EBC Glossary

last updated:  July 8,, 2019 

Elmhurst Bicycle Club (EBC)-Centric Terminology

 (listed in alphabetical order)

Ride Captain

• This is an elected position on the club board.
• The Ride Captain:
  • Constantly monitors the Ride & Event Calendar to make sure rides are listed legitimately, using the proper format, and in accordance to club rules;
  • Resolves disputes about eligible rides, whether home or away (tours, etc.) if it is intended that they fall under the auspices of the EBC;
  • Is the only*** person responsible and capable of listing the club's weekly Show & Go's on the Ride Calendar;
    
  • Strives to take up the responsibility of educating all members about participating in, leading, and scheduling club rides;
  • Has final approval on new Ride Leaders;
  • ***Has an Assistant Ride Captain to help shoulder the burden of all of the tasks listed above.

Ride Leader

• A Ride Leader:
  • Is the person responsible for:
    • leading a ride with the club;
    • route planning;
    • assuming responsible action in case of a ride mishap, whether it is a mechanical problem; sickness, bad weather, road construction adjustments;  adherence to published distance, pace and heading
  • Is usually the person who schedules the ride and then broadcasts info about the ride to the club, or broadcasts any changes to the ride;
  • Is always a club member, and must further formally be made a Ride Leader and have their name and contact information listed on the Ride Leader List.
  • Understands and adheres to all of the aspects of basic riding as defined here:  Rider Responsibilities
  • Understands and adheres to all of the responsibilities listed here:   Ride Leader Responsibilities
• Club members who wish to be Ride Leaders must come to understand all of the responsibilities listed above, and then may take the next step by contacting the Ride Captain.
  

Member Meetup (formerly "Show & Go")

• Our club has coined the term "Member Meetup" (MM) for rides that are listed regularly on the ride schedule and repeated at certain pre-defined dates and times at pre-defined Start Locations. This allows a ride to be on the calendar, already legally listed for mileage, that need not have an established Ride Leader, distance, speed, route, etc.
• The disadvantages of Member Meetup's:
  • No Ride Leader is established or responsible for this ride.
    • Since there is no Ride Leader, there is no route, distance, speed, or rest stops known for the ride.
    • There is no formal obligation to cancel the ride by anyone.
  • The ride can only be listed in the first place by the club's Ride Captain, or Assistant Ride Captain.
  • The scheduled MM cannot (and need not) be removed, except by the Ride Captain or Assistant...
• The advantages of Member Meetup's, and thus the reason for their existence:
  • Honed over the years, the EBC rule for the minimum lead time to create and publicize an official mileage-earning ride is 12 hours.  Therefore, you cannot throw together an ad-hoc, last minute, mileage-earning ride, unless you are meeting at a pre-set Member Meetup.
  • The distance, pace, destination, stop locations can all be set as the ride is underway.  Usually, however, someone broadcasts a message that they might want to do a particular ride at a given MM in the hopes that they will get some takers. (Just like scheduled rides, rides with less than 2 riders participating on a MM are also ineligible for EBC mileage logging.) Note, for example, if 2 strong riders showed up and wanted to ride all day, or do a century ride (100 miles) at a moment's notice, they can do so, and get the mileage logged with the EBC as per the rules of a normal, scheduled ride.
  • No one is slated to Ride Lead except for the folks that show. There is no associated blame for no-shows or changes by a Ride Leader.
  • The very short notice/no-notice requirements of the S&G allows folks to adapt to unpredictable weather conditions in a way that you cannot with the 12 hour minimum lead time required for a normal, scheduled bike ride. (When a normal, scheduled, non-MM ride is cancelled within the 12-hour cutoff, it cannot be recovered.)
• Typically, the MM's are listed at times and locations where there are also formally scheduled weekly rides in the first place.  But having a coincident MM at that same time and Start Location allows riders to split off from the scheduled ride and have a sub-group do an entirely different ride. Usually this happens when there is a last-minute consensus between willing riders to do something different from the published ride.  This may be because of folks showing up that are tired, slower, faster, stronger than those that will be on the scheduled ride at the same time.
• Member Meetup's offer real flexibility that the published rides on the calendar cannot offer.  The non-MM's must stay with their planned distance, speed, destination and end-time, etc.  The MM's have no such limitation.
• Here is the Member Meetup ride description as it stands in our Event Calendar:  "This is a placeholder for members to meet for a pre-arranged ride at this location and time. Members wishing to lead are encouraged to either post a ride at the same location and time or publish their intent to lead on the list server. Members or guests who show up without knowledge of a pre-arranged ride should not expect a ride to occur, but are welcome to join in any ride originating from this location. Pace and distance can vary greatly and should be advertised on the list server in advance by the member intending to lead."

Other Terms Generic to Road riding, MTB riding, Hiking, etc.