AUK OFFICIALS' REPORTS 1997 Secretary In October of this year, AUK had it's official 21st birthday. The inaugural meeting, which saw the official beginning of the Association, was held on 25th October 1976, at the Top Hat restaurant in Stratford upon Avon. The 33 members present at that meeting would, no doubt, be justifiably proud of the achievements of AUK over the intervening years. This year has seen no diminution in the continued success of our organisation. Membership has continued to grow at an ever increasing rate this year, and an extremely successful Edinburgh - London has been the pinnacle, for many, of 12 months of excellent cycling activity. We continue to be financially sound, but it is for other Officials to comment in detail on this, and other matters, relating to our continued growth and success as a national cycling organisation. Whilst AUK has officially 'come of age', the Association is stiII a relative youngster compared with other national cycling bodies. Consequently our organisation continues to go through the process of change, which necessarily accompanies early growth. The tasks of several Officials now require the support of one or more assistants, in order to spread the workload. Thus it is possible to maintain a reasonable (but by no means equal) level of burden on any given Honorary Official. it has not gone unnoticed that there has been little difficulty in finding suitable volunteers, from within the membership, to fulfil the role of acolyte to Honorary Officials Cometh the hour, cometh the man (I hope it is politically acceptable to use such an expression these days). Your committee will meet for the fourth occasion this year, on the morning of the forthcoming AGM. Attendances for the three meetings held thus far during 1997, are given below: K Benton 3 B Mawson 2 F Cooke 2 B Morris 2 P Coulson 3 D Peet 2 L de Vos 2 J Richardson 3 B Ferguson 2 N Simpson 2 J Lahiff 3 S Simpson 2 D Lewis 2 R Smith 3 A great deal of personal time and effort has been expended this year, on taking an in-depth look at our regulatory system. The present Constitution and Regulations were put in place as a result of the major changes which took place within AUK during 1987. This was a somewhat fraught experience for those concerned at the time, if the records are anything to go by. It is my understanding that the Constitution and Regulations, which were adopted at that time (and which, by and large, survive to this day), were accepted on the basis that 'fine tuning' could be done at a later date. It is exactly this process on which I have been making a start. The work has focused on the need to refine wording and to highlight anomalies, logical dashes, non sequiturs etc, wherever these occur. There are multiple examples of these types of flaw contained within the present Regulations and Constitution. Some members of the committee have found it difficult to come to terms with the fact that some change is needed. As a consequence the work is ongoing, but slow. The guiding principle in all of this work has been to maintain the existing and underlying intention of all Regulations and Constitution clauses. That is, until such time as the membership sees fit to approve any changes to our regulatory system. At the same time, it is my firm belief that our Regulations should be made as accessible, clear and unambiguous as it is humanly possible to make them. This is surely a laudable aim, and can only benefit the membership, as well as the Association in general. The following quotation from the Secretary's report to the 1988 AGM perhaps sums up my feelings on this matter: "It is essential that the Club's rules and regulations, both in relation to our administration and our events, are widely available and understood."It is my earnest hope that real progress can be made with this project, during the coming 12 months. Finally, may wish all AUK members 'Happy Cycling' during the year ahead. This being the 21st year of AUK's influence on the British cycling scene, 1998 will hopefully see even more cyclists enjoying the recreational, health and social benefits of the greatest sport and pastime which mankind has so far devised. John Lahiff Membership We have seen another period of steady growth, with new members joining at more than twice the rate of last year, and total membership now exceeding 3000. Not only have we enrolled more new members than in any previous year, but we have also had a lower percentage of non-renewers than before. This surge of interest in Audax has undoubtedly been given extra impetus by a number of unsolicited articles in the cycling press. A request in the Spring Arrivée for a volunteer helper resulted in a dozen members putting themselves forward - a very heartening response. As a result we have been able to take on two delegates, David Palfreyman and Tony Longhurst, both with previous computer experience (and both of whom, incidentally, successfully completed this year's Edinburgh-London). Tony and David will be handling all your renewals this year; you will find the address of one or the other of them on the