Secretary's report
It has been a busy year for AUK (and I am sure I have written that before).
The London-Edinburgh-London attracted an international field of over 300 riders. Not quite an event on the scale of Paris-Brest-Paris, but, nevertheless, the second largest 1200+ event in the world. All the controllers, and helpers, not to mention Bernard and his able deputy, Simon, deserve praise for their work.
Ritchie Tout has produced a final version of the Articles of Incorporation, by which means it is intended to turn the club into a ‘Company Limited by Guarantee’. While this will alter the legal basis of the club, we have tried to ensure that it will function much as before as far as the membership is concerned.
Membership has topped the 4000 mark. The number of validations is up, so either more people are riding each event, or individuals are riding more events. Either way, it is a healthy sign. We shouldn’t be an exclusive club, our remit is to encourage long-distance cycling.
It was sad to hear of our President, Bry Ferguson’s passing. He had been a stalwart of AUK for many years and liked to think of himself as a steadying influence on the young firebrands of the committee, some of whom are still here.
Finally, I’m retiring from this post. I have enjoyed it, and the rest of the committee has been very tolerant. I trust that my successor, whoever he or she is, brings a fresh approach to the job, with the right amount of diplomacy and humour. I quickly learned that the individuals on the committee work incredibly hard for the club and its members, and I hope we can continue to build on that foundation.
See you on the road
Ian Hennessey
Chairman Report
see Arrivee
Treasurer's Report
The Club recorded a deficit for 2005. [See accounts published in 2006 hardcopy Calendar]. However, an increase in costs in certain areas was anticipated and the £1 increase in membership fees approved at last year’s AGM should correct matters for 2006.
From 2006, we are also introducing a facility to allow membership fees to be paid by standing order. The mechanics for this are in Julian Beach’s expert hands and we hope it will cut down time spent in administering renewals by effectively making the renewals process automatic. I hope you will support this initiative as, having broken the 4,000 members mark, the membership team can be under pressure at renewals time.
On this latter point, there have been an increasing number of instances in recent months of certain members having unreasonable expectations regarding what they expect from AUK’s volunteers. All of our officials are unpaid volunteers who fit in their AUK duties around jobs and similar non-cycling related distractions. Therefore if you know you will be needing something urgently from AUK, don’t leave it to the last minute to contact the person concerned (particularly if you only do it by email) and then expect them to drop everything to correct your poor personal management.
Finally, still with membership renewals, if you do tend to be a bit late in paying your subs, remember that renewals after the 31 January cut off will now incur the new member £5 enrolment fee. So if you are in this category, standing orders are for you.
Treasurer’s recommendations: To operate the club through a Company: members have already voted to incorporate the club. The sole intention in incorporation is that it will assist in providing some protection for the club and its officials should insurance fail in the event of a claim against the club. Incorporation should not affect the way the club is run day to day and this is reflected in the draft articles of association which are included here.
We are therefore asking for your consent to:
i. adopt the articles in the form as set out which will determine how the new company will be run; and
ii. transfer the club in the form of its activities and assets to a company set up for the purpose.
To keep the process as transparent as possible, we have not amended the current regulations other than where necessary to make them consistent with the articles. However, it has become apparent that the current regulations do require some updating as there are areas where clarification would be beneficial. Even after incorporation, changes to the regulations cannot be made other than through the AGM. We will therefore notify members of any proposed changes in the normal way in subsequent years.
Ritchie Tout
Membership Secretary Report
The figures below are as at November 12th 2005. Total membership has risen again. Last year it was 4022, and we now have 4266 current members. Mike Wigley has enrolled 590 new members since November last year. We have 552 current household members.
Again thanks to the membership team - I could not manage without their help. Nik Windle and Findlay Watt deal with the renewals and we have recently welcomed two more helpers to the renewals team - Martin Lucas and David Mackenzie. 4000 renewals is a lot to process within a couple of months, each one taking several minutes!
Mike Wigley enrols new members throughout the year, and I deal with membership enquiries and I update and coordinate our data. Now we have the two new helpers, Julian Beach will concentrate on technical aspects of our computer systems, along with Francis Cooke who looks after the website and database.
This year we are issuing membership cards in February, along with Winter Arrivee. So make sure that you renew before end January, otherwise you’ll miss it!
Gerry Goldsmith
Validation Sec Report
We have completed our first season as joint Validation Secretaries. We thank organisers for their patience with us as we learned the ropes. Neville Holgate and retiring VS Bernard Mawson gave us invaluable help and guidance, and the other committee members have been very welcoming.
