In 2015, BC Randonneurs organized 57 events. Many of us rode one, or even several, of those rides. Yet one club member volunteered for nearly every one: Doug Latornell. Doug created RandoPony, the application we use to register for these events, in 2010 for the LM400 as the organizer (wife Susan) wanted to know who was coming for the night start. Today Doug still maintains the RP site: entering data, cajoling organizers, and keeping track of all brevets. Indeed, Susan reports that Doug even updates the site via cellphone when he is away on business or vacation.

Doug joined the Randonneurs in 1993 starting with a 200 and a 300, and over the past 22 years has ridden enough brevets to garner a 40k medal. He has also organized a number of rides, including 2004 RM1200, yet most of the work Doug does with the Pony site goes unseen by most—about 200 events to date.

Congratulations to Doug. Thank you for all of your outstanding contributions.

From the edge of Sorrento on the western arm of Shuswap Lake Bob and Susan Goodison play a far-reaching role in the BC Randonneurs Cycling Club. Their contributions have been ongoing for several years, and were particularly important in this past year.

In 2016, in addition to being the Interior brevets coordinator, Bob played a big role as part of the Rocky Mountain 1200 committee. He handled much of the route design for 2016's counter-clockwise spin on the traditional route. Bob and Susan staffed no less than THREE separate controls during the event, including an incredibly long stint at Beauty Creek. The sight of them and their little orange travel trailer alongside the empty road, whether it was early in the morning, high noon, or late into the night was a welcome site to many a rider.

As Interior brevet coordinator for the past several years, Bob has designed many new routes. He and the small but merry band of Interior region riders ensure that there is at least one, and often two or event three full series of brevets every year in the dry part of the province. His publicity and recruitment activities have brought several new riders into that merry band. As a member of the executive committee Bob conceived of, and championed, the Rambling Randonneur award which is encouraging more and more riders to travel to, and ride in, other regions.

And, of course, Bob rides - a lot. In his 15 years with the club he as long since passed the 40k medal mark, and is an active permanent rider.

Congratulations to Bob and Susan. Thank you for your many contributions to the club.

Roger Street Award
2017 Recipient
Ron Stewart

Since joining in 2012, Ron has participated in 40 events, completed 5 permanents, volunteered at 16 events, and been willing to help in other ways such as preparing GPS tracks for events. Ron conceived and organized the Bridges for Harold 200 in 2015, a concept he developed in memory of one of the club’s first members—Harold Bridge.

But this Roger Street Award is not for all of that excellent support , but for another original concept that Ron developed—Peace to Parliament. This event took place in June 2017—a full Super Randonneur series in one week, traversing all 4 regions of the BCR province. The 16 who finished the entire week not only completed the SR series, but qualified for the Rambling Randonneur award.

We would like to thank Ron for his enthusiasm and vision in developing interesting and enjoyable routes.

Roger Street Award
2018 Recipient
Will Danicek

Will has been a well-travelled randonneur and an enthusiastic volunteer since joining the Club in 2011. He has volunteered on more than 20 rides, including 12 as the organizer. He has organized five 1000 km brevets and served on the RM1200 organizing committee. The fact that he was the only rider in two of his 1000’s gives some insight into his sense of adventure and interest in creating challenging new routes.

Populaires have been part of the Club’s program since the 1980’s. They are great social events, major contributors to the Club finances, and carry a long history of introducing new riders to randonneuring. In 2017 Will worked with Danelle Laidlaw to organize the Pacific Populaire and then took on the organizer’s job for the 2017, 2018 Canada Day Populaires and the 2018 Pacific Populaire. Organizing a Populaire is not for the faint hearted. These are big events - over 2000 riders participated in the 2017 and 2018 Pacific and Canada Day Populaires. They demand hours and hours of planning to sort out the details of permits, insurance, rider registration, route selection, volunteer coordination, food provision, and time reporting.

With his big efforts (and his big voice), Will has managed to deliver thousands of riders to the start of our Club’s most popular events, and is a worthy recipient of the 2018 Roger Street Award.

Thank you and congratulations to Will!

Roger Street Award
2019 Recipient
Dave Macmurchie

The 2019 recipient of the Roger Street Award for Outstanding Contribution to the BC Randonneurs is Dave Macmurchie.

Dave has volunteered for 48 events, more than twice as many as he has ridden! He has a reputation on Vancouver Island as that volunteer who is the first to help out a brevet organizer. He is fondly regarded by many a former Hell Week rider for his well-stocked late night Shawnigan Lake control. Whether it be to organize a control or provide technical assistance in preparing route sheets or control cards, Dave is the go-to guy on the Island.

Since 2013, Dave has been the creator, the organizer and indeed, the face of the Cowichan Valley Populaire, aka the “Cow-Pop”. His careful attention to the details of route, food, volunteer management, and even arranging local sponsorship, have crafted a well-loved BC Randonneurs classic event, enjoyed by hundreds of locals and tourist riders alike. His event reports are a model for all organizers to follow, both informative and entertaining.

Congratulations Dave and thank you for your many contributions.

Roger Street Award
2020 Recipient
Colin Fingler

Colin Fingler is the recipient of the Roger Street Award for outstanding service to the BC Randonneurs Cycling Club for 2020. At the October 2019 AGM, when Colin became club President for the second consecutive year, nobody could have imagined Covid-19, and the way it would shape our season and our club procedures. Nobody could have imagined how important strong leadership would be, and in this respect Colin was the man for the moment. The decisive statements made early in the pandemic were penned by Colin. When the time came to “return to ride” in July 2020, Colin again lead the charge to craft policy that would ensure the safety of the riders and the people they would encounter in our communities: electronic registration, multi-day start windows for rides, provisions for contact tracing, guidelines for safe practices at controls and other stop points, and electronic submission of brevet control cards. The system worked smoothly, though it required a lot of work by Colin and this team. When the second wave came rolling in along with the provincial travel advisory, Colin again acted decisively to suspend rides.

Colin has been an active volunteer in the club for many years, in many ways. In 2018 he took on the important job of updating the club’s bylaws, and now has moved on from President to be the club’s Treasurer.