renewal form in this issue of the magazine. Ray Smith AUK EVENTs O nce again, congratulations and many thanks to all the Organisers (145) and Helpers, who gave AUK its biggest-ever Calendar. The increase was 16 events, and would have been more but for (casual, in some cases) cancellations. With the increased membership, and more publicity, it is reasonable to have a higher density and frequency of rides, and this in turn gives more choice to riders. In spite of the growth, we are still short of events above 200km, and a bit low on RM, (compare the Table below with last year’s version). We need more spread through the UK, and more spread through the year: it is possible to run a 400 in September! Please get in touch with me if you fancy running some events. We are looking at methods of possibly covering the Organisers of longer (above 200km) and new events against financial loss. Some cancellations, yet again, were due to the bulk of entries being so late that the initial outlay for HQ and Controls was not feasible. Organisers need to arrange many things, and have to know numbers in advance; riders have only the day to consider. Having a good choice of rides means giving support, (in all ways), so please try to enter in plenty of time.The figures for 1996 are: Cat. 50+ 100+ 150+ 200+ 300+ 400+ 600+ 1000+ Totals BP 30 115 †35 -- -- -- -- -- 170 BT -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- 0 AUK -- -- -- †78 13 †7 -- -- 98 BRM -- -- -- 17 6 †6 4 1 33 Totals 30 115 35 95 19 13 4 1312 *includes multiple starts. †includes Arrows and Darts. Peter Coulson Press Secretary Flushed with enthusiasm after the 1991 Centenaire Paris Brest I put it about that I would be prepared to stand for the post of Press Secretary. The past six years have been personally very rewarding, working with such a splendid committee and AUK surely provides a role model for other organisations to follow with every committee member having defined working responsibilities. My role has been rather lightweight compared to the considerable workload taken on by others who enable so many cyclists to enjoy the challenge and camaraderie of the long distance randonnée. It is due to efforts of the committee as a whole that Audax is now very much part of the UK cycling scene - events are flagged in the cycling press, journalists now write features on Audax without prompting from AUK, frame builders offer Audax bikes to a perceived large market and AUK features clearly on the Internet. But now that I an elected councillor of the CTC, heading up its Publicity machine, I am hopeful that the CTC, rather than AUK, will soon be quoted as the fastest growing cycling organisation in the UK as this will be good for cycling generally and for the long term success of Audax UK. Organisers requiring the AUK/Cycling Weekly pointer and control signs should contact Bry Ferguson and membership leaflets can also be obtained from the Membership Secretary. See you on the road and I hope to keep up to speed on AUK news through the pages of Arrivee, the Internet and the media at large! Brian Morris International Events This year I found it almost impossible to get up-to-date information to members via Arrivée as its actual publication was often several months after I had submitted my events info. To overcome this difficulty for next year I may try to list a few of the better known rides for inclusion in the Handbook, or else in Winter Arrivée '98. However, this course of action is fraught with uncertainties as events often get changed later on, particularly in France it would seem. This year the FFCT changed the date of the BRA, whilst the date and venue of Etape du Tour remained uncertain for a long time The Bernard Hinault randonnée disappeared from the calendar altogether! Most of the foreign calendars of events are not published until March, so for the latest accurate details (hopefully), it is always advisable to contact me personally. Quite a number of members have already done so this year. This has the advantage that members can specify their particular interests and discuss them with me on an informal, personal level, which I welcome very much. Moreover, I may perhaps be able to put members in touch with other indivfduals or groups taking part in the same event. Len de Vos Arrivée Editor We have a new look Arrivée this year, an A4 magazine format replacing the A5 book style, to cope with the steady increase in the amount, and quality, of written material and photographs. The club continues to grow and we have immediately filled our new mag, to within 4 grams of the next postal band. So, as predicted last year, we have had to depart from our policy of publishing all relevant material in its original form and edit more drastically. This means: we must sometimes prune articles and letters. This takes time if it is to be done sensitively so we ask all contributors to type or word process their material. Handwritten articles are rare now and tend to make their way to the bottom of the pending box. When we must make a choice we now give priority to articles accompanied by fact sheets for