Regarding liability: at the AMS Bike Co-op/Bike Kitchen at UBC we are very fortunate to be part of a much larger organization (The Alma Mater Society, i.e. the Student Union). We're constituted as two rather special student clubs and benefit from all the same legal protection as like the Quiddich Club or the Pottery Club. We're also in Canada where the liability-paralysis problem isn't so bad (yet).
I used to organize very small (1-10 people) group rides. In principle these were advertised to the whole list of volunteers and general membership, and some of them did show up, but it was mostly senior volunteers/board members/staff who showed up. At the time there were several people who were staff who had previously been volunteer directors so I didn't notice a "wrenches don't ride" trend, thought it might have been present.
These were all-day tours, not spirited roadie rides but also not just casual rambles. The shop door wasn't a great spot for starting those - what with being at the end of a peninsula and at the top of a hill. I generally started them near a convenient public transit hub for the given ride. At my peak I think I had 1 or 2 of these going each month.
Other members of the Co-op organized other rides, including overnight camping trips, beach crawls, I remember a bubble tea/bakery crawl that left me stuffed.
My advice: organize the rides separately from the official programs of your organization. Make it clear that it's technically just individuals deciding to meet at a specific place with the intent to ride to another place. Set up a separate email list for people who are interested. That list can be promoted by your organization like any other community event.
Jean-François
On 2021-03-15 4:30 p.m., Jeff Potter wrote:
Hi… Do many of us have a shop ride? I’m not sure any of them are official but it seems like bike shops and group rides go together. At the same time… There’s probably often an L-Word liability concern. I have to say this cranks me to no end. Liability relates to willful negligence. Not from people just doing what people do. And it’s a stretch to say that any adult can acquire responsibility for any other adult in almost any way.
(As an aside: What about Directors insurance — how many of us have that? Since the rise of the prominent role of insurance in our world I’ve seen maybe half of the cool community projects hurt by this all-pervasive web of policies and steady diversion of funds. Grrr... Has a Co-op ever had its directors sued? How about a volunteer shop?)
Anyway, is there a group ride that leaves from your parking lot? If not, why not? Is it because of the L-Word?
We’ve had a ride almost since our shop started. There’s been a (so delightful) semi-adversarial relationship the whole time b/w the shop-wrenches and those who gather for the ride. The ride has gotten big at times. But there’s a surprising (to me) effort to keep distance between the two things. So that… guess what? The hundred or so ppl who do the rides annually are never pitched or approached to further engage in the shop. I suppose it’s a no-brainer and doesn’t need any outreach. The shop has needs. The riders haven’t been asked to pitch in. Until last year. To help offset Covid the riders were explicitly told See this shop next to you? It needs help. Can you pitch in, in appreciation for gathering here? It worked. It even gathered a couple new loyal volunteers. But the outreach ended there.
I’ve known a buncha shops over the years: it seems a common thing that wrenches don’t ride. So there’s that. Some do, some don’t. But I’d say that usually at least one shop person is gungho for riding.
Our shop used to host a monthly full-moon ride. As helpers have dwindled, it faded. Strangely the shop ride had mostly different riders from the weekly parking lot ride.
Oh well: Ride dynamics are interesting to me.
Jeff Potter Lansing, MI ____________________________________
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