benefits of LMB Membership for Organizations:
· Free listing in our Annual Poster Calendar (deadline for inclusion is
always Halloween, we email out the event forms in early September every
year). We print 50,000 copies.
· Free posting through the calendar on our website, which gets about 3,000
hits a month.
· Free listing in our quarterly magazine, Michigan Bicyclist with 3,500
copies each issue.
· Free listing on our list serve to members, MichBike - 15%+ of our 1,600+
members.
· Free distribution at events where the LMB has an info table - 15-20 events
every summer
· Free access to the mailing list of bike clubs in the state - about 45
clubs and bike groups in the state with a combined membership of 15,000+.
· Reduced rates on ads and ride application inserts in our magazine
The benefits we offer For Profit enterprises are slightly different, please
call for details at (517) 334-9100.
Naturally we would like you to join the LMB and help us promote bicycling
while promoting your organization and event. If your organization becomes
an LMB member for $30 a year you get all of the above and the knowledge that
you are supporting our efforts to make your riders safer!
The most important thing about the ride is that it be safe for the riders
and crew. Next, that it's fun, then that it make money or at least not lose
money and finally that it showcase your organization and program.
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Volunteers:
You need trained, eager and energetic volunteers to plan, set up, staff, and
clean up the event. You can partner with local public service
organizations, Ham operator clubs, fraternities & sororities, etc. to
augment your own volunteers. Cheerful, helpful, knowledgeable volunteers
can do registration, dish out food, answer questions, help sick or injured
riders, etc. Your volunteers and the food are the two most important things
after the actual route itself. They should be easy to spot, maybe with a
common T-shirt or hat.
Map and Route marking:
Print a good, easy to read map that can be folded and clipped to a bike
handlebar. It should have mileage increments, turnings, landmarks, etc.
You need carefully marked routes with paint that can be put on a week before
and last till the ride (verify that the routes are okay both the day before
AND early in the morning of the ride. Be prepared to remove nasty roadkill
that morning.
Offer routes in various increments, depending on when it is in the season.
Early season choices: 15 mile, 25 mile 50K, 75K, and 100K. Later season
choices: 25-35 mile, 50K, 75K, 100K, 50 mile or 100 mile. Have at least 1
each short, medium and long choice. Contact the local Road Commission to be
sure it isn't going to do any pea gravel drops or construction on your
chosen routes. Use spray chalk paint if they don't allow permanent
marking.
At really tricky or confusing intersections it helps to have a volunteer
directing traffic. Make very sure that someone who is an experienced cyclist
who both rides and volunteers for these kinds of rides advises you on your
route selection AND on how to mark it properly. You need to watch for and
mark sharp turns at the bottom of hills, confusing intersections, hazards on
the road surface such as piles of gravel and big holes. Mark them soon
enough so that riders have time to react safely. On this really, truly do
get someone who knows what they are doing! Drivers and cyclists have very
different needs and perspectives on what constitutes a hazard so just
driving the route to plan it and mark it is NOT enough!!
Signage and Facilities:
Post big, distinctive signs at the beginning/end of the ride to direct
riders to the important things like: Registration, food, toilets and showers
(showers are a nice option but not mandatory) You should have too many
rather than too few portajohns and at least one of them should be handicap
accessible since there are disabled cyclists and family members and friends
of the riders.
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Food:
This is key, if your food is bad your ride will dwindle! Word of mouth on
your food can help sell your ride for the following year. Have lots of
water, esp. a place where riders can fill their water bottles at the
beginning of the ride. Carbs, carbs and more carbs; pasta, cookies, peanut
butter, bagels, sub sandwiches, pizza, bananas and other fruit, carrots and
celery, sport drinks, lemonade, (ice tea at the end of ride only, where you
have lots of restroom facilities) pancakes, ice cream, (a big, biggie
favorite!) pie, pretty much anything that is carbs or sweet. Watermelon is
good and popular. Have fruit, water, cookies, bagels, juice or lemonade at
the rest stops.
