I am not recommending any changes to our charges but as it is some while since the honoraria amounts were last looked at I feel the proposed increases itemised on the AGM agenda are more than justified and I think we should look at them each year in future.
Commuted membership and the advantages to officials (and possibly members in a year's time) is an annual plea. May I again thank our organisers for their care in completing the return form. We will be changing the layout next year but don't let it put you off!
As you will see in Letters elsewhere in this issue I will not be standing for Treasurer next (2002/3) year. I have had the pleasure of being Treasurer since 1987. The club's balance in those accounts stood at £3,500. That it now stands at over £55,000 is as a result of the growth of the club and your willingness to indulge me when, like Oliver, I have asked you for more.
To assist prospective candidates for the post I am more than happy to be your delegate for a couple of years or so to help you settle in.
As always I will be happy to hear from any member wanting further amplification or clarification of the figures. DKB Membership Secretary In common with other cycling organisations, we have had a difficult year. Poor winter weather combined with the effects of Foot and Mouth disease on the AUK calendar meant that fewer riders were on the road, and those that were rode fewer events. For the first time there has been decrease in membership, albeit of less than 1 per cent, but there are signs that things may be picking up in the late summer and autumn. There has been vigorous discussion this year regarding the image we present to ‘the outside world’ and whether we are seen as inward-looking and averse to change. While long-distance riding is always likely to be dominated by the ‘less young’ there has been a welcome influx of somewhat younger members this year. With the decline in club riding there are many cyclists, both newcomers and experienced riders, for whom our style of riding and our choice of events is potentially very attractive. It is important that we are seen to offer a positive welcome to those who wish to try Audaxing. Moves to relax the traditional mudguard rule at the forthcoming AGM could help US to reach out to these people. As ever, I am indebted to the assistance of a small team of enthusiasts. Thanks go to Peter South, who shared the renewals last year with Julian Beach. This year Julian is joined by Nik Windle and Findlay Watt, who are already hard at work processing your renewals for 2002. Julian also continues to play a major role working on technical aspects of the database, and we are all kept in check by Systems Advisor Francis Cooke. Thanks also to Armorel Young who continues to handle sales of the Handbook/Calendar. Ray Smith Event Secretary Well, what a mixed year! It started off with events topping 400 for the first time, then it all went MAFF-shaped. The number of Organisers was 169. Many thanks to all of you, and to the Helpers who make it all possible. In the table below the events cancelled due FaM are still included, out of respect for the Organisers who had no choice in the matter; I feel that to exclude them would not be just. Some Organisers are retiring, with many handing on to new ones, and my thanks to them for this. I have sent out a lot of Packs to new enquirers, still have some Packs available, and can print many more, so there’s no escape! Please get in touch with me if you fancy running some events. We now have a scheme for covering the Organisers of longer (above 200km) and new events against financial loss. The figures for 2001 are: Cat. ‘50’ 100+ 150+ 200+ 300+ 400+ 500+ 600+ 1000+ Totals BP 33 158 43 1 235 BR 113 18 11 2 2 146 BRM 12 9 4 6 2 33 Totals 33 158 43 125 27 16 2 8 2 414 includes Arrows and Darts. As usual there’s been quite an increase in BPs, a bit of growth in 200s (most of it in Mallorca!) and hardly anything in 300+. Now pay attention: 2003 is PBP year, and we really do need a number of longer events so that riders can qualify, so please get ready to send in lots of BRM events. I’ll find out the qualifying periods for each distance as soon as possible. Peter Coulson Publications Manager We’ve made no earth-shattering innovations this year; there has just been a continued steady improvement in our handling of photographs, which are now one of the most important features of Arrivée. This magazine is very much a cooperative effort and each edition the result of many dozens of excellent contributors. Inevitably, the result may not always be as well-balanced as some readers would like but Tim and I are very much aware that Arrivée is a club magazine and, whilst we juggle articles between editions, we do our best to publish as much of the material we receive as is possible. Recent criticisms have included.. ..not enough short rides are featured.. ..too many short rides are featured.. not enough long rides are featured.. ..too many long rides are featured.. no advice is given.. outdated advice is given.. And there’s more where that came from. I can only say that it’s your club and your magazine and if you are annoyed by a gap then you should fill it. There is a bit of technical advice for contributors in the Handbook (p45 in the 2001 edition), made more complicated by the fact that there are so many ways of sending information, but basically all you have to do is tap out some clean copy on a keyboard, check who’s producing the next edition (see front page of last edition) and post it. Don’t worry if you can’t type, neither can I! Even if you don’t intend contributing to Arrivée, the Handbook entry is worth reading as it describes what Arrivée is, and is not. Tim and I only edit, typeset, scan, design and lay out Arrivée. Then it’s over to Quorum who print and distribute the mag, using a data base provided by the AUK membership team; so we have a lot of people to thank by the time it arrives on our doorsteps. This year, we also wish AUK’s Brian Hayward a long and happy retirement from his position as Quorum’s MD. The Handbook is another cooperative venture, with Peter Coulson providing the data base for the Calendar, Duncan Peet that for the Permanents, Bernard Mawson the 50 points, 100 points and SRs, Neville Holgate the awards, Rocco Richardson the trophy holders, and Dave Lewis the AAA 8 points and over. The whole is too much for one person and I rely on Francis Cooke as co-compiler and also on the rest of committee to keep an eye on their relevant pages. More people to whom we are all beholden. Thank you everyone. Sheila Simpson International Events Sadly (for me), this is going to be my last report in the job. As I indicated in my report for the year 2000, my cycling activities had been radically curtailed due to severe back problems. Unfortunately things have not improved for me - I have not done any