Hey, cue me in! Which way am I supposed to turn?

Many a long, organized bicycle ride, such as Tour de Cure, involves a cue sheet.

It  might say, start from X location; ride Y miles along Z path/road/whatever; dog-leg at A (i.e. turn whichever way from A into B, and after a very short distance turn the opposite direction from B into C).

I must confess that I haven\’t had too much practice following such printed directions. Whenever I\’ve ridden Tour de Cure, the turns have been marked on the road in spray paint. If your event doesn\’t provide that crutch, you\’ll need to refer to the cue sheet. Having to stop and dig it out of a pocket every time you need to check it would be a big nuisance, so a cue sheet clip would help a lot.

Being able to hang with more experienced riders would also help. They probably won\’t mind helping you learn how to read the cues. If the event in question invariably takes the exact same route, riders who return year after year might not even need printed directions.

Personally, I say it would be wise to read over the cue sheet before starting the ride, just to be on the safe side. You don\’t want to be overconfident, and wind up behind the 8 ball as a result.

Sometimes you\’ll find yourself riding by your lonesome. Then I, for one, would want to holler: Hey, somebody cue me in!