garethzbarker

In a few weeks I'm going on my first week tour. It started off being just me but now it's going to be like 6 or 7 people at least. A couple I don't even know. We are credit card touring down the west coast of Korea. I have never done a trip like this but I'm more worried about organizing a group of people that the ride. Any advice on what to do?

You think it's reasonable to order them around? The only kind of riding I'm used to is solo or with my Korean bike club (I'm from the states). When I went with a group of foreigners on an overnight a couple of weeks ago I noticed they were way less organized than my koreans friends and this caused some problems. I don't want to be a nazi but I want everyone to ride together, I'd rather not spend my time on the phone locating people that missed turns or got flats. I was thinking of making a little rule list but I feel kind of weird handing a conduct list to a bunch of adults on a cycling vacation. Any kind of group management advice in general is welcome.

I just realized the first paragraph sounds kind of negative but I'm actually really hyped about my trip and also having so many people to share it with. It's going to be a fun way to break in my Surly I got this year

Machka 

No, do not order them around, and do not require everyone to ride together. They are adults, not children. They should be able to take care of themselves.

If it were me, I would create a map and cue sheet with my suggested route, and hand that around at least a couple weeks before the tour. Since all these people have decided to join you, I presume you've done this, and they like the route, and that's why they want to ride it.

Also a couple weeks before the tour, I would send around an email informing everyone that they are on their own. They can start each day when they want to start, and finish when they want to finish. They can stop for lunch at the suggested lunch stop, or stop elsewhere as they please. If they want to ride with a particular person, they will have to make arrangements to ride with that person themselves. If they get a flat, they've got to fix it on their own, and their bicycles must be in good repair because they will be reponsible for any repairs along the way. If they miss a turn, it's up to them to figure out how to get back on track ... if they want to get back on track. You are not responsible for them.

Each morning of the tour, I'd have a short group meeting to tell everyone where you're planning to have lunch and end up at the end of the day (that information would be on the map and cue sheet, but I would mention it face to face). Ask them if they want to regroup at lunch, or if they are happy just doing their own thing.

Let everyone enjoy the tour in their own way.

garethzbarker

thanks Machka. I agree I don't want to be responsible for them. The only thing that bothers me is we are in Korea and probably half of them don't speak or read Korean. But if I explain to them that they are in charge of not getting lost maybe they will "choose" to ride with people that can read and speak a little. Yep, I made a fairly detailed map online with the towns we are going through and even all bus stops that go back home within 10 miles of our route. What you said makes sense and also takes a load off my mind, thanks.

Machka 

It is possible, if you tell everyone that they are responsible for themselves, etc., that 1 or 2 people might decide not to join you on this tour. But that's probably better than having someone come along with the expectation that you will hold their hand for the whole tour.

That's why I suggest telling everyone in advance so they clearly know what to expect, and can make decisions accordingly.

That's good to have the bus information on your map.

bilboburgler

Yep, give them all the same copy of map, hotel telephone numbers, mobile numbers etc. Then work out what you want to do and let them all know, those that want to come with you will and those that don't will not.

The whole democratic social indecission thing is a cultural thing. Some people will want to be with "the group" others will want to be free and some are just not sure. If you give them a few limits they will mainly behave. Just like kids really

fietsbob

Consensus = meeting and agreement.. maybe work out a 'leader' rota?

Lay out places along the days path, to re gather again,
and allow time so the slowest rider
is not the one with the shortest rest breaks.

simplygib

What Machka said. Exactly.

This is one reason I prefer solo touring - group dynamics are just way too complicated for me, especially when things get tough (terrain, weather, personality clashes, etc.) and people start getting irritable, especially those who haven't toured before and maybe had a romantic view of how it would go. And touring with strangers? No way, unless everyone is 100% self contained and prepared to split from the group if things go south. Touring with others can be a marvelous experience, or it can be hell on earth. If everyone is independent, then they remain in the group by choice, not by necessity, and things will probably go better.

Jude

No bike touring experience yet, but I did a 2 month backpacking trip in Israel starting with a group of 8 people I'd never met before. None of them had met each other before either except 2 who were already friends.

It ended better than you might expect - we split into the religious Jews and everybody else, and I finished alone, but only because the three from my half either got injured or had to leave early.

Still, the larger your group, the bigger the headache of trying to get everyone on the same page. If you're lucky enough to have one leader personality and everyone else fairly accommodating and without rigid preferences of their own, then it could work. But there's so many reasons you don't realize until you're on the trail why it's near-impossible to get a bunch of different people to tour/hike together who aren't on the same page to begin with: aside from all the religious regulations that stopped half our group from hiking for two days out of the week, we also had pushy, bullheaded people who did arbitrary things just to assert authority, language barriers, differing preferences about pace, carelessness about food and water supplies, and on and on.

Once it got down to me and two other people, we managed to get along because none of us was dead set on doing things a certain way, and that worked. But just be prepared for the fact that you're going to have problems like this, and like people have said, it's best if everyone is able to be independent so that some people's preferences aren't dragging everyone else into something they don't want. If you get yourself stuck together (such as, we had to stay together for the desert portion of the trail because only some people knew where the water caches were) you're in for trouble.

Chris L

Unless you know each of them personally, and know their riding strength, I'd let go of this need to have everyone ride together. I know from having spent five years organising day rides in this neck of the woods that it's just not going to happen, unless by some incredible coincidence you get a group of people with identical riding abilities. Basically one of two things will happen. Either the faster riders will disappear in a cloud of dust in the first few kilometres of each day's ride, or they'll hang back and get bored -- and you can multiply the effect of these things for every hill or headwind that you might encounter along the way. Either way, you're better off doing what others have said, and handing people directions at the start of each day, and arranging to meet up at a set location at the end of the day. Remember, these people are adults on vacation, they're unlikely to take kindly to having to take orders.

Personally, I decided to stick with solo touring for these reasons, and I've never regretted it. If I ever want to share a tour with people, I'll just show them the pictures when I get home.