Designing,
Organizing and Leading Bicycle Tours
This
two-day classroom course is primarily concerned with on-road bicycle
tours and is meant to build on the content of the Bicycle Touring
Skills course.
The course
is written from the perspective of the leader who is preparing a
tour on behalf of an organization or who has responsibility for
planning and conducting a tour for the participants. It is also
a useful program for members of common adventure tours (no official
leader) with friends and for those needing a starting point for
supervising youth on a bicycle tour.
Course Aims
Upon
completion of the course, participants should be able to:
- select
multi-day bicycle touring routes and itineraries suitable for
youth and adult riders;
- design
a suitable budget, promotional statement and participant registration
information kit;
- hold
an effective pre-trip meeting;
- assess
participants' cycling capabilities and tour readiness;
- describe
the leader's role both on and off the bike;
- describe
suitable on-road safety techniques based on participants' cycling
abilities;
- describe
a technique to facilitate group decision making;
- implement
effective navigational techniques to keep the group together on
the tour;
- describe
dangerous on-road cycling practices needing frequent attention
on a tour; and
- describe
the safest way to use support vehicles on a bicycle tour.
Course Scope
The course
is divided into three components: design, organization and leadership.
Design covers identifying target participants, selecting an appropriate
route, and generating an itinerary and budget. Organization covers
promoting the event, booking the necessary services, and conducting
a pre-trip meeting to register and orient the participants. Leadership
covers developing leadership qualifications, assessing participant
abilities and risk factors, and techniques for managing risk.
Course
content is advanced, designed for experienced cyclists. This is
a classroom course, with emphasis on knowledge and attitude attributes
of tour leadership. For this reason, cyclists should have demonstrated
their cycling ability by completing a Skills II course before leading
any tour.
Course Outline
The general
course outline is presented below. Time allotments and emphasis
will vary from course to course depending on the leader and the
participants. The outline presented below is for a two-day course.
Day 1:
- Introductions
and Ice-Breaker
Course Objectives
Designing Bicycle Tours
- Tour
Design exercise
- Bicycle
Tour Organization
- Tour
Organizing exercise
Day 2
- Leading
Bicycle Tours exercise
- Wrap
up
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