In the last year, Fat Cake's participation has absolutely exploded. We are so happy to see so many new faces getting comfortable on their bikes. Cycling is an incredible sport, and we hope to create a community that is inclusive, welcoming, informative, friendly, and fun.

Of course, this is an informal community that has grown organically, and there are no firm rules or responsibilities that can or will be enforced. Every rider has a different objective, yet somehow we still manage to have great group rides.

Some folks want to just have fun riding bikes, some want to meet others while doing that, some are riding to meet a training plan, etc. Fat Cake is all about respect and inclusivity. If you ever feel like a certain group or route isn't for you, then you may make the choice to not join for that particular ride without sacrificing any sort of "membership" in this community!

Ride Leader Responsibilities

So you’ve decided to post a ride call in our #rides channel, potentially inviting a bunch of Cakers you’ve never met. That’s awesome, and thank you for posting! Here are some tips on how to be a great ride leader:

The post: Please include as much information as possible in your post, including:

  • Meeting time & place: be as specific as possible! Sometimes new riders don’t understand “the dirty side of the bridge”. Use landmarks whenever possible (Roundhouse Cafe, Lone Sailor Statue, etc.). Google maps links go a long way. 

  • Route: post a Strava/Ride with GPS route

  • Pace: Specify the pace. No drop = you will wait for every person. Dropped but not forgotten = regroup points (usually after climbs), but not necessarily no-drop. Hammer fest .. etc. 

  • Ending bakery/restaurant/location, if applicable: So that if people decide to drop (or get dropped) during the ride, they can meet up with you for merriment!

The start: Please make an effort to make sure people introduce themselves! If you see somebody who seems newer or who doesn’t know many people, make an effort to include them. 

The ride: Basically, do what you said you’d do! Try, if at all possible, to not change plans if it’ll affect others negatively. And if you must change plans (i.e. change routes), make sure people know!


The cancellation: If you for some reason decide to cancel the ride, please let people know!! The best way to do this is to thread your cancellation message under the post (so that everybody who commented is alerted) and select “also send to #rides” so that those who might not have commented can see as well (and so that the message is linked to the original ride call). Please also edit your original post to indicate that the ride is canceled!

Rider Responsibilities

The post: Emoji a ride if you are interested in it! Ask questions if you have them! However, just because you emoji’d a ride or asked questions doesn’t mean that you have to attend. If you’re running a few minutes late, let somebody know. If you’re running 15 minutes late, maybe don’t ask the group to wait for you and just try to catch up :-). 

The start: Introduce yourself to others! Let the ride leader know if you plan on heading out early or doing something different from the group such as intercepting at a different location than the stated meetup. If you have any concerns about the ride, please let the ride leader know - we promise you, they want to know! Remember, if they posted in #rides, they want to be inclusive and meet new people. 

The ride: Safety first. Your goal should be to be known as a “safe wheel”. More details can be found here, but the gist is: 

  1. Be vocal 

  2. Be predictable 

  3. Don’t cross the yellow line 

To go along with safety, you should try to be as self-sufficient as possible. In a group with 5-10 riders, everybody will probably stop if somebody gets a flat. In a group with 50 riders (common on weekends!), not everybody will stop. Cakers are usually incredibly generous people, and 99 times out of 100, many people will stop if another rider has a mechanical issue. But, in a group of 50 riders, it’s also hard to keep track of exactly who is a part of the group. In very rare cases, you might find yourself alone (and if you want to prevent this, you might want to find a buddy at the beginning of the ride and explicitly state that you’ll wait for each other). If you know you will be alone, you’re going to want to be carrying all the tools you might need (tube, pump, Dynaplug, etc.). 

You should also know the route. This means having a bike computer or a phone to help you navigate. If you get separated from the group, and it’s not a no-drop ride, you might be riding alone for a while. But hopefully, we’ll see you at Arsicault / Pizza Hacker / Gestalt Haus! 

Finally, you are not under any obligation to finish the ride. If you have something come up, or if you just get tired - you can leave. Ideally, you should let somebody know - you don’t want people worried about you lest they think that something terrible happened!

Remember, communication is the key to having a great group ride. Have fun out there!