Behind the scenes of every endurance ride are the countless volunteers who spend hours and hours helping things run smoothly. Ride managers often call upon close friends, family members, friends of those close friends, family members that they don't even know, friends of the friends of those close friends, and even "family members" who really aren't family members to come and help.

Needless to say, many years of hosting rides some ride managers start to run out of these "friends and family" who are willing to give up their weekend (or week or weeks) to come and help. So what is a person to do?

Taking care of our volunteers is one of the responsibilities that most ride managers count into their many duties of putting on rides. I'd like to address some ideas for helping to make that go more smoothly.

Here is a list of things to help you, as a ride manager, keep those volunteers happy.

-- Contact volunteers early enough to give them time to make arrangements to be there. A phone call is best, but follow up with e-mail to keep them abreast of plans.

-- Create a spreadsheet of duties you'll need help with.

-- Carefully look at your volunteer list and assign people jobs from your list that fit the person. Some people are better with numbers than others so asking them to help with timing might be useful. Some people can be out all kinds of climates in the middle of nowhere without any problems while others would do better to be in a more sheltered area. Let the volunteers know what their jobs are going to be just to make sure that they are comfortable with them. If you need to, you can provide training prior to the event if they are first-time volunteers, or have them work with one of your seasoned volunteers to learn a new task.

-- Try, if you can, to create a schedule so people aren't working all day. While some volunteers don't even think twice about being out in the elements for six or eight hours (or more for a 100), there are others who can really only handle us endurance riders for a few hours.

-- If you can, provide your volunteers with a T-shirt or something similar that is different from your award shirts. It is helpful to have something that sets them apart from the rest of the throng of people.

-- Provide your volunteers with a list of items that they may want to bring to make their day more pleasant:

X Comfortable shoes -- ride day is not the day to break in a pair of high heels.

X Dress in layers and plan for anything weatherwise. It is better to bring too many clothes than to not have enough.

X Hat.

X Pens and pencils.

X Clipboard, if at all possible.

X Insect repellent.

X Chair, if they can.

X Sunscreen.

X Flashlight.

X Necessary medication.

X Although you, as a conscientious ride manager, will be providing them with ample food and drink they may want to bring a small cooler with assorted items that they like to snack on and drink.

X A good book and a magazine or two.

-- Request that your volunteers arrive earlier than you need them. If you anticipate that the riders will be into the first check at 8:00, then ask your volunteers to be there at 7:30. People may be standing around for awhile, but at least everyone is there and ready to go when that first rider comes in 15 minutes ahead of schedule and you can see the rest of the pack within 200 yards of him.

-- Invite your volunteers to the pre-ride meeting and introduce them to the riders.

-- What are the three basic things that everyone needs? Food, water and shelter. (Of course chairs and tables are nice too.)

-- After all is said and done, send your volunteers a card thanking them for their help. Let them know how much your riders and you appreciate all that they did. Let them know that they made a difference in making the ride a booming success, and that you'd love to have them back to help again next year.

I'm sure that there are other ways of making sure that your volunteers enjoy their day at the local endurance ride that I haven't even touched on. Imagining yourself as a volunteer for the first time helps you to think of other ways of improving the comfort level. Just don't forget that big thank you at the end of the day!