Minutes of the May 30th Board Meeting

CRCA Board Meeting

May 30^th, 2012, 7:00 pm

Location: 300 e 85th (Corner of 2nd Ave) Conference Room

Meeting Commenced 7pm

1. Financial review and options:

Our financial report showing a full year forecasts surplus compared to our budgeted break-even position.  A couple of points to note on this:

- Membership will be at or close to budget

- Sponsorships received were not budgeted for (major reason for surplus)

- To date the stipend program has not been significantly accessed and in all likelihood we won't spend the budgeted or forecasted amount

- Junior development was funded by member contributions - we budgeted additional just in case, but this will not be needed

- We assume our open races will run at a deficit

- We have spent more than budgeted for capital type items (finish line camera, tent, lights etc.)

To limit the surplus the board agreed to look for ways to spend money in a reasonable way that is beneficial to the membership and things the membership cares about.

- A contribution to the StarTrack program

- Increase the funding for the year end party (improve the event and/or lessen the cost)

- Identify additional capital expenditure items that will improve our race quality

2. Race registration at club races:

• - As a result of 5/19 Men’s A-race selling out, board discussed possible registration options. In this race, pre-registration was offered to both donor and dinosaur (10+ years) members.
• - Send a warning email to members about possibility of race selling out
• - Increase field maximum to 150 (Board OPPOSED)
• - Distribute field Master 55+ race with women’s field (Board OPPOSED)
• - Decrease team maximum (perhaps implement next year)
• - Limit pre-registration to donor members only (Board AGREED)
• - New field (possible that permit limits to 4? Still the board is undecided if this is a viable solution)

3. Club transportation for hire to Pawling:

-Board discussed the possibility of providing transportation to Pawling road race for members at cost.

- Following meeting (after investigating cost), board decided that providing such transportation was not economically practical.

4. New membership Review:

• - Number of new members are at expectation
• - Because of complaint amongst new members about difficulty integrating into the club, board discussed possible avenues for inclusion:
• - Social event
• - Generation of CRCA subteams
• - Listerv exclusively for unattached riders
• - Informational session for new cat 4/5 riders
• - Dedicated skills session- how to ride as a team
• - C field rostering- via dedicated listerv

Rod has agreed to reach out to all Cat 5 new racers and seek feedback

5. Harlem Criterium sponsorship update

-Board has confirmed sponsorship of Harlem criterium.

- Foundation and Champion System will only be included

-Not enough Cat1 racers to develop CRCA composite team

6. Jeff Poulin (NYSBRA president) invited to observe Maltese:

-His attendance has been confirmed

7. Women’s clinic update

-25 registered

-Organized by Radical Media

8. Other business:

Marshaling

• - Need for more instructions- Instructional video?
• - Marshals need to be more pro-active
• - Marshals need to remain at post to very end— directive administered by Paulette
• - Moto should be assigned from early-finishing field to tail the A field and indicate they are done (and marshals should be instructed to wait to leave until instructed by a moto)
• - Marshals arrive too late

Recent suspension of two riders (previous email discussion)

Recent suspension of two riders at the club race on 5/19 for racing without registering when the field was full; a rider from Foundation and another from Houlihan Lokey. The board considered the facts presented. Rod and Rob recused themselves from the process in the case of the Foundation rider because of conflict of interest. The remaining board members considered the information, determined that the Foundation rider had not checked in for the race, and he was therefore suspended for one race and all team members were relegated in the race.  In the case of the other rider, he was identified by the finish line video as being in the race, but not found on the start list. A member of the board contacted him, and he confirmed he started the race after being informed it was full.  He was suspended for two races with no team penalty, since no team members placed in that race

Minutes of February 3, 2012 CRCA Board Meeting

Feb. 3, 2012 The meeting commenced at 7:30pm

1. Approval of January minutes- APPPROVED
2. Membership Update

Rod presented the current membership statistics as of February 5th:

• Overall Membership (~420 members) exceeded that of last year at this time. This may be due to opening earlier this year.
• Dino membership may exceed expectation.
• New memberships are low, but it is still early.
• Number of donors should reach expectations. It is already 72% of the predicted amount.
• Member renewal fee increases February 15,2012- membership expected to increase within the next week.

The board is very optimistic about the membership numbers for this coming season. As of now, everything seems to be on track.

3. Team Cup & Boyd Cup Proposed rules for 2012

The board discussed and agreed on this year’s changes to team cup and Jim Boyd award points. The following topics were discussed in depth:

• Board agreed to maintain the current protocol to award points only for the racers who place in the top seven positions.
• Proposed CRCA Central Park race dates in which points will be awarded (listed on the current race schedule)– All approved.
• The addition of open races (Grant’s Tomb Criterium, Bear Mountain Road Race, FBF Road Race, Alpine Hill Climb) as being applicable for points award. Each field will be scored separate (as absolute positions, not as relative CRCA positions) and awarded points accordingly. The board agreed to that these races should be included in the points allocation system.  The board changed the proposed protocol to include Women’s category 4 field to also be scored to be awarded points, in addition to the Women’s Cat 1/2/3 at Bear Mountain. Board also agreed that the master’s field will not be awarded Team Cup & Boyd Cup points.

