douglas.little – Page 6 – West Highland Wheelers

Committee Minutes

Committee Meeting minutes 29/02/2024

March 11, 2024March 11, 2024
by douglas.little

Minutes

WHW committee meeting Thurs 29^th Feb @ 1930:

Present:
Steve Bradley (SB), Marian Austin (MA), Claire AK (CAK), Norman Clark (NC), Karl Bungey (KB), Mark Clark (MC), Henry Cairns (HC), Sam Potter (SP), Gregor Muir (GM), Amanda Watson (AW), Jacqui Parfitt (JP) and Dave Parfitt (DP).

Apologies:

Doug Little (DL) and Gill Barnes (GB).

Minutes of last meeting / actions:

Mini DH 23^rd March (AW):

45 riders booked (so far).
Timing cost £384.
2 Commissaires (AW + 1).
Nevis Range to provide 2 x First Aiders £350.
SB said we could source tape from Frazer Coupland.
Helpers needed on 22^nd March to help tape course.
HC to post on Socials asking for Marshalls.

Winter League / TTs (MA):

Wolftrax Sun 3^rd March (no café).
Strontian (Ariundle) 24^th March.
MC’s Croft 7^th April + BBQ, CAK to source meat.
Emma Pearce happy to facilitate TTs plus try 1 x CX race (venue tbc).

Wednesday Nights (MA):

Look at other venues once we have more daylight, potentially Duror where winter league race was held.

Distillery Access (MA):

JP to put email around WHWs regarding access (Bridget Thomas).

L1 / L2 Training & Assessment (DP/CAK):

Only 1 candidate confirmed they could attend the date given by Cyclewild for L2 assessment therefore it won’t run.
Anyone needing to be assessed (or trained) can find a suitable ‘open’ course. WHW will fund if being done for the club.
MC running a L2 training, has space for 1 more on course.
KB keen to go through the British Cycling Coaching scheme, again WHW will help fund if awards are being used for the club.

Mountain Festival (DP):

Thanks to HC and CAK for flyers, etc.

New Jerseys (CAK):

(Fortan) Jersey ‘A’ chosen as design (vote taken by committee), CAK to proceed.

Adult Coaching Sessions (DP):

Antoine (Nevis Range Bike School) wanted to let the club know that he was keen to run more adult sessions as per last year. Feedback from the members who had participated was very good. There will potentially be a WHW discount for these sessions.
Thanks to MC for running the free coaching sessions which were well attended (20+ kids). Those who took had a great time and gained valuable skills.
MC wished to remind the club that Alba Mountain Biking very kindly offers a 20% discount for members.

Trail Names (JP):

Enquiry to the club about naming trails. This isn’t in the club remit and the member was referred to the LTA / Trailforks. FLS policy is that ‘unofficial trails’ aren’t named. JP replied to member with relevant information.

Bank Balance (DP):

£8296.64 (thanks to GB for dropping off the information)

AOCB:

We’ve had a kind offer for free club stickers and will get some printed (WHW logo) to see if popular. JP
Rock up and Ride keen to work with the club again CAK happy to proceed as per last year.
KB looking to set up a First Aid course (Strontian), will let the club know as members would be welcome to book if there are spaces.
NC kindly volunteered to set up the ‘user group’ for the pumptrack.
WHW to fund a BMX coach for the ‘BMX Bowl’. GM/JP

Date for next meeting:

Tues 21^st May.

Winter League

Winter league round 5 – wolftrax 03/02/24

March 5, 2024March 5, 2024
by douglas.little

Well done to everyone who came to todays winter league at wolftrax,

5 kids battled it out in the kids race with a climb to the top of the orange then up the new blue climb and down the blue descent to finish, finishing in the following order:- Kai Tresidder (1st U10), Alistair Cant (2nd U10) Harris Thompson (3rd U10), Kaiden Springett (1st U12) and Kai McBride (4th U10)

Next up the main race had 3 big climbs taking in the upper red, lower red and new blue. It was great to see Alastair Maclennan back out racing again, coming in a very respectable 8th on his 1st ride out on the mountain bike for a few months.

