The following commentary and questions are in no way intended to be disrespectful to any club member or officer (past or present). The intention is to bring out into the open some conversations that are occuring behind the scenes. I feel that the more the membership of the Murfreesboro Bicycle Club is involved, the stronger it will become.
I was very saddened today to learn that the officers of the MBC decided for all of the club members that WE would no longer have our spring metric century, the Two County Metric. When I asked at today's Chili Ride how this decision was reached, every single reason given was either invalid or used faulty logic. If the current leadership of the TCM no longer wanted to be involved in putting on the ride, the reasonable course of action would have been to announce that to the membership and see if others would step up and assume those positions that would be vacated. As best as I understand, this did not happen. As I stated today, due to a job change, I have not been nearly as involved in club activities as I would have like to have been. I know that for the seven years that Steve McAuley and I put on the TCM (with the help of the MBC membership), it was a thriving ride, and received great comments and reviews from all of those involved.
There is still interest among club membership about hosting this ride as after today's meeting was over, several of those members expressed interest in continuing the TCM. It all seems rather strange to me
I do not wish to hide behind email - if anyone wishes to contact me by phone, feel free to call me at 615-631-6295.
I had heard that the TCM was being cancelled prior to reading Dwight's post. I probably should have said something about it earlier. I understand the reasons for the cancellation to be that we cannot muster the volunteer and sponsor base needed and that the officers wish to focus the club's resources on the HOT 100. I think this decision was not well thought out and needs to be reconsidered.
The TCM has been going on for several years. For many riders it is their kick off metric of the year and is used to get ready for some of the spring centuries. The TCM has a good reputation for being well supported and having great rest stops not to mention the nice routes we have been able to ride. I have volunteered for two of the past three TCMs and would be pleased to volunteer again this year. The only problem is that no one ever asked for volunteers this year. If the problem is lack of support I find it difficult to understand how the MBC officers can cancel a long-standing event without asking for volunteers or without asking the membership for assistance with trying to resolve any perceived problems. I appreciate the work the officers do for the club, but you need to realize that the TCM belongs to us, the members and the visiting riders. You should have asked us what we wanted or should have scheduled a meeting and requested feedback.
Another thing to consider is that other clubs schedule their events around our TCM. If we cancel the TCM this year we will most likely be surrendering that date in future years. I have spoken with other members about this and not one of them thinks canceling the TCM is a good idea. In fact, I imagine many of them may volunteer if asked. If it is support you need, you have it. I will be pleased to volunteer my time for this event.
Even as I write this I know that the damage has been done and it will be difficult to repair. You may think that I am overreacting to the canceling of a bike ride, but it goes much further than that. It is really about what kind of bike club we want to be. I don’t think we should be a club where a few can toss aside a tradition like the TCM without considering the club as a whole. Like Dwight, I will not hide behind email or message board postings. I can be reached at 896-7656 if anyone wishes to discuss this matter. Also, I may be found this April riding the TCM route if anyone wishes to join me.
