The Cross Canada Cycle Tour Society October 2017, Volume 34, Issue #10
President’s Report John Pringle
Looking Back to Get Ahead & More Chapters
We learned from a 2016 membership survey (~180 members or ~30% of the membership took part in the survey), that members joined the Club to take part in weekly rides (~44%), tours (~35%), and/or hub & spokes (h&s) (~10%). Others stated they joined to maintain fitness (~14%) or to enhance their social life (~5%). Despite these figures we do know that few of you actually ride tours, and certainly more of you participate in local day-rides and h&s than tours. These findings, in part, were the genesis of the Board’s decision to divide the membership up into geographically based “chapters”. If most members prefer local rides and h&s and are seeking fitness and social activities then we felt these activities could be better addressed at the local level. Chapters, under local leadership, could deliver events and promote cycling advocacy and education. Geographic partitioning of Club membership is well underway under the very able direction of Chapters Director, Ed Fudge (250-334-2068; fudgeocan@shaw.ca ). Funds in 2018 will be delivered to those chapters that have local leadership and a budget plan. Want to have monies to spend on local projects? Make sure your group is being organized (your administrative design can be simple) and that you are working with Ed to meet chapter compliance.
Tour Leaders and Tours Wanted
Our Club was formed around a cross-Canada tour in 1983: Hence the name Cross Canada Cycle Tour Society. Since then we’ve undertaken hundreds of tours. Historically tours were often designed around bicycles and panniers only; riders were truly self-supporting. During the first 21 years the Club offered and ran seven popular cross-Canada tours (one every three years on average). Interestingly, in the past 13 years we’ve not sponsored one such tour, and my wonder is will we ever have another one? It should be noted that these tours were carried out when the Club was much smaller in numbers; no greater than 200 members. Also, we were a smaller geographic entity with members principally from southwestern BC. Why these would be factors in support for long distance tours is unknown, but the times do tailor fashions.
More recently i.e. the past five years, the Club has offered 36 tours (seven tours on average per year). You’ll undoubtedly be surprised to learn that these rides were designed, organized and guided by only 22 club members (co-leaders included): Three individual tour leaders led five, four and two tours respectively; another 19 tour leaders /co-leaders led the remaining 25 tours. In short, 22 Club members provided tours for ~720 fellow members (using an average of 20 participants/tour). How can we better divide this work load or even better, have more tours? Additional tour leaders is the answer. Interestingly, the membership survey shows that the vast majority of respondents (>60% or 120 of you) expressed an interest in assisting with or leading tours. To find out more about tour leadership and the support that is available get in touch with Tours Director Bruce Daykin. (250-858-0304; bdaykin@gmail.com )
Though many of you do not tour, and may never go on a multi-day cycling tour, you have indeed joined a touring club. We also know that if the right tour is posted some of you will leave the comfort of home turf to participate. A recent example of this was the very popular Bruce Daykin designed-and-led 2016 Rockies camping tour. The signup filled in minutes and was so popular a second tour, led by Al McLean, took the overflow. Many of the participants were neophytes to CCCTS tours. Following the ride Bruce and Al received rave reviews, and this despite it being a camping tour in unpredictable mountain weather. Doesn’t this demonstrate that a tour can be tailored to motivate the “non-tourer”, which thereby enhances Club inclusivity?
The Board, it should be noted, does not initiate tours. That is performed by any Club member who presents a tour concept to the Tours Director. And by the way it doesn’t have to be just “one of you”. The tour leadership role can be shared. Get together with your riding buddy (buddies) and design a tour. Bruce and any Board member will be pleased to assist. When designing your tour please note that respondents to the above mentioned survey preferred Canadian tours (~60%) to US tours (~8%) or tours beyond North America (~20%). They also preferred one to two week long tours though many would ride longer were it in a “special” location, say possibly China, Croatia, Viet Nam, etc. Who knows? The world can be your play pen.
When thinking tour design, please note that our survey suggests most of you prefer motels to camping, though our camping tours are classics (my favourite type for sure) and very inexpensive (Allan Buium’s recent “Princeton to Princeton” tour came in at ~$50.00/day all inclusive). Can you imagine? And to think our 2008 China tour costed only ~$100.00/day. No one can match our prices.