Our performance target for the year was to return all cards (except BRM) to organisers within 7 days of receipt, which we have achieved in all but two weeks of the year.
This year has seen an enormous (15.9%) increase in the number of rides validated. The total of 17,777 is the largest in a non-PBP year. While rides at 100km continued to increase, it was pleasing to note that this year there was an encouraging increase across the board in long distance rides.
Distance Rides 2004 Rides 2005 +/- per cent <50km 42 99 50km 710 725 +2.1% 100km 8364 9590 +14.6% 150km 1446 1525 +5.4% 200km 3584 4209 +17.4% 300km 564 695 +23.2% 400km 365 448 +22.7% 600km 187 240 +28.3% >1000km 72 246 Totals 15334 17777 +15.9%Sue Gatehouse and Keith Harrison
Recorder
Neville Holgate
Permanents Secretary Report
This year has very much been one of trying to keep the Permanents ship afloat, with a much larger element of hunt the missing brevet card and unscramble the missing or duplicated validation records than any of us would have wished. I sincerely hope that next season will see a better than normal service resumed.
So, my first comment is one of thanks to all organisers and riders for your patience; and thanks to all AUK Committee members who have helped with the task. This especially includes Francis for keeping the IT end of records together. Having had to re-visit database records and adjust, update and generally piece together bits of the Permanents jigsaw has confirmed what I previously thought about how well served we are in AUK by the web site and its related databases. No unnecessary in your face graphics and distractions, but lots of solid functionality and reliable systems.
Not all has been gloom, however and the year has seen some welcome additions to the Permanents events menu. For example:
· The mesh has stepped across the Channel with Linda Johnston’s Brittany Mesh
· Rob Kilby’s former events have been found new organiser homes
· Dave Minter, returning to Australia, has retained his AUK links by organising our first Oz PROF
· The Snow Roads classic and missed event is re-born with Alex Pattison’s Permanent version
and more Scottish Perms are in the offing
· Wessex SR lives on and Ian Hennessey offers 600km in the far south west
· and more from John Harwood, Oliver Wright, Peter Marshall and others
On the riding front, over 1100 events have been recorded, spread as shown below.
100km 200km 300km 400km 600km 1000+km * 7 x 200km
12% 68% 8% 3% 3% 2% 4%
* Manche to Med and End to EndThe spirit of long distance cycling is alive and well because, in addition to LEL, Permanent riders have managed to clock up a further tally of 21 events of 1000km or more. The Permanents record also shows that AUKs are by no means fair weather cyclists, with the RTYR award going from strength to strength - although some would be qualifiers have had wait a bit for a few critical mid-winter permanent events to be 'found' and validated.
The Championship had an exciting finish with some serious late October Permanent kilometres being achieved.
The unofficial Permanents 'prizes' include:
· George Berwick: most Permanent points overall (9600km including a 1400km Highland Fling)
· Anne Learmonth: opposite sex most Permanent points overall (5800km including 2600km Calais-Brindisi)
· Peter Turnbull: completing the most Permanent events (35)
· Dave Randerson: climbing most Permanent hills (33 AAA points)
· Jim Gresty: the longest Permanent completed, which fittingly in this bi-centenary year was 3100km of
Trafalgar - Trafalgar; and to round it off Jim also brought the Trafalgar news home (see below)
Special mention should also be given to:
George Berwick and Norman Lazarus, who once again jointly deserve the 'keeping the YHA in business' award for their many Darts.
Simon Jones and those who took part in his DIY Perm, complete with special brevet card, to celebrate the Trafalgar bi-centenary by re-tracing the route by which the news of the battle was brought from Falmouth to the Admiralty in London.
John Ward
The number of Organisers was 194; many thanks to all of you, and to the Helpers who make it all possible. This year has seen many new Organisers coming along, with the retiring ones, in many cases, acting as Mentors so that the newcomers aren’t starting from scratch. I have noticed that events being run by the new Organisers are going noticeably smoother with this system in place. Our thanks to all involved. The new Organisers from the last two years are, in many cases, sending in extra events. The experience of running an event with a Mentor to help is obviously encouraging.
Please get in touch with me if you fancy running some events. We have a scheme for covering the Organisers of longer (above 200km) and new events against financial loss; also all Organisers and Helpers are covered by AUK’s insurance for third-party claims (note that BC/CTC events’ insurance still applies where relevant).
