RWCC Plans for 2023

Our Priorities for 2023

1. Weekend Spins

We see the managed growth of our Club Spins as our top priority.

Our objective is to run three different spin levels, (currently Red, Yellow and Blue). Speed and distance are not set in stone, and who rides in which group depends on the range of abilities on a particular day. Craig will take the lead on re-establishing Red spins. Chris will take the lead on building out the Yellow spins. Tom will take the lead on Blue.

Spins should run on both Saturday and Sunday mornings and our short term focus will be on Saturday spins. Once the Saturday spins are properly established, we will work on the Sunday spins.

Proposed routes will be shared on Thursday evening. It would be great if Club Members would declare if they are riding, which day, and their preferred colour. If we know in advance who is showing, groups can depart more efficiently.

The ideal group is approx. 8 riders of roughly equivalent abilities – which means that we may need to spilt groups as numbers grow. If the group is too big, we create an obstruction on the road, and it also becomes hard to find a suitable coffee stop. If there is too wide a range of abilities in a group, the ride gets dis-jointed, and nobody gets the positive spin experience that they want.

The role of the Road Captain will be more clearly defined for each spin group and we will fund CI training for Road Captains as soon as a suitable course has been scheduled.

2. Mid-Week Activity

For Jan/Feb/March, our evening activity needs to be primarily indoors.
A virtual (Zwift) group is now up and running, and traditional Turbo session will be re-start w/c Jan 23rd.

Riders of any ability can participate. The sessions have a social dimension and they “force” us to be more disciplined when the evenings are dark and miserable. They will also help ensure as many people as possible are ready for the Shabra Spin which is scheduled on April 1st.

Weather permitting, there will be casual daytime midweek spins Jan/Feb/March.

At end of March, the clocks change, so from Easter onwards, we’ll have light until after 8PM and will be getting the Evening Spins going – probably Tuesday and Thursday. Cameron will take the lead in re-establishing the mid-week spin programme.

3. New Members

While the Simply Cycling programme worked well, it was a single, significant resource-hungry event. It brought new members to the club essentially in a “batch”, which can be difficult to manage.

For 2023, we need recruitment to be a continuous process. With is in mind, we are proposing to run an ongoing promotion of a “New Riders” spin on the 1st Saturday of every month. Regular Club Spins will proceed as normal on these days, but a number of experienced riders will volunteer to support the New Riders spin (in rotation). In Jan/Feb/Mar, the New Riders Spin will be targeted at Intermediate and Experienced riders (or those with high levels of underlying fitness, for example ex-runners). Marketing promotion for this activity will target local riders who are not members of any of our neighbouring clubs.

In parallel, during January, we will approach lapsed members and also existing members who are riding less frequently and actively encourage them to come back. This activity will help build the Yellow group with riders who have the potential to move quickly to Red.
The first of our 1st Saturday spins will be on Feb 4th (a Bank Holiday weekend), with a follow-up on March 4th.

For Beginners, we will run a programme similar to Simply from April 16th to May 21st. Promotion of this event will begin in March. We will limit the numbers to make best use of club resources. We will plan for approx. 12 riders and build towards a modest local event, for example, the AWCC event in May. As part of the preparation for the April Simply programme, we will review the feasibility of forming a sub-Blue group.

Recruitment activity for the 2nd half of the year will focus on the 1st Saturday “New Riders” spin.

4. Trips

The opportunities for away trips are limitless, but for this year, we believe our priorities are as follows:

 4.1 Neighbour Events

Wendy will maintain contact with the Chairs of our neighbouring clubs, so we have a schedule of their events and can support them. For example: May – AWCC ; June – Ashburners Solstice Cycle ; Sept – Dunshaughlin fundraiser
From May through to October we anticipate that there will be at one Neighbour spin per month.

4.2 Away Days

June – Cam will identify a base and a set of routes that will allow Red, Yellow and Blue groups assemble at a start point, depart at about the same time and return (subject to mechanicals etc,) at about the same time. We will be looking for a base that will allow for a fairly flat Blue route. The routes need to be achievable for all club members and the base should have a chuck wagon, BBQ or other catering at our finish.

August - Wendy will organise a group for the Ladies Lap of Louth.

4.3 Weekenders

While club members will be attending lots of events during the year, we are proposing only one Club-promoted weekender this year. Jane will organise our participation in the Tour de Beara on September 9th, with accommodation in Ballylickey.

4.4 Overseas

No overseas trips proposed for 2023.

5. Major Initiatives

We will keep the Major Events to a minimum while we focus on consolidating the core functions of the club.

5.1 Shabra

Shabra is Scheduled for April 1st and is a fantastic opportunity to showcase the RWCC to a much wider base of riders. Staging of the event will be managed by a dedicated sub-committee.

5.2 Simply Cycling

A scaled-back version of last year’s Simply programme will be scheduled for April 16th to May 21st

5.3 Summer Social Event

Following the success of the 2022 Summer BBQ, we will host a social event on a date to be confirmed.

5.4 Santa Spin

Scheduled for Dec 2nd. Build on the success of the 2022 spin – emphasis on relationships with our neighbouring clubs.
It is primarily an event for the incoming committee post-AGM, but the set-up work needs to be done before the new committee is formed. The Santa Spin can therefore become a nice way of passing the baton from one committee to the next - a celebratory “First Roll-Out” with the incoming team.

6. Membership Renewal

We aim to have all Club fees collected by Jan 30th.

This should be a cashless process and Sum-up should help with this.
As with previous years, membership of Cycling Ireland (CI) is a pre-requisite for membership of RWCC. This means that you should renew your CI membership first, nominating RWCC as your Club. CI will notify Larry that your CI membership has been renewed. You can then renew your RWCC membership either via Sum-up or by Bank Transfer. Note, if you are paying by Bank Transfer, please include your name in the transfer description – otherwise we will not know whose membership has been paid.

Conclusion

If you would like more information on any of the topics above or have any feedback for us, please contact ratoath.wheelers@gmail.com