Hello BCI members,
It's been awhile since my last article. June 13th to be exact. Quite a bit has transpired since then, and will be happening in the next few months, so there's a lot to talk about.
The BCI Rally was a huge success. We had a good turnout and good participation from several other bike clubs. Thanks to Monica for organizing that event. We had our BBQ ride and Penny Poorman was in charge and the hamburgers, drinks, and chips were great. Bill Sellin and Paul Haussler also contributed to the barbeque.
The next scheduled major event will be the Palos Robles weekend beginning 10/27 through 10/30. I'd like to put on another Tour De Five Cities remote ride but I have been waiting for the San Juan Capistrano bike path reconstruction be completed but it is still not done. I plan on scheduling another Carlsbad remote ride in November so that will be announced soon.
Bear training rides, will begin in January. They have been a BCI tradition since the early 1990's. I created those rides and led the training for many years until my back surgeries. Once again, I will take charge of these rides and will revert back to the original format and routes. The purpose of the training is twofold - first, to prepare for the OCW Ride Around The Bear Century which occurs every June, and secondly, and equally as important, as a way to help members improve and become more comfortable with their hill climbing abilities, even if they are not doing the Bear. As a point of reference, everyone who completed the 11 training rides when I was hosting them and chose to ride the Bear completed the century successfully. Quite a few people who never thought they could do a 100 mile, 9,500 ft climb ride ended up doing exactly that because of those training rides. For now I would suggest if you would like to consider participating in this training, a good way of preparing during the next few months before January would be to start riding blue rides a couple of times a month to get acclimated to the distances and the climbing. Lastly, anyone who wishes to participate may do so as little or as often as you want, at your pleasure. Sign up just like other club rides and get mileage credit. I will keep you posted as to the beginning date and ride schedule.
Now, a brief discussion about the BCI Board, the members, and the upcoming elections in January. As you recall, when the 2016 elections were held in January, the President's position was vacant. Soon after the elections I volunteered to fill the position, having previously served in the mid 2000's and was appointed by a board vote. For the past 8 months, working with our board has been an absolute pleasure, and I want to acknowledge the excellent job they have all been doing. I also want to make you are of their contributions to the club and how much time they devote to keep our club functioning and providing all the club benefits and services. Rides, route slips, mileage recording, a myriad of internet services, general meetings, finances, accident insurance, social gatherings, club jerseys, a lot of things we take for granted. It's our board members that make our $20 yearly dues more than worth it.
Penny Poorman, our Vice President, has done an excellent job with the general meetings. Finding speakers, booking locations, and setting up the meetings before you arrive. Everything she touches turns to gold. The activity board you see at the ride sign up was her idea and she is pretty much in the middle of everything that goes on club wise.
Monica McCarthy, our Membership Director has done a great job of keeping membership dues current and keeping everything up to date. She has also hosted the Bile Rally, and put on numerous remote rides. Monica will be stepping down at the end of this year but I'm sure she will stay involved in our club activities. Penny has indicated her desire to become Membership Director, so she put her name on the ballot for that position in 2016.
Anne Reichling, our Treasurer, has tabs on all BCI finances and submits her monthly reports at each board meeting. The club's finances are well taken care of. Anne maintains the Insurance and keeps the policies current. She is a valuable asset.
Bob McHenry, our secretary, keeps the Board Meeting minutes and each time we review them there is almost never a need for corrections or adjustments. He documents everything that occurs and reports at every meeting. He is invaluable. He also coordinates the Circle of Safety resources and programs for the club.
Suzanne McCord, our Hospitality Director, takes care of all the food at our general meetings and any of our other social get-togethers. There is always more than enough to eat and drink, and the food is always tasty. She has also been in charge of ordering, supplying, and inventorying our Club Jerseys and other clothing apparel. She has indicated she is ready to step down and pass on her responsibilities. Thanks for a job well done.
Mark Urias is our statistician and maintains the mileage on all our members. It's a lot of work going through the ride sign in sheets every week and entering all the mileage of each individual into the computer data base, and keeping the mileage current. A tedious job. My hat is off to him.
Bill Sellin is our Communications Director, and also co-founder of the club. BCI has been a major part of Bill's life from its very beginning, and he has been a nurturing force in virtually every aspect of the club's existence. Thank you Bill, for BCI. Bill presently keeps us informed online of all the ongoing club activities. Together with Jim Norman, Director at Large, they maintain our web site and insure that all members can access whatever online information is needed. Thank you both - the club owes you a debt of gratitude.
Norm Moyer, our Ride Coordinator, who has been a long time club member, occupies a crucial board position. Norm has done an outstanding job for us this year, and in the past, maintaining and putting on all our rides. What more is there to say. A huge job. Now that he is becoming more involved in his bicycle tours he is hoping we can find a replacement for him and pass the baton onto another capable club member. Thanks for all your efforts both this year and in the past.
Jim Norman, Director at Large been with the board for a number of years in different capacities. He was instrumental last year in helping to create and get our new web set up and running and has been invaluable in refining and making it more accessible to the membership. He has also been the driving force in getting our liability and accident insurance set up and running. He has been invaluable to our board.
Randy Profeta, Director at Large, was a past ride coordinator, and has contributed his advice and expertise in many areas because of his involvement in the bicycling world. He was very much involved in the creation of the new web site, pivotal in transferring data from the previous system to the TidyClub Data Bank. He helped to format the web page and populate it with rides and activities He also made sure crash@bikeirvne was on all route slips and pushed riders to sign route slips to be accessible to accident insurance. He has been an invaluable board member.
Last but not least, There is yours truly, your President. I've been with BCI since 1989, and was a director at large for 2 years, then held the office of President from 2003 to 2006. Since all the work is done by the board members, my responsibility is to preside over the board meetings, and insure that all is well and all areas are addressed. I also represent the club in various different capacities. I see my prime responsibility as being the voice of the club and representing you on the board. I have asked you as club members to use me as the place to go with complaints, suggestions, and advice. I'm the guy that takes the heat and the buck stops with me. To date, that has worked out well and I have heard from several of you on many issues. So thanks for helping me do my job.
Now in the last few months of the year, upcoming board elections will become a priority. I have appointed Beth Sher to be the Chairperson of the nominating committee and two other members of the committee are Anne Gayton and Jenny Short. According to our by-laws, anyone wishing to serve on the board may place their name into consideration with the nominating committee. If you wish to place your name in nomination for a board position, please inform the nominating committee. Presently all board members, except for the ride coordinator and Hospitality have indicated their desire to remain on the board and their names have been submitted to the nominating committee. We have one nominee for Vice President. Penny Poorman, our present VP, has put her name in nomination for Membership Director so at the moment we are actively looking for Ride Coordinator and Hospitality Director. All 9 positions are available for volunteer nominees, but we are seeking to fill these the two critical vacant positions for 2017 that have no volunteers running yet.
On October 1, the rides begin again at 9AM. Remember, that is also Jersey Day. All of the Board Members have been asked to be on the rides and at the rest stop and Luncheon at Gelsens, available to chat with any of you who wish to know about the goings on at the board level and answer any questions you may have. I look forward to talking to as many of you as possible.
See you all then, or before.
Your President,
Mike Farrell
