Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Documents

You can find back issues of the Pedaler newsletter here. A link to the current issue is emailed to club members when the issue comes out. Accessing it via that link is the easiest way to do it. You can also download it by going to the Vieth MMS site.

Access the accident information form on the member’s web site:

There are 2 files available here:

  • the form you need to fill out for claim information
  • instructions for filing a claim

Print off information in both files and review. The form can be completed electronically and e-mailed to Cindia Evans (cnevans@comcast.net) or else you may fill it in manually and mail to the RABA PO Box (RABA Treasurer, PO Box 6565, Ashland, VA 23005). The information provided on the form will be used by Cindia Evans to initiate the claim process with the insurance carrier.

Note that the club insurance is ‘secondary’ and pays after all medical attention has been completed and claims settled by the primary insurance carrier. The carrier requires proof of:

  • membership in good standing at the time of the accident – provided by Kristen Swanson or Cindia Evans
  • member participating on a club sponsored ride – proof provided by sending a copy of the applicable sign-in sheet, showing injured member’s name, to Cindia Evans

Access the information on the member’s web site:

Membership

Some bike shops and other businesses offer discounts to RABA members. When we had a printed Pedaler and calendar year memberships, the mailing label had the membership expiration date printed on it. Now we have rolling 12 month memberships beginning on the date you joined and the Pedaler is electronic.

So… how do you show you’re an active member? Just print a copy of your membership dues receipt by following the steps below. It’s not as fancy as an honest-to-goodness card, but it saves mailing and printing costs as well as all of the (volunteer!) administrative effort in keeping track of it.

Access the receipt from the member’s web site:

  • Log into member web site at http://www.viethconsulting.com/members/mlogin.php?org_id=RABA
  • Once logged in, scroll down to the “My Membership Information” area and click the Membership Status/Billing Info link
  • Click the Receipt link. Then Save or Print the PDF file that is displayed. It includes the date of dues payment.

If you have clicked on the “Unsubscribe” link located in every RABA message to stop receiving messages, it not only opts you out of the message board, but also places a block so that an administrator cannot re-add you to the message board.

If you would now like to receive RABA messages, here is a list of steps to add yourself back to the RABA message service:

Do it via the member’s web site:

  • Log into member web site at http://www.viethconsulting.com/members/mlogin.php?org_id=RABA
  • Once logged in, go down about 2/3 of the page to a section called “Members Area Functions”. Within that area, you will see “Message Boards” – click on that link.
  • It will show you a page with a table where the “RABA” board is listed, you will also see column headers “Opt-in” and “Daily Digest”. To add yourself back to the message board, select the little box inside the “Opt-in” column, beside the “RABA” name.

Do it on the member’s web site:

  • Log into member web site at http://www.viethconsulting.com/members/mlogin.php?org_id=RABA
  • Once logged in, scroll down to “My Membership Information” In that section, on the right side, under a heading called “Membership Information”, click on “Change Contact/Profile Info”
  • You will be taken to your profile where you can change your physical address, phone number, email address and add a second email address as well!

Note that if you are changing the email address at which you receive your ride information and other club communications you should  unsubscribe then re-subscribe to the RABA message board as described in the “Rejoining the RABA Message Board” topic on this page. The re-subscription process ensures that you will be getting your notifications at the new address.

If you have any problems with your membership profile or logging onto the Member Area, please contact Membership Director Kristen Swanson, kaswanson@comcast.net

Message Boards

The message board exists to provide the membership of RABA with information about club rides and impromptu rides, weather affecting rides, and cycling events- club-sponsored or otherwise. It can also be used to pass along information about bicycle-related topics, legislative and otherwise..

It is not a place for posts from members that advance a personal agenda. Posts that are “offensive” are also not welcome.  Now, “offensive” varies from person to person, but the list has some rules: no profanity, and no posts regarding religion, political views, sexual content, marketing or product solicitations or jokes. Doing these things can result in a member being banned from the list.

What constitutes a personal agenda is even more sticky perhaps. A good rule-of-thumb is that anything that can generate “discussion” should not be posted to the RABA message list. Members already complain about the amount of message traffic. If we limit our posts to those necessary to providing information as listed above, many members would be happy.