A cyclist who weighs 150 lbs. burns about 600 calories an hour at 14 miles
an hour on the flat. A slice of NY cheesecake is 600 calories. We are
talking a LOT of food here, easily 4-5,000 calories in a day. Riders eat
like a teenage football player at the training table (not his or her
manners, just the food quantity!) If at all possible your volunteers should
dispense food, beverages and ice to the riders rather than taking a chance
that a rider with less than perfect hygiene could contaminate the supplies.
This is NO JOKE as two-thirds of the riders on a multiday ride in another
state came down with the trots from contaminated ice in a soda pop cooler.
Have a scoop and make the riders use it!
If you are providing meals, breakfast could be eggs, cereal, toast, bagels,
juice, and one or two other beverages, lunch could be something light,
Perhaps sandwiches, fruit and a beverage. Dinner should be most acceptable
with a high-carb meal; salad, relishes, pasta with sauce, meat if desired,
and some form of dessert and beverages.
Have at least one rest stop with toilet facilities and hand washing
facilities on all the routes. It is easiest to have one or two rest stops
that all the routes loop through to preclude fifty million vols to staff too
many rest stops. On the longer loops have at least two rest stops, on the
shorter routes like 25 mile, 30 mile one is okay if it's a really good one.
Century (100 mile) routes need rest stops every 25 miles. It's ok for
riders to loop through the same rest stop twice if that works on the routes.
Parking:
If it is not obvious where to park at the event have a cheery welcoming sign
too and it helps to have markers from the highway to your ride.
Emergency Planning:
Create a written emergency plan for seriously bad weather such as tornadoes,
fatalities or serious injuries and other problems and make sure your staff
and volunteers are familiar with the plan and know what to do and whom to
notify in an emergency.
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SAG service (support assistance group):
Very important that you have people patrolling all the routes in marked vans
or cars using their flashers with basic bike tools, bike pump, first aid
kits, water, emergency food for "bonking" riders, and a bike rack or space
to carry a disabled bike and rider. Don't let any volunteer distribute or
administer any first aid supplies whatsoever unless that person is a
certified EMT, paramedic, physician, nurse or certified and formally trained
Red Cross volunteer. Instruct them very carefully that they should only
offer the kit to the injured rider or responsible adult for minor riders and
let the rider select and apply the first aid supplies. The volunteers
should at least know how to change a flat tire and fix a broken chain. Use
Ham radio support and or cell phones. In the registration materials SAY
CLEARLY when the SAG service will stop.
Rest Stops
A good general rule of thumb is to have a rest stop with water and some form
of snacks at approximately 10-15 mile intervals, depending on the terrain
and weather. In the heat of July you might want to think about the lower
mileages, especially in the afternoon when it is more likely to be extremely
warm. If the weather is very warm, plan to provide the rest stops with lots
of ice and plenty of sport drink, preferably in powder form so the riders
can mix their own to taste.
With the numbers of riders you are expecting, you should plan on the rest
stops plus three or four vehicles to patrol the route in case of trouble. A
first aid kit at the rest stops and in vehicles might be helpful. You may
want to ask if the local area ambulance company (s) would be willing to
station a unit at one or two of the stops.
Police/Sheriff Support:
Tell the police early and often what you are doing and also invite their
bike officers to participate or show up at the event and "show off". If
your ride has to cross a really busy road get the police to direct traffic
so the riders can cross in bunches. Make sure the police know ALL the routes
and have route maps. Make sure the vols are familiar with all emergency
procedures. Give them a list of all area Sheriffs, State Police and
hospitals with addresses and phone numbers.
Hospitals:
Prepare them in case you have any downed riders from crashes, exposure, heat
stroke, heart attacks, seizures, etc. Rare but it does happen and you'd
best be prepared!
Registration both before hand and at event: Ride applications MUST have a
waiver of liability that the rider signs. Check with an insurance agent
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and/or lawyer on the correct language. All minors must have a parent or
legal guardian sign for them and you must require that a parent or legal
guardian accompany minors on the ride. DO NOT use the language from another
ride application without consulting an attorney of your own. Require helmets
on your ride and enforce their use to the best of your ability. Bluntly,
it's stupid not to require them and most rides do these days. Think of the
effect on your program and volunteers if someone was killed or disabled
permanently on your ride because they weren't wearing a helmet. They aren't
the total answer to bike safety but they are an important part. Have a late
registration cut off and charge an extra fee for those who register late.