We are currently redesigning our tour leader incentives package for presentation and approval at the 27th November AGM. If you have ideas send them to Bruce, or better still, come to the Meeting and join in the discussion. Better still do both. Bend a Board members ear over a free lunch.
Welcome New Members
| Diana | Salomaa | Nanaimo | BC |
| Peter | MacDowall | Ottawa | ON |
| John | Hilchey | Victoria | BC |
In Memoriam
BORRON, Arthur Edward 21 November 1926 – 30 August 2017
Art, dearly loved husband of Brenda, passed away at Saanich Peninsula Hospital after a long struggle with congestive heart failure. He will be missed by all who knew him for his kindness, and his clear-headed and non-judgmental approach to life.
Art’s main passions were outdoor pursuits- climbing, backpacking and cross-country skiing in the Rockies. After retirement he and Brenda moved to Victoria and began bicycle touring They toured extensively in Canada and the U.S. with the Cross Canada Cycle Tour Society, as well as enjoying local rides with the Over the Hill Cyclist. Indoors, Art loved mathematics, computers and philosophy. He kept abreast of the news but said he watched Donald Trump for entertainment.
A native of Toronto, Art retired to Victoria with Brenda after a career in Toronto, Winnipeg and Calgary in insurance and then the oil industry. He is survived by his wife, Brenda, brother Ed, sister-in-law Dorothy Borron, and cousins, Bill Borron (Pauline), Diane Young, Eileen Rice, MaryLou (Walter) Montanera, and Monika (Michael) Ladouceur. Predeceased by sister Joan Bendron, brother Gordon Borron and cousin Pat Stockdale.
Art was a long term member of the CCCTS. He served many terms as a Director and he and his wife participated in many tours including some as leader.
Around the world by bike: Canadian couple pens book about travels
Shahla and Peter Nygaard are in B.C. touring their new book ‘Decade of Discovery’ By Clare Hennig, CBC News
Shahla and Peter Nygaard travelled around the world almost exclusively by bike for a decade. (Culture Quest)
For ten years, Shahla and Peter Nygaard pedalled their way through 77 countries and across six continents, bicycling and tenting their way around the world.
Now, the Edmonton couple has just released a book of those adventures called Decade of Discovery and they’re back on the road again, this time by car, to share stories and highlights from the book.
CBC’s host of North By Northwest Sheryl MacKay reached them as they headed into B.C.
“We had grown a curiosity of the world,” Peter said. “We thought about travelling a little bit and the more we thought about it, the more the thought grew into ‘Well, we really are curious about the whole world so why don’t we try to do the whole world in one stint.'”
And that’s exactly what they did — the world in one decade-long stint.
Peter and Shahla Nygaard are in B.C. touring their new book. (Culture Quest)
World adventures
Shahla and Peter started off from Germany on foot and by the time they made it to Greece, four months later, they decided they needed a new mode of transport.
“By this point, we knew that walking was not for us,” Shahla said. “It was really hard to keep ahead of the weather and it was getting colder and colder by the day.”
Beyond weather concerns, there was the pain of so much walking.
“Our shoulders were sore, our hips were bruised and bloodied from the straps of our backpacks and our feet were suffering from athlete’s foot,” she said.
Shahla Nygaard on the road in Turkey. (Culture Quest)
No more walking
Inspired by a travelling circus on bicycles they met, Peter and Shahla settled on a pair of wheels each.
“We assembled two working bikes and that was the beginning of our cycling odyssey,” Peter said.
From Europe, they worked their way into Africa and then over to Asia, Oceania and finally the Americas. All along the way, adventure awaited them, from getting stuck in the Sahara desert to hitching a ride in a truck that crashed in Congo to running out of money and panhandling in Venezuela.
The people they met along the way were the highlight of the trip, both Peter and Shahla agreed.
“Every single day, there was something awesome that happened to us because of wonderful people,” Shahla said.
Peter Nygaard taking a break from the heat in Casamance in Senegal. (Culture Quest)
Future adventures
For now, their world cycling adventures have taken a back seat as they raise their young children but they haven’t stopped exploring yet — an indefinite travel plan may be in the works for after they retire, Peter said.
As for their book tour, they will be in Vernon on the evening of Sept. 16 and Kamloops the following day, as well as in Vancouver and Nelson next week.
To hear the full interview with Shahla and Peter Nygaard, click on the audio link below:
Newsbrief
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