Back in the day, CRW had an answering machine set up in someone’s house. To learn about upcoming rides, you called the phone, on a seven digit number, and listened to the recording so you’d know what rides were coming up. We now have a website where rides can be posted and updated with a few clicks.

Rides always had cue sheets that were created by the ride leader by hand, after carefully laying out the route on a paper map and hoping there weren’t any errors. If you go back far enough, the cue sheets were in the telltale blue ink of a mimeograph machine. We now have “RidewithGPS” that spits them out, with multiple options for formatting.

That cue sheet once sat in a plastic map case on your handlebars. It’s been replaced by a cellphone with an app or an overpriced but highly addictive Garmin. The cellphone app is free to all CRW club members.

Oh, and Wheelpeople appeared in your mailbox once a month, arriving via snail mail. Eventually we moved to a PDF and now onto an email format.

CRW has always moved forward when technology is available to do the job better and more easily. It’s time to take the same approach with arrows.

Why?

• Arrowing is a tremendous amount of work and takes a lot of volunteer hours.
• Arrowing can only be done when the roads are dry. If it’s windy, you’ll end up with spray paint on your bike and cleats plus an undiscernible paint splotch instead of an arrow.
• Arrows disappear when disgruntled community members black them out, the local DPW tears up or paves the road, or someone parks over them.
• Many towns no longer allow us to arrow their roads or require special permission before we are allowed to do so.
• Too many arrows for different rides using the same roads can be confusing to follow.
• Spray paint is environmentally unfriendly.
• There’s a better way.

CRW has embraced RidewithGPS and it’s a great way to create and follow a route. There’s a free app for your phone and we’ll teach you how to use it. You can always print a cue sheet and links are available on all ride listings. Many of our club rides have a ride leader that will take a group at a specified pace. It’s a great way to meet other riders and let someone else handle the navigation. Finally, those volunteer hours used for arrowing can be redirected to other initiatives in the club.

Effective in January 2020, CRW will no longer be arrowing rides, including centuries. Arrowing may still be done at the discretion of the ride leader.