Fantastic racing from the juniors with Aaron Tresidder not letting his crash stop him from coming in in 5th place, thanks to Aileen Marsh and Donald Paterson for checking him over and cleaning up the cuts at the finish. In the females it was junior rider Lily Cant who took the win.

See attached spreadsheet for full results

A huge thanks to Jacqui Parfitt for doing the timing and providing much needed refreshments at the end. Thanks to Lance Marshall and Doug Little for all their organisation and course marking, to James Shirley for bringing more freebies along, to Steve Bradley and Lindsay Carruthers for some great photos and Wolf Trax, Laggan, Scotland for letting us run the race and opening up the toilets for us.

Next race is Strontian on 25th March

SPREADSHEET

wolftrax 2024.xlsx

Winter League

Winter league round 4 – achaderry estate roybridge 11/02/24

February 12, 2024February 12, 2024
by douglas.little

A great turnout for Sunday’s Winter League race at Achaderry Estate, Roy Bridge. A testing XC course with plenty of lung busting climbs, bottomless bog and mud – all with the reward of some lovely handcrafted descent. Only 3 riders managed to complete 4 laps in the allotted time – AJ, Liam and James. Despite running out of battery on his last lap AJ came home first. There was a great battle behind him between Liam and James, with James finally managing to pull away on the last 2 laps. Once again, a special mention has to go to Aaron Tressider for being the 1^st junior and 6^th overall. 8 youngsters also took part in a junior race with Kai Tressider coming home with the fastest time. Well done to Archie and Innes MacDonald for completing the course despite having turned up expecting to compete in an Athletic Club winter league race! Many thanks to Leon for hosting the event and providing such great facilities and to Ruari for organising (and building!) the course. A huge thanks also to James for handing out so much free gear. The next race is at Wolftrax on the 3^rd of March.

			Lap 1	Lap 2	Lap3	Lap4	Total
1st	AJ MacDonald	1^st e-bike	18.38	18.00	17.52	19.04	1:13:34
2^nd	James Shirley	1^st Male	19.00	19.34	19.40	19.55	1:18:11
3^rd	Liam Moynihan	2^nd Male	19.01	19.34	19.58	20.57	1:19:30
4^th	Stewart MacMillan	2^nd e-bike	20.37	20.15	21.45		1:02:37
5^th	Ruari Watt	3^rd Male	21.25	22.36	25.15		1:09:14
6^th	Aaron Tressider	1^st Junior	22.53	23.37	25.17		1:11:52
7^th	James Tedham		24.07	24.31	25.25		1:14:03
8^th	Sorley Swabey		22.55	26.31	26.38		1:16:04
9^th	Alexander Pervan	2^nd junior	23.49	26.01	29.22		1:19:12
10^th	Katie Maclennan	1^st Lady	28.38	30.11	35.10		1:33.59
11^th	Lance Marshall	3^rd e-bike	24.50	24.10	45.30		1:34.30
12^th	Lily Cant	2^nd Lady +2^nd Junior	28.10	30.28	36.53		1:35:41
13^th	Robbie Cant		28.12	30.27	36.53		1:35:42
14^th	Nathan Marsh		29.05	31.21			1:00:26
15^th	Gregor Muir		29.34	32.39			1:02:13
16^th	Isla Cant	3^rd Lady +3^rd junior	31.25	34.06			1:05:31
17^th	Finn Watt		34.58	34.15			1:09:13
18^th	Cameron Bungey		34.26	34.52			1:09:18
19^th	Gill Barnes		34.28	36.37			1:11:05
20^th	Mathew Daly		36.21	34.50			1:11:11
21^st	Andy Rogers		35.07	37.33			1:12:40
22^nd	Ava Marsh		35.34	38.56			1:14:30
23^rd	Jess Acheson		40.55	42.50			1:23:45
24^th	Marian Austin		42.20	45.41			1:28:01
	ALTERNATE COURSE!
1st	Scott Rodger		25.15	23.35	28.31		1:17:21

