The monthly meeting of the Board of Directors of the Century Road Club Association was held on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at Board member Steve Donaldson’s office at Underscore Marketing on West 23rd Street in Manhattan. Board members Mike Green, Sonny Bindra, Chris Forsyth, Greg Ventresca, Ken Harris, Steve Donaldson, Martha Lees, Douglas von Bushberger, Noah Gellner, and Alex Bremer were present.

1. The Board began the meeting with a discussion regarding best practices for Board governance.

2. Vice President of Racing Alex Bremer provided an update on club racing. He reported that all preparations are settled for the March 7 race.

3. Communications Director Steve Donaldson reported on new content for the Club website. He plans to post race reports on the site once races start and Board meeting minutes, and welcomed ideas for additional content from Board members.

4. Public Relations Director Greg Ventresca gave a report on his and Club President Mike Green’s attendance at the Central Park Conservancy Recreation Roundtable on Wednesday, February 25, 2009. The topics discussed at the Roundtable included pavement conditions on the Central Park roadway, the introduction of sewer grates that will not trap bike wheels, planned new signage regarding correct traffic flow during recreation hours, and the issue of cars in the Park. The next Roundtable is scheduled for April 8, 2009.

5. Membership Director Chris Forsyth gave a report on membership matters. He noted that current membership numbers are close to what they were last year at this time.

6. Mike Green and Director of Open Racing Noah Gellner gave a report on open racing. Noah reported that the fall Bear Mountain race will probably have a new start/finish at Sebago Lake because the parking lot we usually use has been booked by another entity that day. Noah will investigate whether the other event will pose logistical problems for our race. Noah also reported that the Coney Island Criterium may not be cleared to go forward because of budgetary concerns on the part of the City; he will know for certain within about a week. Mike noted that the date currently slated for the Lou Maltese race, July 11, is the same day as a Prospect Park race, and observed that it would be better for the local racing scene to avoid that conflict. Mike plans to circulate possible alternate dates to the Board via e-mail.

7. Chris Forsyth proposed that the Board adopt a policy for handling membership applicants who have been penalized by a sporting body for a doping offense. He noted that he has spoken with USCF to confirm that the Club has the right to refuse membership for any reason other than a legally protected characteristic, such as race or gender. The Board agreed to discuss the issue further.

8. The next meeting was set for Monday, April 6 at 7:10 p.m. at Steve Donaldson’s office.
9. Greg Ventresca reported that the Club has been approached by the SBR bike store, which is newly sponsoring a subteam this year, to form a partnership. Specifically, SBR is interested in expanding its presence in cycling and wishes to e-mail Club members with Club-specific deals and to host Club events at SBR. The consensus of the Board was to decline the offer of the e-mails and that the Club should not favor one store over another, given the number of bike shops that support the Club and its subteams. As an alternative, Greg and Mike Green suggested contacting each store that sponsors a Club subteam and extending an offer to post discounts on a new page of the Club website and in the monthly newsletter. Greg plans to create a template document that can be sent to each store offering them the opportunity to participate. Director of Teams Doug von Bushberger will reach out to the subteam captains to gather contact information and gauge preliminary interest.

10. Mike Green reported that a member of the New York Cycling Club (“NYCC”) had approached him to request Club support in sponsoring a NYCC forum featuring Tom Schuler. Subsequently, NYCC dropped the program, and the NYCC member asked the Club to sponsor the entire forum. The Board agreed not to pursue the opportunity.

11. Doug von Bushberger reported that he and Alex Bremer had developed a rough framework for scoring non-CRCA races as part of an open racing award. Doug agreed to circulate the scoring algorithm for review and comment.

12. Mike Green introduced the possibility of allowing unattached B and C racers to aggregate into informal subteams and of providing these groups with Club jerseys of different colors. This concept was based on unaffiliated member interest in joining subteams. Mike also expressed concern that the subteam structure had become larger than intended. The Board raised various concerns with the concept: the logistics of administering such a system would be a challenge; the likelihood of such racer groups coalescing seems small; the informal grouping could circumvent the responsibilities of subteams; and the less-experienced riders on the informal subteams might limit their opportunity to join formal subteams and gain experience from the experienced riders on those teams, leaving the informal subteams as loose groupings of largely inexperienced riders. On the whole, the Board largely felt that the current subteam framework is working well. The concept was tabled for further discussion later in the year as a possibility for the 2010 season.

At approximately 9:00 p.m. the meeting adjourned.

Respectfully submitted,

Martha Lees, Secretary