We’ve had quite a busy year. This is
our third AGM.
It’s not fair to single out people but first of all I’d really like to thank:
Doug for all his work on the website
Nick, then Kate, for all those Pedal Power newsletters…..and those others who have helped leaflet the rush-hours – around 400 bikers a time
Hilary and Scottish Karen for the Easyrides and the training sessions and those posters
Julian, and Ayako, for the sets of 4 maintenance classes
Peter M for all those thousands of photocopies
Original Karen for keeping the books and accounts so straight
To Adrian for his fortnightly Ranger rides... and for proving we're human by cancelling one
Greg for help with local planning issues and Council relations
To William for help at the ceilidh and lots of other stuff
To William for help at the ceilidh and lots of other stuff
The Tower Hamlets lot over the river for staying in touch
Jolly Roger in Lewisham and Peter in Southwark for sharing their few rides with us
This place, Greenwich Forum, for being a good venue, and patient when I lose the bills
To the staff of the London Cycling Campaign for being there when we need them
And to Cheryl
Let me know afterwards if I've forgotten anyone...
And huge thanks to all those Greenwich Cyclists who come to these meetings, who come on our rides - and to the pub sessions afterwards - or just lurk on our 152 member the elist and get boring about advance stop lines - without you lot there's nothing.
Since the last AGM on Wednesday 5 June 2002...we've had 12 monthly meetings and done more than the 150 rides shown on our website. I'm going to bore you with some of the highlights...
Last June we did 15 Bike Week events... most varied programme in London... and around 170 people did the summer solstice ride on June 21. Don't miss this years. It's our ride. The forth such.
And later in June one of our shortest rides was to Convoys Wharf to see The Gut Girls in the round in their historic Convoys Wharf sheds.
In July around 30 of us joined 150 others and did the wonderful tenth overnight Dunwich Dynamo. We bought 120 back on coaches. We've saved that event.
On Sunday 4 August we set up the hundredth birthday party for the Greenwich Foot Tunnel... the Council weren't a bit interested. So we got Graham Binnie of Binnie and Partners, the great-grandson of the original engineers, to say happy birthday with a good speech... and a champagne brunch in the University afterwards. Uninterested Councillors were there guzzling in force. And 30 of us rode out of there around the security guards, downriver to the Woolwich Foot Tunnel, and back through this one where we bemused a load of tourists by singing happy birthday dear foot tunnel right on the Greenwich/Tower Hamlets border. The 100th birthday of the Woolwich Foot Tunnel is in the diary for Sunday 3 October 2012.
At the end of August, 14 of us went away for a long weekend for the 90 mile Wild Wales Ride in Snowdonia. There were 450 entrants in all. It says really good things about this group that half the women on the Wild Wales ride were from Greenwich Cyclists... and they were the wildest.
In September Greenwich Council wouldn't play Car Free Day despite an excellent one in 2001 when they closed down the Greenwich one way system, but we did a tour of the other London sites.
October highlights was the Ride of the Falling Leaves... and the overnight ride to Brighton by the Canary Wharf crew.
In November five of us went to the LCC AGM. There were the Blackheath fireworks, and a Frinton-on-Sea beach hut ride.
Most groups seem to hibernate over autumn, winter and spring, but in December we did loads... to Cambridge with Southwark, Billingsgate Market at 4am, then the Beckton Greenway sewers ride again, there was an Easymistletoe ride to Borough Market, then our first ceilidh... 180 tickets sold, then 20 of us did the Wednesday 25/12 ride with a non-seasonal lunch in Edgware Road and a party after.
We did 8 rides in January... our first ride this year was an Easyone on 4 January, then Southwark's 1066 ride, then the Hackney Burns Night do.
February wasn't dull. We went to Dungeness, the Horniman Museum, Eltham Palace, Barnes Wetlands Centre... and did our first of many Locks, Docks rides of the year. And we got the only hospital case ever on a Greenwich ride. Me.
The women in the group did 6 events for the International Women's Festival in March and that included training for absolute beginners, and we did the Hoo peninsula for the first time. I nearly got lynched in the mud.
April started off our twice a month ranger rides along the Sustrans National Cycle Network. We look after the route from the western edge of Greenwich right down to Dartford Bridge 15 miles away. Now both Lewisham and Southwark Cyclists look after Sustrans routes too. We did another Whitstable/Dover weekend too. The 60 miles to Whitstable on Saturday and a bit less to Dover on the Sunday. There was an Easyride to the Monument and a Good Friday at Herne Hill watching the European Track Championships meeting.
In May 6 of us went to the Cycling: A Capital Solution Conference at Church House. Our 18 page transcript is on our website. 10 of us joined 10 from the Conference on our Docklands tour the next day. We also of course went to see the European Bicycle Messenger Championships at the Lea Valley Cycle Circuit. It was mad max chaos, but hugely worth tasting.
Last weekend started with Friday night's Critical Mass. On Saturday we took over Herne Hill Velodrome again... in 30 degree heat... and this time got 14 more people riding the track for the first time ever. We've taken it over 8 times now and get about 25 people there each time. We've probably introduced 100 new people to track riding and so in a small but influential way helped open up the place. We're very involved in the campaign to save the velodrome... do please all join the Friends organisation. And last Sunday of course was our busy information stall and bike ER on Cutty Sark Gardens. The 1,000 Rough Guides to Cycling in London were delivered Monday. The Tourist Office aren't to pleased.
And here we are tonight.
Barry Mason
AGM Review
4 June 2003