Junior Race

Under 9’s

1^st -Kai Tressider 9:09

2^nd -Alistair Cant 10:30

3^rd – Harris Thompson 10:51

4^th -Archie Rodger 11.17

12’s and under

1^st – Calum Watt 10:27

2^nd equal – Lia Marsh and Archie MacDonald 10.49

4^th -Innes MacDonald 18:18

Winter League

Winter League 23/24 rOUND 3 sUTHERLAND’S gROVE 14/01/24

January 15, 2024January 15, 2024
by douglas.little

Many thanks to North Argyll Cycling Club for organising round 3 of the Winter League at Sutherland’s Grove on 14th January 2024. A lovely crisp winter’s day, with occasional slidey episodes and an apparent defiance of the laws of nature in that there appeared to be more uphill than downhill! The next race is on Sunday the 11th of February at Achaderry Estate, Roy Bridge

Results

Male

1st – Matiss Robertson 52:25

2nd– Michael Bossard 54:43

3rd – Ewan Dowd 57:10

Female

1st – Lily Cant – 01:14:45

2nd– Katie Maclennan 01:17:00

3rd – Isla Cant – 01:26:05

E-Bike

1st – AJ MacDonald 44:30

2nd– Stuart Macmillan 50:20

3rd – Doug Little 53:45

All reactions:

2222

Winter League

Winter lEAGUE 23/24 rOUND 2 – nEVIS RANGE

January 10, 2024January 10, 2024
by douglas.little

A very well done to the 3 kids who braved the weather for todays kids race, only a second seperated Harris Thomson, 1st in 10 mins 26secs and Kaiden Springett 2nd in 10 minutes and 27 secs. Thea Thomson was 1st female in 13 minutes and 2 seconds.

The main race was a challenge to beat the weather coming in! Well done to all 20 competitors, full results in attached spreadsheet.

Liam Moynihan took overall non ebiker and held of Stewart MacMillan for 5 laps with the ebike finally managing to edge into the lead by 20 secs on the 6th and final lap, joining Stewart and Liam on 6 laps were James Shirley (3rd overall, 2nd male non ebike), and Doug Little (4th, 2nd ebike).

Lance Marshall took 5th (3rd ebike) in 5 laps followed by James Tedham (3rd male non ebike) Ben Miller, Gavin Shirley, Oli Warlow and Gavin Maclean.

Mark Clark was first to finish overall managing 4 laps in just over the 45 minute cut off time (8th male non ebiker) closely followed by 1st U18 Alexander Pervan, Katie Maclennan (1st female), Euan Fundingsland, Jessica Acheson and Andy Rogers all also managed 4 laps with Gill Barnes, Geraldine Springett, Marian Austin and Jenny Beattie completing 3 laps each.

Thanks to Vince Mackintosh for planning a great course and to Doug, Andy, Marian and Jacqui for stepping in to set up the course and do timing after Storm Gerrits trail of destruction meant Vince had to pull out to help with the Invergarry clear up .

Thanks also to Eileen Ross for providing delicious hot soup and christmas cake for the finish. Not the nicest weather to collect donations in after the race(!) but we did manage to raise £63 for charity, thanks to everyone who donated

1st-Stewart MacMillan 1st m ebike 6 laps – 49mins 50 secs
2nd -Liam Moynihan 1st m 6 laps 50mins 10 secs
3rd-James Shirley 2nd m 6 laps 51mins 04 secs
4th -Doug Little 2nd m ebike 6 laps 52 mins 09 secs
5th -Lance Marshall 3rd m ebike 5 laps 45mins 20 secs
6th -James Tedham 3rd m 5 laps 51mins 37 secs
7th -Ben Miller 4th m 5 laps 52 mins 10 secs
8th -Gavin Shirley 5th m 5 laps 52 mins 44 secs
9th -Oli Warlow 6th m 5 laps 52 mins 53secs
10th -Gavin Maclean 7th m 5 laps 54 mins 23secs
11th -Mark Clark 8th m 4 laps 45 mins 09 secs
12th -Alexander Pervan 1st male junior 4 laps 47mins 27 secs
13th -Katie Maclennan 1st f 4laps 51mins 27 secs
14th -Euan Fundigsland 9th m 4 laps 51mins 42 secs
15th -Jessica Acheson 2nd f 4 laps 59mins 10 secs
16th -Andy Rogers 10th m 4 laps 60 mins 30 secs
17th -Gill Barnes 3rd f 3 laps 45mins 33secs
18th -Geraldine Springett 4th f 3 laps 45mins 42 secs
19th -Marian Austin 5th f 3 laps 47mins 04 secs
Jenny Beattie 6th f 3 laps 47mins 40 secs

