Dear Members,
Thank you to all members who attended this year’s Annual General Meeting, held on February 9th, 2024 at Ned Devine’s. Also many thanks to those who provided valuable input throughout the evening to help make our OCC that much better in 2024!
Below is a recap of the meeting discussion:
2023 Recap
Virtual new rider training is not ideal; the club will be moving back to in-person training for the 2024 season.
Lack of ride leaders continues to be an issue – solving this is the Executives #1 priority with a number of new initiatives outlined below.
Ice Cream and Social rides were a hit with the Executive hearing that the club wants more of these.
Club ended the year on Budget
Top Ride Leaders
Our top three ride leaders in 2023 led over 20% of our total rides! Thank you to:
Ian Fletcher
Ryan Gravis
Barry Tsuruda
The full list of our top 20 leaders can be found on slide 10 of the attached pdf, whom combined led approximately 75% of all rides. We have some special personalized Jerseys coming for our Top 20 to wear in 2024 (see pg 21). Our clothing coordinator, Charlie Scime will be reaching out soon to our 2023 winners with more details.
Thank you to everyone who volunteered as Ride Leaders last year, we appreciate your commitment and without you our rides would not be possible.
Elections
Dane Morrison – President for the 2024 season
Joe Marangi – Returning Treasurer for the 27th time!
Andrew Penny – Secretary and new member to the OCC Exec, Welcome Andrew!
We would like to thank our outgoing President – Joan Lee – for all of her hard work and dedication throughout last season.
The full list of OCC Executive members can be found at the bottom of this email.
Looking Ahead to 2024
Membership will remain capped at 475 members until we are confident our Ride Leader issues are resolved
New casual club clothing items have been added to our online clothing store (see page 24). Jersey designs will not be refreshed in 2024, but will likely undergo a redesign for 2025.
Cost of membership will be $80, a modest increase driven by:
Basic costs to run the club have increased
New In-person rider training
Ride leader recognition program
Expansion of our social programs
Social
We have doubled the size of our Social budget to allow for more Social (club organized) and Special Rides (Rider organized); we are looking to do more one-off special rides organized by ride leaders. If you have an idea for a special ride please reach out to the exec.
We will be organizing an early season social ride to welcome new members
Late August/Early September Gran Fondo Style event – With most of the season behind you, why not challenge yourself to ride your first (or one of many) 100/160/200km distance with your friends/own group and join us for a BBQ to celebrate your achievement!
2024 Ride Leader Program
We will be introducing a mentor program with the intent to match experienced Ride leaders with new Ride Leaders. If you are interested or have ever considered becoming a ride leader, please watch for more information to come.
We are formalizing the “sweep” position for all rides in Signup to help Ride Leaders manage rides and create a structure for mentors/mentees. The sweep position is incredibly helpful to ensure no riders get dropped or left behind, especially in larger groups.
We will continue with the Yellow Jersey competition for our 2024 season. Rules & details to follow.
We will be holding a special thank you dinner for our active Ride leaders at the end of the season. Qualification criteria to follow.
EXISTING MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL WILL BEGIN ON SUNDAY, MARCH 3rd, AND WILL BE OPEN FOR 2 WEEKS.
New member signup will open to the public on March 17th.
Our official first ride is planned for Sunday, April 14th, weather permitting.
We look forward to a fantastic 2024 season and to see you all out on the road and at our special events!
Your Oakville Cycling Club Exec