Minutes of the agm 11/11/21

AGM – Thursday the 4th of November at the Pinemartin Café.

Present; Doug Little, Gregor Muir, Evelyn MacLennan, Norman Clark, Alastair MacLennan, David Underwood, Lindsay Jarrett, Linzi Beckett, Lindsay Barr, Campbell Mackintosh, Vince Mackintosh, Mandy Watson, Aidan Baltrunas, Stefan Baltrunas, Gill Barnes, Dave Parfitt, Jacqui Parfitt, Norma Marshall, Damien Forster, Nix Forster,Mark Clark, Ailsa Pooleman, Marian Austin, Ruari Watt

Apologies; Ian Pooleman, Mylene,Evan and Roddy Macdonald, Emma Pearce

Minutes of last  AGM – Proposed as accurate by Noman Clark, seconded by Dave Parfitt.

Chairmans report;

Notable successes

  • Alastair Maclennan –2ND at the SDA Scottish Champs at Nevis Range. World downhill Masters champion for the 4th time.
  • Archie Ferguson – Won the SDA  at Glencoe. 3RD in the Scottish Champs at Nevis Range.
  • Gary MacDonald – not only winning many things at club level but became the first person to ride the 96 mile long West Highland Way in under 9 hours.
  • Cole Jackson won the under 21’s EWS 80 at Innerleithen + 3rd in his age group at the Fair City Enduro last weekend ( another EWS qualifier)
  • Ladies biking groupon Sat afternoons going really well. Many thanks to Jacqui and all else helping with it.
  • New leaders qualified – 6 qualified over the past year, + 3 who have done their training.
  • Well done to all the youngsters who took part in last weekends Highland Hardline at Golspie. Jack Bamber 2nd in his age group, Archie Kennedy 5th ,Archie Ferguson, Sorley Swabey  and Alan Cameron -5th , 6th and 7th respectively.
  • Foss beat Gregor in the Fort to Fort.

Fort to Fort;

Held last Sunday the 31st of October. 34 entrants and £170 was raised which will be added to the inspiring fund raising achievements of Adrien Beard towards Pancreatic Cancer UK.

1ST Male – Gary MacDonald (1:39:26), 2nd Male Cammy Mackintosh ( 1:46;45)

1st Female – Marie Meldrum ( 1:57:17), 2nd female Ailsa Pooleman (2:16:04)

1st Junior – Cammy Mackintosh, 2nd Junior

1st E-bike – Joint winners -Lindsay Jarrett and Linzi Beckett ( 2:47:45) –Lindsay was the first person to complete the course carrying an oxygen cylinder!

A huge thank you to Jacqui for being there all day, doing the timing and providing refreshments           ( ably assisted by Rachel). Thank you also to Norma, Lance, Amy, Alan, Ewen, Jonathon and Vince for their invaluable marshalling.

Winter League;

Despite winter lockdowns we managed to hold 4 races last year. Unfortunately, we were not able to hold any junior races. Many thanks to Mark and Marian who both organised 2 each. Thanks also to anyone that helped with marshalling, and of course to Andy for working out the scoring. 29 males and 21 females took part in the series.

1st Male -Gary Macdonald       2nd Male Cammy Mackintosh

1st Lady – Nix Forster                2nd Lady – Gill Banes

1st Junior – Cammy Mackintosh 2nd junior – Aaron Tressider

1st e-biker Doug Little – Only entrant!

Marian has put together a provisional program for next year with 8 races. Junior races will be confirmed once we have confirmed dates and venues. Kid’s races will be at the same venues but will be run separately by kid’s club.

                                                                      Provisional Schedule

            DATE                                    VENUE                             ORGANISER                        KID’S RACE

Sun 21st NovemberWolftraxJamie MaxwellProbably
Sun 5th NovemberGlen Loy – Strone sideMark ClarkProbably
Tuesday 28th DecemberNevis Range – Claire Mackintosh Memorial raceVince and Cammie  MackintoshProbably
Sunday 19th DecemberGlen Nevis – Not part of the Winter LeagueAndy RogersProbably
Sunday 16th JanBarcaldineNACCNo
Sunday Feb 6thWhitebridge, InvergarryVince MackintoshPossibly
Sunday Feb 27thStrontianJo and James TaitProbably
Sunday March 20thGlen Loy – Erracht side??????????????Possibly
April 15th – 18thEaster  
Sunday April 24thNevis Range – possible Enduro???????????????Probably

Races will be free of charge for members. For non members the charge will be £2 for children and £5 for adults.

Rather than T shirts for those that complete 3 races we are looking at the possibility of providing mugs.

It was suggested that it would be a good idea to have some shorter, possibly less technical options available when possible in order to encourage members who might be slightly apprehensive about taking part. These courses might also be suitable for older children who do not necessarily wish to take part in the full races. Mandy Watson volunteered to look into these options.

Xmas Handicap

Many thanks to Andy for once again organising this. To be held on Sunday the 19th of Dec.

Bike Festival -it would be great to get this back up and running next year in the Spring. If there is a person or people who would like to put themselves forward as main organisers for this that would be great. The committee would of course be willing to help with this.

