I'm taking a spare helmet, gloves and a few layers incase any forget along with some innertubes etc.

What else? Only 4 (1 a youngster). Obviously I wont let them ride anything silly. Full stop.

A large packet of Haribo and a route that you think is way too easy.

Sometimes it is easy to forget that just a simple slope seems super-treacherous for a noob.

If there are females DON'T invite Barnes 😉

the environment

their sanity.

Not going?

adequate lubrication…

A flask of hot drink – great morale booster. Plan for bail out routes. Pick easy well drained routes and consider making any climbs by road as the new people may find it hard to find grip.

I assume they do not know you then 😉
Where you riding?

I'd reccommend them to bring sunglasses with them … for when you dazzle them with you're whit & charm! 😉 njoy

Is anyone who knows what they're doing going?

Y'now, I looked at this topic a couple of minutes ago and thought 'Dave'll be along soon with some smartarse comment'. 🙂

Glad to see my prediction fulfilled.

always consider the unexpected

Mark, me, Jase and Ton know what we're doing 😉

Do a figure of 8 route if possible, so there is a a bail out option of they are stuggling or getting tired. (as Murray ^^ said).

Take chocolate too and plan a route with cafe or pub stop.

Have you got a back man/woman? Always a good idea.

chain splitter and spare links/ jointers etc along with multi tool with pliers etc zippies, etc, spare gear cable + brake cable ??

– preride brake block check – If they're thin and it's gritty they'll be metal (yes that is over the top, car dead, stuck at gfs, bored)

extra drinks bottles and barley sugar/mars bars type bits

suggest an oval/circular route with start point dead in middle as it makes baling out easy and shortening easy – (maybe take extra maps etc so allow bailouts – but with only 4 I'd suggest sticking as a group).

Suggest a spare T per person and make last bit down hill/flat if poss (so they can swap Ts) – cold and wet generally means not enjoying (A black bin liner can have arm and head holes put in it and be a surprisingly effecive windstopper)

Change of clothes/pub/flask etc at end point (towel, changing blanket etc or pub toilet)

patience and tolerance

have fun

flask of tea / coffee at the end point goes down well.

Actually hot chocolate. I just thought of that.

Keep it in the trees so that they're not pushing their bikes up icy tracks.

Keep it short so they don't get too cold waiting for you ;o)

lol @dave and 'walkign up too many hills…'

a route that would normally take you an hour will be plenty for a newbie at this time of year. as tempting as it might be to show them the best bits, keep it easy to the point of slightly boring, only include technical stuff that has a chicken route.

i took my daughters bf out recently and he was dead game but had very little experience. its easy to under estimate how hard and scary stuff looks for newbies. he had a great time just riding forest trails and flowy singlerack; stuff like roots, drops and switchbacks were real obstacles to him.

I'm with slowrider as a relative newbie myself what seems a small drop to you will seem like a massive drop to them!

Saying "it's just like riding off the kerb won't help" 😉

As already said…don't underestimate just how hard trails can be for newbies.

I took a lady out a few months back on some hill trails. Nothing at all technical – just wide open stone tracks, and at tortoise pace.

She really struggled. She didn't even know how to change gear. She couldn't stand up on the pedals to go down (gentle) hills. And she walked every uphill – even the stuff I wouldn't even have thought of as being a hill. 😯

She still said she enjoyed it, but next time I take a newbie out, it's gonna be on a canal towpath.

Don't assume that what's an easy trail to you is easy to them.

Take ALL the necessary tools and spares- they won't have them.

Take a couple of extra sweaters or waterproofs, just in case. I always do on group rides with new riders because there's a chance they won't have thought about how cold or wet it is.

Don't end on a climb.

Keep it sociable- ride at the back, don't be a hero, don't show off- no wheelies or owt. They're your responsibility and so you ride at the back to make sure no one gets abandoned or feels inferior as a rider, because that can really put folk off riding.

Just take 'em out on a 'normal' ride. If they like it they'll be back. I started with the Hayfield-Edale loop in the snow…. come to think of it, which sadist took me out on that?!…

LOL at Hora doing 'massive drops' 😉

Do this;
http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/SCU/smbla/about_SMBLA.asp

Or;
http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=5116

(1 a youngster)

Have you got a child protection ticket?

Before setting off do a bike, helmet, clothing and food/hydration check, better still go see them at home and fix whatever is needed.
Emergency phone number of someone who knows where you are going and is available in event of bail out/incidents.
Map and know where you are at all times and how to bail/where if and when required.

As above, big rucksack full of spare everything.

Do not be embarrassed to bail early if people are flagging, there are plenty more days in the year.

Interestingly I've led over 400 beginner rides to date while not doing almost all the things recommended above, we just do shortish regular mountain bike routes and take our time over it. It seems to work OK…

Keep it sociable

Have you got a child protection ticket?

I always tell parents it's their responsibility to satisfy themselves that we are not going to mistreat their children

This has been a very gentle thread considering the subject and the protagonist. Well done, friendly and supportive people of Singletrackworld! Hope it goes well Hora. 🙂

LOL at Hora doing 'massive drops'

They'll be disapointed 'we assumed you'd be good considering how long you've been doing it' 😆

LOL at Dave. I'm just taking them around Hebden on the bridleways. One does scare me for being abit gungho so I'll have to reign in him before each bit.

Sadly no girls. SFB is a magnet whereas I carry an aura of smut 🙁

SFB is a magnet whereas I carry an aura of smut

er, I think it's the riding they come for – they just put up with me as an inevitability…

What happened?

What happened?

They're still out there. Hebden Mtn Rescue are on the way. 😉

What happened? One rang me up at the last moment and said 2 had 'excuses' and he couldnt get two bikes into his Clio 'apperently'. Maybe nicer weather would be better for newbies I guess.

Clearly you associate with some people of good sense then Hora…

måX h€åd$€†™, yes its not normal is it? To go out on a ride on ice.