prospective riders or quality sketch maps, logos, profiles, photos. Whilst the immediate aim is to stay within our budget, thus limiting the size of the mag should result in an even better quality publication, so please don't let it put you off trying to get into print, we need a good variety of articles and visual material to maintain the present high standards. It isn't only what goes into the mag which makes it so good - its what is left out. I assure you all neatly typed or text file articles are painstakingly laid out for publication - only at the last minute are decisions made as to what to use for a balanced magazine. Nothing is tossed to one side. There is a case for a bi-monthly Arrivée which could better keep members up-to-date with new events. That would require another assistant Editor and an increase in renewal fees to £10. Something for us to think about. Thank you to everyone who has contributed this year and made our mag the best cycling magazine available anywhere. Sheila Simpson VALIDATION SECRETARY Number of Brevets validated are: 50 100 150 total 1996 772 4814 945 6481 1997 511 5512 1020 7042 200 300 400 600 1000+ total 1996 4220 618 477 226 11 5552 1997 4151 839 534 254 107 5685 A list of Super Randonneurs is available and a copy has been sent to the Magazine Editor for publication in the Handbook. A statement of points gained by riders is available, and it shows that 1044 AUK members have taken part in events of 200km and over. From this list riders who have gained 50 points or more have been identified, and also the various award winners. See separate report from David Whitney re ACP International validations. There is still one event outstanding, the Cut Gate Roughstuff 50Km. Populaire, held on the 18-10-97. Bernard Mawson Brevet Card Production Secretary I hope you read in the Treasurer's Report that we are being joined by the renowned Trikie and Connoisseur of Cardboard, Madame Pam Pilbeam. We will share my 'workload' this season with a view to a 'take-over' when I retire (?) at the AGM in November '98. This is wonderful and very welcome news for me and even with the increase in the number of rides in the Calendar with more riders it means I'll not be counting 18,000 polybags into I0's, or putting over 40,000 Brevet cards, Route sheets, Entry forms etc. through the copier, nor making at least 250 parcels to take to the PO, usually in the rain. Before Peter sent me the Calendar I reported on the hectic couple of weekends in May with 34 rides needing 1570 cards, next May 8/9/10 - 18 rides then on the next Sat/Sun - 28 rides! I forgot to mention the 555 Perm cards and the AUK caps. Sorry, all the Vintage caps were sold at York. Please send your orders to Bry - I want to choose the easy Rides. I am looking forward to 1998, and '99 and certainly 2000 - there will be increases on the 17725 cards sent in '96/'97. Bry Ferguson ACP/LRM VALIDATED EVENTS A breakdown of the cards validated for these events for the last 4 years is shown below. Nothing much to report on, the number of events and cards validated remain fairly static (apart for PBP years of course). In 1997 there was a delay towards the end of the season in getting some validated cards back to the organisers, mainly due to Bernard and myself being on holiday at the same time. It is always going to take longer to get these events validated than AUK only registered events as the process involves cards and/or information passing from Bernard to myself and then to R. Lepertel in Paris and back to myself before final despatch back to the organisers. It only needs one, or more, of the three parties here to be on holiday to delay this process. Due my extended absence from home in 1998 there may be some delays in returning cards to the organisers, for which I apologise in advance. I will endeavour to keep these delays to a minimum. 1994 1995 1996 1997 Events Cards Events Cards Events Cards Events Cards 200 17 1091 12 1560 18 119 2 16 300 7 299 10 748 8 320 6 29 400 6 365 5 567 3 144 4 19 600 5 199 6 404 4 208 4 251 1000 1 36 1 39 1 11 1400 1 107 Totals 36 1990 34 3318 34 1875 31 1790 Dave Whitney Permanents Validation Secretary In 1996 the Permanent Brevets recorded a massive rise from 329 to 485 an increase of nearly 40%. This year, I thought, the numbers would be hard pushed surpass that total and would probably give a total nearer 400 representing a year on year increase of 10%. Until the end of September; this looked very much the scheme of things. I returned from holiday to a deluge of cards from organisers and as it stands now (mid November) 560 cards have been validated and, as last year, there are probably more out there. This makes an increase of 14% over 1996. The number of riders this year was wider than ever. The unofficial permanent champion is Bob Garrett who amassed 114 points including an impressive 'holiday' in September when he rode to one end of the country, did the End to End, paused for breath for 2 days and rode home, a distance equivalent to the Great Triangle. The great Triangle was itself ridden by Alan Young, who did the hat trick, or was it