If you have DOE (day of event) registration charge a small premium for that
too. All the MI rides do so riders are used to it. Many riders shy away
from pledge rides so you may want to just set a fee of 10-20$ with the late
fees and DOE fee on top of that and then get sponsorships to defray
expenses. For a one day ride the max regular registration fee seems to be
about $22 and that's pushing it a little unless you have something really
special to offer the riders.
Insurance: Do NOT even think about having an event without specific
insurance for the event, including weather cancellation insurance to at
least cover your costs. Find an insurance company that specializes in
athletic events or, even better, bike events, and follow their advice! Talk
to your organization's insurance agent about what coverage is appropriate
for the event. At the very least make sure anyone driving a vehicle on your
behalf has a driver's license, current registration and current car
insurance. Ask for photocopies of their licenses and check their validity.
Your coverage should be fairly comprehensive because any number of
calamities can befall your event and people in our culture sue early and
often! Remember, a motorist might hit one or more of your riders, you are
serving food to which someone might be allergic or that is spoiled, you have
vehicles on the course, at least some of your riders may crash into one
another, your volunteers could possibly give someone wrong instructions that
cause an injury, a well-meaning volunteer might administer first aid
incorrectly.
If your ride is a multi-day event, encourage your riders to have fun but
discourage them from partying too hearty rendering them unfit for riding and
or wobbly enough that they are a potential threat to others.
Brochure:
The brochure should be in a tri fold format to fit bike shops racks and
other places. Flat sheets of paper often get tossed as they take up too
much room. Your ride T-shirt should either be included in the fee or an
option for no more than 10-12 dollars. Make it colorful, have a cute, funny
or emotional hook in the graphics and have artwork by someone who is a good
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artist. Have the event name, date, graphic and sponsors on it and offer it
from adult med-XXL. If you mail your brochures to the MI bike clubs don't
send more than 10 copies; the extras get tossed quickly.
Ride packets:
They usually contain some combination: map, rider number and safety pins,
wristband (if you are doing a multi-day ride or serving an expensive meal),
sponsor blurbs and coupons, T-shirt, your orgs' blurb and anything else you
think is useful. OK to use small brown paper bags as packets. Ask the
riders to recycle the pins and rider numbers by dropping them in a box for
next year!
Publicity:
Flyers, signs in bike shops, libraries, stores, health clubs, Public Service
Announcements (PSA's), sponsorship by a local radio/newspaper/TV station,
in-house promos at the car plants, etc. Invite a bigwig of some sort to do
the ride or get a reporter to ride it and write about it or broadcast it.
Shelters and tables:
Have some place for riders to get out of the sun at the stops, either trees
or a pop up open sided tent. Keep the food out of the sun too so it won't
spoil. At the end of the ride have some tables for the riders. We are all
very used to high school cafeterias so that could work for you too. High
schools are a good source of cheap labor and have pretty much everything you
need on site. If you pay the band boosters or chess club, etc that involves
the community too and promotes the event even more. It also makes it more
likely that you can rent the school.
BTW, July is typically filled to the brim with established rides so you
might want to look at either June, August or mid September for your ride.
July is ok too but you will be competing with LOTS of other established
rides.
Good Luck, Have Fun and Don't Panic!
Lucinda J. Means
Tours
League of Illinois Bicyclists
My only comment on the events is that we are starting a week-long ride this
year (around the Grand Illinois Trail, I mentioned it in the Bikes Belong
application) in partnership with our IDNR. We have budgeted roughly $18K
with an income of $33K - this is for 140 riders ($265 per), volunteer
organizers (board members), and manpower help from the DNR. We'll see how
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it goes, and hope that we can grow it next year.
- Ed
Ed Barsotti, Executive Director
Other Ideas
How about a swap meet? People are still asking for return of VeloSwap, the
biggest problem was lack of a local implementer, y'all sure have that! There
are plenty of models for non-profits making money with a swap, starting with
Marilyn Price at Trips for Kids.
