Committee Minutes

committee meeting minutes 07/02/23

West Highland Wheelers – Committee Meeting Tuesday the 7th of February 2023

Present – Doug Little, Gregor Muir, Mark Clark, Norman Clark, Dave Parfitt, Jacqui Parfitt, Gill Barnes

Apologies – Marian Austin, Lorraine Whelan, Steve Bradley.

Winter League.

  • Thanks to Vince and Cammie for organising a great race at Invergarry at the weekend.
  • The remaining races in this year’s Winter League are;

– Sunday the 26th Feb – Barcaldine (run by NACC)

–  Sunday the 19th of March  – Wolftrax. We still need a main organiser for this. Stewart MacMillan has said that he would be willing to help out but would like someone else to assist/lead. All permissions are done for this race, we just need someone to lay out the course, do the risk assessments and run the race.

-Sunday the 2nd April – Nevis Range ( including a BBQ and prizegiving) – run by Steve Bradley. This may or may not be an enduro. Spook is going to let us know the feasibility and cost of using the timing as this may have gone up significantly. This is the first weekend of the school holidays and the opening weekend of uplift. There may well also be a number of members away racing at Innerleithen.

  • Some research by Andy has shown that the number of racers over each race has remained fairly stable over the past 4 years. It was generally agreed though, that it would be a good idea to do a Facebook poll at the end of this year’s WL to get any ideas on how we might improve things going forward and attract more racers.
  • Ben Miller very kindly offered to do a race at Duror if we were unable to get a suitable date at Nevis Range. We are now ok for Nevis Range but would definitely be very happy for Ben to organize a race at Duror next year.

Festival on the 25th, 26th and 27th of March

  • Elise has started posting information about the festival and is going to ramp this up in the next week or so when posters and fliers are printed.
  • Jacqui is going to contact Elise about her being able to post directly on to our facebook page and the Instagram account that we have just discovered that we have had since 2014!

Time Trials

  • Emma and Vince have had an initial discussion about how to change things up a little and hopefully encourage more riders to take part on a regular basis.

Bike Park

  • Things are progressing slowly. Work should hopefully start in late March, early April and finish

just in time for the World Championships.

Scottish Cycling Rock up and Ride Project

  • Many thanks to Claire Abernethy for all the time and effort that she has put into organising this. The Isla bikes are arriving at the beginning of March and the first lessons will be held at Inverlochy and Lundavra primary schools in the first week of March.

Trail Closures

  • Concerns were raised about the current temporary trail closures and whether the Wheelers need to do anything to try to help to ensure the long term future of these trails. Mark reassured us that the Lochaber Trail Association are having a meeting with FLS in the next week to discuss this very issue. High up on the agenda for this will be the need to work together more.
  • Mark feels that the best way for the Wheelers to try to help to ensure the long term future of these trails is for more wheelers members to get involved with LTA. They are currently looking for more committee members and their AGM is on Tuesday the 14th of March.
  • The next Trail Association trail dig is on Sunday the 26th of February. Meeting at 10.00 at the North Face car park at Torlundy and working on Lockdown/Rob’s trail.

Bike and Blether

  • Lorraine has set up a specific Bike and Blether facebook page which is linked to the Wheelers page.
  • Jacqui confirmed that she will be around on the Saturday and Sunday of the festival to run Bike and Blether rides.
  • Jacqui is in the process of signing the club up to the SAMH and be a part of Scotlands mental health charter for physical education and sport . All agreed that the club would be very happy to continue with this process.

Scottish Cycling

  • Affiliation has been accepted by Cycling – Claire Abernethy, Robbie Cant and Kenny Forsyth to do their CWPS before kid’s club starts up again at the end of April
  • There is a youth development online meeting 21st Feb from 6-7. Doug has said that he will attend this.
  • There is time trial commissaire face to face training on the 25th of Feb at Forrres – do we have anyone interested?
  • It was confirmed that all the required certificates for coaches need to be sent to Marian ( with Gregor copied in) as and when they are acquired/ refreshed.

Wednesday night rides

  • Many thanks to Dave for sourcing 4 new night riding lights. These are now in Gregor’s possession for anyone who wishes to borrow them. We currently have one helmet mount and 3 handlebar mounts. Dave is going to get one more handlebar mount.
  • Numbers have been low recently but the weather has been fairly horrible. Might be worth doing another introductory night for different levels just after the festival.

