Do you enjoy riding? Why do you ride? Has cycling been good to you? (I say good. The sport is often unkind, but that usually happens when we need it.) Would it be fair to say that you owe something to the sport?
Here’s one absolutely excellent way to pay the sport back, and to pay our planet and our society forward. Recruit more cyclists.
Now, if I may, I’d like to make some suggestions about how to go about that. I’ve found, through long experience, that there are several Do’s and Don’ts to the process.
Do:
- Be positive and cheerful. You catch a lot more flies with honey. New riders are hesitant. They fear (as everyone does) looking stupid. They fear being ridiculed. They fear failure. This is not the time to get into tales of your most wretched death march. Smile, and explain that everyone has those fears, and that, everyone “starts where they are.”
- Invite and offer. Offer to take your friend out for a ride. Invite them to an easy ride and go along with them.
- Ride with the newbie several times, alone. Your friend trusts you. Others may bring distractions. Your friend is looking for encouragement, and they are looking to you for guidance. Give them your complete attention for two or three rides. It will pay dividends.
- Stay with them! Be prepared to ride slow and easy. Sure, you may miss out on the big town limit sprint, but you can do that once and it won’t kill you. Take the time it takes to bring your friend along.
- Keep it short. It’s difficult to remember just how limited you were when you got into the sport. Even a fairly fit individual will be “feeling it,” after the first hour on the bike. You want to stop the experience while it is still fun.
- Pick a less threatening place to ride. You may be a fearless road warrior, but your new friend is scared to death of traffic, other riders, the side of the road, squirrels, dogs, horses, turtles, bugs, birds, and… You get the idea. Pick a place and time that is non-threatening. Among these are, empty church or school parking lots, deserted paved paths, quiet rural neighborhood streets. Stay out of the public eye, and away from challenges at first. And always remember, the new rider is scared of everything! That means climbing, descending, turning, or going straight, fast or slow. It’s all a challenge to the newbie. Keep it simple, safe, and gentle.
- Put them on an appropriate bike. Help them pick out a bike, or arrange a suitable “loaner” for that new rider to try it out on. Make sure the bike is right for the type of riding, and make sure it fits and works. Comfort is paramount, with ease of operation a close second. Putting your friend on a wreck that is too small or too big is a pretty good way to make sure you’ve seen the last of them.
- Be patient. Expect everything to take two to five times longer with the new rider. Be ready for it, and don’t rush things.
- Emphasize the good stuff. Explain how the sport has benefitted you, and explain that this took time. But definitely do talk up the things that make this a wonderful and positive activity.
- Bring them to the pros. When your friend is showing signs of “catching the bug,” take them to your trusted shop. It’s a good idea to tip the shop off first. Take them there. Go with them. Let a shop employee fit them on a decent bike, and help them with gear selections. Let the pros do the bike fitting. Shop folks have seen a lot more new riders than you have, and are more likely to have good answers to specific questions and objections.
Don’t:
- Brag. Yes, you are justifiably proud of your accomplishments. Talking about them is sure way to turn your prospect off. Yes, you’ve saved and scrimped to buy your “bike of all dreams,” and it is a marvel of science and technology. But experienced riders tend to scare the bejayzus out of prospects. One of the prime “deal breakers” for a newbie is the perception that cycling must cost a fortune. In fact entry level is very modest. And it’s called entry level for a reason. It’s where the new rider starts!
- Focus on you. An offhand remark about something that you think is insignificant, can sound like an insurmountable obstacle to a new rider. You mention, offhandedly, that you ride to work, ten miles away. To you, this is a short and relaxing ride. To an outsider, this sounds like a death march. Sure, it’s an ego-boo for you, but it puts prospects off.
- Drop them. I will never understand this one. Somebody brings a friend to a ride, and then hammers them into the ground, leaving them in the dust, alone and afraid. Do we really expect this person to return? What is accomplished with this?
- Push them. Remember, “Enough is enough.” Stop while it’s still fun. Don’t encourage a new rider to go too far, and hurt.
- Be critical. You may think it’s advice, but it can be hurtful. Statements like, “Keep your butt back on the saddle!” sound like personal attacks. New riders need to be treated gently and with a lot of tact. I’ve actually heard someone say to a newbie, “you know, you’ll have a lot more fun at this once you lose 30 pounds.” That may be true, but it’s hurtful. Keep it to yourself.
- Throw them to the wolves. Don’t take your newbie friend to the local “hammer party” too soon. There is a definite “fresh meat” mentality among some groups of riders. “Wow! We really dropped the snot out of that new guy!” Do you really want that said of a brand new prospective rider? Do you really expect them to get into it, after being punished for just daring to show up?
- Show that you are being patient. You are being patient, but a comment like, “You know, ordinarily we’d be 20 miles farther along by now,” can be really hard to take. Newbies are afraid of being the hold up. Do not let them feel that!
- Laugh or poke fun. It’s amazing how sensitive folks can be. Stuff that seems innocuous can be pretty off-putting. Keep your smiles at their puppy antics to yourself. Comments like, “Boy! You sure are having a hard time starting! I can’t remember seeing a more clumsy beginner!” should be swallowed. There may come a time (years later) when you can share them.
Bringing kids into the sport. It takes a lot of patience to bring your kids along. It’s worth it! The benefits and rewards you will both reap are astonishing. Ride with your kids. As slow and painful as it may be at times, do it! They are the future of our sport, and we are not bringing nearly enough young riders along.
The family: Family outings on bicycles can seem like mounting the D-Day Invasion. The logistics are tremendous. The interpersonal issues can be daunting. Start with smaller parts of the family whole, and gradually work up. I see big families riding together as teams. It’s a blast. They are having so much fun, and it beats the ever lovin’ snot out of the X-Box.
The significant other: Want to know the fastest way to keep your wife/husband/boyfriend/girlfriend from ever joining you again? Put them on a crappy bike, and beat them up. It’s that simple. I’m absolutely amazed at how many times a customer comes into the shop, looks around, and then announces, “I’m looking for a bike for my (fill in appropriate sig oth). It doesn’t have to be much. They’re new, and I don’t think they’re gonna be very good.” Talk about self-fulfilling prophecy!
If you want that important other person to get into the sport, and ride with you, then put them on the better bike! And be prepared to bring them along as slowly as it takes. Honest, it’s worth the effort!
The bottom line: We need more cyclists! We need to recruit everyone we can. We need to bring kids into the sport. We need to bring our friends, coworkers, and family in. Think about how you got into it. Wasn’t there someone encouraging and inviting you? Didn’t you receive help, and advice, and support at critical points along the way? Consider, if each and every one of us brought only two others to the bike in one year, the size of the sport would triple. The triathletes, for as much as I poke fun at them, are doing a terrific job of recruiting. Bless them! Now lets do our part.
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