Time Trials

Christmas handicap 17/12/23

December 18, 2023December 18, 2023
by douglas.little

Fair to say that things were a little bit wet and windy for this year’s Xmas Handicap! However, despite the amber weather warning, 19 riders braved the conditions. Congratulations to Liam on taking the win! Special mention has to go to Gregor and Cory for toughing it out on the tandem despite being somewhat hungover! Congratulations also to Foss for winning the Civic Community Award for helping Marian out with her puncture and to Doug/Eileen for winning the best decorated Xmas bike ( Elf and Safety may however have something to say about the Christmas tree helmet decoration coming loose and blocking Doug’s line of vision on the singletrack descent!).

Many thanks to Andy for organising the event, to Marian for helping with course marking and to Jacqui and Dave for organising the much needed refreshments. The next race is Vince’s Winter League Memorial race at Nevis Range on Saturday the 30th of December.

XMAS HANDICAP 2023
Finish Time True Time
1 John Anderson (E-bike) 32:10:00 1 Liam Moynihan 27:17:00
2 Liam Moynihan 45:17:00 2 James Shirley 28:30:00
3 James Tedham 45:27:00 3 James Tedham 31:27:00
4 Gregor & Cory Muir 45:56:00 4 Leon Sims (E-bike) 32:00:00
5 Oli Warlaw 46:05:00 5 Oli Warlaw 32:05:00
6 James Shirley 46:30:00 6 John Anderson (E-bike) 32:10:00
7 Ailsa Pooleman 47:16:00 7 Ben Miller 34:04:00
8 Robbie Cant 48:24:00 8 Robbie Cant 34:24:00
9 Ben Miller 49:04:00 9 Fos (E-bike & repairman) 34:50:00
10 Ian Pooleman 49:05:00 10 Ian Pooleman 36:05:00
11 Gill Barnes 49:09:00 11 Ailsa Pooleman 40:16:00
12 Jess Acheson 50:34:00 12 Gregor & Cory Muir 40:56:00
13 Leon Sims (E-bike) 52:00:00 13 Jess Acheson 41:34:00
14 Fos (E-bike) 54:50:00 14 Gill Barnes 45:09:00
15 Marian Austin 56:27:00 15 Marian Austin (puncture) 55:27:00
16 Donald P & Sophie 60:47:00 16 Donald P & Sophie 58:47:00
17 Doug Little 63:30:00 17 Doug Little (puncture) 60:30:0

Committee Minutes

committee minutes 05/12/23

December 15, 2023December 15, 2023
by douglas.little

Minutes WHW committee meeting: Tues 5^th December 20223

Present: Claire Abernethy (CA), Karl Bungey (KB), Norman Clark (NC), Mandy Watson (MW), Mark Clark (MC), Marian Austin (MA), Sam Potter (SP), Jacqui (JP) and Dave Parfitt (DP)

Apologies: Gregor Muir, Gill Barnes, Doug Little, Steve Bradley, Aiden and Ava

Confirmation of committee roles: as noted in AGM minutes with the addition of MW(junior events co-ordinator) and KB (general committee member)

Minutes of last meeting: actions as noted below

Winter League:

Duror run under ‘Access Legislation’26 registered racers (WHW and NACC), an excellent race – many thanks to Ben Miller and his team for organising
FLS wish to have “honest discussion” re numbers at WHW races MA
KB now has permission from FLS for Strontian round
Nevis and Wolftrax permissions, etc. still tbc MA
‘Gravel Group’ (North Of Scotland, SC) SP to attend ZOOM meeting first Monday of every month

Dates for L1 & 2 training / assessment:

MC to confirm dates for a Level 2 Training course (prov. 27^th – 28^th Jan) and Level 1 course (prov. 24^th – 25^th)
MC to liaise with CA regarding confirmation of dates and course participants
MC has kindly offered discounts to club members for different courses and also a free training day for kids (19^th Feb) – details to be emailed to club, JP will send out with newsletter
Free online CPS course, MA to give those interested the code
First Aid course for 6, CA, to look at options
DP to look at funding options still available to us (£300 still use from LSA)