a lap of honour in 24 days. Other notable tallies were Liz Creese with 35 points, Dave Hudson with 30 and Sheila Simpson with 25. The main 'battle' this year, however, was a 3 cornered fight between Sandra Shaw, Mark Houlford and Dave Lewis for the Grimpeur championship. No doubt Dave will give the details of altitude points - the simple numbers are that Sandra & Mark gained 23 points in 22 rides each, and Dave 41 in 28 rides. The events ranged from Applecross to the Dolomites, with visits to the Highlands, Lakes, the Peak District and the Alps. Dave had the last word by completing a PROF in the Cevennes at 7.30 p.m. on October 31st! I am delighted to record Ann & Brian Railton being the first to complete Bernard Mawson's 24 Round Britain relays; I can personally vouch for the distance they covered, bumping into them in the far Northwest corner of Sutherland in August. Honest, it wasn't a secret control! 27 Wessex Randonneurs also carried out their now annual invasion of Normandy in October This sort of ride, I think deserves to become more popular, perhaps Audax Ecosse will invade Norway or England! Last year's champion Steve Abraham was conspicuous by his absence, doing precisely none! The most popular events this year were those run by Sheila Simpson, Peter Coulson and Rob Kilby. The new modular series (Midlands Mesh, Middle road ) devised by Peter and developed by him and Sheila seem to be popular and I think will become a mainstay in the future. The first rides of John Thompson's Lowestoft-Adrdnamurchan were completed, a fine alternative to the End to End which deserves to be more popular. I must apologise that the Permanent Handbook is not yet available, the latest list of permanent rides gives over a hundred rides, six series and 40 PROFs with more being thought up all the time. I would like to thank the organisers of the Permanents for all their help in sending in their brevet cards timeously. Finally, as I have noted, the last brevet of the year was completed on 31st October, the first 5 of the '98 season were started a 7.30 am on November 1st!. Do these people not have a close season? Duncan Peet AUK/ACP Correspondant The relatively quiet year began with an appearance at the ACP prize giving evening in January as AUK representative to collect our Brevet 5000 medals. Very pleased to be presented with my second, then humbled when the next recipient received his seventh! Contact was made with several members of ACP and AUK/LRM business was discussed with Bob and Suzanne Lepartel during several hours of gruelling hospitality.. The remaining months were taken up with forwarding correspondence to ACP, translating and publicising French articles, dealing with EL enquiries as well as accommodating riders. Work has already begun on revising information documents for the 1999 PBP. Noel Simpson Systems Manager This relatively new job seems to be a balancing act between, on the one hand, keeping a tight rein on IT expenditure by committee members and delegates who now rely on computers to help them in their duties. This is easy, I don't like to see AUK money spent on hardware. On the other hand, providing encouragement and support to those who might be called technophobes, or at least who obviously prefer being out on their bikes to sitting by a VDU. This is easy too as I am committed to seeing everyone eventually joining in an e-mail network - committee traditionally work together through four meetings a year plus occasional chance encounters on the road, and I see this as inadequate and hopelessly slow. We received a letter recently from a member complaining that technology was 'taking over' - this after Sheila admitted in print (unwisely, I thought) that hand-written contributions to Arrivée tended to stay at the bottom of the 'in' tray. Well I am pleased to be able to inform this member that, thanks to yet further application of technology, Sheila is now training the computer to listen to every word she says, so that, provided the handwriting is legible and she speaks sl-o-o-wly and clearly, written material can once again compete with word-processed and typewritten articles on an equal footing. Francis Cooke AAA Secretary 38 calendar events could have been ridden by any individual rider with a possible maximum of 61 AAA points; 30 permanents were also available with a potential total of 51¾ points. Several new rides have been developed, particularly in the Peak District (although we may be reaching saturation point here and could do with more in other areas). Over 100 AAA cards were issued, the majority to first-time participants. Although a minority of the total AUK membership, AAA participants tend to be a very active minority, riding several events in the year. Proposed future development ofthe scheme includes a possible "3x3 Award" (currently "AAAx3" is the "pinnacle" of achievement). With over 30 participants having gained over eight AAA points this season it is proposed that the level for being listed in the AUK Handbook be raised to 12 points; if there are no objections this will be adopted for the coming season. David Lewis