The CRCA Board meeting was held on July 13th at Sonny Bindra’s office.

Attendees included: Sonny Bindra, Chris Forsyth, Mike Green, David Greenberg, Wendy Nickerson, and Greg Ventresca

The meeting addressed the following:

1. June Minutes – The minutes from the June, 2009 meeting were unanimously approved with one amendment — the draft of the June minutes had the incorrect dollar amount for donation from the CRCA time trial, which should indicate that $1,000 was donated to the Alzheimer’s Association.

2. July Meeting – The next meeting was scheduled for Monday, August 3rd. The meeting will be held at Sonny Bindra’s office at 6:30 p.m.

3. Litigation Update – Mike Green and David Greenberg reported on the status of the potential litigation relating to the CRCA member that was reportedly hit by a recreational cyclist during a spring club race. Both CRCA and the City of New York have received motions to produce certain documents from the claimant’s counsel. CRCA is represented by counsel in this matter (appointed by its insurance company). To the extent that they are available, we have provided documents. There was one document that appeared to come from a larger document — we are searching CRCA records to see if we have the larger document. We have not received any further information regarding the scope of the claimant’s injuries.

4. Marshal Assignment – Sonny Bindra noted that there have been instances where new members are not able to find dates to marshal because all remaining races are “full”. Sonny is going to increase the number of available assignments online (including for the Maltese and Mengoni open races) so that new members will not have this issue. In addition, the Marshal Director will be authorized to offer marshalling credits for Staten Cross in November to the extent that marshals are needed for this event.

5. Bear Mountain Fall Race – Mike Green described the status of this race and the Board discussed the format. This race will stage at Sebago and will finish on what was the feed hill for the spring race. There will be no junior field. Although this conflicts with Univest in terms of race dates, we do not see that there is much overlap in riders. Pro 1-2 field will be 84 miles. We’ll also have Masters 40+ /50+ (56 miles), Cat 3 (70 miles), and women’s 1-2-3 and 3-4 fields (56 miles and 42 miles respectively). The costs should be similar to the race that was held in the spring. We’ll have 2 SRAM support vehicles.

6. CRCA Time Trial Championships – Mike Green gave an update on the arrangements to have the CRCA Time Trial Championships held at and in conjunction with the Westwood Velo Longmeadow TT event. Westwood has graciously allowed CRCA to use the Westwood event as the CRCA championships. They will have separate entries for CRCA categories. The TeaNY sub-team will help with this as their team duty.

7. Men’s Clinic – In the May meeting, the Board decided to again have a Men’s Clinic. This will be held on August 15th. The Empire and Western Union sub-teams will assist with this. We hope to use the clinic to increase membership and provide a positive introduction to racing.

8. Mengoni U-15 Races – The Board discussed the Mengoni U-15 races. We will again have U-15 races at Mengoni. There will be an 8-11 field and 12-14 field. The 8-11 field will race from Tavern to the Cat’s Paw finish while the 12-14 field will do a full lap, taking the 102nd Street transverse. These races will start just after the P-1-2 field comes through for their final lap. The Deutsche Bank sub-team will assist with this.

9. Rising Costs/Expenses – Wendy Nickerson noted that recent bank statements indicate that our costs/expenses seem to be rising. Wendy will perform an analysis to understand whether this appears to be an ongoing trend based on recurring fixed costs or whether this is due to other factors (e.g., 2008 expense carryover).

10. Appreciation for Gina Green – Andy Shen solicited CRCA for a contribution for a present for Gina Green, who has been taking phenomenal photos of races. The Board authorized unanimously a $100 contribution for Gina.

11. Possible Media Events – Greg Ventresca reported that New Jersey News and the New York Post have both contacted CRCA about stories they are running about cycling in New York. Greg has been in touch with both of these of these publications.

David Greenberg
CRCA Secretary