As we enjoyed the holidays and the Bills’ run to the playoffs, the club has been busy planning for the upcoming ride season. The new safety committee chaired by Jim Turner met and had a great discussion of how to maintain and improve ride safety. Look for some good ideas to be shared in the coming weeks. The ride committee, under co-chairs Liz Skelton and Rebecca Ribis, has been discussing 2025 routes and schedule. We held a ride leaders forum where the weekly ride leaders shared their experiences in the 2024 season and brainstormed suggestions and ideas for future development. The info from the forum is helping the committees and the board in planning for 2025. The board had a meeting after the end of the season and has another meeting next week.

Our plans include, in no particular order:

• · Rejuvenating regular “no-drop” rides. We want to help riders (especially new(er) riders) enjoy group rides without getting dropped out of the parking lot.
• · Continuing joint rides with BBC and exploring other possible collaborations.
• · Better publicizing the club. We would welcome help from people with marketing experience! There are more cycling options than ever for people, so we need to raise our profile and get out the message of who we are: a club that rides at an athletic pace in a social atmosphere. That is our niche in the cycling community.
• · Filling the recently created position of “Social Media Director,” replacing the former newsletter editor (since we don’t publish a formal newsletter). If there is anyone who loves navigating social media and could push out NFBC content in online platforms, please let me know!
• · Club trips. We have received interest in continuing club trips and welcome proposals – we already have one proposal for a new trip. Look for more on this coming up.
• · Planning for the spring member meeting. Stay tuned for date, time, and place.

· And 2025 memberships are open! Renew or apply today! Go to our website or look for Kathy Karnath’s recent post.

If you missed the End of Season Celebration on November 15, 2024, at Tewksbury Lodge, the highlights included good food, good drink, great conversation, and the following:

Governance changes: Mike de Freitas, new President; Jim Turner, new Vice President, Alisa Mertens and John Waugaman, new directors, and Liz Skelton and Rebecca Ribis, new ride committee co-chairs. Thanks given to departing President Bradshaw Hovey, Vice President Brenda Fischer (though Brenda remains a board and ride committee member), and departing board member Liz Skelton (though Liz remains as ride committee co-chair). Also re-established safety committee with VP Jim Turner as chair.

Season mileage stats: 145,404 total miles from 273 paid members riding 4719 times. Fifty members rode 1000 or more miles.

Season mileage leaders:

Men (and overall):

King, John, 3582

Rimlinger, Jack, 3419

Rossi, Paul, 3309

Currie, Ian, 2829

Women:

Li Puma, Judy, 2525

Currie, Diane, 2468

Ribis, Rebecca, 2125

Walker, Peg, 1918

Awards:

President’s Award: Stephanie Collins

Ride Leader of the Year: Jim Karnath

Outstanding Service: Ian Currie

Volunteer of the Year: Marty Viggato