Cycling BC AGM - the state of racing in BC

Matt,
Fair enough.
thanks
g

Matt,
Fair enough.
thanks
g

Thanks Gary - if elected, JeffC would be leading that discussion but the purpose of having a full board of directors, and a diverse committee for each discipline hopefully is to act as parts of a funnel to properly sample opinions from all members, and combine that with their knowledge of the topic to make best decisions. This is a high-value strategic topic that isn't suddenly going to get "whitewashed" toward any outcome by unilateral opinion from any one person or more vocal group of people, without understanding what portion of the community that vocal group truly represents. Those types of checks and balances are crucial to any good decision-making.

Maybe the entire current CBC/CCC/UCI BMX setup stays untouched? Maybe there are some ABA elements that can be worked in to the current model without completely upsettig the apple cart? Maybe the current setup stays untouched, but is made more accessible to all members of the community regardless of their ABA affiliations. Who knows at this point? I only know that it's a good operational practice to keep an open mind.

Wow, what a mess.

Who ever thought that racing bikes could turn into such a big dollar, political shitshow.

I started a program a few years back to help all the kids I knew that were pumped on being DH racers. Since then the program has grown, and so has the race attendance. This is largely in part to amazing events being put on by dedicated humans. Many volunteers and yes people sometimes make a little money. I said a "little" money. I know that one well. Most of my work happens in the spring, and yes I volunteer a lot of my time for these kids as well. It bothers my how much the events of this summer have affected my desire to be a coach within the system.

Has it affected my desire to help my kids? No. Unfortunately that is not what I get to see at this time of year. This is always a hard time for me, and this year has had a more serious hit than in the past. Emails, and phone calls, and more energy put into the "fiasco" than into my program or relationships with my athletes.

At this time last year I was stoked on working with Cycling BC and pursuing a high level of certification within the NCCP system. After what has happened to Richard Wooles I am pretty sure I don't want to be involved with being a "real" coach anymore. Richard is one of the most dialed and dedicated humans I have had the pleasure of crossing paths with.

There are many people running very profitable businesses associated with MTB Coaching that have zero affiliation with any federations. Eg: Endless Biking, Dirt Series, SGC, COC, WBP, MMR, Sweetlines, Allride to name a few. My dealings with Keith Ryan, as well as what has been done to Richard Wooles has me rethinking the direction of my business over the next few years. In 2013 you will see C4 running in full force and stronger than ever, but there will also be changes behind the scenes in how the business plan is written.

What will come of Team BC? The is one of the only programs to ever truly assist young racers from BC succeed. That was Rich's baby, and was held together again by a very dedicated few. The most I can say is that I know that along with Rich, other people may have been treated poorly by Mr. Ryan. We need those people. We need Rich.

The destruction that has occurred in 2012 sucks. Hopefully this AGM will bring positive things that are more about what happens on the track and not in desks.

We don't race desks, we race bikes. Bad joke,

So in closing, and with a nervous finger hovering over the "post" button I leave you with this….

All the things happening here make me reminiscent of my days attempting to be a serious racer. It was always messy, and there were always things that were distracting me from my job of posting fast times on the track. Back then I was younger and got involved in everything, and often ended up looking like a jackass.

I am older now, my job is still to post fast times on the track. This time I don't think I am wanting to get much more involved and it turn distracted from my personal mandate. Winning. Only it's not me winning anymore, it's my people. Yes sometimes I still look like a jackass.

Seeing red jerseys on podiums makes me proud and feels just as good as looking down from the top step. (maybe a lie haha).

2013 will be my 18th season on the BC Cup. See you there. ( ya I missed a few, but I was thinking of you…)

Hell of the Desert 1996 3rd place, Beginner Men.

CL@C4

right on Cory, it's a shame that the Prov Assc is driving away talented and passionate coaches at a time when they should be trying to harness that energy into creating a better way of doing things.

Wow, what a mess.

Who ever thought that racing bikes could turn into such a big dollar, political shitshow.

I started a program a few years back to help all the kids I knew that were pumped on being DH racers. Since then the program has grown, and so has the race attendance. This is largely in part to amazing events being put on by dedicated humans. Many volunteers and yes people sometimes make a little money. I said a "little" money. I know that one well. Most of my work happens in the spring, and yes I volunteer a lot of my time for these kids as well. It bothers my how much the events of this summer have affected my desire to be a coach within the system.

Has it affected my desire to help my kids? No. Unfortunately that is not what I get to see at this time of year. This is always a hard time for me, and this year has had a more serious hit than in the past. Emails, and phone calls, and more energy put into the "fiasco" than into my program or relationships with my athletes.

At this time last year I was stoked on working with Cycling BC and pursuing a high level of certification within the NCCP system. After what has happened to Richard Wooles I am pretty sure I don't want to be involved with being a "real" coach anymore. Richard is one of the most dialed and dedicated humans I have had the pleasure of crossing paths with.

There are many people running very profitable businesses associated with MTB Coaching that have zero affiliation with any federations. Eg: Endless Biking, Dirt Series, SGC, COC, WBP, MMR, Sweetlines, Allride to name a few. My dealings with Keith Ryan, as well as what has been done to Richard Wooles has me rethinking the direction of my business over the next few years. In 2013 you will see C4 running in full force and stronger than ever, but there will also be changes behind the scenes in how the business plan is written.

What will come of Team BC? The is one of the only programs to ever truly assist young racers from BC succeed. That was Rich's baby, and was held together again by a very dedicated few. The most I can say is that I know that along with Rich, other people may have been treated poorly by Mr. Ryan. We need those people. We need Rich.