Mini DH and junior ambassador roles:

Aidan and Ava will put together a Google Doc Survey as part of their role as Junior Ambassadors for Scottish Cycling, CA to email around Kids Club
MW to organise a Scottish Cycling Mini DH at Nevis Range (MW will contact), this will be run on a course which is all rollable and therefore accessible to most riders from u10 – u16 level – prov. SAT 23^rd March
Pre L1 coach programme for 14-16, MW more info to follow…

Mountain Festival:

WHW to have leaflets / poster / etc. on Nevis Cycles stand , if Off-Beat has a stand we will ask them as well CA

New Jerseys:

Agreed to pay Fortan £40 for new design, jerseys will be £32 Adults and £29 Youth CA

Community Sports Hub (CSH):

Overview of meeting attended by DP
Will look through links to funding options provided by CSH DP

Bank Balance:

£6124.46 as of 04/12/23

AOCB:

Funding for Adult Coaching Sessions DP
WHW LTA session, Torlundy SAT 9^th DEC MC
LTA rideout SUN 10^th DEC MC
LTA & FLS talking about re-opening ‘The Cackle’ MC

Date for next meeting:

Thurs 22^nd Feb @ 1930 (Dave and Jacqui’s)

Kid's Club

BIG BIKE BAKE OFF 09/12/23

December 9, 2023December 9, 2023
by douglas.little

Kid’s Club had a great morning at the Fort William Bike Park today to mark the last session of 2023!

Congratulations to Finn Watt and Mia Jackson for winning this years most improved male and female awards

Double congratulations to Finn for winning the Big Baltrunas Bike Bake Off with his lemon drizzle cake, and Charley for the best looking bake!

Thank you to all the kids and parents for their commitment this year! Merry Christmas and see you all soon!

Winter League

WINTER LEAGUE 23/24 – rOUND 1- dUROR 03/12/23

December 5, 2023December 5, 2023
by douglas.little

Winter League Round 1 – Results.

Duror Forest – 3rd of December 2023.

A huge thanks to Ben Miller and his family for putting on such a well organised race. It was great to back to Doror after a 10 year gap!

27 riders lined up for the opening round in -4°C and blue skies. Well done to everyone for making it round the course. A few special mentions below.

It wouldn’t be a Winter League race without A J charging round the course on his E-Bike. Today he had an impressive ride, completing the course in just over 36 minutes! Stewart and Leon were not far behind, taking 2nd and 3rd e-bikes of the day.

Matiss won the coveted price of first to the single track by holding off Gary and Liam. Matiss bowed out of the race shortly after to prevent any injury as he has just signed for a French road cycling team. Well done Matiss!

Gary and Liam showed their impressive technical skills to gap the rest of the field further, eventually Gary came out on top with a minute in the bank.

Gary’s first Winter League was in Duror so it was great to have him back after a superb decade of racing bikes since!

Consistent as ever Mike bagged a solid 3rd place and 1st in the NACC series.

Another impressive ride from Lily Cant, who took 1st female and 1st junior female rider coming home just over the hour mark.

2nd female was Katie who swapped the gondola for her hardtail, despite her dislike of climbing Katie had a great ride crossing the line less than 2 minutes behind Lily.

Isla Cant also had a great ride, taking 3rd female and 2nd junior female.

Ride of the day goes to Aaron after winning the junior male category and surprising many of the adults with his pace on the climbs at just 12 years old. One to keep an eye on for the future. Well done Aaron

Alexander was 2nd junior male and wins most stylish finish with a big manual across the finish line. Great skills

It was great to see Jacqui racing this round as Jacqui is usually on the other side of the tapes, timing and making sure we are all having a good time.

Big thanks to Rebecca and Jeanette for time keeping and my dad Nigel for all his efforts in getting the course ready for us to race, we all appreciate your efforts.

Next race for the Wheelers is the Xmas handicap on the 17th of December.

AGM Minutes

agm minutes – 09/11/23

November 14, 2023November 14, 2023
by douglas.little

West Highland Wheelers AGM – Thursday the 9th of November 2023 at Lochaber Rural Education Trust.