AOB

  • Many thanks to Simon at Highland First Aid for running a course and getting 8 members qualified/ refreshed. Simon has very kindly offered to do a free first Aid refresher session for all leaders before the start of the next block of Kid’s club sessions. Doug will contact him to confirm this.
  • Mark is keen to get 4 candidates together for a British Cycling Level 2 course so that he can finish his British Cycling tutoring process. Mark will contact Claire to chase up potential kid’s club parent candidates. Gill will speak to Claire Beattie to see if she would be interested.
  • Doug still needs to organise a  meeting with Vince, Jacqui and Evelyn to discuss the website social media etc.

Next Meeting – Tuesday the 7th of March at Doug’s house.

Actions;

  1. Find an organiser for the Winter League race at Wolftrax. Doug to contact Lance and Leon to see if they would be interested in helping.
  2. Jacqui to contact Elise re posting directly on to our facebook page and Instagram.
  3. Doug to attend Youth Development Meeting on the 21st of February.
  4. Dave to source one more handlebar mount.
  5. Gregor to put an introductory night riding session into the schedule at the beginning of April after the festival.
  6. Doug to contact Simon at Highland First Aid re organising a leaders first aid refresher session.
  7. Gill to speak to Claire Beattie about possibly doing a level 2 course with Mark.
  8. Doug to organise a meeting with Vince, Jacqui and Evelyn to discuss the website, social media etc.
Winter League

Winter League round 5 – invergarry 05/02/23

No snow this year, but still a very chilly day. Many thanks to Vince for organising another cracking course. Thanks also to Cammie for doing the timekeeping and to Stewart for marshalling. Congratulations to Ben Miller for being first male, to Lily Cant for being first female and Leon Simms for being the first e biker. See the slide below for the full results. The next race is being run by North Argyll Cycling Club at Barcaldine on Sunday the 26th of Feb.

Junior Race results;

Under 12 boys

  1. Joseph ( 2 laps)
  2. Archie

Under 10 girls

  1. Charley

Under 10 boys

  1. Fraser
  2. Kaiden

Under 8 boys

  1. Alistair

 

 

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Winter League

Winter League round 4 -Glen loy 15/01/23

Many thanks to Mark and Katie for hosting round 4 of the Winter League at their Croft in Glen Loy. As ever, Mark devised an interesting, unusual and highly enjoyable short course which include a bit of everything ( including a river crossing, a good bit of bog and mud, a fierce climb and a giant slalom course!)Cake and refreshments in the warm and cosy caravan were very much appreciated. Hats of to Bo Barnes for launching himself at everything in his way and leaving his mum trailing in his wake! The next race is at Invergarry on the 5th of February.

Results:

  1. A.J. MacDonald 10 Laps 46.16 – 1st ebike male
  2. Stewart MacMillan 9 laps 48.38 – 2nd e-bike male
  3. Campbell Mackintosh 8 laps 48.01- 1st male ( 1st junior)
  4. Lance Marshall 8 laps 48.34 – 3rd ebike male
  5. Doug Little 8 laps 48.36 – 4th ebike male
  6. Ben Miller 8 laps 51.33 – 2nd male
  7. Alexander Pervan 7 laps 49.43 3rd male ( 2nd junior)
  8. Gregor Muir 7 laps 50.02 – 4th male
  9. Graeme Corner 6 laps 48.31 – 5th Male
  10. Colin MacTavish 6 laps 50.36 – 6th male
  11. Andy Rogers 6 laps 53.20 – 7th male
  12. Fiona Beattie 5 laps + one pit stop to help Bo 44.40 – 1st Female
  13. Gill Barnes 5 laps 54.25 – 2nd female
  14. Cameron Bungey 4 laps 45.47 – 8th male ( 3rd junior)

Kid’s race

Under 12 boys – 1st Joseph, 2nd Archie

Under 10 girls – 1st Charley

Under 10 boys – 1st Jethro. 2nd Kaiden

Under 6 boys – 1st Bo

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Committee Minutes

Committee meeting minutes 06/12/22


 
Present: Doug Little, Gill Barnes, Nathan Marsh, Gregor Muir, Dave Parfit, Jacqui Parfit, Norman Clark, Mark Clark, Lorraine Wheelan, Marian Austin, Steve Bradley
 
Apologies: N/A
 
Approval of Agenda and Minutes: all agreed
 
Doug welcomed everyone to the meeting and welcomed new members Lorraine Wheelan and Nathan Marsh.
         