4. Harlem Sponsorship

Harlem Criterium has requested the continued support of CRCA through a financial contribution to the race.  Rod discussed his recent meeting with John Eustice. In addition to brand recognition, the board agreed that involvement of our top teams/riders in the main race and ability to provide VIP access to our donor members are the key items for the club. The board discussed how the exposure of the CRCA in the Harlem criterium would be prestigious because it is both recognized as a National Criterium and by the NRC. The exact sponsorship amount has not yet been discussed and Rod will continue to further this with John and consult with the Board as necessary.

5. Cycling Protocol for Central Park – collaboration with NYCC

The NYCC has approached the CRCA asking to help establish a universal cycling protocol for Central Park. Rod presented the proposed protocol. The board agreed that there should be common etiquette to riding in the park. Although the rules presented in the protocol are not absolute, nor will they be enforced by the CRCA, deviations do have implications on the accessibility of the park for training and for races. The board agreed to support and publish the protocol on the CRCA websites with some minor changes.

6. Champion Systems Team code of conduct

The board also agreed to provide a hyperlink on the CRCA website directing members to the Champion System Code of Conduct, a “Pro-Pedestrian Street Code” document that the Team developed in connection with TA.

7. Open racing & sponsorship summary & updates

Matt updated the board on the current status of the proposed CRCA open races. All open races for except Fall Bear Mountain have been confirmed and secured with sponsorship.

8. Team update (status of new teams, team duty sign up etc.)

Sonny presented the list of new teams to join the CRCA, as well the team duties that some have agreed upon:

• Westwood Velo
• Wafels and Dinges/NYC Velo
• CycleLife USA/GF Capital
• Signature Cycles and Rockstar Games- Harlem Criterium
• SixCycle RK&O
• Echelon/Montecci
• Bicycle Planet- Grant’s Tomb team duty
• Major Taylor
• Champion Systems p/b Stan’s NoTubes- Men’s Clinic
• Innervation Fitness/ Stan’s NoTubes Women’s Racing

The complete list of new teams, as well as name changes, is thoroughly described on the CRCA website.

9. Marshaling signup update & considerations

Rob W. reported that the marshaling sign-up is going well.  Men’s skills session is filled to capacity, but there is still room in the women’s skills session. The board discussed the accessibility of the skills session to non-first year members. Board agreed that these members should be allowed to attend the session, but not awarded marshaling credits. Rob W. also discussed a surplus of marshals. A possible solution would be to allow some marshals (according to seniority) to aid in registration, and then allowed to race. Another proposed use of excess marshals would be to strategically overload certain areas of the field, i.e. finish lines.

10. Club race registration plan and ideas for improvement

Board discussed how to possibly streamline registrations.

• Rod has purchased extra table to be used for registrations, which should enable the establishment of another line. 5 check-in lines in total
• The excess of marshal could be potentially used for registration
• Dino’s would have their own registration line, to be possibly grouped with the women’s line.
• Shut down club registration a few days before the race. Board discussed how members would need to be warned about this prior to its installation.

For next year, the board discussed the possibility of using USA Cycling’s registration system for club races.  This has a significant advantage of enabling electronic waivers and series long electronic waivers which will greatly ease the work load on members and the club associated with registration; but will require a transaction fee to be paid to USAC cycling.  Rod will continue to evaluate and discuss with USA Cycling later in the year.

11. Upcoming events

Rod highlighted the upcoming CRCA events. Matt proposed holding the club numbers pick-up social event at Third and Long. Rod also proposed to approach sponsors to possibly provide free merchandise to the members at the numbers pick-up event.

12. Other matters

The board meeting concluded with the proposal of several ideas, none that concluded in any final decisions:

a. CRCA logo

Harry proposed revamping the CRCA logo. Keeping the general concept, but perhaps giving it a modern look.

b. Increase CRCA advertisement

In efforts to increase new membership, Harry proposed the production of flyer and stickers. The board agreed that this may be helpful and an avenue to possibly pursue. Also board discussed the possibility of including CRCA advertisements on websites etc. No conclusion was reached but it was agreed that Harry should evaluate and prepare some proposals for the board to consider

c. Website

Board agreed that the website has been successfully at increasing communication with members.  Matt discussed how he is preparing the site to include photographs from open races, as well as video finishes from all CRCA park races.

13. Next meeting March 5, location TBD (probably the upper Eastside….)