Happy New Year!!

2021 has been a challenging year for many of us. It’s ended with us having to cancel our traditional New Year’s Day Ride simply because we could not find a place with a patio that would be open on the day. However, plans for the BlueBonnet Express on March 27, 2022, are going apace and our Saturday Zube rides are well attended.

The four Elected Officers, VP David Harman, Secretary Sabrina Strawn, Treasurer Troy Ottmer and myself will continue to be available to you in the transparent manner we hope we achieved in 2021, for another year.

The “back office” changes we made in late 2019, specifically to the club’s website and the database we use, have proved to be worthwhile. We have engaged an information technology (IT) professional to address issue such as the multiple NWCC websites and to protect the club’s property like digital images. We hope the club will reap the rewards well into the future.

The website refresh will include a link to our kit providers. Yep, that’s a plural. The Board has decided to go back to a well-used past procedure and give our membership a choice of two providers, one of which is very local – as in Highway 6 local. The kit design hasn’t changed, though, and we hope to see many more of you in club colors in 2022.

As a result of the incident created by the teenager “rolling coal” on Business 290 a couple of months ago, one of our goals is to engage more closely with local police. We have made two attempts to meet with one of the Waller County law enforcement units to no avail as yet, but we’ll try again in the New Year when they are over the holidays.

Our membership currently stands at 515, from a low of about 350 in mid-2020. However, all club members who were fully paid up in September 2020, were given a free membership for 2021. Effective January 1, 2022, please renew your membership; we’d hate to lose you!

We’ll continue to add new rides to the calendar in 2022. Our MTB Chair, Michelle, has led a ride more or less every month in 2021 – chapeau! Trail rides have been added, a Chappell Hill ride took place just after Christmas and we have our usual Wednesday ride too. If you would like to lead and add a ride to the calendar, let us know!

Finally, on behalf of the Board of NWCC, I wish each and every one of you a fabulous 2022, full of safe, exciting, and joyous bike adventures, wherever they may be! Be safe!

Geoff