Super helpful breakdown of the insurance analysis, Martin. Thank you! I guess the grass doesn't seem much greener on closer inspection. Following last year's contentious Cycling BC fee increase, I was very motivated to pursue a fee relief program within Tripleshot — to do what was within our power to address any cost barriers. I got as far as soliciting and securing board support for the idea and its potential fiscal impact and then inquiring about logistics with CCN. Offering a separate "Fee Relief" membership category while still requiring new members go through the rest of the registration process (waivers etc.) would take a little effort but it's quite feasible. CCN's tech staff were also quite supportive. Unfortunately, executing the plan got left by the wayside as other things took my attention amid a bit of an overwhelming exit from the board. Hopefully it's an idea that's revisited in years to come. 🙂 And John, I take your point that our sport certainly presents other economic barriers to entry. But I was super involved in managing our registration and intake over nearly two years of rapid growth, from 2020-ish to 2022. In that time, I frequently interacted with people inquiring about membership, helping them through sign-up — often first for test rides and sometimes for full membership. There were many examples of people who stumbled on the $100+ cost. They were often students who were perfectly capable of riding on their own or with friends, and there were always some who decided the subjective value wasn't there. So I think it's still worth pursuing the idea of fee relief. And doing whatever we can to ensure our overall fees remain as affordable as possible.

Thanks, Craig and Martin, for continuing to give us all a lot more understanding about the economic and governance context of the EGM and upcoming vote. I have ongoing concerns about affordability and ensuring our club membership remains accessible to people with less disposable income. We remain a club of overwhelmingly middle-aged, relatively affluent people and we can all benefit from encouraging diversity. That means making sure that inflation-stressed young people and cyclists from all socio-economic backgrounds can easily decide to join us. I think we have to know if there's anything we can do to reduce the proposed $128.15 minimum cost to join us ($30 TS fee + $98.15 CBC fee). I therefore think it's important that Tripleshot know about and consider any available alternatives to Cycling BC affiliation. I was curious to hear more about MIVA's experience and decision not to remain affiliated in 2024. I reached out to them for confirmation and received the following promising response. (It makes for an interesting read in light of the insurance concerns you raised, Martin.) As you read this, I think it's also important to keep in mind that insurance is only part of the picture. Some small but important minorities within Tripleshot likely benefit from remaining affiliated with CBC in ways that MIVA's members maybe don't. These could include opportunities for our Youth Team (incl. running the CrossFondo) and regular racers in timed events. I'd love to hear from others on this. Insurance and fees are likely only part of the overall analysis that would be necessary to truly understand whether Tripleshot may eventually be better off parting ways. Hi Rolf,  Yes, for 2024 we'll be an IMBA affiliated club, with insurance through Oasis with the IMBA group discount. We've had concerns for a few years now but as a smaller club didn't necessarily have the buying power to negotiate a better deal. We do believe that requiring CBC has reduced our membership as well as decreased accessibility in this time of inflation. The coverage is a bit different from CBC in that it provides club liability (including covering any volunteers), however it will be substantially cheaper.  The costs will differ based on member counts and whether you do formally timed events (we aren't this year,  that's another story) but our insurance quote came in at around $15 per member, so this will allow us to offer a $40 all in membership. Members can then decide if they want additional personal liabilty, medical, etc coverage. As you note many people may already have [third party liability] coverage via homeowners, employers, and if not addition Pedal power packages are available to our members with an IMBA discount (ie 1M personal liability for $30).  IMBA/Oasis is not limited to mountain biking despite the name and been used by the Nanaimo Mountain Bike Club and the Creston Valley Cycling club. I have spoken with board members from this clubs and they have had no issues.  If you'd like I'd be happy to send you some contacts for IMBA/Oasis, as well as an additional broker that came recommend by NMBC leadership. As a larger club you might have even more options than us, but it seems that alternative funding structures are feasible.  Christine Schilling [President, Mid-Island Velo Association]

