Chairman’s Report 2008-09

Cross country ski-ing, roller ski-ing and much more 

A strong Club

The past twelve months have again shown the strength of the Club over a very wide range of activities.  Membership remains high and the finances are in very good order.

Roller ski-ing home and away

The summer of 2008 saw the continuation of the LRNSC roller ski races, as well as the 1 hr and 4 hour events, which continue to be well supported. 

Recreationally, the Club again met for the traditional Bristol-Bath tour, but the deteriorating state of the track together with dwindling numbers, have led the committee to discontinue the event for this year at least.  The two Gerards, Ollier and Evans, respectively organised a well-supported tour to the Avenue Verte, an old railway line near Dieppe, and the now traditional Mince Pie evening tour of Richmond Park, always a highlight of the pre-season period. 

Thanks go too to Mary Wray for her organisation of a series of roller ski instructional courses, the last of which also included a waxing demonstration, which was both well attended and well received.

Annual get-together

Mention should also be made of the Club Dinner, organised again by Gerard Evans, which combined a convivial meal with the usual Trivia Quiz and other diversions.

Ski-ing through the winter

The winter season started with the Club trip to Livigno in December for La Sgambeda.  We once again had the coaching services of the knowledgeable and dynamic Peter Moysey, who attracted almost 30 members to the week, most of whom also took part in either the short or long race at the final weekend.

January saw Karolina Bicova win two races on her home snow at Jizerska Padesatka, whilst a number of LRNSC members were at the Masters World Cup in Autrans (FRA) where Hilary Field brought the Club its first gold medal in the 5 km Free Technique W09 race – and a silver medal to boot in the 10 km Classic event. 

In February a Club trip to the Tartu and Finlandia marathons saw 15 members taking part, including Mark Davies, whose ubiquitous presence at marathon races throughout the season saw him run away with the individual men’s title in the SSE Marathon Challenge. With Hilary Field winning the ladies’ section, followed by Julie Merriman in second place, LRNSC’s total points score was once again well above the combined totals of all the other English (and indeed British) clubs. 

The ‘return leg’ of our association with the Bodenmais club, who had roller skied with us during the summer, was a bit mixed.  Several Club members attended the Skadi Loppet, but few of them communicated their intention to participate with our Racing Member Christopher Richards, thereby rather negating our efforts to make this a reciprocal arrangement.

Gerard Ollier was to the fore again, with his organisation of the popular Club trip to Yllas/Akalompolo, but sadly Stuart Montgomery’s efforts to promote a tour in the Rondane were not so well supported.

Working towards better facilities

The roller ski season has now started again and the first of the LRNSC rollerski races took place at Hayes on 10 May, with further races on the calendar throughout the summer and autumn.  All our usual ‘favourites’ are on the calendar and members are urged to give these their full support. 

The Club, through Christopher Richards, is working with the cycling groups to develop the circuit at Hayes. Hoping that our various combined Lottery bids are successful, we look forward to seeing the basic facility there improved through the construction of a clubhouse, as well as an electronic timing system, which has been so badly needed for a long time.

Staying in touch

For many members, the Club newsletter is the most important link they have both with other members and with events that are taking place throughout the year.  Our newsletter editor, Greg Bell, has done a magnificent job in producing a consistently splendid magazine, for which we all owe him a debt of gratitude.  Thanks also to Mary Wray, who has put in a lot of work to re-vamp the LRNSC website to make it more user-friendly and informative. This has been a major and time-consuming task and a visit to the website will quickly demonstrate the results of Mary’s efforts.

My thanks as Chairman go to all of the hard-working members of your committee, without whose sterling efforts our full and varied programme simply could not take place. 
Thank you all for your support.  More young faces are needed on the committee and any volunteers will be made very welcome.  And thanks, of course, to all the members who have supported the Club’s activities throughout the year.

Paddy Field
Chairman