NCBC meeting notes - August '97

These are the notes from the August 4th, 1997 meeting of the NCBC.

The meeting was convened at REI at Crossroads Shopping Center in Cary. 13 members attended the meeting.

Much discussion following publicity surrounding Critical Mass in San Francisco.
(Raleigh had its first Critical Mass ride in July. See Critical Mass announcement for info related to that ride.)
Tim Hunter attended Critical Mass event in Raleigh, and stated that it was too unorganized to have had any sort of effect.
Nonetheless, Critical Mass rides are planned for the 4th Friday of each month at 5:00 starting from the Raleigh Rose Garden.
Should the NCBC take a position on Critical Mass? We agreed that the club should adhere to its stated principles and let Critical Mass fall where it may. It was clear that CM is very controversial, even among ardent cyclists.
We agreed to include Critical Mass in cycling calendar since it is a cycling event, but to note that it is not an NCBC event.
We also agreed to ask DOT Dept of Bicycle Transportation to address the club at our October meeting to present and discuss effective measures for promoting cycling causes (Henri to follow up).
Other suggestions/comments:
- NCBC should establish a relationship with the media and be a reliable resource for cycling related issues. Jim stated that he had been working with Butch Robertson at the News and Observer as part of the Jimmy V ride and had established a good working relationship
- Should we contribute an occasional cycling column to the N&O? This could be good coverage for things like Effective Cycling.

Sheila Miller reported that:

106 riders participated
everything worked out, in spite of some last minute "excitement"
folks seemed to like the rural route
the sand caused a a problem for a few riders
Sand was a "feature" for exercising handling skills (sez Jim)
Some of the 100K riders were outright rude to the Spin Cycle folks
Walter suggests we need an article on proper etiquette
Some folks question what $15 NCBC membership buys
- (note: see member benefits)
- suggestion for Katherine to write article
- covers newsletter, everything else is free
- get it back if you ride all three rallies
more riders did 100K rather than 50K
received compliments on starting early
the arrow onto Alton was painted over

Should the club purchase a tent and/or trailer for use at rallies?

Ed Funkhauser will investigate trailers and report at next meeting.
Sheila will investigate tents.
Insurance for trailer would be covered by towing car (Sheila had investigated before)

Should we have future rallies on Saturdays?

We agreed we should continue to hold our rallies on Sundays.
Traffic would be an issue in our riding areas
Other rides (BikeFest, Blue Ridge Brutal) are available for folks who can't ride on Sundays.

Dates for 1998 rallies

Agreed that 3rd weekend in April works well for Spring Rally (Sunday, April 19th, 1998)
Sheila suggested moving Summer rally out one week (Sunday, July 19th, 1998)
Fall Rally depends on timing of Bridge to Bridge and the Peanut Tour - will probably need to be later in the year in '98.
Agreed to give preferences to Mike Wallace and let him coordinate DOT's calendar of cycling events.

The club needs a director for this ride! Contact Jim!
Much of the work is already done.
Jim has sponsor in Fuquay (Milano's Pizza) which will provide pizza after the rally.

David proposed creating a club email list similar to what the Tarwheels have
Would be great help in running club's rallies
Agreed to use club membership database as repository
- Henri to add email addresses from spring (and summer?) rally
- Alan to add fields for "not a member" and "not on mailing list"
- David to prepare forms for web page

Jim helping with aligning sponsors
Also working with Gilbert Anderson on setting up route
They'll need volunteers for things like sag stops
Anyone interested should contact Jim (Fredley)
Henri will organize a sag stop team. Tim Hunter and Theresa Costello will help, too

Page maintained by David L. Cole and last revised on Tuesday, September 9, 1997.
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