Introduction to planning a cruise
A cruise is an event on any route with more than 1 driver present. Proper planning before organizing a cruise is a critical component to a successful one. As a organizer of a cruise there are a few simple items to look into and communicate to members of your party to help make sure everyone has a great time.
Planning Resources
Routes: Know the route you will be taking. Look at it in 3D using Google Earth. Its free and easy to use. This KMZ file has all of the supported routes already mapped out for you.
Weather: Know the weather for the day you've planned to go on a cruise. Even though we have 300 days of sunshine a year; rain, snow and even fog still happen and could ruin an otherwise great cruise.
- Low visibility can cause all kinds of driver error.
- Water makes tires slick.
- Cold ambient temps make tires hard and less grippy.
- Lack of sunshine makes for a cold road resulting in loss of tire performance.
I recommend only planning cruises for warm days with good visibility and no precipitation.
Yearly weather trends: Weatherspark
10 day forecast (make sure to change this to the location of your cruise): WUnderground
Road Conditions: Look out for road closures or construction. NVRoads and PWMaps are both great resources.
Scouting
As a organizer of a cruise, you should never bring a group of people on a route you haven't driven yourself. Looking at overhead images and 3D models of a route ahead of time can be really helpful, but nothing is as good as first hand experience. Always make sure that before leading a group of people down a twisty road, it is one you are already familiar with.
Planning Checklist
- Meet start location
- This can be anyplace nearby the start of your chosen route. It should have enough parking for the people you expect to arrive and an area for you to assemble to have a pre-cruise chat.
- Nearby gas station
- People often show up to a cruise without a full tank. Provide the opportunity to fill up.
- Meet start time
- Set this at least 15 minutes before the time you intend to hit the road as a group. This is the start time you will want to tell people about when advertising the cruise. The time between when you meet and when you all roll out for the cruise is essential as it gives time for people to show up and provides an opportunity for the organizer to...
- get a headcount,
- do introductions,
- and give the pre-cruise chat.
- Drive start time
- With what you know about the weather and road conditions, combined with the time the route is most accessible for enthusiastic driving, this time should be obvious.
- Estimated drive finish time
- Know how long the route could take even if you get stuck behind traffic.
- Nearby food
- A nice and affordable meal after the cruise is always a good way to get to know the group more and if it was a long cruise you'll probably be hungry anyway.
- Estimated time from start to finish
- Know how long the entire event could take from meeting up to breaking apart to head home.
The pre-cruise chat
Before leading a group of people down a winding road, it is imperative to everyone's safety that a pre-cruise chat occurs. Some topics that should be discussed:
- Introductions for every member of the cruise and headcount.
- Decide on a channel to tune Communication Radios to. Everyone should have radios. Cellphones can lose service and battery so a dedicated radio is a must have incase someone gets separated from the group.
- Remind everyone that racing is not what we are here to do.
- Remind everyone to stay safe and that going over the yellow line means you are going way to fast.
- Assign the running order and buddy system. Ask each driver to raise their hands and decide what order each of you will remain in for the duration of the cruise. Also then assign pairs of "buddies". A buddy is accountable for the whereabouts of their buddy.
- Remind everyone to respect the locals. We are guests.
- Remind everyone how far and how long you will be driving.
- Make sure everyone knows where to meetup at the end of the cruise.
- Ask if anyone has questions.
- Have fun!
Final thoughts
With all of the planning and safety items taken care of you are on your way to the best driving experience with new friends possible. Have fun!