In every cycling club there is one person who says "we should all go somewhere next season", and then discovers they have become the organiser. This is for them.
Getting eight or more riders from different cities, with different fitness and different ideas of a good holiday, to the same start line abroad is mostly a problem of decisions, not logistics. Make the right ones early and the rest is straightforward.
Decide what kind of trip it is before deciding where
The fastest way to an unhappy group is to choose a destination first. Start instead with what the group actually wants from the week.
A hard training week, with long days and disciplined pace lines? A riding holiday, where the cycling is serious but so are the lunches? Something in between? The answers point to completely different places and itineraries. Agree on this first, in writing if necessary, and the destination conversation becomes much shorter.
Plan for the spread of abilities, not the average
Every club group has a spread. The real question is how wide it is, and whether the trip can absorb it.
A few things make mixed-ability groups work. Itineraries with optional longer routes on some days, so stronger riders can add distance without splitting the group for the whole week. A support vehicle that can carry a tired rider and their bike, so that a bad day costs a rider an hour rather than the week. And daily distances set for the riders you actually have, not for an idea of the group.
Be honest about the slowest committed rider. Grading a trip to the strongest rider in the club is how people end up miserable on Day 3. Our difficulty grades give the hardest single day on each tour, which is the number to test the group against.
Choose dates around the hardest constraint
For most Indian groups, that is one of two things: leave, and visas.
For tours in Asia, dates are mainly a question of when everyone can get away. For Europe, the Schengen visa sets the deadline. Each rider needs an appointment at a visa centre and around fifteen days of processing, and appointments are the bottleneck. Plan on the group committing about three months before departure. We have written a full timeline for Schengen visas.
Don't become the bank
The single best piece of advice for an organiser: do not collect everyone's money yourself if you can avoid it. When each rider books and pays the operator directly, nobody owes you money, nobody's cancellation becomes your problem, and the refund terms apply to each rider individually.
Before you commit, read the cancellation schedule with the group in mind. Somebody will drop out, as happens on almost every group trip, and everyone should know in advance what that costs.
Sort out rooms early
Most tours are priced on twin sharing, with a supplement for a single room. In a club group, the rooming list is where friendships are tested. Ask who wants to share and who will pay for a single before anyone books, not the week before departure.
Flights: meet there, not at the airport
Riders in a club group often live in different cities, and forcing everyone onto one flight usually costs more and suits nobody. Agree on an arrival window at the destination instead, and let each rider book from their own city. The fewer connections each rider has, the better their bike's chances of arriving with them. Our guide to flying with your bike from India covers the details.
Bikes: decide together
Some riders will want to fly their own bikes; others would rather rent. Either works, but agree on the terrain first. A route with rough concrete or dirt may call for wider tyres than half the group owns.
Book a private departure if you have the numbers
Once you have eight committed riders, you no longer need to fit around someone else's dates. Many operators will run a private departure for a group of that size. With us, eight riders or more (six for our Chiang Mai training camp) means we run the tour on your dates, with daily distance and climbing set to the group you are bringing, and the itinerary lengthened or shortened if you want. Clubs, corporate groups and friends riding together are all the same job to us.
You can tell us about your group and we will work back from the season. And before you settle on any operator, ours included, our ten questions to ask before you pay apply to a group as much as to one rider.
The organiser's checklist
1. Agree what kind of trip it is before choosing where.
2. Be honest about the spread of abilities.
3. Fix dates around leave and, for Europe, visa lead times.
4. Have each rider book and pay individually.
5. Read the cancellation schedule with the group.
6. Sort rooming before anyone pays.
7. Meet at the destination rather than on one flight.
8. Agree on bikes and tyres for the terrain.
Written by Barnowl Adventures.
