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I wanted to introduce myself as the new President of Coastal Cyclists and update you on some happenings and new initiatives we are planning for this year. Firstly, I’d like to thank my predecessor Stewart McKeever and our outgoing Treasurer, David Champagne, for stewarding the Club through the Pandemic (and for several years prior). The new Board is a mix of experience in the shape of past Presidents Phil Whirley (Treasurer) and Bruce Snyder (Century Ride Director) as well as returning Secretary Paul Keefer and then new blood in our Vice President, Rick Jess and our members at large, Larry Green, Jr. and Caroline Raho.
I’ve served on the Board of the Club in the past and for the past ten years I’ve helped run one of the most successful cycling clubs in our summer home of Ridgefield, CT, with almost 500 members and weekly rides with almost 100 riders. Hopefully I can bring some of that experience to bear here.
The first announcement is that our weekend rides will move back to their 8am “summer hours” start times effective with the first ride after 4/15 and running through 12/15. The second is that, after a Pandemic hiatus, our Spring Century ride on April 16 is officially a sell out with over 500 riders! We do still need volunteers, however, particularly for manning the rest stops on the day of the ride. Please reach out to myself or Paul (pkeeferbfw@gmail.com) if you’re interested.
We have a number of new initiatives on the docket for the months immediately after the ride. First and foremost, we need your opinions. We want to understand why you’re a member and if you’re not a member, why not. In order to make a better club we need to know where to make the most impactful changes. To that end you’ll be receiving a link to a survey in late April which will hopefully arm us with that information.
That being said, we already have some ideas of what we should be looking at to enhance the appeal of the Club. We will be engaging a part time marketing specialist to better communicate with cyclists throughout greater Charleston. Larry will be looking into offering more moderate pace levels at our club rides. Caroline will be reaching out to the other cycling groups in town to see if we can foster collaboration for the benefit of all. Rick is helping us upgrade our website. I’m looking into offering a monthly destination ride for all levels where we get away from our usual routes and stretch our legs north or south or west. Sponsorship being my business, I’m also talking to some potential restaurant sponsors about a weekly ride that can involve a food stop at the end and having them become our “Club House”.
Significant change won’t happen overnight, but it won’t happen at all unless we understand the issues and have a group of smart and motivated people to take the balls and run with them. If you have any thoughts or would like to help us, just send me a note or say hi on one of the club rides in the coming weeks.
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