Why not get your friends together for a cycling trip togther in 2015? Becoming a group leader however requires a commitment of time and energy, but the rewards are worthwhile. While there is the non-tangible rewards of improving your fitness, exploring a new destination and strengthening fitness, there are the potential financial benefits, like the opportunity to travel for free or at a discount, should you put yourself in the role of group leader.
If you are thinking about planning a group cycling trip (a spring training camp in Arizona or Spain, for example), these tips will get you off to a great start.
Step 1: Find a group
Clubs and affinity groups of all kinds get together to participate in activities around which a club may be organized. Often clubs enjoy traveling together to participate in their favorite activities. The first place to start is with any sort of club or organization in which you are a member. Working with a local group is where most group leaders will have success getting started. Getting your local group to get together for a trip involves initiative and long term planning.
Step 2: Research Trip Ideas
A good starting point for prospective group leaders is to research trips that are of interest to yourself and your group. For example, if you are a cyclist and you want to organize a group to Italy for a cycling tour of Tuscany; do you know of enough people that you ride with who ‘have the means’ to take such a trip?
Step 3: Manage Goals and Expectations
Before going to your club with an idea, it is important to know what your goals are in taking on a leadership position such as organizing a group for travel, possibly foreign travel. Is it simply to earn a free trip? This may cause problems in some clubs; the politics some clubs may defeat the best ideas. Find common areas of interest between a club and its membership, plus the WIIFM (whats in it for me) to show how your idea has merit for all.
Step 4: Be a Great Group Leader
The group leader must pass along deadlines, payment details, sometimes even collecting all the payments from participants directly and remitting one payment to the tour company. The group leader is during the tour as well. If there are any issues among the group participants, the group leader must take charge to get resolutions. The group leader may need to quash any ideas by group participants that would compromise and change the program that was agreed upon and booked. The bottom line, the more work a group leader is required to do, the better the argument for an earned free spot. Becoming a strong, well organized, and respected group leader among your club members and your preferred tour company will pay long term dividends for travel lovers.
Pure Adventures can help you plan your group cycling trip. Contact us for the free How To guide for planning group travel or to inquire about planning your own group cycling trip.