There is a Friends of RABA Facebook group that is, by nature, a much more conducive place for discussion of issues between RABA members. Posts that verge into that personal agenda space, or that might generate discussion are well suited for the Facebook page. The group isn’t officially affiliated with RABA but lots of members put in an appearance there.

If you feel overwhelmed by the amount of RABA messages sent to your inbox every day, there is an option to lessen the traffic without cutting yourself off from the email service and thereby losing touch with what is going on with the club. It is called the “Daily Digest” option. The Daily Digest groups all emails sent in a 24 hour period – 12:01 PM to 11:59 AM – and sends them together at 12 Noon every day, in one easy-to-read format.

NOTE: Users of the Daily Digest should be aware that last minute alerts / cancelation messages are obviously not delivered until 12 Noon. If you are dependent on ride alerts and changes being posted close to a ride start time, do not use Daily Digest.

Do it via the member’s web site:

  • Log into member web site at http://www.viethconsulting.com/members/mlogin.php?org_id=RABA
  • Once logged in, go down about 2/3 of the page to a section called “Members Area Functions”. Within that area, you will see “Message Boards” – click on that link.
  • It will show you a page with a table where the “RABA” board is listed, you will also see column headers “Opt-in” and “Daily Digest”. To start receiving the Daily Digest, click the box in the “Daily Digest” column.

This will immediately STOP messages being sent to your inbox at the moment that they are being sent from RABA members

Messages will now be grouped for 12 Noon daily delivery to your email inbox.

Sometimes members try to send a message, either via e-mail or through the forum software, and it get rejected or flagged with a warning message about certain phrases that it contains and ends up not being sent. This is especially frustrating when the message contains important information about a ride such as changes to its start time or location or even its cancellation.

Here are some tips from a message from Brad Scott at Customer Service at Vieth:

Brad writes:

“…It is true that email verbiage can be the reason for these issue(s). The ‘out-of-town’ verbiage could be viewed as an ‘auto-response’. Other phrases/keywords that raise red flags are things like ‘free’ , ‘limited time’, ‘act fast’, ‘discount’, ‘before time runs out’, etc…. Other things can be like having more images in the message then actual text, or using red font color, using many exclamation points(!!!).

“I cannot compile a complete list of all the phrases and keywords. Basically, message should be composed as if you were communicating with a close friend.  Anything that resembles a sale pitch, offer, or automatic message will increase the chance of the message being rejected/filtered.  A good practice is to compose messages as if it is to one specific person, even if it is going out to multiple recipients.”

Keep these tips in mind when you compose your messages.

From time to time, members may need to log onto the RABA Message Board to view messages due to message sending or delivery problems to members’ email inboxes. REMINDER:  the message board is not an email service, like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, MSN, Comcast.net, Verizon.net.  Therefore, it does not operate like an email service, and problems with sending or receiving can be a little more involved and/or frequent than typical email. To log onto the RABA Message Board:
  • Go to Richmond Area Bicycling Association – Richmond Area Bicycling Association (RABA’s web site).
  • Go to the upper left hand side
  • Look for heading called “Log In” – click on it
  • Enter your User Name and Password – if you don’t know either or both, there are instructions on the page to find out one or both pieces of information.
  • Once logged in, scroll down to a section called “Members Area Functions”
  • Within that area, you will see “Message Boards” – click on that link.
  • It will show you a page with a table where the word “RABA” is listed – this the message board for the entire club.
  • Click on “RABA“
  • You will see all messages posted over the past several days
  • Click on the topic or subject that you would like to read about – message will open
  • Once message is open, it gives you the option to reply to the sender / message writer
  • If you are sending a message to the club, click on the button called “Add Topic” – you will be presented with a fresh page to write
  • Note:  All messages MUST have a topic or subject heading in order for the message to be posted

Miscellaneous

RABA’s membership database is handled by Vieth Consulting, a company specializing in software and website solutions for associations. You can download a PDF about their security policies here:  https://www.viethconsulting.com/Privacy.PDF

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