National AGM

By on 26 July, 2015   /   latest news  

The AGM of the CTC took place in London last weekend, and three members of the West Surrey committee (Mark Waters, Laurie Mutch and myself) attended, as well as Chris Jeggo and Juden.   We were there as all four of the contentious motions that had been tabled were proposed by either West Surrey Members personally, or on behalf of the Club. It is therefore entirely appropriate to report on proceedings for the benefit of West Surrey members.

We did not go with any great expectations, and that was a good job, for otherwise we would have been disappointed. However, our primary aim of raising awareness of our very firm view that CTC is now effectively run by the Chief Executive, instead of how it should be, as per the Articles, by the Council, comprising Councillor selected by members, was most certainly achieved. Our members own resolutions focused on the key decisions made recently, each of them reducing member benefits such as the redundancy of the Technical Officer. They also drew attention to the lack of communication from CTC nationally including, quite shockingly, the complete absence of any proper appreciation of the contribution made by Chris Juden, the former Technical Officer, over so many years. It was a pleasure for Laurie and myself to speak on the two resolutions put forward by David Wood and Angela Byrne, who unfortunately were unable to attend.

The specific motions opposed by Council were rejected, albeit with substantial minority support, but the West Surrey committee motion was upheld having been supported by Council – after all they could hardly say they were opposed to exercising their responsibility in determining their strategy for CTC.

Other members present remarked that we as a Centre had certainly got our act together and were able to present a cogent argument. We struck no killer blow, but it would require a very feeble Council, or one with a complete lack of self-awareness, not to realise that in future they have to demonstrate both that they are

responsible for strategy, and communicate clearly to members the reasons behind key decisions affecting the future of our own Club.

 

John Murdoch

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The 100 & 75 Mile Reliability Rides 2015

By on 20 July, 2015   /   Blog posts  

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The 2015 Reliability Ride took place on the 19th July with the following characters being found to be (more or less) fully reliable:

100 Miles: Peter Hackman, Mark Heal, Clive Richardson, Dane Maslen, Martin Vinson and Mark Waters
75 Miles: Bob McLeod, Alan Ince & Chris Boggon

As a result of a most unfortunate set of circumstances, Aiden Gill got separated from his companions and then suffered a GPS malfunction resulting in him taking a wrong turning. By the time he worked out where he was, he decided to head directly home rather than work his way back to the route and plod on alone: sensible chap!

The weather couldn’t really have been better and it was altogether a most enjoyable day (however, see bottom para). The route is superb and the new start / finish point at Rokers, just opposite Merrist Wood College in Worplesdon, worked well. Many thanks to Roger Philo for holding the fort there at the finish until the organiser (Mark Waters) got back.

There are really just a couple of comments to make: although the route sheet might make it seem like there’s not much in the way of refreshment stops, in fact there’s a perfectly adequate supply: coffee can be taken at Selborne at 23 miles, although an early arrival there might find the cafe not yet open; the mini-supermarket at Clanfield (at 42 miles) is small but adequate and does provide fairly nasty coffee and tea if required;and at 60 miles, provided the deviation through Midhurst is taken, there are cafes and shops in the town. In addition to these, there are quite a few pubs along the way.

It would be a useful exercise to study the route and see if it could be improved upon. Only the very ambitious would choose to avoid a stop in Midhurst, so the ‘voie normale’ really needs to pass through the town. And owning to the change of event HQ at Rokers, we found it necessary to cycle past the finish and up to the roundabout and back down in order to achieve a full 100 miles.

Just for the record, the first people back took, including stops at Clanfield and Midhurst, about 8 hours, 50 minutes to complete the ride.

From the point of view of the award presented at the Annual Dinner to the oldest rider to complete the 100 mile ride, the oldest willing acceptee of this prestigious award this year is Mark Heal. Congratulations, Mark!

Finally, thanks to all who turned out to ride the event. That said, with the Benstead Cup now no longer being competed for, holding events is essentially a fund raising exercise and the club isn’t going to get rich on the revenue obtained from this event. Once you take that factor away, it could perhaps be said that this ride spoiled what could otherwise have been a very enjoyable, and perhaps slightly less frantic, normal Sunday club run! Thought needs to be given as to whether to try and raise the profile of these rides so that they might appeal to a wider audience; however with the seeming gradual demise of the CTC Tourist Competition, attempting to achieve this might be quite difficult. Food for thought pending a discussion in the future sometime.

Full details of the route may be found by clicking on this link: https://www.strava.com/activities/350082099

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The Start

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Frensham Church

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Aidan

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South Harting

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Cricket at Lurgashall

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The Hascombe Dip in the distance

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Local CTC member rides the Tour de France

By on 17 July, 2015   /   latest news  

A local and long time member of CTC, Ciaran Doran, is currently riding with Geoff Thomas (and Lance Armstrong for two days, although the less said about that the better) on the charity event that involves riding the full route of the Tour de France, but one day ahead of the professionals.

He is raising money for Cure Leukaemia, and members may wish to look at Ciaran’s blog at http://www.chaqueetape.com/ciaran-james-meet-leukaemia-patient-philip-large and perhaps also contribute to this most deserving charity.

Ciaran lives in Guildford and I understand that he has occasionally ridden with the Sunday Riders, so clearly Clive has trained him well for such an immense challenge.

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Phil Gasson – new ride leader

By on 16 July, 2015   /   latest news  
John Murdoch welcoming Phil Gasson as a new ride leaderWith the increasing popularity of the Midweek Wayfarers rides, there is a need to ensure that there are sufficient ride leaders available every Wednesday.  This is a responsible job, although personally one which I find very enjoyable as well, and thankfully a number of experienced riders have volunteered their services in the past few months.
The latest recruit is Phil Gasson, and I had the great pleasure of formally welcoming him as a new ride leader at the start of yesterday’s ride.  I am sure that you will enjoy it as much as I do, Phil.
John Murdoch
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National AGM – final chance to vote by proxy

By on 15 July, 2015   /   latest news  
The National AGM is to be held this Saturday, 18th July. 
This year there are some important motions that have been put forward, and I would particularly draw your attention to Motion 8, which has been proposed by Mark Waters (Chairman) and seconded by myself, and is presented by the committee on behalf of West Surrey, after much discussion with members.
The gist of the motion is that we believe that CTC Council have been emasculated by a Chief Executive who has strong views, and no longer exercise their responsibility in setting the strategic direction of CTC.  The “direction of travel” of CTC can very clearly be shown by the reduction in what we might call member services e.g. provision of Touring Officer and Technical Officer.  It is very clear from the CTC regulations that it is the Council who should set the strategic direction, and leave the Chief Executive (an employee) to implement this through day to day decisions
The motion had to be abbreviated as a result of space constraints, but I attach the full motion, and proposer’s note, in order that you may see more of the background.  Interestingly, I have still not received any response to my letter.
There are other important motions that have been put forward, some by respected members of West Surrey.
I would most certainly not indicate which way you should vote, but just say that these are important in my opinion, and can have an effect on what type of club we have in the future.
If you have not acted already, I would urge you to give them proper consideration, and vote online by appointing a proxy; the form and 2-part security code are shown on the insert to the June/July issue of Cycle. This must be done by 9.00 am tomorrow, Thursday 16 July.  Both Mark and myself plan to attend the AGM (and may have an opportunity to speak) but if you appoint either of us as your proxy you will need to advise us how you wish your vote(s) to be cast.
John Murdoch
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