The destruction that has occurred in 2012 sucks. Hopefully this AGM will bring positive things that are more about what happens on the track and not in desks.

We don't race desks, we race bikes. Bad joke,

So in closing, and with a nervous finger hovering over the "post" button I leave you with this….

All the things happening here make me reminiscent of my days attempting to be a serious racer. It was always messy, and there were always things that were distracting me from my job of posting fast times on the track. Back then I was younger and got involved in everything, and often ended up looking like a jackass.

I am older now, my job is still to post fast times on the track. This time I don't think I am wanting to get much more involved and it turn distracted from my personal mandate. Winning. Only it's not me winning anymore, it's my people. Yes sometimes I still look like a jackass.

Seeing red jerseys on podiums makes me proud and feels just as good as looking down from the top step. (maybe a lie haha).

2013 will be my 18th season on the BC Cup. See you there. ( ya I missed a few, but I was thinking of you…)

Hell of the Desert 1996 3rd place, Beginner Men.

CL@C4

Now the world will be watching this unfold. You can run Keith…

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Coach+launches+suit+against+Cycling/7626121/story.html

This attached PDF letter is supposed to be distributed by Cycling BC to its entire member email list today. Posting up here also just in case anyone doesn't receive it through that method.

Anyone who is coming out to Abb. sat night at 7pm Indoor BMX racing is on.
and Sunday Abbotsford BMX racing starts at 11am.
It's free to watch,heck CBC licensed riders can bring your mtn bike and race cruiser.
Or just come and watch the big and really little kids out there.
Don't forget the kids,so keep any negative comments while in indoor to yourself,there will be plenty
of time at the AGM to voice your comments.
thanks
g

semi play by play on the twit machine
https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%23cbcagm[HTML_REMOVED]src=typd

semi play by play on the twit machine
https://twitter.com/search/realtime?q=%23cbcagm[HTML_REMOVED]src=typd

Thanks, Flip!

Wow….some interesting stuff flying through the twitter-sphere!

3hrs in, had to bail unfortunately. Too long but I could really sense tension.

Overall people were reasonable. Of course without the CEO, there was a bit less drama and inability to get complete answers. The message was clear enough to Wayne from the glow of pitchforks and torches on the horizon.

When Wayne stood there and went on his tirade, trying to call out race organizers and various volunteers for whining, the people near me almost went ballistic. They were the people who have been putting on and hosting the events for years before Wayne or Keith were even involved. Near me were : Bernard Leroux from Haywood Securities, who has donated over 1.2 million for high performance teams. John Watkin from Victoria Cycling Festival, Dwayne Kress - Just Another Bike Race, Barry Lyster, Axel Merckx, Kevin from Gran Fondo Canada, the Director from the Victoria Velodrome and many others. These were concerned people who love and have passion for the sport.

When people like those from the velodrome in Victoria stand up and say "we had a UCI bmx event in Victoria x years ago and it lost so much money the society was put in jeopardy" you would think that Cycling BC would learn from its mistakes. Of course the financial loses of the Supercross event in September were not on the table for review, but draft copies of the 2012 financials we very clear in a massive expense for the single event.

When 4 local Fraser valley bmx tracks get on average $20,000, but no funds or coaching options for the kids at the other 12 tracks around the province, that's just plain wrong. I guess it's really cycling Fraser Valley, not Cycling BC.

Reports from other vp's had a similar tone, highlighting their big fancy events, not discussing the successes of the local clubs, groups like Cross on the Rock etc, you could see the direction from above set the tone for the activities of all disciplines. Elite or bust.

This board will have some big decisions to make soon. I believe they have the power to fire Keith Ryan and with Wayne already on his last year as president, he'd likely leave at the same time.

Names like Axel Merckx and Richard Wooles are being thrown around as ideas for the future heads of Cycling BC, but whatever happens, yesterday's show of concern and solidarity has been noted far and wide.

Even the twitter account UCI_Overlord made comment…

@UCI_Overlord: Thank you @FOCIBC for providing a roadmap. An executable plan that had success. We want to change UCI? here's a way http://t.co/4Hv6Li0p

I do want to thank the previous board members who were ousted yesterday. They were not the problem but caught in the cross fire. The previous BMX vp was passionate, but didn't make any mention of looking for ways to work with the other sanctioning body of BMX and do whats right for BC kids.

I also want to thank the Cycling BC staff work long and hard to do the best they can with sometimes limited resources. Hopefully more volunteers will come forward to support them, the new board, and the future president and CEO.

This process is now started. I'm looking forward to the next step.

You are mistaken in your belief that Cycling BC is bestowing money on the local BMX tracks. The funds that were discussed with respect to the BMX tracks were funds obtained through the community gaming grant process by the individual clubs. The local clubs apply for those grants themselves and have done so for years, the only difference this year was Cycling BC helped the clubs with the application process. I personally put in the applications for Ridge Meadows BMX for the two prior years so this is not speculation.

The community gaming grants are open to applications from any group, if you look at the publicly available applications status page you will see hockey teams, scout troops, soccer teams, etc. all applying. So long as you meet the criteria you can apply and several of the ABA sanctioned tracks are applying for and most likely receiving these same grants.

Thanks Andy for the clarification. Had the CEO been there we could have asked for clarification. Still doesn't correct the costs and losses of the super cross. Also doesn't resolve Keith's ongoing disregard for clubs outside of the cycling BC banner. Kids are the losers.