Tasman Wheelers Spring Newsletter
September 2024
Kia ora koutou, Greetings All
Welcome to warmer longer days and Spring cycling. Our congratulations to Shaane, Keegan and Niamh on your outstanding performances at the recent Olympic Games and also to our winter series winners Dave, Symon, Henry and Dan. Thank you to the 35 riders who competed in the series.
It is with great pleasure the committee can announce that, at the latest AGM, Trevor Cameron was awarded Honorary Life Membership to the Tasman Wheelers. This is due recognition for his many years of dedication to the club and in particular his work as treasurer and secretary.
Our new committee has hit the ground running and although we have yet to meet formally there has been a lot going on. We are keen to involve the wider membership in the running of the Club as much as possible so if you have an idea, skill/talent, or a few hours here and there, the committee welcome your input.
With the rules requiring STMS’s to attend all races, but our available qualified members being stretched over the next few months, we took the decision to give them a spell by cancelling the remaining winter races following the successful conclusion of the Winter Series. This gives all our overworked volunteers a rest before the Spring Season commences.
We are investigating training more qualified STMS’s as soon as practicable and will keep members fully informed on developments in this area. We really appreciate several members putting their hands up to receive training, but if anyone else would consider making themselves available it would be much appreciated and go a long way to relieving the pressure on the few.
In the meantime, the race sub-committee have met and fleshed out the new season’s racing. There are several innovations we are trialling this Spring based on feedback from members.
Spring racing commences on Tuesday 1 October with sign on for all Tuesday races at the Sales Yards, Brightwater, racing commencing 6:30pm.
The advantages of this, apart from everyone knowing where to go every Tuesday, are that we can use a number of courses from this gathering point: Lee Valley Time Trial; Lee Valley/Heslington; Heslington laps; Heslington/Kaitania Heights. Most importantly, these courses can be officiated by fewer volunteers. The Race Manager, Sign Manager and Assistant can do double duties as marshals as well. We can even ride neutral to Palmers Road
for a couple of races.
With our Saturday races, again based on member feedback, we are trying a couple of start time innovations - a couple of races will be on Saturday morning at 10.00 am and we will try two races on Sunday morning at 10.00 am as well. We will further review these trial innovations before the Summer Calendar is developed..
We are currently working with Sport Tasman to run the Tasman Secondary Schools Championships on the morning of our Club Open Day, 19 October. We look forward to re- opening the ties we have had with schools in the past. Please pass on this information to any young riders you know and encourage them and their friends to register by 26 September through their school and the Sport Tasman website.
Please put 19 October in your calendar to come along to the Hope Circuit and support our Club Open Day. This event combines with the Tasman Secondary School Championships so it should be an awesome day with a BBQ to follow racing. A great chance to also meet our sponsors. See you all there.
Another item in the wind is getting some more club kit for members to purchase. It has been decided to limit the numbers and lines of stock we offer to Bib Shorts and Jerseys of various styles – Race Jerseys, Winter Jerseys, etc. In addition, we will only stock popular sizes. This doesn’t mean that you can’t get other sizes, it just means we will only order them for specific
orders from riders. To get them at our special discounted prices from Tineli we need to combine them with our club orders. It would be helpful if you are considering purchasing some kit soon, to please advise the club to ensure you can be accommodated. We are working on supplying all outstanding orders to members as quickly as possible. Redundant lines of club stocks are being offloaded at greatly reduced prices.
Another initiative that is slowly gathering momentum is growing our junior rider numbers through our local schools. One aspect of that is sourcing bikes for those riders that might like to give the sport a try. If you have a spare bike you would like to make available for loan, donate to the Club or even sell to a new young rider please contact Peter King 021 450 742. Currently we are on the search for a 56 bike for purchase for one of our young riders. If you
can help with that please let Peter know.
It’s that time of year! Subscriptions are coming due. The new year starts on 1 October and you can pay now online at Trybooking. See our website. If you are planning on entering the 2025 National Championships then you will need a CNZ licence which you can do through https://www.cyclingnewzealand.nz/ this will include your club membership fee.
Some will know that the recent AGM approved an increase of Adult Subs from $50 to $75 per year. This has been a necessary step to help maintain club finances. Race Fees remain the same at $5/race for members. Racing is free for Junior members.
Looking further out, put the Tasman Classic in your race calendar for Saturday 8 March, 2025. We are looking forward to growing this event further in 2025.
And a long way out heads up – the committee are exploring the possibility of hosting the 2026 Age Group Nationals. We will keep you fully posted on any developments with this.
Sponsorship - we would like to gratefully acknowledge the ongoing support of our sponsors:
Village Cycles
NBS
Sprig and Fern
GJ Gardner
Brent Sturm
Copy Press
RWCA
Please utilise and support all our sponsors if you are able, and promote them to friends, family, and others if possible.
We look forward to seeing you all out there for Spring racing, commencing 1st October. Keep an eye on the website so that you know when you are rostered for race duties and remember to swap duties early if you cannot do your rostered day.
Thank you for your ongoing support in growing road cycling in the Tasman region.
Happy pedalling and see you soon.
Nga mihi/Regards
Tasman Wheelers Committee
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