2011 AGM Minutes

Marble City Cyclers held their Annual General Meeting at the New Orchard House Pub on Wednesday 2nd November.

Chairman Patrick Tobin presented his report for 2011 highlighting the achievements of the club during the year gone by:

1. Membership reached 65 during 2011 and there was a big increase in member activity in sportives and racing.
2. The Tour de Kilkenny attracted 670 participants and this year featured 4 routes.  In the 3 years since the event began, over €25,000 has been raised for Barretstown.
3. A training day with two time Ras winner Ciaran Power was held and was a great success with lots of practical advice and techniques.
4. Monday evening spins were very popular through the summer and the hard work of John Britton and John Corcoran was acknowledged.
5. The Kilkenny Cycles Time Trials Series was held in conjunction with the triathlon club.  Pat Murray was the key driver behind this and his hard work was acknowledged.  Thanks was extended to Pete and Andy at Kilkenny Cycles for their generous sponsorship.
6. Core training and spin classes for members were held over the winter and have begun again.
7. An extraordinary achievement by Jim Fitzpatrick was acknowledged in completing the grueling 1,200km Paris-Brest-Paris event in less than 57 hours.  Fiona Cooke won the Mullingar 2-day women’s event and also held her own among Europe’s leading women’s riders in the Ras Na mBan. John Britton cycled 1,800km to Switzerland via Europes highest mountain pass the Col de l'Iseran and raised €1,500 for the Susie Long Hospice Fund in doing so.

The statement of income and expenditure was presented to the attendance.

Brendan O’Reilly resigned from the committee and the Chairman thanked him for his invaluable help, advice and innovation over the past 3 years.  Patrick Tobin stepped down as Chairman after guiding the club since inception.  Incoming Chairman Pat Murray thanked Patrick for steering the club through its formative years and for being the driving force behind Marble City Cyclers.  He acknowledged the countless hours of unseen work done by Patrick and expressed his appreciation that Patrick will continue to work on the committee into the future.  In accepting the position of Chairman, Pat Murray expressed his intention to work with the committee to grow the membership, focus on developing the weekend club spins and continue to develop the club events that have become such a success.  Mike Shields was elected Secretary while Gerry McGovern is the incoming Treasurer and Fiona Cooke becomes the club PRO.  Eoin Hogan, Barry Lynch and John Britton are committee members for 2012.

Club membership fees for 2012 have been held at €20.  Some of the Cycling Ireland license costs have increased. All categories are on the membership form for 2012 available on the club website.  The club is now accepting memberships for 2012.

The new club clothing launched in 2011 has been a great success and has been worn with distinction at sportives and races throughout the country and beyond.  Eoin Hogan is co-coordinating a new order so members should contact him on 086 8122030 to place their orders.

It has just been announced that the An Post Ras will come to Kilkenny in 2012.  The first stage on Sunday May 20^th will finish in the Marble City and will be a great boost for cycling in the county.

The support of the Sponsors, Glanbia, McCarthy Commercials and Ormonde Organics was acknowledged.

The AGM was then opened to the floor and considerable discussion followed.

• Members expressed an interest in investigating the setting up a youth members section in the club.  Liam Lysaght agreed to follow this up. 
• Considerable discussion about the proceeds from the Tour de Kilkenny ensued with some members expressing a preference that some of the proceeds be donated to local charities.  Patrick Tobin advised that there was a commitment in place to continue the association with Barretstown for 2012.  At AGM 2012, the issue of future Tour proceeds will be up for decision. 
• Members expressed an interest in improving participation in weekend spins and the committee advised the membership of the new initiative for winter spins based on a recent survey of all members.  Winter Sunday spins will be of 2-2.5 hour’s duration and be in the region of 60-70km at average sped in the region of 26km/hr.