Present –.Doug Little, Gregor Muir, Karl Bungey, Cameron Bungey, Leon Sims, Vince Mackintosh, Emma Pearce, Gill Barnes, Ruari Watt, Claire Abernethy ,Norman Clark, Stefan Baltrunas, Mark Clark, Nix Forster, Damian Forster, Stephen Cant, Isla Cant, Robbie Cant, Dave Parfitt, Daniel Parfitt, Mandy Watson, Aidan Baltrunas, Jacqui Parfitt, Lorraine Whelan, Sam Potter, Henry Cairns , Bronagh Wishart

Apologies – Andy Rogers, Steve Bradley, Marian Austin.

Doug thanked everyone for coming, and the Rural Education Trust for providing the venue.

Minutes of the last AGM – Proposed as accurate by Mandy , seconded by Norman. .

Chairman’s report; Busy year!

Notable club successes over the past year

John Shirley became UCI XCO Masters World Champ 70+ in Argentina.
Lilly Cant has had a great year. Most noticeable of her achievements were the double wins at the World Champs events with cross country (dirt Crit) and downhill wins. As a result of her Race the World wins she was invited to visit the First Minister last week. Her sister Isla is pushing hard on her heels.
Downhill race the worlds event finals- Lilly got 1^st, Mia Jackson got 2^nd in Under 12’s, Isla Cant got 2^nd in u14’s, Sorley Swabey got 1^st and Alexander Pervan got 3^rd in Under 16’s.
Lots of club riders have been racing downhill including Mikayla, Daniel and Nina all racing world cups.
Scottish Downhill champs.

Daniel Parfitt- Scottish Junior champ.

Sorley Swabey- 2^nd youth.

Alastair Maclennan- 2^nd over 40’s ( 1^st grand vet)

Mikayla Parton- female champ.

Tiandra Anderson 3^rd female

Nina Cameron- Junior champ

Hollie Alderson- 2^nd youth

Sorley Swabey 3^rd youth at National Champs, Alastair Maclennan 3^rd over 50

Quite a few enduro racing too, several youngsters entered enduros with Charley Kennedy and Mia Jackson getting several podiums between them and both coming 2^nd overall in their respective age groups at the Hope enduro. Both Cole Jackson and Archie Rodger got a podium place over the season too. Joe Barnes has had several enduro podiums including 2^nd at the national enduro champs. Liam Moynihan won the Macavalanche again.

Gregor Muir won the DMBinS Local Hero Award. Mainly, but not only, for the huge time and effort that he has put into getting the pump track opened. Fair to say that it would not have happened without him.
Bikmo – Bike Club of the year, regional winner.
Rock Up and Ride program. This was a Scottish Cycling pilot scheme that we got involved in to help get more children out riding – 50 kids from Inverlochy and Lundavra schools had a series of lessons and each received a frog bike- including 2 trikes. Super thanks to Claire Abernethy for sorting out all the not inconsiderable logistics! Hopefully more funding will become available next year to carry on the program.
The Fort William Festival was a great success and it was really good to be able to work together with The Fort William Foxes.
Mandy Watson has been shortlisted for volunteer of the year at the Scottish Cycling awards.
Bike and Blether is going from strength to strength.
Mark Clark has been working hard with Scottish Cycling and is now able to deliver Level 1 and 2 British Cycling courses.
Vince ran a very successful SXC at Nevis Range, with local riders getting some great results.
Aidan and Ava were chosen to go on the Scottish Cycling Young ambassadors 1 year programme. They will work towards goal setting and a leadership qualification. Aidan was then interviewed with 60+ children to be accepted for the Scottish Cycling young people’s panel. 12 (including Aidan) were accepted. Aidan will work alongside Scottish Cycling for 2 years. Many thanks to Aidan for giving us an informative speech at this point about what all of this involves.

Fort to Fort

Held last Sunday the 29^th of October, starting in Fort William. 34 participants, with £240 being raised for Highland Hospice in support in memory of Lyndsay Jarrett.

1^st Male – Gary MacDonald 1:51:16 (1.35.47) 2^nd male Gavin Dempster 1.58.09

1^st Female – Marie Meldrum 2:06:33 (2.00.07) 2^nd Female Nix Forster 2:49:50

1^st Junior- Aaron Tressider 2:21:50 2^nd Junior – Logan Anderson 2:29:15 (2.21.53)

Great To see so many junior members out. Special mention to Holly for doing it on her full suspension fat tyred mountain bike and to Alastair Cant for doing it for the first time in testing conditions ( there was a fierce headwind!)