- Ray Keener
Event Infrastructure
Las Vegas Bicycle Club
Our bike club, and now the coalition, has a complement of tables and chairs,
tri-fold boards for photos, etc. that we've had for eons. The coalition's
printed display banner cost $80. You can get them cheaper, but we use a
local guy who is a cyclist. Sometimes the extra cash is worth it to
establish some good local business ties. We haven't branched out far enough
to be making up the kits for various chapters. I would be interested in
seeing what you come up with.
Hope some of this helps.
Susan
Friends of Pathways
FoP used http://www.worldcupsupply.com/summer/eventtents.html to order an
events tent. Cost was around $1,200 but we have really used it to get our
name out there. Might be tough to fit in a bike trailer though. Picture of
our tent can be viewed at http://www.jhpathways.com
David Vanderburg
Indiana Bicycle Coalition
I usually use table top displays with lots of handouts. Most events in
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Indiana have registration tables with extra space for other materials.
Large events sometimes have tables you can rent/reserve in advance. I
generally use foam-core tri-fold displays ($10 at any office supply store)
with printed materials in page-protectors (for 2 reasons - protects from
weather and is easily updated). I have some standup displays for brochures
and also take lots of our printed materials (newsletters, event brochures,
Indiana Bicycle Event Calendars, bumper stickers, IN bicycle laws, coloring
books, etc) for distribution. I sometime have people man the table, but
only during peak times, not when most are out riding.
I only make an effort to do event displays at large events (2000+
participants). I have found that event displays have a very low return. It
is easier to send your materials (membership brochures, newsletters, etc) to
the event promoter and either have them put them on the registration table
or put in each registration packet. I prefer the registration table requires less materials to ship and greater rate of return on something that
someone took the time to pick up and take. I've had very low return on
stuff in registration packets.
Connie Szabo Schmucker
Vermont Bike/Ped Coalition
For event tabling, my committee identified three levels for our booth:
1) full set up with canopy, table, chairs, and all lit. Most likely hauled
by car, although the dedicated could probably haul it on a Fresh Aire
trailer (the ones from Iowa - www.bikesatwork.com).
2) partial set-up - smaller table, literature. Likely hauled via bicycle
trailer.
3) Mini set up - for rides without registrations, etc. A flag or giant
"table tent" that could be set up on top of a car or on a bike trailer in
the parking lot before the ride. Then the person who is handing out info
folds it up and goes for the ride.
OR, a sign that fits inside the triangle of a bicycle - combined with a
plastic box of literature to be carried on the back rack. Hand out info
WHILE you ride (or at least at the rest stops).
For all my board members, I bought them "pencil case" type plastic boxes,
stocked them with our membership brochures & other lit. These can be used
to either carry around in the car, or strapped on the back rack of a bicycle
for a portable outreach vehicle!
About canopies - I purchased one at Ames for about $90 on sale last year.
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BCM's custom tent cost a pretty penny, but it is really nice.
For tables, there is an excellent type of fiberboard-like table that folds
in half down the middle and is quite light. BCM has one (they don¹t' know
where they got it) and we have one that I bought second hand ($5). Rumor
has it that Walmart may have them, but I won't shop there so I don't know.
BCM also has a nice display consisting of 3 hinged-together large size
picture frames (maybe 11x14 or larger), that can fold and go in a bicycle
trailer. One factor for everything is wind.
Would love to know what you learn about banners and Valet Bicycle Parking.
Local Motion (Burlington area) is moving ahead on Valet Bicycle Parking in
Burlington (to the best of my knowledge, there is no mass-market rack set
up); we may eventually seek to borrow their set up for a statewide fair or
two. This is not a priority for us, however. Local Motion will do the
Burlington events, and we will keep our eye out for non-Burlington
possibilities in the long run. Maine's Common Ground Fair (organic farmers)
is a great statewide venue that reaches the right audience, not the hot-tub
crowd that goes to the Big E or a regular fair (Topsham Fair?). I'll be
curious to know if you come up with venues in the rural part of Mass.
Becka
<------------------->
The Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition (MassBike) is dedicated to making
Massachusetts a better place to bicycle!
Check out www.massbike.org, where you can learn more about MassBike and join
or renew your membership.
617-542-2453 (ph)
617-542-6755 (fax)
59 Temple Place, Suite 669, Boston, MA 02111
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