The 2012 season at the West Shore Velodrome is under way. We have had several very successful events so far and this season promises to be excellent!
Your board has been working hard on a number of initiatives, with a focus on encouraging new riders and youth. We also hope that all of you "old timers" come out too!
Please check the GVVA website frequently, especially the calendar. We have lots of track events planned, and lots of different training sessions. We are very pleased to welcome Kurt Innes, 1992 Olympic kilometre rider. Kurt will be coaching the juniors.
Houshang Amiri will be offering a high performance training session on Wednesdays that will be open to GVVA full members as well.
Malcolm Faulkner is offering regular Learn to Ride and Learn to Race sessions on Wednesday and Sunday afternoons. If you are thinking of attending, why not bring a friend too. We will also have race events geared toward new racers as part of the Victoria Cycling League.
We would really appreciate it if you use the PayPal option on the GVVA website to pay your annual fees and if required, storage fees. This makes our bookkeeping much easier. I hope you will consider joining as a full member in order to take full advantage of all of our programs. Our membership fees are our biggest source of revenue, so we thank you for your support. Fees must be paid and the waiver signed in order to use the track. We are operating the velodrome as a contracted facility manager so it is important that we follow procedure.
As part of our contract, we must follow the West Shore Parks policies. This means that there must be a designated track attendant every time the track is open. This person or a designate must have at least basic first aid qualifications. The track attendant should wear the Track Attendant vest, or at least have the vest in the infield. The vest pockets will contain first aid gloves and an airway so you the attendant can quickly respond to an emergency. We will probably get some kind of an arm band that can be worn even if the attendant is riding.
Also as part of the policy, there must be at least 2 people at the track any time it is open for riding. You must not ride the track alone. This is common sense, but it is also an absolute requirement of our contract with West Shore. It is not fair to the rest of the hundreds (if not thousands) of riders to risk losing our contract.
The "Big Steel Box" storage unit is now in place. Please move your bike into this unit as soon as possible. The club room is for the rental bikes, GVVA Board members and designated track attendants only. Thank you for your cooperation.
Finally, we are looking for volunteers for upcoming events. We are expecting a large turnout for the upcoming women's events on Friday May 25 and Friday June 8. Please consider coming out to help (guys are welcome to help out). We will need help setting up bikes for the women and helping out with Learn to Ride. Also, we need a barbecue.
We will need more volunteers for the upcoming TrackFest events. The first one is coming up on Saturday June 15 so please keep us in mind. We need the ongoing support of our enthusiastic volunteers to make this year a success.
Thank you very much.
Mike Cooper
President, GVVA