  1. Trail Maintenance Day: Saturday 10th December 10am to 2pm at Nevis Range. DL asked if there was anything needing to be done; MC stated that everything is in place now. A reminder to be sent to Kids Club DL will email Claire Abernethy. The café may be closed, toilets open, DL will take the coffee/tea etc. out from the club shed, DL suggested people take flasks of hot water and food and MC to take cake.
  1. Christmas Handicap: Andy Rodgers is running this on Sunday 18th December in Glen Nevis, sign on is at 1030, £6 for the lucky dip gift.
  1. Winter League Discussion: Big thanks to Leon Sims and Lance Marshall for the huge amount of work they put in for the route on 4th December, even bridge building, it was also great having toilets for the course!
  1.  
  2. Glenloy (Upper) – MC organising this.
  3.  
  4.  
  5.  

April – Enduro at Nevis Range, no confirmed date yet, DL suggested dates of 9th April (Easter Sunday) or 2nd April – Waiting for confirmation from NR that the race can be held there. All discussed alternative venue if NR falls through.
 

  1. Clarify Committee Positions: DL stated that NM is down as General Committee or “Road Rep”.

Claire Abernethy has started collating information and will be doing the CWPS (Child & Welfare Protection in Sports) which everyone needs to do. Claire will also need to do special Child Protection office training.
GM will send training links to all leaders for Child Protection Training.
DL discussed who will take on specific rolls and responsibilities for social media, the website, newsletter, race results from previous years and keeping the Blog updated. DL to have a meeting with Vince Mackintosh, Jacqui Parfit and Evelyn MacLennan to discuss.
 

  1. Junior Representatives: Aiden and Ava have offered to be Junior Reps; NM will be a liaison between the Junior Reps and the Committee, so the Junior Reps do not need to attend Committee Meetings. NM will work with them on a list of things they would like to see happen at Kids Club and feed back to the Committee.
  2. Time Trials: DL will email Emma, NM and Vince Mackintosh in the new year re the schedule.
  1. Wednesday Nights: lights will be needed for the night rides; DP will go to the bike shops to purchase some new lights for the club; 2 sets from each shop. DL will check prices.

GM asked if Strone has reopened to which MC stated there has been to updates yet.
GM and MA discussed the 14th and 21st  December night rides; the 14th was going to be up Glen Nevis with the adults going to the pub and Kids Club to McDonalds however due to Richard Kidds funeral being on the 14th it was discussed and agreed by all that this be changed. The 14th will now be at Nevis Range and the 21st will be at Glen Nevis then pub/McDonalds. NM will run the Kids Club night ride.
 

  1. Kids Club: The last one of 2022 was on Saturday December 3rd. Well done to Joseph and Daniel for passing their British Cycling Fundamentals of Mountain Bike Leadership course. Thanks to MC and Mike Pescod from Abacus Mountaineering for the training.

DL advised that there is now funding for Level 1 training in April 2023.
MC stated he wants to do the Level 2 training but needs more people to sign up for the course for MC to be approved. Level 2 is an 18+ professional qualification that cab used at club level.

  1.  

April Fundamentals Level 1 – up to 6 people
DL stated that there is 5 or 6 kids and several adults up for doing the course; a mix of kids and adults would be good.
 

  1. Event Scotland/WHW/Fort William Foxes Festival: Planning for the festival is progressing well. Elise from the Foxes is very organized and is doing a great job putting it all together. The main part of the festival is going to be held at Caol Community Centre on Sat the 25th of March. More details to follow soon.

DL needs to arrange event insurance, and asked is anyone knows how to arrange this? MA advised we might get the insurance under existing events insurance. DL asked MA to check if WHW can get cover for a day event. MA stated that risk assessments would need to be carried out – DL and MA to discuss this further.
MA suggested it would be useful if Elise could email her a five sentence summary of the event.
 

  1. Pump Track: GM stated that the Pump Track is getting a free container from the Rock up Ride Program. They are awaiting permission to store this at the pump track, need confirmation of where the container will be situated and length of time it can stay there.
  1. Any other Business: GM stated that a venue is required for the 1st Aid course being run by Simon Wells on 21st and 22nd of January. MA will ask the Yacht Club.

GM stated that an evening for a Junior Leaders meeting, needs to be face-to-face and not online. Provisional date of 20th December, if this doesn’t suit then move to 10th January.
MA advised that there will be a new person running the bile kitchen from January; the bile kitchen could help with basic bile maintenance course; GM suggested this be revisited in January.
JP advised the club has been working with SAMH and Scottish Cycling to train mental health champions and have been encouraged to sign up to a mental health charter and include this on our website – all agreed and JP to take this forward.
LW asked if it mixed Bike and Blether rides could be arranged to encourage men to join the rides, all agreed – NC has volunteered to develop this.
MA advised that Affiliation for the club has now gone to British Cycling, DL thanked everyone involved with this and especially MA. 
 

