June 2016 Newsbrief

 

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 Cross Canada Cycle Tour Society                                      June, 2016, Volume 33, Issue #6

President’s Report                                                 John Pringle

Rain and drizzle outdoors. Much needed for the flowers, the farmers and the forests. Good for me too. This Report may not have met the deadline were sunshine reigning over the outdoors.

Bruce Daykin just called to say he and Wenda are back from their 30-day, self-designed cycle tour of France and Spain. All went well over >1 500 km. Lodging bookings were made and the GPS was loaded with the tour routes prior to departure. Though doing this made pre-tour a most busy time, Bruce claims it was far easier than route-making and lodge-hunting enroute: Peace of mind prevailed once they were underway. I misquoted Bruce in my May President’s Report; I claimed the commercial tours they came across while riding in Europe were “… 20% to 50% higher …” than he and Wenda’s daily costs: Bruce gave a correction; his costs were 20% to 50% of the commercial tour costs. Exchange rates included, these tours were about $3,600.00 CAD for a six-day tour, or ~$600.00 CAD/day. Problematic, as well, is the difficulty in finding commercial tours longer than six days. By comparison, our Club’s 21-day Croatian tour this fall will cost $3,500.00 CAD, or $166.00/day. Longer and much more reasonably priced than the commercial tours Bruce and Wenda encountered.

Of interest are the comments made to Bruce by a couple of commercial leaders reconnoitring cycle tours for their business. When Bruce noted that he too designed tours, but as a volunteer for a Canadian club, they exclaimed: “As a volunteer! Designing tours! Way too much work for volunteers.” There’s little doubt tour organizing, done well, is a huge job for which most of our leaders expect no more than a sincere thank you, and, at the very most, the per person cost of the tour led. We are most fortunate to have members who’ll take this role on, however, more tour leaders are required. Please contact, Tours Director Bruce Daykin bdaykin@gmail.com or H &S Director Charlene Dorward chdorward@telus.net   if you’ll consider organizing an event.

The last few months the Board has taken on, as major thrusts, intra-Club communications and a new Club governance model. And why, you may ask, are these issues of concern? A bit of history is required. In 1982 ten seniors (six men and four women) decided to ride across Canada. A successful tour it was, and a tour cycling club was born. Later, in 1983 “The Cross Canada Cycle Tour Society” was registered in British Columbia with 50 active members. Club membership has increased markedly since then. By 1990 there were ~200 members. The Club membership doubled again by 1995, and by 2014 we had nearly 600 members; a number that has been stable the past three years. Pockets of memberships are found in BC and elsewhere, with Greater Vancouver and Victoria areas having the largest numbers. The Fraser, Comox, and Ottawa Valleys also have sizeable groupings, each with a 100 or more members. There’s a smaller contingent in the Okanagan Valley, and there are about 30 US members.

These outlying groups – unofficial “chapters” – make communications and democratic governance challenging. One attempt to improve communications has been to recreate the Club website. This project began late last year and will continue in stages over the next couple of years. Already, very large improvements have been made thanks to Max McClanahan and his dedicated group. Recently the Ottawa “chapter” requested an electronic link just prior to the Spring Exceptional General Meeting. This couldn’t be arranged, but hopefully a group linkup will be possible for this year’s Annual General Meeting. In the meantime work is underway to electronically link to Board meetings, currently unrepresented “chapters”, i.e. those without a Board member. Thus Ottawa, our most easterly chapter, will have a representative formally linked to the June 13th meeting.

Governance structure is next. Currently the “chapters” are not recognized in either our Constitution or By-laws. Each of these groups has a presumptive “leader” or “area representative”; one group even uses the term “president”. Can an organization have two presidents? The Board feels we must move to make governance changes that better reflect the reality of the Club; one that is more inclusive and democratic. We’re beginning to assess our governing structure, but without any expertise. Such help would be very much appreciated. If there’s a member who has experience in this area, and who would enjoy advising the Board on this important matter, please contact me at your earliest convenience at knitsui@telus.net . Thank you.

Take a tour. Enjoy a hub & spoke. There is room on the Southern Rockies 2 tour, and the Vancouver and Manitoulin Hub & Spokes are wide open. Get out and ride the beautiful Rockies. Experience one of the world’s great cities by bicycle, while staying in the UBC dormitories for <$50.00/day including an all-you-can-eat breakfast. Cycle a Great Lakes Island. Go for it.