Flattered, Craig, but not for a few years, at least! 😚

Thank you, Martin! Both for giving us much more context and information on the current fee-raise issue and for continuing to act on the CBC board as a rep for the interests of Tripleshot and other clubs around the province. Tripleshot members are lucky. After seeing all you did for our club while President, our members have very good reason to naturally trust your competence and instincts. As you're now CBC's current Treasurer, it's easy for me to accept that any proposed budget or fee increase you've approved is in the best interests of CBC members. I was therefore quite prepared to vote in favour of the proposal last week. This is why I voted for you as a director and that's how democratically elected governance boards are meant to work. But CBC as an organization clearly faces a considerable trust gap with some of its members. Last year's rushed attempt to introduce a significant fee increase *after* clubs had already prepared their registration systems is at least partly the cause. In addition to the issues raised vociferously at the EGM, I've heard rumour that Mid-Island Velo is contemplating splitting from Cycling BC in 2024 — i.e. not affiliating — and thus saving their members the mandatory $93 annual CBC fee. Cross on the Rock is also exploring how to organize races in 2024 without CBC sanction and suggesting racers not renew their CBC membership until the options are known. I think Tripleshot gets a lot of benefit from remaining affiliated with Cycling BC. But our TS members paid over $40,000 in CBC fees this year and we should always ask the question of whether we're getting commensurate value. However, over the past year I've also noticed CBC's efforts to increase transparency and to start reaching out for more involvement of club perspective in governance. For example, there were renewed efforts to encourage attendance at the summer AGM, there was the invitation to club members to sit on a consultation panel in September, and there were some behind-the-scenes reach-outs from Erin. The road to (re)gaining trust is long and incremental. I hope you and the rest of the CBC leadership can see it through.

Just a reminder that our call for board nominations closes at midnight this coming Wednesday, September 27, 2023. On the fence? Talk to a director or email the club! Want to be nominated? Talk to a director or email the club! Want to nominate another member (with their permission)? Talk to a director or email the club! tripleshotcyclingclub@gmail.com

Just seeing this now! Thanks for the personal take, Martin — and for the earlier tip, John. Celebration edit is here and going out on the platforms...

This is a temporary and perennial problem as our numbers peak with the light in May-June. It tends to resolve as July hits, summer disrupts routines, and the numbers decline a little. If the gap is about people who want a faster but *cooperative* ride, the solution should be for B1 to get a bunch faster and current B1s to bump down the B groups. This admittedly takes an adjustment by a lot of riders. But if people want a drop ride that’s slower than the current A2, then A3 could make sense. Or A2 has managed to successfully split into speed-based subgroups in the past. Just takes some speaking up by veterans or leaders at the meetup. Further thoughts?

Thanks for everyone's votes and interest. It's good to see a poll get used on our new forum. This silly event failed to get off the ground due to leadership (and general) fatigue. 😴 If anyone else still wants to pull it together on Spond, I'm sure there would be willing help.

Thanks for sharing (again), Craig! Here’s your photo album on our club site (password is “coffee”): https://tripleshotcyclingphotos.smugmug.com/Travel/2022-South-Africa-Freedom-Challenge-Craig-B-Oct/

More TS Youth in the TC as Canada’s women’s team pursuit (featuring two former Tripleshotters) beat out the US team for bronze and inch closer to the Paris Olympics. Nice shout-outs to our club and the Vic Velodrome: https://www.timescolonist.com/sports/island-cyclists-attwell-van-dam-reach-nations-cup-podium-and-set-sights-on-paris-olympics-6895397

Thanks, Logan. It will take some time and effort to put our forum back at the centre of club communications. And this kind of work is an important step!

Ignore where their website says reg. deadline is Apr. 7. It's been extended to Monday, Apr. 10.

Maybe some of those who made this an annual TS trip back in the teens could chime in with some context? I bet there’d be a handful interested, Claire. 👍🏻

Awesome updates, Lister. Thank you! Wishing you all the best…

Is a "mountain bike" like a normal bike with weird straight bars and one o' them suspension jobbies on the front fork? Thanks for everything you are to everything and everyone on two wheels, Roland. 💓 #institution (If you stop wearing Pro City kit when racing MTB we'd love to post you more on our SM feeds.) 📸: https://www.instagram.com/palleus

Thanks for representing our community so well, L3!

I got you. I’m driving over Saturday morning. Will text with details…

Dear Logan and Geoff: You guys are amazing! This new space for our club to evolve and grow is so beautiful and functional. I have some idea of how much hard work you've both put into it over the past few months. I hope you both feel the gratitude of hundreds and hundreds of Tripleshotters as they use this platform over the coming years. Let the GIF-ery nonsense recommence!