  1. Bank Account: GB advised that the account currently has £12500 and that £2500 has specifically been marked for training Mountain Bike Leaders. GB advised that Scottish Cycling gave the club funding for this.
  1. Next meeting: this is scheduled for 7.30pm on Tuesday 7th February at NC’s house.

 
ACTIONS:
 

  • DL to email Claire Abernethy a reminder for Trail Maintenance Day
  • GM and DL to ask Lance, Leon and Stewart if they’d like to arrange Laggan on 26th Feb
  • GM to send CP training links to all leaders
  • JP and EM to discuss social media/blog/race results rolls and responsibilities
  • NM to create list with Junior Reps and feedback to Committee
  • DL to email Emma, NM and Vince re time Trials
  • DP to get lights for night rides
  • JP to speak to Elise re getting the SAMH/Scottish Cycling video played at festival
  • MA to check event insurance for festival
  • MA and DL to discuss risk assessments for festival
  • MA – to ask Yacht Club if the 1st Aid course could be held there
  • JP – to take forward adding Mental Health Champion info to website/Facebook
  • LW to make a Bike and Blether Facebook page up asap
  • NC – to develop the mixed Bike and Blether social rides
  • ALL – revisit the Bike Kitchen assisting with basic bike maintenance

Happy Riding 

Winter League

Winter League Round 3 27/12/22- The Clare Mackintosh Memorial

Definitely Wintry weather for round 3 of the League. Well done to all of those who braved the snow and cold. Vince and Cammie set up a nice technical loop which was made extra spicy by the snowy conditions. Cammie stormed to victory to get his hands on the antler trophy. Many thanks to Vince and Cammie for setting and marking the course, to Jacqui for doing the timing and Leon and Jack for manning the soup kitchen. A huge thank you also to everyone who contributed towards the £166.41 raised for Marie Curie. The next race is at Glen Loy on the 15th of January and is being run by Mark Clark.

Results;

1 AJ MacDonald 4 laps 00:53:46 1st Ebike male 00:15:29 00:12:43 00:12:43 00:12:51
2 Stewart MacMillan 4 laps 00:55:43 2nd Ebike male 00:15:48 00:12:48 00:13:39 00:13:28
3 Campbell MacKintosh 4 laps 00:57:42 1st male (1st Jm) 00:16:42 00:13:37 00:13:30 00:13:53
4 Alasdair MacLennan 3 laps 00:45:23 2nd male 00:17:08 00:14:12 00:14:03
5 Doug Little 3 laps 00:47:00 3rd Ebike male 00:17:50 00:14:36 00:14:34
6 Ben Miller 3 laps 00:48:02 3rd male 00:17:58 00:15:07 00:14:57
7 Daniel Parfitt 3 laps 00:49:48 4th male (2nd Jm) 00:18:41 00:15:53 00:15:14
8 James Tedham 3 laps 00:53:03 5th male 00:20:09 00:16:15 00:16:39
9 Gregor Muir 3 laps 00:55:40 6th male 00:20:42 00:16:53 00:18:05
10 Cole Jackson 3 laps 00:57:30 7th male (3rd Jm) 00:20:54 00:18:01 00:18:35
11 Colin MacTavish 3 laps 00:58:17 8th male 00:21:50 00:18:08 00:18:19
12 George Maitland 3 laps 01:00:27 9th male 00:22:46 00:18:58 00:18:43
13 Joseph Tait 3 laps 01:03:21 10th male (4th Jm) 00:23:36 00:20:14 00:19:31
14 Lily Cant 3 laps 01:03:32 1st female (1st Jf) 00:23:20 00:20:10 00:20:02
15 Robbie Cant 3 laps 01:03:38 11th male 00:23:21 00:20:15 00:20:02
16 Isla Cant 2 laps 00:45:36 2nd female (2nd Jf) 00:24:30 00:21:06
17 Alexander Pervan 2 laps 00:46:40 12th male (5th Jm) 00:23:59 00:22:41
18 Andy Rodgers 2 laps 00:46:45 13th male 00:25:38 00:21:07
19 Gill Barnes 2 laps 00:47:05 3rd female 00:25:53 00:21:12
20 Jessica Acheson 2 laps 00:52:41 4th female 00:29:52 00:22:49
21 Cameron Bungey 2 laps 01:00:05 14th male (6th Jm) 00:35:10 00:24:55
Ally MacPherson DNF – mechanical

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Adventure

Sat 10/12/22 trail dig day in association with LOCHABER…

Despite some initial reservations about perhaps needing jackhammers to cope with the extremely cold and frosty conditions some great work was achieved by all those who came out to help on Saturday. Many thanks for Lochaber Trail Association for helping to organise this. It was fantastic to see such a great mixture of youth and experience working together to help develop the trails.

