CAT Series

CAT Series training rides

The CAT Series was designed to take the guess work out of training and to keep the amazing sense of community that is established on AIDS/LifeCycle alive through the long months of training. Each week, starting in January 2008, we’ll meet at Sports Basement in the Presidio and head north over Golden Gate Bridge to explore Marin. The rides start short but get steadily longer and more challenging so that by DAY OF THE RIDE you’ll be ready to tackle that century.

Ride Leaders - Our Training Rides are led by highly experienced and trained volunteers. There are typically 10-12 Ride Leaders on any CAT Series ride. To learn more about these amazing leaders who devote many hours ensuring you are trained for the big event in June please visit their homepages at leaders.aidslifecycle.org

RSVP - We appreciate your RSVP. It allows us to know how many route cue sheets and waiver forms to bring and also helps them determine if they need more leaders based on number of riders. As a courtesy please RSVP for rides using the form provided by 5pm on the Friday preceeding the ride (we print the the routesheets on high volume printers at work).

Waivers - All cyclists are required to sign a safety waiver prior to the safety speech. No waivers will be signed once the Safety Speech Begins. Cyclists under 18 must be accompanied by their parent/guardian who will need to sign a waiver. (Parent/guardian need not ride, just sign the waiver).

Safety Rules - At the beginning of each training ride you will be required to hear a Safety Speech. Your safety as well as the safety of those you are riding with depends on you adhering to all the rules. Riding in AIDS/LifeCycle is much different than riding by on your own or with other groups. The rules you are learning will become second nature by June and once you are riding with hundreds of cyclists the reason behind these rules will become abundantly clear. Please familiarize yourself with the Safety rules before attending a training ride.

Route Maps - You will be given a route map of the day’s ride along with a verbal description of the route, re-gathering points and leaders’ cell phone numbers. It is important that you keep the route map with you during the ride just in case you get separated from the group.

Sweeps - All the CAT Series training rides are Category 2. This means that the average speed is approximately 10-12 mph. However, regardless of your ability no one is ever left behind. On CAT Rides we always have at least two of the leaders ride with the last riders in the group at all times. If for some reason you decide to leave the route, i.e. to stop at a store or use a bathroom you could conceivably find yourself riding behind the sweep when you rejoin the route. If at any time you loose sight of other riders and feel you are not on the correct route, find a phone and call one of the leaders for assistance.

Sign out - Training ride leaders will leave a check out form in a central location. We encourage riders to remain at the end of the ride to cheer others who finish later than you do. However, if after you have finished you need to leave, please sign the check out form. We want to know that you got home safely. If for some reason you need to leave the ride before it is completed, please notify the leaders either by calling them or sending them an email when you get to a computer