Chapters
End
Saturday Park Ride · For marshals
A self-service learning module for ride Marshals. Cover the safety briefing, the sending-off protocol, and the pre-ride checks before your next Saturday on the rota.
Time
About 7 minutes
Audience
Ride Marshals
Source
London Dynamo standards
These are our standards, not guidelines. Richmond Park is a Royal Park, shared with the public and ridden by London Dynamo every Saturday. The rules below are the standards the club holds itself to. We abide by them without exception, your role as marshal is to make sure every group does the same.
What you’ll cover
Chapter 01
Deliver this to every group before sending them off. You may read it verbatim or use your own words, so long as every point below is covered.
01
Group size
Never more than two abreast. 8 is the club’s ceiling, there is no flexibility on this number. We encourage the first few groups, especially Group 1, to reduce to 6 riders for safety in the park.
02
Leadership
Riders follow the leader’s instructions. No leader, no ride, appoint one before rolling out.
03
Communication
Use hand signals or audible calls. The whole group is responsible for passing warnings back down the line.
04
Shouts
It avoids the impression you’re shouting at a pedestrian, horse rider or tourist. Say it loudly and first: “Dynamo, slowing!”
05
Roundabouts
Adjust pace on the approach and be ready to give way. A spinning chain-gang does not belong inside a roundabout.
06
Roundabouts
The cyclist you’re passing may be turning right. Hold station, wait for the exit, then decide.
07
Gateways
Form a single file well before the pinch point. Two abreast through a gateway gets someone hurt.
08
Right of way
If you see them waiting to cross and it is safe to stop, stop. This is a shared park, not a race circuit. Take particular care near Robin Hood Roundabout. When passing horses, slow right down and resist the urge to shout “horses” so loudly you startle the horses themselves.
09
Responsibility
You may overtake when safe to do so. You must accept responsibility for your own safety. The rider ahead isn’t making your decisions.
10
Double white lines
As per traffic rules, riders must not cross double white lines, notably on the Dark Hill climb and the Broomfield Hill descent.
11
Overtaking
Stay out until the whole group plus draft zone has passed before heading back to the left. Cutting riders up or forcibly absorbing them into the group is not acceptable.
12
Re-forming
The leader re-forms the group afterwards. Traffic must never be used to effect a breakaway or drop riders, not even on the last lap.
13
Pace
The Park Ride is not about speed. It is about riding together safely, smoothly and efficiently. Adjust pace for deer, pedestrians, horse riders, other cyclists, cars and the weather.
14
Busy areas
These are the busiest spots in the park. Expect pedestrians stepping out without looking, children running, dogs off leads. Drop your pace and be ready to stop.
15
Deer
Deer are wild animals and unpredictable. If you see one at the side of the road and it looks like it wants to cross, be ready to stop. Pass the call back through the group.
16
See also
The Park Ride rules are a layer on top of how London Dynamo rides as a group. For pace lines, through-and-off, hand signals and gap management, read the Group Riding and Etiquette module.
Chapter 02
Call groups forward in descending order of pace. Your job is to form appropriately-sized groups and space them out on the road.
01
Fastest group first. Riders self-select, trust them to know their pace.
02
The lead group is always the smallest, 6 is the cap.
03
We recommend 6 across the board, it makes communication and overtaking traffic easier.
04
If 6 have formed and are ready, send them. Don’t hold them to gather 2 more.
05
Don’t force it, but if the group arrives as 7 or 8, they roll out together.
06
This is the hard ceiling in London Dynamo’s group-riding standards. Split the group first.
07
Gives each group clear road and keeps Dynamo from bunching up at junctions.
Chapter 03
Check these before you send anyone off. These are non-negotiable.
01
Unless the rider is new and waiting on their order to arrive.
02
No helmet, no ride. No exceptions.
03
No one is to be allowed to set off with tri-bars fitted, ask them to be removed or do not send the rider.
04
Riders should turn up with at least one spare inner tube and a pump (or CO2). Their bike should be in good working order. A puncture in the park is the rider’s own problem to fix, not the group’s.
05
In winter, gloves and layers. In wet, a gilet or jacket. Send-off is not the time to discover a rider in shorts on a December morning.
Chapter 04
Every group has a leader. Brief yours on these expectations before you send them off, or be ready to lead a group yourself.
01
Leadership
If you volunteer to lead a group, you direct it. Pace, lines, calls at junctions, decisions on the road, all on you.
02
Decisions
Decide when the group should overtake, when it should single out at a pinch point, and when it should hold position. The riders look to you for the call.
03
Catching up
Don’t let the groups merge. If your group is clearly stronger and there is plenty of space, overtake, but tell the other group’s leader first.
04
Being caught
Hold your pace. Don’t jump on their tail and don’t give chase. Two groups, two leaders, two rides.
05
Coaching
A quiet word at a stop is better than letting bad habits propagate through the group. If you see overlap, surging, or weak signalling, say something.
06
Group size
Eight is the club’s group-size ceiling, there is no flexibility. If someone outside the group joins you, or another Dynamo brings you to nine, politely explain the rule and ask them to drop off.
07
Complaints
If a member of the public complains to you, take it courteously, get the details, then pass it on. Don’t try to resolve it on the road.
Module summary
Every rider you send off should hear the safety briefing. Every group should be sized and spaced as agreed with the park. Every check should be done before the wheels roll.
Chapters recap
Chapter 01
Chapter 02
Chapter 03
Chapter 04
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