WHAT DID THE SURVEY SAY!!
Many of you may know that in Mid-May I placed a survey on the Cycling4Fun website and also sent the survey form to several cyclists who have ridden with Cycling4Fun. There were 17 responses although some respondents did not answer every question. For example, 16 responded to the first question with a 50/50 split between riders who have done 20 or more rides and those who have done less.
A few items had a strong majority such as:
- Ride Information was adequate
- Leadership was Good
- Pace of rides was about right
- Cycling4Fun should focus on all levels of rider
- Most would like a coffee or food break in the ride
- Saturday is the best ride day
How often we should ride was split with about half suggesting twice a month and a quarter of the responses each suggesting 3 times a month or weekly. Most experienced riders selected 3 times a week or weekly, but preferences overall were disbursed across all experience groups. Weekly was the least favored overall.
Start time was interesting with about a 50/50 split between starting between 8:00am and 9:00am or between 9:00am and 10:00am. Some suggestions mentioned starting at 9:00am or 9:30am in the winter and an hour earlier in the summer months.
How difficult should rides be? About 25% responded “Easy” with nearly all those being beginning riders. Most of the rest favored “Moderate” or a mixed level program (Moderate = about 30 miles, up to 2,500 ft, 3 hrs. riding time). It’s been my practice to start the year with 4-5 easy rides and move the difficulty up over time. It was suggested to make this easy period longer. I can say that during the easy period the program attracts about 20 riders at each event but as soon as any significant effort is required (hills, length) attendance drops to about 5. It should be noted that about 40% of the respondents use Cycling4Fun as part of an overall training program. It would seem that concentrating too much on the easy rides could compromise those riders. Also, a part of Cycling4Fun’s mission is to serve as a training avenue for California Coast Classic participants and, again, concentrating on easy rides may compromise those riders as well.
Location of rides seems critical. Forty-five min to an hour is about the longest most want to drive to a ride with most favoring less than 45 min. Mid East-bay, South East-bay, and North/Central Peninsula were the most favored locations for rides although Upper East-bay and across the Bay (Sausalito, Tiburon) had their fans. Far North and far South got the fewest votes.
So I will make adjustments in light of these results. Also note that for several reasons I have not be able to ride as regularly as needed. Things are OK now but the overall ride schedule will be revised as we move forward. Please go to the Meetup at https://www.meetup.com/cycling4fun/ to see what rides are coming up.
