Re:
I haven't been active on the forum for quite some time. Cycling is popular; it keeps me busy running my business.
Anyway, being as I still have the National and North West Area Event Coordinator banners next to my name I should probably comment on this thread.
I actually stepped down from the AEC role a few months ago due to the aforementioned lack of free time to commit to the role.
As it happens John (the site owner and admin) is also very busy in his life too so it's understandable that my status hasn't been updated and my role hasn't been filled.
Looking back to 2010 when the Regional Area Groups were set up under the leadership of MrKawasaki (Neil), the idea was simply to get more people from the forum to meet up and experience the great things that come from riding old bikes together with like minded people.
Shortly after that came Regional and National Coordinators to organise and manage the rides. Then came the National Series (courtesy of Sinnett177 aka Mark), all of which were set up within the space of a year. The Retrobike rides flourished for the first two or three years with participant numbers over 60 on the 2011 Peak District ride, and well over 200 individuals riding at the various National rounds all around the country over that and the next couple of years.
It was great, there were stickers and everything!
But as time passed, commitment levels from the original group of volunteer ride organisers dwindled due to the inevitable pressures of real life. The novelty of official Retrobike rides began to wear off, and the logistics and expense of travelling around the country began to mount up, participant numbers began to slide. Even the stickers stopped.
As a good benchmark, last year's annual Peak District ride only had about 20 riders in total, and there wasn't enough will from all the regional area coordinators to pull together a viable National series. Instead we had a handful of 'Classic' rides and lots of low key local rides where groups were still active.
Things evolve, people move on and the nature of organising rides has shifted away from the forum and onto social media.
Some area groups remain very active due to the consistent hard work and enthusiasm from a few key individuals, others have floundered; some never even took off.
Looking back over my five years or so as the National Coordinator, I have mixed feelings about my role and my past experiences.
On one hand it has been great. I've met so many people on the rides who have changed from being faceless usernames into really good friends. I've had a fantastic time riding bikes all over the country and laughed so much with other people whilst doing so.
But it's also been like herding cats.
As a Retrobike purist I don't see the point of turning up to a Retrobike ride on a modern bike and I got sick of explaining the 'no helmet - no ride' policy.
More importantly I've often been quietly annoyed by a very small minority who have complained about and criticised the efforts of a group of volunteers based, it seems, on an enormous sense of self entitlement.
Fortunately the latter of these things has been relatively rare.
While it really isn't that difficult to organise a good ride, it's much more difficult to manage expectations, and can be really frustrating working with other people, especially when they whinge and bicker.
I would love to see a resurgence in the whole Retrobike ride scene, I can also understand why lots of people have gone off and done their own thing.
To answer the original question about area groups being to large; I'd agree. They are too big, especially if you live far away from where any rides are being organised.
But what is the solution?
Do we have ride organisers in every county, every city, every town?
In terms of Retrobike members the answer to that if definitively a no.
We currently seem to struggle to recruit and maintain reliable ride organisers/leaders as it is.
Putting pressure on the ones we have to organise more rides, especially in places they are not familiar with, isn't going to motivate them to remain.
More people just need to step up, use the forum, social media or whatever to organise rides if they want rides to happen.
If you are planning on planning a ride then remember to do some planning.
Do your homework, pre-ride the route if possible, consider the potential risks, find escape routes, build in contingency plans and give as much realistic and relevant info about what to expect as you can.
A good mid ride pub stop also helps/is essential.
If you are worried about liability then join the CTC or British Cycling to get some public liability insurance cover and/or get a guiding qualification and first aid training.
Or just put your feet up and wait for somebody else to do it for you. (But don't be surprised if nobody does)
