Our bike group is investigating becoming a club and are going thru a legal thing. We have a lawyer who rides with us and he says that if we're just a bunch of guys/gals who ride informally in group in regular group rides everything is cool but if we decide to become an offical club then we could be open for being sued as individuals but this can be beat if we incorporate because then then you just shut down the "corporation". Of course we could join the national association as an official club and pay dues to them, but be forced to have a definite club structure that they would require, but their insurance would cover us. Sounds way to complicated to me, so my vote at our next informal (pub) after ride meeting will be to can the idea and just be a bunch of enthusiasts going for rides together and avoid this nonsense all together. Now I'm talking about Canadian law and our laws , at least as I understand as a non-lawyer, don't allow the "sue if you sneeze in my direction" that is seen in parts of the states.

Lawyers have a tendency to complicate simple things. Mainly because there is just way too many of them. Two things you have to consider is (1) the possibility of drowning in a kayak race. This could be a biggie. (2) the fact you're in California which is probably the one of the most sue you happy places on the planet.

I strongly suggest you get a legit legal opinion from a California lawyer rather than ask here.

I'm not sure if there's a specific Cali law, but I wouldn't be surprised if the city/county/bridge authority/National Park Service/state park/Department of Defense guidelines required proof of insurance if you want to get a special use permit for a race in their jurisdiction. They want to keep any potential lawsuits from filtering back to them if at all possible.

"Lawyers have a tendency to complicate simple things. Mainly because there is just way too many of them."

Ha. This reminds me of something my father used to say. "If there's one lawyer in town, he'll starve. If there are two lawyers in town, they'll both make a good living."

I don't know, do you like your house, car, bike, future earnings ......

In most situations a waiver is not going to remove your right to sue, it will affect your ability to win the lawsuit. One of the most valuable benefits of insurance is that in most cases it provides for legal representation because, in effect, the insurance company is defending itself since they are the ones that would have to pay the judgment.

It seems to me that you would be foolish to put on a race without insurance, but then I am just a former lawyer working for a large insurance company.

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I'm beginning to think that we are much more fucked than I thought.