President's Report to the 2025 AGM

Tasman Wheelers Cycling Inc

Presidents Report for the Annual General Meeting 26 June 2025

Kia ora koutou, greetings everyone and welcome to the Tasman Wheelers Cycling Club AGM of 2025.

Firstly, a huge acknowledgement of our Patron, Malcolm Saunders, and our life members, Christine Van Hoppe,

Brian Samuels and Trevor Cameron. On behalf of the Club, I would like to thank each of you for your many years

of work for the Club and your continuing support.

I would also like us to take a moment at this point to remember those members who have passed. You remain in

our hearts and our minds, especially when we are out there in the peloton. Many special stories were again

shared during our annual Memorial Ride on 16 November.

Our cycling season runs from 1 October to 30 September each year. In 2024-25 we have continued to be very

proactive in promoting cycling as a sport across our region. We would like to thank you all for supporting the Club

and committee in our efforts to make cycling in the Tasman region successful.

Gratitude & Acknowledgements

We extend our deepest appreciation to our Sponsors and Supporters - two key areas we have continued to grow.

Your contributions keep our club thriving. Please support these businesses whenever possible:

• Village Cycles

• NBS

• Sprig and Fern

• GJ Gardner

• Bikes by Felix

• Copy Press

• RWCA

• Tineli

• Nelson Carbon Fibre Repairs

• Astonish Me Creative

• Tall Poppy

• Nelson Marlborough Traffic Management

A special welcome to our new sponsors this year—Bikes by Felix, Nelson Carbon Fibre Repairs, and Astonish Me

Creative! Also, a huge thank you to Phil Klenner and his team at Nelson Marlborough Traffic Management for

their invaluable support, particularly with the Tasman Classic and training of four new Traffic Management

Operatives (TMOs).

We also celebrate the achievements of Club riders past and present. Matt Richardson was awarded the trophy for

most improved rider for the 2023/24 season. Matt has continued to make great progress through the current

year and has been joined by a growing group of awesome Junior riders, especially at our Tuesday night races

(More below). This year the George Bennett Trophy for Most Improved Rider 2024/25 is awarded to Lucas

Ippolito. While there were a number of worthy recipients for the trophy this year, the Committee recognised the

overall consistency and growth in Lucas’s riding throughout the season after his Tasman Secondary Schools

Champs debut last October. Congratulations Lucas on your fantastic effort. Other trophies and awards included:

• The Les Vincent Memorial Trophy (Tasman Classic Mens) won by Glen Kempton.

• The Ann Rigg Memorial Trophy (Tasman Classic Womens) won by Gemma Hunt.

• Tasman Classic Top Under 23 won by Cooper Johnson

• Tasman Classic 54 km & Top Under 19 won by Zoe Bonny & Matt Richardson

• The Brian Harford Trophy (Kermesse Champion Mens) won by Noah Johnson

• The Reg Davies Memorial Trophy (Kermesse Champion Womens) Josephine Tappenden.

A number of our riders attended the Age Group Nationals, representing the Club with distinction: Symon Mitchell,

Brian Samuels, Noah Johnson, Glen Kempton, Mark Hurst and Peter King.

We also continue to watch with interest the performances of our overseas professional riders, George Bennett,

Finn and Niamh Fisher-Black, and recently, Cameron Jones for his outstanding win in the Unbound Gravel event.

And let’s not forget our recent riders who continue to excel internationally on the track, especially Shaane Fulton

and Keegan Hornblow.

We look forward to extending our rich history of growing great riders. The Committee, with your support, has a

desire to continue growing our Junior ranks. To that end, we really appreciate and thank those who have offered

bikes and gear for lending to new riders.

Committee

Your committee have continued to work hard on your behalf through monthly meetings, sub-committee work,

projects and events. Thank you to all of you: Don, Symon, David, Henry, Scott and Wayne - and to Lyn and Grant

who stepped down during the year. Special thanks to Roy, Chris, Brian and Trevor for your extra help during the

year.

