CI Leisure Commission AGM

Mercian Pro

Delighted to see that Cycling Ireland's Leisure Commission are holding an on-line AGM on October 17th. In advance of that, they have invited Leisure Members to submit feedback on every aspect of leisure cycling by October 5th. This will feed into the agenda for the AGM. If you are a member and haven't received the invite email, probably best to contact them at leisure@cyclingireland.ie

mamax

Clubs have been dealing with the fallout of the price of leisure membership the last few years, it's way too high.

ednwireland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117952859#Comment_117952859

problem is you cant make it that much cheaper, I'm almost of the opinion it needs to be a lot more and provide proper third party insurance medical benefits solicitor access etc etc

rather than trying to pretend they can deliver everything for 50 euro a year (or whatever it is)

although our club membership has fallen significantly over the last few years, the interest in competitive cycling has waned and CI are struggling to give people anything worthwhile that doesnt involve that IMHO

Large bottle small glass

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117952859#Comment_117952859

Way to high compared to what? What kind of cover do you expect for €50 or less?

The insurance is effectively useless, given the limits (€500 physio, €2000/2500 dental/medical and the peach of bunch €150/week for a max of 13 weeks) and the €250 excess. To access that you will have to deal with a claims handler who will probably melt your head with forms etc

A self employed person, especially someone doing physical work, would want to have proper cover independent of CI cover which won't be much good if one suffers a significant injury.

Proper cover costs proper money.

Seth Brundle

I think it is the club membership that I find hard to justify, not the CI membership which does in fact give you beenfits (from various discounts to the training hub, etc.)

With the club, I get to go on club spins, etc but none of that incurs a cost. From what I can see, my entire club membership fee is directed towards racing, which I have no involvement in. I can't think of anything I've received from the club that was funded through my membership.

jamesd

My club charges €20 membership per year, they use this really just to pay the CI club membership fees - I dont think €20 is too much to give the club - the only other spend they seem to have is donating some of the money to support a local cycling doing a cycle for charity.

Seth Brundle

My club is €50 annually - something I need to discuss at the club's AGM I guess.

ednwireland

our club was 5 euro last year we reduced because of reduced activities. normally charge 20. like it said it just provides a float for the club league and paying affiliation fees atc.

lissard

Compared to other sports, cycling club membership fees really are very low. I consider what I pay very good value - I get access to leisure spins, off road, coaching and club races. All for €40. Considering all the other expenditure I have on cycling, the club fees are probably my best bang for buck each year.

lissard

For what it's worth I think a leisure license is a waste of money - limited competition is a much better deal.

cletus

I'm a purely leisure cyclist. I've never done a sportive, or an organised event of any description. I did contemplate doing the grass routes grand Fondo, but it didn't work out for a variety of reasons.

I've never even contemplated paying a CI membership. I see exactly zero benefit in it for me

Macy0161

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117953099#Comment_117953099

I'd suggest getting involved in the committee tbh. I know in my club, the Leisure sub-group do get funding and support for their activities, and in before times there were club only sportives (as well as an open one). Money also goes to the youths (who have free club membership) to support them. As well as the racing side of the club.

Seth Brundle

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117953833#Comment_117953833

I've been involved in club committees in the past and somewhat regret it because of the politics. However, I'll raise my thoughts at our AGM.

NamelessPhil

I agree with Macy, is there a leisure rep in your club? If there isn't one then the position should be created. I know all about club politics but sometimes you have to grit your teeth and get stuck in again.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117953377#Comment_117953377

this.

i did a double take when i read that €50 was considered pricey. i'm not a member of a cycling club, so the main comparison i'd make would be with the woodturning chapter i'm a member of; it's €90 a year just to join (that combines club and national guild membership) and it's €6 entry to each monthly meet (when they happen - not for the last 18 months).

so to join and turn up at each event will cost a minimum of €162. i know they're very different beasts, but €50 is pittance compared to joining most clubs, i suspect

Seth Brundle

In fairness, to join a club involves joining the club (in my case for €50) and also CI which would be another €50.

lissard

I spent the best part of a decade on a committee running a field sport club. Our senior subs were over €300. For this our members got 6 months of matches and 2 training sessions a week. Our outgoings were pitch rental, national body subs and paying for coaches. Cycling clubs run on a fraction of this budget, for a longer portion of the year and people still give out about the subs. Pick another sport (say golf) and the comparison is even more stark.

Robxxx7

I am only a leisure cyclist and not attached to any club .. i have leisure membership with Cycling Ireland for a couple of reasons ... Insurance side of things as a piece of mind, and also hoping that my sub helps keep CI running. Also hopefully some portion of the sub helps the future generations with support if they want to take cycling/racing seriously.

I haven't joined a local cycling club for a number of reasons, one being that whenever i do cross paths with them on a club spin, they don't even acknowledge you when you say Hi, plus 2 of the close call accidents i had in the last number of years have involved club cyclists coming out into my path from a side turning without even looking ...

Anyway, the cost of the CI leisure membership is quite low compared to other sports i'm involved in ... by quite a large margin

Macy0161

@Seth Brundle I take no credit, as I'm not involved with it, but the leisure group is probably the most active of the Adult side of the club.