Welcome New Members

Helen Koziol Comox BC
Noreen Chow Delta BC
Stephen Carrick Kanata ON
John Pritchard Manotick ON
George Macdonald Ottawa ON
John St. James Ottawa ON
Ev Hodder Richmond BC
Erika Kwasniewski Stittsville ON
Virginia Markovich Stittsville ON
Roy Markovich Stittsville ON
Garry Esau Vernon BC
Alan Smith Victoria BC
David Liggat White Rock BC

“Meet our Members”

Martine Donahue of Vancouver, must have been the most seasoned club member at the Spring General meeting in April this year, and also the one with the best memory!

She could recount names, faces, past trips and anecdotes from the club’s past years. She’s an energetic petite woman. I was fascinated.

She’s going to be 90 next birthday. When she retired in 1987 from work with CP Air in reservations, she bought a bike, sold her car and joined the club. She hasn’t looked back since!

Her best bike trip was across Canada in 1990, the second club trip across Canada by bike, camping all the way of course.

She loves the club for the cycling, the travelling and the socializing.

This past year the last of a series of bikes she bought since retiring has been gathering dust, she had to give up cycling due to Parkinson’s.

When asked about her summer plans, she said at my age you don’t plan ahead.

Her advice to new club members, keep pedalling!

I first met Eli (Elaheh Khazaei of Ottawa) in advance of the Victoria to San Francisco club tour, summer 2015.

Enthusiastic, always positive and my first meeting a woman of Iranian descent who was passionate about cycling and life.

She arrived at the Vancouver airport laden with personal and camping gear as well as her bike, not realizing she needed to get to Victoria.

Somehow she managed, recruiting strangers who were happy to help her. She has that effect on people, somehow they need to help her!

According to her, the Pacific Coast trip was the longest and best bike trip she has done. She still can’t believe she did it!

It was a fantastic group, great leaders, well organized and camping; all made it fantastic.

She loves the outdoors and nature, and takes advantage of all seasons to enjoy skiing, hiking or cycling. In fact she belongs to 2 cycling clubs and a hiking club.

Every day she could be busy, there is always something to do, and at 63 she’s out there not wasting a minute. Every season is wonderful in Ottawa.

Eli left Iran in 1990 and her life as a math teacher to come to Canada, got recertified as a teacher, but jobs were scarce if you didn’t speak French.

So those math skills became useful in a bank and volunteering at a refugee center 4 nights a week helping students learn and integrate into the Canadian educational systems.

She continues to volunteer a lot, she feels it’s her duty.

She always knew how to ride a bike, and can’t remember not having a bike or being outside in nature.

CCCTS has been like a family, helping each other and enjoying social life together.

Advice to new members – it’s too late, they should have joined earlier!

“Biking is like flying”, the air goes around you, no bugs, no heat, lots to enjoy, being touched by nature.

Project 529 Garage reunites stolen bikes with rightful owners in Surrey

Registering bikes with new online application helps Surrey RCMP identify stolen bikes successfully

cyclists

Surrey RCMP to partner with Project 529, a city-wide bike registry in an effort to reunite more owners with the thousands of bicycles that are stolen each year (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

Surrey RCMP have partnered with an online bike registration and recovery service to help reduce bike theft in the city of Surrey and return recovered bikes to their rightful owners.

Project 529 Garage is a website and phone app that allows cyclists to easily and securely register their bikes online.

Registration is free and users can broadcast “missing bike bulletins” to the 529 community and social networks to assist in recovering a stolen bike.

“Bike theft victims often don’t have the serial number or adequate detail to identify their bike successfully, making it very difficult for police to reunite recovered bikes with their rightful owners,” said Surrey RCMP Corporal Scotty Schumann.

As a result, the Surrey RCMP is encouraging bike owners to register their bikes with 529 Garage and secure the optional tamper resistant sticker with a registration number on their bike for easy identification.

“With an increased number of bike owners committed to registering and marking their bikes with an identification number, we can work together and send a strong message to bike thieves” says Cpl. Schumann.

Upcoming Tours

Upcoming Hub and Spokes

Hub and Spoke Report

NEWSBRIEF

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. The NEWSBRIEF is available, in colour, to paid up members, on the CCCTS website.

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 “NEWSBRIEF” are not necessarily those of the CCCTS or the Editor.

Submissions for NEWSBRIEF may be mailed to J. Klein, Newsbrief Editor, 1421 Wende Road, Victoria, BC V8P 3T6 or emailed.

E-mail: jklein@3web.com or derailler@gmail.com

Memberships are valid until year end, at which time a renewal reminder will be sent.

Single membership $30.00CA

Couple membership $60.00CA

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