Website

Many thanks to those that have worked on this. Most notably, Shaun, Evelyn, Amy, Robbie Mark and Doug. This is still definitely a work in progress and there are things that needed to be added. In particular, access to past files/results. We are looking for someone to help keep the website updated and help to progress it .

Membership

At present there are 369  members ( 2019 -346, 2020-247). 103 female adults and 38 female juniors, 151 male adults and 77 male juniors.

Time Trials

Great to see Time trials back on the agenda. There were 7 races held this year. A Huge thanks to Dave, Emma and Alastair for organising these. Many thanks also to everyone who helped with marshalling and timekeeping. A special thanks to Pete Berrie for stepping into the breach when needed!

Saturday Social Rides

 These were an experiment this year but seem to have been going well. There has been a steady stream of ladies and e-bikers. Will take a break from Xmas to the end of the ski season , but will definitely resume next Spring. Many thanks to all those that have come and those that have helped run them.

Wed nights

 Numbers have been up and down but generally good with a good few new faces. Many thanks to Gregor for putting together the schedules.

Treasurers Report

Gill reported that things are looking healthy and that the bank account is £1000 up on last year. After a considerable amount of effort by Gill we now have access to internet banking – many thanks!

Kid’s Club

Started again in Spring and has been going well. The last group of sessions for this year start up again on Saturday and will run until the 11th of Dec before taking a break until next Spring. If everyone turns up this Sat then there will be 86 kids in 12 groups + we have 9 teenagers helping with the coaching of the younger groups. These teenagers have pretty much been coming to the club right through from a younger age , so it is great to see them going to the next level and giving back. The aim, with the help of Mike Pescod, is to help them get their level 1 leadership qualification ( their first step on the coaching ladder.)

  • 6 new leaders qualified this year. Including 4 ladies + 3 who have done their training.
  • Girl’s group started up this year which has been going well.
  • Waiting list –We have been trying to continually get on top of it, but it is still there. The main problem, perhaps surprisingly, is not necessarily the lack of qualified leaders but all the organisation involved in getting so many kids out at the same time. With this in mind, a special thanks must go to Claire for doing such a great job in keeping on top of admin and Gregor for sorting out the groups (the record was 10 versions of a rota one week). Thanks of course to everyone else on the committee.
  • Blue Doon – A massive thanks to Nevis Range for letting 54 kids and 20 leaders get a pre-opening free run.
  • Lastly, a massive thanks to all of the leaders and parent who have all given their time voluntarily to help get the groups out and keep the spirit of the club going.

Election of Office bearers and the committee

Stepping down – Evelyn, Nix, Shaun, Ruby ,Fraser.

Doug thanked everyone for all the great work that is carried out by everyone on the committee .

Position                                                                                    Proposed                           Seconded

ChairpersonDoug LittleNormanGregor
Official SecretaryMarian AustinGillDoug
TreasurerGill BarnesAilsaMarian
Minutes SecretaryIan PoolemanAilsaDoug
Junior rep??????????  
Time TrialsSee below  
Kid’s Club sub groupDoug LittleGregorMandy
Newsletter/ websiteNorma Marshall See belowDougMarian
Child protection and Covid 19 officerGregor MuirDaveEvelyn
GeneralDave Parfitt  
 Steve Bradley  
 Mark Clark  
 Norman Clark  
  1. Dave, Alastair and Emma are happy to organise a Time Trial series next year. It was suggested that if possible one of them would attend committee meetings when Time Trials are likely to be discussed.
  2. Jodie Standen was proposed by Nix ( seconded by Gregor), as a good person to get involved with developing the website and blog. Doug will approach her personally about this.

Subscription Rates

 to remain the same for next year;

  • Juniors £8
  • Senior £17
  • Family £28

AOCB

  • Scottish Cycling Affiliation. This is up for renewal and the information that Scottish Cycling require seems to be getting ever more complex. One thing we definitely need to ensure in the future is that we have up to date information on coaches with regards to  qualifications and renewal dates. Further discussion about how to achieve this is needed.

Next Meeting – Tuesday 7th Dec

Trophy presentation

Most Improved Lady – Lorraine Whelan ( trophy presented)

Most improved Downhiller – Alan Cameron ( trophy not presented)

Most improved junior male –  Alexander Pervan ( trophy not presented)

Most improved junior female –  Charlotte Strachan ( trophy not presented)

Flying Gorilla Award for getting up and carrying on after crashes. Lance Marshall. ( trophy presented)

Inspirational award – Lyndsay Jarrett ( no trophy for this as yet)

Time Trials;

Men’s – Gary Macdonald ( trophy not presented)

Female – Mairi Meldrum ( trophy not presented)

Junior – Cammie Mackintosh ( trophy presented)

Winter league;

Male – Gary MacDonald ( trophy not presented)

Female – Nix Forster ( trophy presented)

Junior – Cammie Mackintosh( trophy not presented)

Doug thanked everyone for coming and Nevis Range for providing the venue.