On the wider point, I guess value for money is different from cost. However, I started out being involved in Triathlon. Cycling is unbelievably cheap compared to that (especially for racing, and no need to enter months in advance). Triathlon coaching fees were on top, whereas the coaching in my cycling club is free. I also have to pay the fees for a couple of field sports for my children both under 15 - they're more than my racing licence and club membership for each club.

Seth Brundle

@Seth Brundle I take no credit, as I'm not involved with it, but the leisure group is probably the most active of the Adult side of the club.

My gripe is more that the leisure cycling side of the club (from what I can see over the last number of years) appears to recieve no funding. The racing side of the club appears to use all of the funding. The club does not organise charity sportives or anything like that. The Saturday club spins effectively are a bunch of people who get together.

I wasn't disputing the cost of membership, merely moaning that in my case, it appears that club funding is focused in one area only and therefore, for me, doesn't represent value. This is somehting that needs to be addressed within the club. However, I still think the CI membership is value for money.

blackbox

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117957226#Comment_117957226

Comparing it with a golf club that has to own and maintain a course and clubhouse is not valid.

lissard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117957778#Comment_117957778

Fair point.

Macy0161

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117957750#Comment_117957750

I guess it depends whether any of the leisure side are looking for funding? There probably wasn't much spending on it until an active sub committee formed, and have driven things like couch to 50km, leisure challenges etc.

@blackbox Some clubs do have club houses. But again, any events/ races with bases do need rental paid, food paid for, there are CI club affiliation fees too.

Plastik

I think both of you lads are in the same club.

ednwireland

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117957750#Comment_117957750

problem is i dont know what leisure riders want form a club, I'm primarily a leisure rider and to be honest i cant think what CI can give me apart from maybe better insurance policies that cover me when cycling and gives me access to lawyers in the event of . outside of that what do people want.

much more definable goals when focused on racing and coaching etc etc

cletus

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117958266#Comment_117958266

This is why I don'y have a CI membership. The health insurance I pay for is much more comprehensive than what the membership covers, and the liability insurance has a €500 excess. Having said that, I'm not in a club either, as I don't see what a club would offer me from a leisure point of view

Morris Garren

This is a perpetual issue- year after year the question is asked of 'leisure cyclists i.e. what do you want/need money/funding for? Perhaps clubs can justify spend on racing/coaching/youth etc, and sharing funds for social purposes. But leisure cycling? Can never understand this gripe

Macy0161

It's not just racing members that can (and do) access training though? A lot of clubs do skills sessions for group riding, intro to group riding, some even have it as a condition of joining a club. I would think most coaching is free/ internal rather than an additional cost, with clubs paying to coach the coach(es) in the most part?

I like the social aspect of group spins - I really bloody missed them over the various lockdowns especially remote working. I know of several "unofficial" groups that meet, even have kits etc - you'd wonder where they'd stand, legally, if something went wrong though.

buffalo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/117959166#Comment_117959166

I've never understood this split between leisure and racing. It's a club. Everyone bands together in a club, with club spirit. The racers are representing the club in races, the leisure riders represent the club on leisure rides. Coaching should be open to all - if you're being told that coaching is only for racers, ask your club for coaching to get to your 100km event goal, or Marmotte, or whatever.

If you think some people in your club get more than their fair share, you can leave, make your thoughts known to the committee (who are volunteers and may or may not act on it), or you can join the committee or propose something at the club AGM.

Basically, if you're unhappy with your club, you have the power to make it better, or you're in the wrong club.

Junior

Lads,

As someone who's done many roles in a club over the past few years, there are two things I would say here.

1 - Be clear in what you want your club to do for the leisure riders

2 - Club Membership rarely if ever subsidies A4s, Club membership wouldn't cover a team for a Rás, it might do for a Rás Mumhan but that's one single event. If you attend your AGM your Treasurer should read out accounts and give a income / expenditure statement.

Just a quick back of the fag packet calculation for example .. €20 Membership by lets say 100 Members (which would be a super healthy club) is only €2000. A Rás team for example would cost the bones of €10,000 for the week. I can't remember the costs the last time my own club did Kerry or Ulster for a 3 day.

The only other expense racing cyclists would draw out of a club is expenses, for example if someone was doing service for a race, they would be within reason able to claim fuel. So there's an element that thinks the racers are a draw on the club and there's nothing for us, but if ye don't put the hand up, and say okay we want to do x,y,z or go to x,y,z no one will know.

I would like to see a bit more of a connect between leisure and clubs, as pointed out by a lot of people, "sure what do I want to join a club for". CI and the Commission would do well to draw up a blueprint of activities and benefits that a club can provide. There is a huge disconnect between CI and clubs across all activities and it's growing wider and wider.

And I would like to see a closer integration between Club and CI for Membership for example, €50 shouldn't be CI Leisure License it should be Club Membership and a basic license that covers you for Club Events, and Road Spins.

One thing that's hugely missing from all clubs is that no club has a "clubhouse" so there's no focal point for leisure or social aspects of the club. You can drop down to the GAA Club to see Tim, or you can shoot out to the Golf Club to see if Bob is around.. There's no one popping down to the local cycling club ...

Mercian Pro

Unfortunately I wasn't able to attend the online AGM of the CI Leisure Commission this afternoon. Has anyone anything to report?