TdR Survey – Please tell us what you think!

October 17, 2009 in Events by jvestal | 3 comments

Please take a moment for our short, 10 question survey.  Thanks so much!

Click Here to take survey

  1. Mark and Karen Myles’s avatar

    Mark and Karen Myles on October 17, 2009 at 12:43 pm

    Great event, well planned and organised. Two points to consider next time:

    1) For upcoming turns, place the markers well in advance, particularly on busy intersections to give riders a chance to move into the appropriate lane.

    2) Rest stops, space them evenly, on the 20 mile ride they were approx 3 miles from the start and 4 miles from the finish, with a 13 mile gap inbetween.

    A great day that both my wife and I thoroughly enjoyed. We’ll be back next year!

    Cheers!!!!

  2. Dave W.’s avatar

    Dave W. on October 18, 2009 at 8:14 pm

    I must agree with the Myles’ sentiments. While the turn markers may be adequate for more casual riders, for those of us that ride at a brisk or competitive pace, they were an annoyance at best, and a huge, distracting safety issue at worst. Think about it. I’m barreling down a major thoroughfare at 30+ mph. I need to be constantly scanning for a turn marker on the ground, which probably isn’t really visible until I’m 50-100 feet from it. It’s another second or two before I can tell whether it’s telling me to go left or right. Worse, the marker is positioned only 20-50 feet or so before the turn itself. So I see it’s a left turn. The bike lane I’m in is all the way on the right. At this point, I need to decide if I can (a) quickly make sure the car lanes are clear and move over to the left turn lane; (b) stop rather abruptly (safety hazard to any riders that maybe right behind me) so I can wait at the crosswalk while allowing cars to pass; or (c) blow the turn, going past the intersection with the intent of making a U-turn up ahead. While the route sheet was indeed useful, for a 40-mile course with this many turns I think it’s unrealistic (and unsafe) to expect that we would have the sheet out to refer to on a constant, ongoing basis. We need to be able to rely on highly visible (not on the ground!) turn markers, placed well in advance of the turn.

    Otherwise, I think this was a well-run event, and am looking forward to riding again next year!

  3. Patrick’s avatar

    Patrick on October 20, 2009 at 3:54 pm

    It would have been nice if the family rides started together at a set time. Even on a short 5 mile route, there were many times we were riding on our own with no others in sight. The experience would have been much better had it been a mass start. I assume this was done on purpose for safety reasons…however, at family ‘speeds’ and a route that was completely within residential areas, it would have been alot more fun seeing all the kids and families having a great time together. Its not everyday that kids can ride in a ‘peloton’.

    My 7 year old daughter who I was riding with kept asking me where everybody was? The part she enjoyed the most was looking for the yellow arrows and running it over! That made it an event for her. Nonetheless, we had a great time. Look forward to next year!