At GGCC, we feel it's important to detail the clubs main objectives and goals. Our club should be open in what it looks for from its members as well as offering a clear and concise plan for the club over the coming years for those who want to be part of GGCC.
We understand some of our members have been discussing the way the club is structured which in turn, has lead to some negative feeling and comments.
In early 2011, Andy and Ray discussed the idea of setting up a new bike club in Glasgow. The principal reason for this was to offer an environment to develop and support cyclists who wanted to ride their bikes with like-minded people.
With the overall success of GGCC in the last 3 years, it’s no surprise that our riders are having varying success across various disciplines.
As a modern cycling club, the approach taken is to offer a fulfilling cycling experience for our members. The club supports its members by hosting various events throughout the year either in club confined events or regional cycling events. We continue to provide a safe and inclusive environment for everyone to get what he or she wants from the club rides. We do not offer financial support to our members to enjoy their hobby nor do we have a specific or exclusive race team environment. The reason behind this decision is that we do not want to class one riders achievements higher than another as they are equally as important to each rider. What we continue to do very successfully as a club, is provide a format for everyone to ride their bikes at whatever level they feel is appropriate for their skill set and fitness level.
As with other cycle clubs, GGCC feel it’s important to have links to local businesses who we can partner with. The club has over 180 members and we feel that partnering with local businesses is good for our members and the community. GGCC’s Key Partner is Dales Cycles. Dales Cycles do not sponsor or provide financial support to GGCC, they give our wide ranging member base a great environment when looking for cycling advice, equipment or technical support. In the past 2 years Dales have played a key role in supporting our events whether the event is a club confined Hill Climb to a National Road Race Series. By offering prize bags, tech support, event sign on facilities and support has help our events grow from strength to strength. In addition to event support Dales Cycles offer various member benefits which include a competitive member discount on all items in store and online, fast pass servicing, free tube and canister replacement, reduce bike hire costs, access to demo stock and once a month the team at Dales host a coffee and cakes run. The members contribute to the coffee and cakes morning with the monies collected being offered to various charities through out the year. This is a simple partnership that provides a mutually beneficial environment, they continue to be a successful business and we carry on riding our bikes.
A full list of the partnerships we have can be found on the GGCC website and we encourage the members to make best use of these specific offers. These partnerships cover a wide range of businesses and hopefully has something for everyone.
The club does not want to become elitist in anyway and this was an objective set out when the club was formed. The reasons behind the club having a simple structure are based from experiences of other clubs and organisations. We feel the way in which the club has been run in the past and our clear communication of how it will be run going forward, will only support the continued success of GGCC. The decision making process is easy in GGCC with no committees or votes and this has and continues to work very effectively.
With over 180 members, we will not keep everyone happy all of the time. We also understand the format of GGCC may not be suitable to everyone. Our aim is to keep the club running smoothly with as little distraction as possible. If you feel GGCC does not meet your individual needs then we would encourage you to seek out another club who can. After all, the reason the club was formed was to provide an environment to have “fun” and be safe when on the bike, not to create one that encourages negativity.
Our club constitution can be found on our website should you wish to review the main objectives and structure of the club.
Our objective is to continue to offer a great club that caters for a wide range of cyclists and to host events for our members on a regular basis. We always welcome feedback as you know and from recent meetings we know how passionate our members are about contributing to the success of the club.
Here’s to many more miles cycling together.
From the team @ GGCC