As a committee we are dedicated to ensuring road cycling has a strong and sustainable presence in the Tasman

Region.

We are looking for fresh talent to join the Committee, including a new Secretary and people with skills in

sponsorship, promotion, rider development, and race management. If you want to make an impact, let’s talk!

Key functions of the committee include:

• Provision of well-managed, regular and safe races

• Race Calendar, Rosters and Course Development for Spring, Summer and Winter racing

• Club Promotion including Special Events and Membership Growth

• Young Rider Development

• Health and Safety

• Constitutional Integrity

• Financial Sustainability

This year the committee has been particularly focused on the first 5 points above with great racing, growing

membership, succession planning, including building sustainability upper-most in our mahi/work. Along with

building a digital record of a range of guiding documents for future committees to access we have:

• Completed a review of health and safety including documenting hazards for all courses, updating race

day management roles and ensuring clear training guidelines for these roles

• Race programme – trial winter series, limiting Tuesday night courses, varying weekend race times and

days

• Course review underway for weekend racing – we want to hear your thoughts at the AGM (List of

possible courses will be circulated with the AGM documentation).

• Building closer relationships with our neighbouring Clubs – a number of members attended special

Hokitika and Marlborough Club events over the summer

• Growing our Junior numbers – Successful relaunch of the Tasman Secondary School Champs, establishing

contacts within our schools, liaising and building connections with the Nelson Club and their track

programme for Juniors

• Running another successful Tasman Classic – planning and preparation already underway for next year’s

event (7 March 2026)

• Working with Dynamo Events to bring the 2026 Age Group Nationals to Tasman – currently at the course

approval stage (May be updated information at the AGM)

A special shout-out again to our race management team, particularly Don, whose dedication at every race has

been nothing short of phenomenal, along with David and Wayne who have put many hours into ensuring safe

enjoyable races for all. We also really appreciate members stepping up to help with each race.

Racing Review & What’s Next

This season saw exciting, and competitive racing across the grades (40+ riders regularly raced on Tuesday nights).

We also trialled a range of weekend race options.

With the summer season now wrapped up, we have reviewed our events and made some exciting changes for the

Winter, Spring, and Summer seasons ahead:

Winter Series kicks off Saturday, 19 July

One-off events are in the works before Winter—stay tuned!

Junior Development Programme launching—key contacts: Peter King & Felix Laufkotter

Tuesday Racing remains at Brightwater, with longer mid-summer races planned

Weekend Racing (Spring & Summer) will be on select Saturday afternoons over top courses

Membership

Our membership at 31 March 2025 is on a par with the same time last year –Junior numbers up.

Remember, if you are out riding or racing invite your friends, talk to other riders you meet when out training,

promote and comment on our Facebook/Instagram posts, refer people to our website and social media pages.

Encourage and challenge your Strava buddies.

Invite your mates along to

• Club Open Day - October – great numbers in 2024

• Tasman Secondary School Champs 18 October

• Christmas race and BBQ - December

• Tasman Classic 7 March 2026

Traffic Management

While traffic management rules remain a challenge we continue to work with Phil Klenner from Nelson

Marlborough Traffic management and TDC to ensure as much common sense as possible prevails. We are keen to

train more TMOs in the coming year and appreciate the commitment of our current team. We will continue to

work in your best interests to ensure enjoyable but safe racing continues.

Financial

As per the financial report, the Club remains in a strong financial position thanks to the ongoing generous support

of our sponsors along with prudent investments by committees past and present future. The Committee will

continue to look for opportunities that maintain and grow this position.

We thank members for your support with registration fees after last year’s increase for full members. We will

continue to hold these at current rates.

Final Thanks

We have had an incredible year, and it’s all thanks to YOU—our riders, supporters, sponsors, and volunteers.

Let’s keep the momentum going into the next year – We invite you to get involved in whatever way you can

supporting your awesome hard-working committee to bring you another exciting and successful year of cycling.

Thank you and enjoy the ride.

Peter King

Tasman Wheelers Cycling Club Inc

President

2024/2025 Club Season