The Cross Canada Cycle Tour Society June, 2019 Volume 36, Issue #6
Presidents Report: June 2019
John Pringle
The dynamics of change in both tour and administrative formats: An attempt to clear up misunderstandings
A Club Tour. There was a time, about 36 years ago, when a tour in this Club meant across Canada. The first tour was just that- Vancouver to St. Johns in 1983: in an attempt to link seniors’ physical health and the rigours of long distance cycling medical histories were compiled; medical assessments were performed; and medical analysis were carried out as the riders wended their way to Newfoundland. They may have discussed the formation of a bicycle touring Society as they sat around the evening campfires. The following year, Club members spent weeks touring Australia and New Zealand. The many hours together may have led to some bickering; the first Club President was later fired. Despite this, every three to four years members made the journey across Canada for a total of six or seven continental crossings. 2008 was the last cross-Canada tour by a group of club members. It was not a sanctioned Club tour however; reason being, they wanted to choose whom they were riding with. They feared disharmony if they did not set off as friendly participants. In Calgary the ten “friends” became a group of eight as they soldiered on to Nova Scotia (A single rider went on to St. Johns).
Liability insurance. At some point the advent of personal liability insurance to protect Club leaders (those in any leadership role from day ride leaders to the President), was advocated for and purchased. A mixed bag it was; we were covered, but we also had a set of criteria that governed our activities. Interpreting these criteria was somewhat subjective; “hawks” and “doves” around the boardroom table occasionally caused friction. Similarly, passing rules on to members has caused no end of disharmony over the years. But in this ever-increasing litigious world, protecting Club decision makers was deemed necessary and important.
Changes in tour format. As the years went on tours tended to become shorter and, maybe to some, more comfortable: often motels replaced tents; restaurants replaced “home cooking”; and sitting by the fireside was a rare occurrence. Finally, Shirley Fisher created the “Stay at Home” tour; the first Hub & Spoke (h&s). Here, folks camped or stayed in motels for three to four nights, meeting to ride locally each morning. Good fun they are, but certainly different from a cross-Canada ride. And they are popular. More Club members by far participate annually in h&s than in tours, and what a wonderful way to see a city; Seattle last week (very successful I hear); Vancouver in August. (Who better to show you the sights of Vancouver on a bike than Allan Buium and his buddies? Don’t miss it.)
About 10 years ago the Club changed participation rules by introducing a “first come, first serve” policy, which meant that tour leaders could no longer choose their fellow tour riders. As long as a member was fit enough, and were among the first to register, they were eligible. An attempt to introduce egalitarianism was not appreciated by some. We have since scaled back the fairness quotient, and allowed tour leaders to hand pick a certain percentage of tour participants.
In the interim there was an unforeseen reaction; there seemed to be an uptick in the number of private tours by club members. Here a leader would invite club members to ride her tour. No sanctioning of the tour by the Club. No paper work was needed. And you got to ride with your friends. The primary down side was that, because it was not a Club-sanctioned tour, the Club’s personal liability insurance was unavailable to protect the tour leadership from litigation. And this is no small matter; for example the aforementioned cross-Canada tour team was threatened with litigation after two were dropped from the tour.
Contract tours. I believe the Club’s first contract tour was China in 2006. Here a China-based contractor was hired who was in charge of the tour, but with guidance from the Club’s “Tour Coordinator”. The Club allowed the tour as a “one off”; to see if the format worked. It was so successful, riding the hinterlands of Szechuan province in the Himalayan foot hills, that contract tours became part of the Club’s repertoire.
Chapters & Resulting Mini-Tours. The past couple of years we have introduced a new governance model to the Club; local Chapters. It was perceived that Chapters would be responsible for local rides, etc; that tours and h&s would be the purview of the national board.
It was only inevitable that someone would like to have a tour consisting of chapter members only, on a 2– 4 day “local mini-tour”; an excellent idea I might add. This flaunts the idea of Club-wide access for members to tours, but maybe the policy could change for smallish mini-tours? The tour leader would, quite sensibly, use the Club website for organizing the tour, along with the co-located waiver package for mass signatures. The other safe-guard that may or may not be waived is the written tour proposal.
Panier Ride to Chemainus: a “Chapter Mini-tour”. Ken Stepushyn conceived, what might be a “shining example” of a Chapter mini-tour. Simple in concept it was. A CCCTS message to Victoria chapter members only, from Ken, suggesting a ride of ~50km to the coastal town of Chemainus, where we would stay in a self-booked Best Western, and have a buffet supper and catch Mama Mia in repertory. The only administrative duty Ken took on was paying for the dinner and theater; he was reimbursed of course. Despite a soggy ride to Chemainus, all agreed it was a wonderful two-day excursion with sunshine and warmth on the return ride. And unexpectedly, a sag wagon provided a lift for our paniers. Wonderful! Ken had little administrative fuss to deal with. For instance a formal proposal was not received by the CCCTS Board. He used the Club waiver system, and presumably our insurance would have covered him had there been a claim. But would it? The Board will do our best to keep administrative tasks to a minimum in approving future Chapter mini-tours, but by not vetting a proposal, did we shirk our due diligence, and hence our access to the liability insurance had there been an incident? Stay tuned.