A huge thanks to Jacqui for spending all day doing the timing, driving people around and providing refreshments. Many thanks also to Lorraine, Jen, Alan, Hilary and Iris.

Winter League

All 8 planned races went ahead last year. Many thanks to Marian for organising the schedule. Thanks also to everyone that helped with organizing races and marshalling. Thanks also to Andy for working out the scoring. In all 37 males (including 6 e-bikers) and 13 females took part ( including 1 e-biker). It was great to have some new venues – Achaderry Estate, Mark’s Croft.

There were also 7 junior races held with 3 girls and 13 boys taking part.

1^st Male- Ben Miller 2^nd Male Gregor Muir

1^st Lady – Lily Cant 2^nd female Gill Barnes

1^st Junior- Alexander Pervan 2^nd Junior – Cameron Bungey

1^st male e-biker –AJ MacDonald 2^nd e-biker Stewart Macmillan

1^st lady e-biker Norma Marshall

U12 boys 1^st Joseph Newson, 2^nd Archie Kennedy

U10 boys 1^st = Jethro Murray and Kaiden Springett

U10 girls 1^st Charley Kennedy 2^nd Ashleigh Irvine

U8 boys 1^st Kai Tressider 2^nd Alastair Cant

U6 boys 1^st = Bo Barnes and Gabriel Charlton

U6 girls 1^st = Bella Rodger

Marian is still working on confirming a schedule for this Winter. Here is the provisional one.

Sunday 19^th November – No venue or organiser as yet. Possibly Nevis Range.

Sunday 3^rd December – Duror- Ben Miller

Sunday 17^th December – Xmas Handicap – Glen Nevis – Andy Rogers

Saturday 30^th December- Nevis Range – memorial race – Vince Mackintosh. As a few members have passed away over the past few years, rather than being” The Clare Mackintosh Memorial Race” Vince would like this to be named “The Memorial Race “with a different charity being chosen each year.

Sunday January 14^th – Barcaldine -NACC

Sunday February 11^th – Achaderry Estate, Roy Bridge – Leon Sims

Sunday March 3rd – Wolftrax – Lance Marshall.

Sunday March 24th – ?????

Sunday 14^th April. – Glen Loy – Mark Clark -BBQ and prizegiving

Karl Bungey said that himself and Cameron are open to the possibility of running a race over at Strontian.

It was brought up that a number of these dates clash with Lochaber Athletics Club races. Jacqui pointed out that there is a lot of work involved in getting a schedule together and working it around the athletics club schedule adds more complications.

Please note that we still need Organisers for the 19^th of November and the 24^th of March . Please get in contact with Marian if you are able to help. Marian is also keen to step away from organising races and would like someone to help her this year and take over next year. Nix and Ruari said that they might be able to help. Karl Bungey has also said that he is keen to get more involved with the club, so maybe this is something that he might be interested in doing?

With 8 races planned, the best 6 will count towards the overall league results. Kid’s races will be held where possible and will be run separately by kid’s club.

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

Anyone completing 3 races will receive a WHW buff.

The aim would be to have some shorter, less technical options to be available at most venues.

Xmas Handicap

Many thanks to Andy for once again organizing this. To be held in Glen Nevis on Sunday the 17^th of December.

Membership

We have 416 members in total (319 last year)

42 under 18 student memberships

79 family memberships

8 small family memberships

150 female members (106 adults,44 junior)

252 male members (160 adults, 92 junior)

Time Trials

Many thanks to Emma who put together a schedule of 7 races. The numbers of bikers racing were high at the start of the season but dropped off in July and August. Only one TT was affected by landslides, but it could have been 2 as the Laggan road opened the morning of the TT! Thanks to Vince for organising a new race at Invergarry. Highland Council have laid new tarmac on the Commando Memorial and Loch Eil TT road, making for a smoother and faster ride.6 different organisers were involved. Many thanks to everyone that helped with organising, marshalling and timekeeping. In all 22 males and 7 females took part. Thanks also to Andy for collating results.

