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Sportive / participation rides: how many marshals?

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  • March 12, 2014 at 10:47 am #20922
    KiwiMike

    As some of you may know I’m putting on a ride this May: http://www.primarypedal.org.uk – 20, 40 or 60 miles of Hampshire’s loveliest lanes and hills.

    I’m neck-deep in organisation, and during the time/motion planning got to thinking: how many marshals is ‘just right’? What is overkill? I don’t want to have people standing around in the fields for no good reason, but want to give a level of confidence/comfort that it’s not an Audax where you are on your own.

    So what’s ‘right’? Someone every 5 miles? Someone at each and every intersection?

    Thoughts much appreciated.

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  • March 12, 2014 at 2:50 pm #780091
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    Rushie

    First off, ride the route
    First off, ride the route yourself Mike. While you’re doing it have a think about what it would be like if you didn’t know the route. You’ll probably find that you would want someone to tell you when you’re approaching a point of potential danger – major junctions, blind bends etc. One tip if resources allow is to have a couple of riders from your club ride each route on the morning of the event well before the first rider starts. Make sure they have phones with them so they can report on any issues on the day. For instance – last Sunday I was pre-riding the route of our club sportive, went round a roundabout and ended up on the deck – the newly-laid surface had turned it into an ice rink. One call to HQ and I had another rider going out to the spot I was supposed to be marshalling, I’d re-allocated myself to marshalling the roundabout of doom, and the ambulance was sent out to sort my knee out while I made sure that riders really, really did slow down. Good luck sorting it all out.

    March 12, 2014 at 1:31 pm #780089
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    dave atkinson

    i’d prioritise the
    i’d prioritise the intersections where there’s a potential safety issue:

    – turning right off a main road
    – turning onto a main road
    – poor sight lines
    – feed stations

    and anywhere else there’s a possible issue. rank them according to the risk and assign marshals accordingly. junctions are more problematic near the start when the riders are more closely grouped. make sure you’ve got enough to cover the real problem sites and then you can send the others to lesser spots if you have more

    March 12, 2014 at 12:59 pm #780087
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    northstar

    O rly? tell that to the
    O rly? tell that to the stewards / marshalls who a white van driver drove at and very nearly ran over and killed / murdered them, saw it all with my own eyes…

    This was all in full view of many police who were over to him and surrounded the vehicle in a shot.

    No doubt nothing serious was done but hey ho.

    March 12, 2014 at 12:44 pm #780085
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    wellcoordinated

    From my point of view I think
    From my point of view I think you only need Marshals at the Start and Finish and then a points of potential danger (level crossings, steep twisting hills, busy road junctions, feed stations). Otherwise sign posting needs to be obvious and unambiguous.

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