The figures for 2004 are:
Cat. 50 100 150 200 300 400+ 500 600+1000+km Totals BP 52 207 51 -- -- -- -- 1 1 312 BR -- -- -- 124 19 17 -- 10 -- 170 BRM -- -- -- 9 4 5 -- 4 2 24 Totals 52 207 51 133 23 22 0 15 3 506 events includes Arrows and Darts.As usual there’s been an increase in BPs and 200s but the longer events are down, although some of that is due to there being no need for qualifying rides. There has not only been a record number of events but the change was significant. Entries have been good in most cases and validations up by double-percentage points, suggesting fewer DNS/DNFs and perhaps a build-up towards PBP in 2007.
Peter Coulson
International Events Secretary Report
It seems to have been a quiet year for AUKs abroad. Since the last AGM I’ve fielded a steady stream of queries about foreign events, about two-thirds of them from non-members and almost all relating to cyclosportif events. I’ve tried to help members and non-members alike. Whether they want it or not, the non-members, of course, receive gentle encouragement to join AUK along with the information they were seeking.
At the time of writing (November) information has begun to emerge about 2006 events. As before, I will post mostly information about cyclosportif events on the International Events Bureau section of the AUK website. By the time you read these lines, the events listing should be reasonably extensive.
Do please contact me if you’re planning a trip abroad with your bike. I have far more information about events abroad than I can possibly make available via the website, so don’t assume that no suitable ride exists if none is shown. If at all possible, send me your query well in advance of your trip rather than just a couple of days before! If you’ve ridden an event abroad please let me know your impressions or do a writeup for Arrivée.
Peter Marshall
ACP/RM Correspondant Report
See Arrivee
Noel Simpson
Brevet Cards Production Secretary Report
see Arrivee
We are still able to afford (just) four colour Arrivee magazines a year, plus a Calendar and Handbook with colour covers. The publication date for this latter has been adjusted to take into account the new AGM venue in January and the Calendar now carries the AUK Agenda and Officials’ Reports. All this activity is due to our team of volunteers: Maggie Lewis and Tim Wainwright who produce three Arrivee editions, dozens of authors and photographers who provide the material, and the Membership Team: Gerry Goldsmith, Julian Beach, Findlay Watt and Mike Wigley, who collate and provide the data to get the publications onto your doormats. Grateful thanks to you all.
Sheila Simpson
Press Secretary Report
In 2005 it has been difficult to achieve regular coverage of AUK events in the Cycling Press. Cycling Plus continues to list forthcoming Audax events in its monthly feature 'Calendar', and although they have not devoted a feature solely to Audax rides, they do regularly mention Audax in their various features, particularly when reviewing bikes, and discussing fitness rides. AUK has been in discussion with Cycling Plus with a view to them covering some of our events in detail next year, and at the moment it does look as if they may be associated with the Audax National Series.
In the CTC magazine 'Cycle', Audax events are listed in their 'What’s On' page and they also mention us in general features. The magazine Cycling World, which can be difficult to find, has had an article on riding an Audax event.
Cycling Weekly has devoted little of its coverage to Audax events, despite being given regular copy. However it did have a small piece on LEL, and it is hoped that it will publish a list of riders who completed LEL in its Xmas edition. The magazine did devote an editorial piece to the 'Tour of the Hills', and a feature on the same event, but it treated it as if it was a 'Tour Stage' and a particularly tough event, rather than a hilly ride around Surrey lanes. Like the other magazines Audax does get a regular mention in feature articles such as those on leisure rides etc.
This year saw AUK setting aside money for advertising, we placed adverts in the Triathlon, and Cycling Time Trials Handbooks, and at the beginning of the year in Cycling Plus and Cycling Weekly. I do believe that this has been successful, as we have attracted over 590 new members in 2005.
What I have found particularly difficult is achieving press coverage of longer Audax events, Cycling Weekly and Cycling Plus magazines are happy to devote space to 100k or 100 mile 'Challenge' type rides but seem reluctant to cover anything longer; this is a little exasperating because this type of ride is the sort of ride which many AUK members ride every week.
I decided that I would not stand for re-election if somebody else came forward to take on the role, basically because, I think it would be good for another person to come in with fresh ideas, and secondly the post can take up quite a lot of time; the post holder, particularly needs to be available during the day, which I am no longer. I am pleased to say that an ideal person has come forward, AUK Secretary Ian Hennessey who is standing down from his present post.
Graham Mills
System Manager Report
It’s been another routine year. Even so, I feel as though I never stopped. When it came down to the nitty-gritty of LEL, there seemed to be a lot of buck-passing, and this added to my work-load as well as to several other people’s.
Francis Cooke