In summary the Club has been dynamic and adopted new policies to govern new thrusts in tours as driven by membership demands. Often times’ members were ahead of the Board. We’ve gone from tours that were thousands of km long to those less than 150km long. We’ve washed our faces in NWT rivers; we’ve gone to bed under the northern lights. We’ve stayed in luxurious Spanish hotels, and in an African convent with our cook in tow. The concepts of touring by bicycle are endless, as are the administrative tasks in running a Club. We will do our best to keep the latter to a minimum.
Wednesday, 29 May 2019
Exciting News! CCCTS Riding Jerseys are on the way.
Dear CCCTS members,
It’s been about 20 years since our club had an official jersey. They’re rarely seen and, of course, no longer available. Almost every sports club has a jersey, even clubs much smaller than ours. A club jersey identifies the group, is a source of pride and can attract new members.
For the past six weeks, several of our members have been toiling away designing a new jersey. It’s been a friendly competition among individuals in Ottawa, Comox-Courtenay and Fraser Valley. Each has drawn up their best draft design as shown below. But to avoid prejudice, we’re not telling where each is from.
Your challenge today is to vote for the jersey you would most like to wear. You have just one vote. If you’re not interested in purchasing please don’t vote! The result will be one, and only one, jersey selected for the club. You have one week to vote. One week hence we’ll tally the votes and declare the winner.
Just to explain the jersey, it will be of quality Italian material and fitted to your measured size using the Nimblewear sizing options. Club Cut sizing is recommended, but not mandatory. Nimblewear has both men’s and women’s sizing, naturally. You may choose either a ¾ or full front zipper (your choice), and one of the rear pockets will be plasticized and zippered. Price will be approximately $65 Cdn plus tax, numbers dependant. Please refer to the website of our selected manufacturer Nimblewear for size options.
You will be able to purchase by credit card payment to the manufacturer at date of purchase. Delivery will take five weeks, and will be at no cost if to a central location for any group ordering 10 or more jerseys; for example, single point locations in Ottawa, Victoria, Comox-Courtenay, Vancouver and Fraser Valley, etc. Each jersey will be wrapped separately and labelled with the owner’s name. Those wishing to receive their jersey by personal delivery may do so by request for an additional $15.
Ordering details will be provided when results of this survey are announced.
But first, please choose the jersey of your choice. The three designs are:
All you have to do is indicate the number of your choice on an e-mail to club Director Rick Borejsza at rborejsza@aol.com, and label the e-mail “CCCTS Jersey Selection”.
Thanks in advance for your participation,
Chris Hodgson and Rick Borejsza
Intro to the RidewithGPS Club Site
If you have never gotten lost while on a club ride or an extended tour, you likely need to read no further. For the rest of us, you may be interested to know that CCCTS subscribed to a RidewithGPS club account last year which offers some great features to assist you in staying on course. Many of the chapters are currently making use of the site to catalog their rides and provide gps tracks for members. With the general availability of smartphones, users can also opt to use the free RidewithGPS smartphone application rather than the more costly dedicated GPS units.
What does the club site offer CCCTS members?
Once subscribed to CCCTS club account members will have free access to many features that are only available to RidewithGPS paid accounts. By setting up a free RidewithGPS account and signing into the club site, you will be able to download enhanced gps files to your gps unit or use the RidewithGPS application on your smartphone to get turn by turn instructions. If you prefer a printed map, you can also choose to print map and/or cue sheets for your ride as well.
Follow this link for a more detailed look at the features available to CCCTS members with a free RidewithGPS account.
Club Member Benefits | Ride With GPS Help
How do I access the club site?
The first step for members wanting to access the CCCTS club site is to join RideWithGPS. This will require that you have setup at least a free account with RideWithGPS. If you currently have a RidewithGPS account, the following link will allow you to join the club account. If not, you will be prompted to setup a free account.
Join Cross Canada Cycle Tour Society on Ride with GPS
Once you have completed the registration and joined the club site, you will have default membership privileges. If you are planning to create routes to lead rides, access rights can be added that will allow you to save routes to the club route library.
What if I want to learn more about the using the features of the club site?
