Page 4 - Issue 63_FINAL WEB normal_Neat

LETTER FROM THE PRESIDENT
Wet, cold and windy weather seems to be the order of the day as the year progresses
and yet even though there has been what seems like a ton of leaves having already
dropped there are many more still on the trees, indicating that it perhaps has been fairly
warm. Coming back through Spain and France recently it was interesting to see the
leaves still clinging to the branches and indeed it was well in to France before there was
any hint of autumn. Colours this time of the year are always spectacular and even more
enhanced when the sun shines. A truly glorious time of the year but tinged with the fact
that winter is only just around the corner.
It is quite scary when at the beginning of November the thought of Christmas hits home
hard with the entire festive bunting etc ever present in every shop one goes into. Car
parks become full and roads become jammed. I sometimes feel that the true meaning of
Christmas is being forgotten with an ever increasing commercial flavour taking over.
This is the time of year for AGMs, dinners and luncheons. This is not the case for the
VTTA who do not hold their AGM and prize presentation until January. A good time to
celebrate all the achievements that members have attained from championship glory to
obtaining their standards, showing that the performances of riders has yet again been
high this past season. Make sure you come along to receive your just rewards and
perpetuate the continuance of the VTTA - it's a great organisation for the 40+ age group.
Each year Merv Player collects details of our members who are still riding event s at
80+. National statistics show we are living longer and we hope that means that the older
members of the Association will continue to ride competitively. Even with our new
revised standards a very good 80 year old can still beat an exceptional 40+ on standard.
We should be proud of being the only major sport where the older cyclist can compete
with their younger competitors and still come out as winners.
Keep turning your pedals. Every good wish for the festive season.
Carole Gandy

VIEW FROM THE CHAIR
At the NEC meeting in September there was a brief informal discussion about how we felt
time trialling was doing overall as a sport. Some members thought there was some decline
in participation, but we wondered if we could get actual statistics. So we asked the CTT
and got some numbers for the last 3 years. As things happen, a week or so later there
was a discussion on
Time Trialling Forum 200000
where people added 180000
some additional 160000
statistics. These reflect 140000
participation by all time 120000
triallists, not just VTTA 100000 Sum of Open
members, but are Sum of Club
80000 Sum of Total
interesting nonetheless.
60000
This chart shows total
40000
rides in the last 6 years
in CTT open and club 20000
events. 0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
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