AUK or international rides, nor have I attended Committee Meetings or AGM. All I have been able to do is browse through cycling magazines and Internet sites and pass on my research to AUK members. This I have enjoyed up to a point - but, as a former active cyclist I have found it increasingly frustrating and alienating to do a job such as this one without fully partaking in our sport. This job, I feel strongly, needs a person with 'hands on' (or should that be 'feet on'?) experience. I'm happy to see that a number of excellent and interesting articles describing great international rides has once again filled many pages in ARRIVEE issues in 2001 and I trust that this great tradition will be maintained in the future. No one who regularly reads these contributions can be in any doubt that AUK has people in its ranks who have brains and imaginations as well as strong hearts and lungs! Keep riding and writing! In this endeavour I wish you all: Bonne chance et bonne route! Len de Vos E-mail: Systems Manager I've had a quiet year, mainly because everyone on committee already had the hardware they need, and also because a general pre-occupation with Edinburgh-London has tended to push other projects to the back burner. After dealing with equipment needs, my main job is to try to get committee workers to mesh together - producing compatible computer files we can all use, etc. This is an area where I don't have much success, because our committee members are also expected to operate with a lot of individual responsibility, but I see improving our 'teamwork' as a continuing challenge. Francis Cooke ACP/AUK/LRM Correspondant The year has been taken up with the routine of liaising between AUK, ACP and LRM, answering queries from abroad especially about the LEL and supplying translations to AUK members. My major contribution has been to the elaboration of a Constitution and Regulations for Les Randonneurs Mondiaux (world-wide long distance cycling organisation) necessitated by its recent rapid growth in years. LRM validates rides of 1,200 km and above (except the Paris-Brest-Paris) which are now run in 21 countries and others are applying to join. The need to standardise events throughout member countries has become essential. It is hoped that the Constitution and Regulations will be in place well before the LRM meeting in 2003 which will take place after the PB ride in Paris. A quietish year before 2002 when PB preparations will begin. Pierre Theobald, the PB organiser has stated that it is ACP's objective to equate the numbers of French and foreign riders which stood at about 45 and 55% respectively in 1999. It is therefore likely that if the next PB is oversubscribed (ACP can accommodate no more than 3,500 riders), all AUK participants will find a place. But in 1999 some AUK hopefuls were unable to qualify because the SR rides in Britain were oversubscribed very early in the year. The problem will be exacerbated in 2003 given the increase AUK interest and it will need to be solved a year in advance. Riders who take part in events (including PBP run by ACP (BRM in the calendar) can select to credit the points they so gain to any club of their choice, providing it is registered with ACP. ACP awards cups and trophies to clubs accordingly. As AUK is the largest randonnée club in the world and it is the choice of many of its members, it receives a not inconsiderable proportion of the goodies available. ACP has therefore requested that our club should divide itself for award purposes into regions by whichever geographic or demographic means we choose. To say opinion is divided on the issue is an understatement, as it was the last time that the request was made in 1987. More of this later. Noel Simpson Validation Secretary AUK is a long distance cycling club, and I'm often asked what is a long distance? is 50Km. a long distance? the L.E.L. at 1400Km. is certainly a long distance. I looked through various text books, and I found the definition of the British Imperial Yard and also the International Metre, which are both physical standards of length, I also found mention of the Cubit, used by Noah when he built the Ark, but no mention anywhere of a long distance. So I have decided that I will define a long distance as; the total distance covered in all validated brevets in one year / number of brevets validated in that year Example ; 1999 2,570,050 / 13533 = 190Km. 2000 2,234,100 / 13341 = 167Km. and this year 2001 2,064,150 / 11137 = 185Km. From this it can be seen that a long distance is variable, so when quoting a long distance it must be proceeded by 4 digits which will relate to the year, and since Duncan will want to define his own long distance, it will be followed by CAL. which will denote calender events. eg. 2001 - 185- CAL will be this year long distance Km 50 100 150 200 300 400 500 600 800 1000 1400 Total 2000 536 6338 1296 3528 684 462 231 245 0 21 0 13341 2001 362 5798 1071 2421 530 415 10 284 39 0 207 11137 The list compares the number of rides validated this year with those validated in 2000, considering the problems caused by foot & mouth, & the weather left a little to be expected, a drop of 17% is not so disastrous in my opinion. Approx 900 of these brevets were also validated by ACP a fall of 2000 over last year. I suppose this will pick up in 2003,when the PBP bug starts to bite. Lists of SR, have been generated by Francis Cooke's magic computer, together with points lists etc. for individuals, clubs and D. A's identifying all the award winners, these lists will appear elsewhere. I have continued to distribute medals & badges, but claims for the various awards, has been now taken over by Neville Holgate. I hope to submit a report on the success or otherwise of the L.E.L in the next Arrivee Bernard Mawson Permanents Validation Secretary This year Foot & Mouth disease has dominated cycling. It has also had an effect on the Permanent rides completed. After a promising start the Spring & early summer were severely affected. The first sign of recovery was riders doing Permanents as training for the Edinburgh - London. Some fine summer rides were completed, presumably as part of holidays, but in the early Autumn a rush started as riders found themselves with enough fitness to complete an SR or to challenge for a championship. As a result the final number of rides is 655 compared with 608 last year. A 7% rise. There has been a trickle of new events this year. Amongst them, Bob Thomas produced some PROFs from Cherbourg, Ian Hennessey is developing some shorter rides in darkest Devon & I came up with a longish route in the 2 Bens by tacking the Daylight onto the Edinburgh - London. The Permanent 'Champion' with 60 points, all in youth hostel Darts is Norman Lazarus. Close behind was Clive Wilman 56, Chris Cooke, 52 & Dave Randerson 50points. Others scoring 30 or more were Stev