In addition to voting in our new committee at our Annual General Meeting on 17 December, we also reflected on 2023.
Last year was one of building off a strong base in developing a great and diverse club of riders. We have continued to actively engage in getting more female participation through the women’s social ride and engagement from our more experienced female riders.
We have a strong junior track program which is bringing access to cycling in a safe and supportive environment. It has really been a pleasure watching how the VCC and CCC families have supported each other in building a robust and supportive community.
It was also a year of a fresh new look for our cycling kit, which is already standing out at races across the country.
Year in numbers
We ran a combined 7 road events and the winter crit series with Canberra Cycling Club. By combining our race calendars, we can focus our time on a number of key races to try to get more interstate and local riders to attend. A great example of this was the Canberra Junior Tour held on 27–28 May with 220 junior riders from across the country and even New Zealand attending.
This year we have held:
- 49 track training sessions with 941 entries
- 24 Track racing events with 592 entries
- 24 SuperCrits with 1,511 entries
- 8-week Novice Program with the assistance of Michael Hanslip for 19 new riders
Thanks to our volunteers
The club couldn’t run without our key volunteers, including:
- Our commissaires – Jim Veal, Darryl Cram, Simon and Caet Watch and Jon Lowe
- Track/Junior coaches – Jim Veal, Gavin Macdonald, Carlos Lopez, Ross Taylor, Dan Grillo and Ed Gralton
- SuperCrits Race Director – Jon Lowe
- Novice coordinators – Alys Buchtmann and Alex Carder
- And everyone else who helped at a race last year
2023 Committee
Before we introduce the 2024 committee, it is important to shout our the 2023 committee who helped the club run its races, training and bunch rides:
- Mel Toombs – Vice President and Women’s officer
- Vanessa Judge – Secretary
- Steph Bates – Treasurer
- Alys Buchtmann – Membership Officer, Communications, Novice Coordinator
- Charlotte Hempenstall – Interim Club Captain, Communications and Socials
- Alex Carder – Clothing Officer
- Jim Veal – track/ junior
- Ross Taylor – Track and EntryBoss
- Andrew Steel (Fozzy)
- Neil Skipper
- Sam Cuninghame
- Matt Dyne
Special thanks to Matt for all the work he has done over the years and his continued support. This was his last year on the committee and we will miss his contributions to the club. A farewell to both Neil and Fozzy, who will also be stepping back from the committee in 2024.
2024 committee
At the AGM, the following roles were voted in:
- President – Michael Buerger
- Vice-president – Vanessa Judge
- Secretary – Alys Buchtmann
- Treasurer – Steph Bates
- Assistant Treasurer – Mustafa Anwar
- Membership Officer – Alex Carder
- General Committee Members/Roles:
- Women’s Officer – Melany Toombs
- Socials – Charlotte Hempenstall
- Track/Juniors – Jim Veal
- Track/Race – Ross Taylor
- Development – Vanessa Judge
- Club Captain – Charlotte Hempenstall
- Novice coordinator – Sam Cuninghame
- Gravel coordinator – Trenton Smith
- e-Racing coordinator – Alex Carder
Final thanks
A huge thank our sponsors including Alivio Tourist Park, Stu from Crankys, and the Little Pickle. Thank you also to Steve Crispin and Rainer Wilton from Canberra Cycling Club for running the road races and collaborating with Vikings on our cycling advocacy.
Finally, thank you to all our members for your support in making this a fantastic cycling club.