edinburgh rc cycling club

Hilton Edinburgh Grosvenor Board Room

Start time 19:30

Present:- Mark Finlay, Jonny May, Alistair Easton, Ken Whitson, Kevin Tait, Fiona Donaldson, Andrew Sinclair.  Apologies were received from Simon Bullock.

Also attending were Graham Jones and Simon Towler

The meeting started with a detailed presentation by Graham Jones about his new role as club equipment custodian.  Graham has put all club equipment that can be borrowed on to a section of the club website .  This makes it clear what is available and when it is in use.  Details and charges are soon to be added for members borrowing club kit.  The new format will make it easier to keep track of club kit, and when it is and isn't available.

Graham also suggested that it may be viable for the club to buy a new camcorder to use for photo-finishes.  It was put to the vote and agreed to purchase a new camcorder since SC charge £100 a time for their photo-finish service which we use a lot. 

Simon Towler, the new club vehicle custodian , outlined the booking process for the vehicle.  Details of its use and availability for club members to use will be on the ERC website soon.

The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed as a true reflection of the meeting.  The outstanding actions were highlighted.

Chris Harney was praised for his magnificent management of the first Super Six races at Gifford on Sat. 1^st March.  Feedback has been very enthusiastic from all concerned.  A minor complaint about damage to the green in Gifford is being investigated. 

The annual club dinner was deemed to be a success although numbers were slightly down.  It was agreed that there was no need for a formal speaker.  A few lessons can be learned for next year such as better publicity, tickets available on EntryCentral and more committee members selling tickets.

Some members are to be offered free membership in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the club.

Section Reports

Membership Services:- Leisure wear for swim coaches discussed, the successful first outing of the ERC headcam - see link on website,   Ali also informed of surplus old kit at Biketrax.  He and Phil to investigate.

Treasurer:-  proposed running the club ceilidh more modestly.  Andrew to contact Chris re. expenses for Super Six races.  A recent club trip to Aberfeldy made a slight loss due to one empty place not being filled.

Off Road:-   The Alistair Lees memorial Mountain bike TT is on Sun 8^th Mar.  The event is being organised by The Bicycleworks and a contribution is being made by ERC towards the prize fund.

ERC are providing marshals for this event and have many riders entered too.

Multisport:- Progress on the tri-kit order is looking good and delivery expected soon.  Multi-sport weekend away to Aberfeldy planned on 19-20^th April.  ERC organised a swimming gala on Sat 1^st March and took on Edinburgh University, Edinburgh Triathletes and Newhaven Triathletes.  Good turn-out and a successful event.

Coaching:-  First Aid course planned in April for run leaders to include off- road leaders.  Dates to be announced.  It was noted that two more ERC members are in the process of achieving coaching qualifications.  The BBC programme, the adventure show, on Sun 2 Mar, featured ERC riders in the Strathpuffer mtb mountainbike endurance race.

Secretary:-  Nothing to report.

Vice President:- Mark to meet new Hilton manager when he starts his new job.  Mark also showed his unedited webcam footage from Saturdays race. 

President-  Ken to write to thank Chris for organising the races at Gifford and to see if there is anything we can learn from him for our forthcoming events.

RTTT:-  Kevin was equally enthusiastic about the Super Six events from both riders points of view, and the support that the club gave to the events. Four ERCs in the top 20 in the B race, top three places in the womans race and two top 20 places in the A race.  The huge crowd cheering in Gifford  was much appreciated by the riders.

 Kevin outlined recent spending from the RTTT fund and told us about the media launch of the ERC men's squad (covered by the Evening News and Scottish Cycling) and their completed and planned training sessions.  The ERC womans squad performed well in the first Super Six race and many riders from both squads are heading to Mallorca for some warm weather training.  May investigate external coaching sources, as an opportunity for a closed road session was missed as no coaches were available to take it.  

An Ingliston organisers meeting was held on 14 Feb for the six criteriums in April and  May.

Colin Russell