RidewithGPS has created a number of informative videos that should answer most of your questions.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLh4UEKmlT6_ElQ4rWM-lCzk_7ZBSuDw0Z
If you have further questions, you may contact the RidewithGPS coordinator for your area as listed below
|
Region/Chapter |
RideWithGPS Admin |
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B.C. Interior |
Doug Glodek |
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Comox Valley |
Lawrence Vea |
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Fraser Valley |
Neil Moroney |
|
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Greater Victoria |
Alex Laird |
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Metro Vancouver |
Allan Buium |
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National Capital Region |
Richard Tobin |
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All others |
Doug Glodek |
Upcoming Tours
Click on the links for more information
Status: 1 slot is available.
Dates: Fri, 6 Sep 2019 ‐‐ Thu, 19 Sep 2019
2019 Southern Vancouver Island
Status: 2 slots are available.
Dates: Thu, 22 Aug 2019 ‐‐ Wed, 28 Aug 2019
Status: Ride is full, wait list only.
Dates: Tue, 6 Aug 2019 ‐‐ Thu, 29 Aug 2019
Status: Registration closed
Dates: Sun, 16 Jun 2019 ‐‐ Thu, 27 Jun 2019
The International Selkirk Loop is recognized by Rand McNally as one of only five routes to earn its “Best of the Road” title. This loop encircles the majestic Selkirk mountain range south of the border and Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park in B.C. It promises spectacular scenery – beautiful lakes and rivers, stunning flora and big game animals.
Upcoming Hub and spokes
Click on the links for more information.
Status: Ride is full, wait list only.
Dates: Wed, 4 Sep 2019 ‐‐ Sat, 7 Sep 2019
Chemainus (the little town that could) once was a bustling saw milling community. Now a world famous town of past historical murals and one of the best live theatres in Canada. It is visited by tourists from all over the world. Chemainus is in the District of North Cowichan 18 km north of Duncan. The rides will consist mostly of country back roads and trails, past many picturesque rural farms. Come and enjoy a late summer ride in an easy paced community between Victoria and Nanaimo.
Status: Registration closed
Dates: Sun, 18 Aug 2019 ‐‐ Wed, 21 Aug 2019
Both Duncan and the Cowichan Valley are renowned cycling centres, with both the Cowichan Valley Regional District and Cycle Cowichan developing and promoting cycling routes and trails. In part, this is due to the beautiful views and vistas presented throughout the Valley.
Status: No registration limit
Dates: Thu, 8 Aug 2019 ‐‐ Mon, 12 Aug 2019
We will tour along the many bicycle routes of the Lower Mainland and enjoy both the natural beauty of the area as well as many areas of interest – both historical and contemporary. In your “non-ride” time slot, the UBC campus has activities and programs that may be of interest. We will be using designated bike routes whenever possible. Most all rides will be on urban streets with some traffic. This is not a challenging event so the emphasis is on the leisurely side of riding.
New Members
Wow! Looks like our recruiting drives might be on the verge of becoming successful. That is the most new members in one month I have ever seen.
Welcome to Edith Williams of New Jersey. If you are ever in Victoria Edith you will be going from the Garden State to the Garden City.
| first_name | last_name | city | province |
|---|---|---|---|
| EDITH | Williams | Pottersville | NJ |
| Greg | Jones | Courtenay | BC |
| George | Richardson | Ottawa | ON |
| Karen | Richardson | Ottawa | ON |
| Adriana | Tomie | Nepean | ON |
| Paul | Gravel | Nepean | ON |
| Jurgen | Harding | Victoria | BC |
| Sue | Riley | Manotick | ON |
| Terry | Riley | Manotick | ON |
| Rob | Rohonczy | Ottawa | ON |
| Dale | Harrison | Comox | BC |
| Peter | Sidey | COMOX | BC |
| Irene | Neave | Maple Ridge | BC |
| Jay | Van Oostdam | Comox | BC |
| Colin | Walisser | Delta | BC |
| Murray | Robertson | Edmonton | AB |
| Bob | Lewis | Ottawa | ON |
| Steven | Ray | Courtenay | BC |
| Leona | Fry | Comox | BC |
| Joyce | Elliott | Victoria | BC |
| Ted | Angen | Lake Country | BC |
| Maureen | Angen | Lake Country | BC |
| SHARON | DREFS | PARKSVILLE | BC |
| Michele | Dextras | Ottawa | O |
Published at least ten times a year by The Cross Canada Cycle Tour Society, a non – profit organization for retired people and others who enjoy recreational cycling.
Items for the NEWSBRIEF must be received by the 28th of the month. The Editor reserves the right to edit for clarity, brevity and suitability of publication. The views expressed in the “NEWSBRIEF” are not necessarily those of the CCCTS or the Editor.
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