OCC AGM 2021 – main outcomes

Held: Wednesday 24th March 2021 – Virtually via Zoom

Chair: Andrew Webb (AW)

Present: Mike Lowndes (ML), Club Secretary, Dave Nash (DN) Club Treasurer, Mariusz Wiersciuk (MW), Peter Couldery (PC), Tom Chapman (TC), Andrew Saunders-Davies (AS-D), Connor Penfold (CP), Tony Trafford (TT), Johnny Morrison (JyM), Jonathan Mason (JnM), James Piggot (JP), Simon Crehan (SC),

Current members: 26 
Current Club balance: £1154
OCC’s annual donation to Sobell House to be made later in the the year.
Other club assets are  kit stocks and ongoing orders, value: £2,315

Club kit and stock

Current kit stock includes several gilets and an order of Castelli short-sleeve jerseys scheduled for delivery in late April. Also caps and socks. Unless demand increases, further summer kit orders will be in 2022 as minimum cost/order of shorts required several pre-orders. Winter jerseys are likely the next priority as stock was down to a single jersey. This order would need to be made in summer 2021.

Committee 2021 – nominations & vote

The Chair announced that AW, ML and DN would like to continue in their respective roles on the Committee for the coming year. AW announced that both AS-D and MW had put themselves forward to take on a role on the Committee. Both motions passed by unanimous vote.

Club rides

Group rides begin again from 29th March.

Covid rules on group size of six have proved popular with members. Group size will therefore be kept to an ideal of six, allowing some flexibility and have max groups size as eight to avoid groups of two-three.

We will endeavour to run three groups each Saturday: Medium, Medium Fast, and Fast. CP offered to help out leading the medium ride alongside AS-D.

Post ride drinks

OCC currently  default to The Punter in Osney, and the committee proposed looking at additional options for better bike security.

Suggestions will be followed up, including

  • The White House by Tap Social adjacent to Folly Bridge on the Abingdon Rd, opening on April 12.
  • The Up in Arms, Marston,
  • The White Rabbit, Gloucester Green
  • The Dewdrop in Summertown.

Post-ride rendezvous will be confirmed in advance of weekly rides and posted with the route details.

General agreement that although a post-ride beer was preferable, cafes might be a better option in wet weather, for example the Peloton Café on Cowley Road.

Groups arriving at the rendezvous point should stay seated together, until restrictions on numbers sitting together are eased.

Mid Week Rides

Midweek Wednesday a.m. rides will continue to include a café stop as it is an informal and social ride. This ride is an OCC ride but will remain an informal gathering and be open to other riders/friends of members, and not posted on social media or website in advance.

Proposed Thursday evening ride. AW proposed midweek evening ride. General agreement that this would be a great initiative. JnM suggested making this more open to riders from other clubs too. JyM, CP and AS-D all supported this suggestion. The ride would be held on Thursdays at 6pm, lasting a couple of hours (max 50-60km), allowing time for a beer after.

Day trips

Club will await clarity on the lifting of restrictions before we decide where to go.

Suggested away days were to the Welsh borders (if access to Wales was possible), the West Cotswolds and a tour of the Isle of Wight.

Weekend of 22nd May is the provisional date for first day trip away.

Autumn Tour

Mallorca in the autumn was proposed, but demand for late summer holidays might impact on availability and price. A decision on this will be taken nearer the time.

JnM suggested a club trip to the Lake District to ride the Fred Whitton route. AS-D that, given the challenge of the ride, it could be broken up into two rides over consecutive days, which would make it more accommodating. AW suggested keeping this as an option should we not want to go abroad.

Social Events

Proposed, to be confirmed:

  • Chairman’s breakfast ride, June.
  • Summer BBQ with partners (AS-D kindly offered to host)
  • Curry night.

Other matters arising

CP offer accepted to help out with social media, including taking photographs of the club and managing the club social media accounts.

New Riders

  • DN reported that several people had been in touch during lockdown asking about riding with the club and to expect potential new memebrs when we restart.
  • DN explained the approach to new riders and confirmed the following policy for all ride leaders:

If a ride leader does not think a new rider will cope with the speed and distance they should be asked not to ride.  The club uses an informal ‘first hill rule’ – whereby if a rider gets dropped or struggles on the first hill (e.g., Cumnor Hill, Hinksey Hill, Elsfield etc) the ride leader must make a decision on whether to allow them to continue.

  • CP and PC (new in 2020) agreed that communication from the club prior to the first ride with DN and ML had been very good regarding the speed.
  • An objective of the club in 2021 is to welcome more female members.