OFFICIAL NEWS
SECRETARY’S REPORT
Just a Second
‘Just when I thought I was off the back, they pulled me back in…’
T
hese are the jokes, you may as well laugh! Having got that out of the way, I’d like to congratulate AUK member Shusanah Pillinger on becoming the first British woman to complete a solo RAAM, and also Joth and Emma Dixon, who were part of the record breaking relay team of tandemists, Love Sweat and Gears. I’m also pleased to report our own uber long distance cyclist Steve Abraham is on the mend and looking forward to starting a second concurrent 1YTT attempt soon. Donations from AUK members are continuing to help keep Steve on the road, and the ‘donation’ option on online event entries launched earlier this year has raised £1,600 to-date. That’s 1,600 individual donations in addition to monies through other channels, great stuff. ANNUAL REUNION Other news? Well, this year’s reunion has been confirmed for the weekend of 14th November in Peterborough; see the booking form with this Arrivee or the AUK website for details. The AUK trophy cabinet will not be joining us though; it will be taking up residence at the Cycling Museum at Llandrindod Wells. However, our gallant award winners will not be leaving empty handed though as there will be a new range of awards for them to collect. Electoral Reform Services (ERS) will be providing the voting services again but this time it will be more of an online affair, so if you were one of the 1,200 members who received a ballot paper through the post, please register an email address through the AUK website to receive an online ballot. If you really are strictly offline, please contact Les Hereward, the AUK registrar, in order that you can register for a postal vote courtesy of the Royal Mail – see the Notice to Members on the opposte page for details. Another Notice to Members (again, see opposite page) relates
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Arrivée Summer 2015 • No.129
to insurance for overseas events, so if you are planning to ride overseas, please take note. RIDING OVERSEAS Many AUKs will be riding overseas this year, of course, this being a PBP year. Audax Club Parisien’s new processes for BRM event validation and PBP entry have been going well and whether it’s a coincidence is hard to say but we are on track for a record number of Super Randonneurs. Events Sec Martin Foley has also announced the regulations for a new category of event for 2016, the Easter Trail (or ‘Trace Nationale’ as they say in France), a more relaxed version of the Easter Arrow. New events mean new medals, and AUK members have been invited to design new ranges including a special medal for AUK’s 40th anniversary in 2016. Contact Event Services Director Peter Lewis for details (see the advertisement on page 4). COMINGS AND GOINGS On the home front, the Board would like to thank Tony Greenwood who is stepping down this year as Brevet Card secretary and welcome Oliver Illes to the role. Other personnel changes pending are to elect Finance and Communications Directors. The Board appointed Paul Salmons FD in December and Paul will be standing for formal election this year as required by AUK Articles. Meanwhile we need to recruit a Communications Director to look after the website and publications team as well as overseeing our publicity across traditional and social media, and two non-executive director posts will also be up for election, as these are contested on an annual basis. We also need some help organising the Reunion and/or Awards, so if you would like to help in any of these ways, please get in touch so that we can let you have more details (see the advertisement on page 4).
ROUTE PLANNING & GPS A recent development which impacts all those involved in planning routes is that withdrawal of Google Maps ‘Classic’. In recent years GMC has been AUK’s preferred route planning and distance measurement tool, and alas, New Google Maps just ain’t the same, so we are looking at other options. For the time being though, the Board has adopted a measure to give event organisers the choice of setting routes with advisory routes as now, or fixed (mandatory) routes as used by the rest of the randonneur world. Mandatory routes are much easier to plan – simply plot a route using your preferred mapping system, add some controls along the way and you’re good to go – and will make life easier especially for the GPS DIY Permanent riders and Organisers, as GPS DIYers plan more routes than any other group nowadays. The quid pro quo is that riders will be required to follow the set route, as the rider’s track will be validated against the route track as well as the event Controls. The Board hopes this approach will also help to revitalise regular Permanents which have rather been in decline for several years now. In progressing this initiative the Board is aware some will be concerned about the wider use of GPS but feels GPS devices are now mainstream and so it is time to extend their use, for Permanent events at least. The Board remains committed to Brevet Card and route sheets for Calendar events. As I write we are working on the operational procedures for this and there will be a formal proposal for AGM2015 in due course. Keep an eye on the AUK Website for further announcements or see the AUK Forum for more (much!) more detail. All the best,
Paul Stewart, Secretary, Audax UK www.aukweb.net