1^st Male Alastair MacLennan 2^nd Male Henry Cairns 3^rd Andy Rogers

1^st Lady Sam Potter 2^nd Lady Kira Macdonald 3^rd Emma Pearce

1^st Junior – None involved this year unfortunately.

With regard to next years’ Time Trials, Emma has said that she is happy to help to put together a schedule. It was also suggested that some gravel ride TT’s be incorporated – to be discussed further! More organisers would be welcome.

Wednesday Night Rides

Many thanks to Gregor for putting together the schedules.

The club has bought 4 handlebar mounted night riding lights for members to borrow. Gregor will keep a hold of these.

Treasurers Report

Gill reported that our closing balance is down £2726.39 on the opening balance. However, taking account that we have made a donation to the Bike Park of £7344.83 this is not too surprising. The full accounts are attached.

Kid’s Club

A huge thanks to Claire and Gregor for all their organising in the background.
At present there are 64 kids going out in 10 groups.
There have been some great results at races but what is just as good is to see is how many of the kids are stepping up into leadership roles. Charley Kennedy, Ashleigh Irvine, Hollie Alderson, Ava Marsh, Aidan Baltrunas and Archie Kennedy have been helping out with Active schools groups. Ruby Clarke, Fergus Beard , Cameron Bungey and Finn Forsyth have been helping out on Saturdays.
5 parents + Cameron are doing a British Cycling level 2 training course in a couple of weeks with Cycle wild training.
Mark is looking at doing a Level 1 training course in Spring with Ruby, Finlay, Kyler + 1 other.
A huge thanks to all parents and helpers who have helped out with the club.

Lochaber Trail Association.

Next dig is the 26^th of November at Torlundy.
There have been 13 digs this year.
The digs are generally held on the last Sunday of each month, however, Mark will look at changing the October one next year to avoid a clash with the FTF.
There is a plan to do a dig on the afternoon of Saturday the 9^th of December in conjunction with Kids Club.

Election of Office bearers

Doug gave a big thanks to everyone on the committee for all the work that they have done over the past year.

Chairman – Dave Parfitt proposed – Gill Barnes seconded- Gregor Muir

Official Secretary – Marian Austin proposed – Doug Little seconded- Norman Clark

Membership Secretary – Jacqui Parfitt proposed – Nix Forster seconded- Gill Barnes

Treasurer– Gill Barnes proposed – Jacqui Parfitt seconded-Mark Clark

Minutes Secretaries – Lorraine Whelan Proposed – Doug Little seconded – Dave Parfitt

– Sam Potter Proposed – Jacqui Parfitt seconded – Gregor Muir

Newsletter/social media person – Henry Cairns Proposed Doug Little seconded – Lorraine Whelan

Child protection Officer – Claire Abernethy Proposed – Gregor Muir seconded- Lorraine Whelan

Junior reps – Aidan Baltrunas, Ava Marsh,

General– Mark Clark, Norman Clark, Steve Bradley .Gregor Muir

Mandy Watson is keen to get more junior events organised to enable kids to get a more gradual introduction to racing. It was proposed by Jacqui and seconded by Dave that she join the committee as Junior Events Coordinator.

Jacqui presented Doug with a thank you card, lifetime membership of the Wheelers and some very much appreciated gifts. Andy Rogers was also given Lifetime membership in honor of his 10 years in charge and all that he still does for the club.

Subscription rates – To remain the same as last year. We shall look at increasing them next year.

Juniors £8
Senior £17
Family £28
Small family £24

AOCB

Claire is working on getting some new shirts designed.
After 18 years Bridget Thomas is leaving her position as Active Schools Coordinator. The club would like to thank her for all the help that she has given us in this role. Doug will present her with a bunch of flowers as a thank you.

Trophy presentation.

Most improved Lady – Bronagh Wishart (presented)

Most improved Downhiller – Daniel Parfitt (presented)

Most improved Junior Male – Finn Watt (to be presented at the last kid’s club of the year)

Most improved junior Female- Mia Jackson (to be presented at the last kids club of the year)

Flying Gorilla Award – Jacqui Parfitt (presented)

Men’s Time Trials – Alastair Maclennan (not presented)

Ladies Time Trials – Sam Potter (presented)