There are 5 classes of insurance coverage for the Kalamazoo Bicycle Club (KBC) defined in the insurance Policy Schedule. (Link to League of American Bicyclists insurance policy) The following focuses on the first and most important of these classes, Class 1(a). The Policy Schedule states that Class 1(a) covers:
All members of Policy Holder Clubs participating in club sponsored bike rides or time trials conducted and supervised by a Policy Holder Club. Invited guests are also covered for their first bike tide or time trial conducted and supervised by a Policyholder Club. A fee cannot be charged unless the bike ride or time trial is only open to members of the Policyholder Club.
KBC’s Executive Committee believes “conducting” and “supervising” mean the same thing – There is someone sanctioned by KBC leading the ride (i.e. determining when and where the ride occurs, the pace, etc).
KBC is incorporated and acts through its elected Executive Committee (EC). That is, the EC directs the operations of the Club. For example, every KBC Board member serves at the pleasure of the EC, including our Ride Captain. But the Ride Captain cannot attend every regularly scheduled club ride, so the EC also delegates conducting and supervising rides to Sanctioned Ride Leaders who must file an Application and be appointed by the EC.
What about rides other than regularly scheduled club rides? Suppose a Sanctioned Ride Leader posts a notice about a ride on the Club’s Facebook page or sends out a group email calling for a ride. Are rides like this covered under the policy? The EC has declared that whether a ride is regularly scheduled has nothing to do with whether the ride is “conducted and supervised” by KBC. If the ride is led by a KBC Sanctioned Ride Leader, the ride is conducted and supervised by KBC.
Can a Ride Leader conduct and supervise a ride when he or she is the only rider? Attempting to argue whether one can conduct and supervise (or lead) oneself seems ludicrous. Therefore, the EC has declared that insurance coverage does not apply to solo rides.
So, the following is KBC’s succinct answer to the question: Under what conditions are bicycle riders covered by the club’s insurance?
The insurance policy (Link to League of American Bicyclists insurance policy), states that coverage is provided for KBC members “participating in club sponsored bike rides or time trials conducted and supervised by” the Club as well as invited guests on their first club-sponsored ride or time trial. The Kalamazoo Bicycle Club interprets this statement to mean that
insurance coverage is provided to members and first-time guests participating in any bike ride or individual time trial that is conducted and supervised by a KBC Ride Leader, who is sanctioned by the KBC Executive Committee, and has at least one rider accompanying the Ride Leader.
For information about responsibilities of KBC Ride Leaders please click on this link to