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Winter League

04/12/22 Winter league round 2 Achaderry Estate

On a dry but cold day 26 riders took part in the main race and 10 took part in the junior race, in the 2nd of this years Winter League series. This was a new new venue for the Winter League and was hosted by Leon Simms. The amount of effort that Leon put into organising the course and hosting was very much appreciated by everyone! Fair to say that this was a good old fashioned xc winter league race with some fierce climbs, almost unrideable bog and lots and lots of mud! Many thanks to Lance and Ruari for all their efforts in putting together the course and thanks to everyone else that helped with marshalling and timekeeping.

Main race results;

1 AJ MacDonald 4laps 01:04:52 1st Ebike male
2 James Shirley 4laps 01:08:22 1st senior male
3 Stewart MacMillan 4laps 01:08:42 2nd Ebike male
4 Campbell MacKintosh 4laps 01:11:14 1st Junior male
5 Ruari Watt 4laps 01:12:51 2nd Senior male
6 Alasdair MacLennan 4laps 01:15:39 3rd Senior male
7 Daniel Parfitt 3laps 01:00:10 2nd Junior male
8 Scott Rodger 3laps 01:02:23 4th Senior male
9 Ben Miller 3laps 01:04:33 5th Senior male
10 Aaron Tresidder 3laps 01:05:01 3rd Junior male
11 Es Tresidder 3laps 01:05:02 6th Senior male
12 John Shirley 3laps 01:06:25 7th Senior male
13 Gregor Muir 3laps 01:07:57 8th Senior male
14 Colin MacTavish 3laps 01:14:26 1st over 70
15 Lily Cant 3laps 01:17:12 1st junior female
16 Robbie Cant 3laps 01:17:17 9th senior male
17 Foss 3laps 01:18:25 10th senior male
18 Nix Forster 3laps 01:22:27 1st senior female
19 Isla Cant 3laps 01:24:52 2nd junior female
20 Andy Rodgers 3laps 01:30:07 11th senior male
21 Doug Little 2laps 0:38:42 3rd Ebike male
22 Gill Barnes 2laps 00:58:31 2nd senior female
23 Cameron Bungey 2laps 00:58:52 4th junior male
24 Marian Austin 2laps 01:09:16 3rd senior female
25 Norma Gregory 1lap 01:02:27 1st Ebike female
26 Lance Marshall 1lap 01:02:28 4th Ebike male

Junior race results;

U12 BOYS:

Joseph 1st

Archie K 2nd

U10 BOYS:

Calum 1st

Jethro 2nd

Fraser 3rd

U10 GIRLS:

Charley 1st

U8 BOYS:

Kai 1st

Harris 2nd

Alistair 3rd

Archie R 4th

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Kid's Club

03/12/22 Last kid’s club session of the year

Sat the 3rd saw the last kid’s club session of this year. Hot chocolates with all the trimmings were much appreciated by all at the end. Junior trophies were also handed out;

  1. Most Improved Downhiller – Sorley Swabey.
  2. Most Improved Junior Female – Lily Cant.
  3. Most Improved Junior Male – Alan Grieve.

Many Thanks to everyone that has helped out with the club this year. Roll on Spring time!

Kid's Club

cONGRATULATIONS TO jOSEPH AND dANIEL FOR SUCCESFULLY COMPLETING tHEIR…

Well done to Joseph Tait and Daniel Parfitt passing their fundamentals of mountain bike leadership course last weekend and thanks to Mark Clark and MikePescod Abacus Mountain Guides for putting the course on. The club is really fortunate to have had a number of older teenagers progress through kids club and start helping out with the groups and they have all been brilliant over the last term.

It’s been great seeing some of them start progressing through the leadership scheme and we are looking forward to supporting more of them through this next year.

Trying to get them all together for a photo proved impossible but thank you Cameron Bungey, Cory Muir, Cole Jackson, Daniel Parfitt, Finn Forsyth, Joseph Tait, Kai Frost, Nina Cameron, Riley Forsyth and Ruby Clark