Stephen Hinde - Vice President 2014

In 1985 I read an article about the 1984 PBP, written by Dan MacGuire. A buddy at work said "We should do that." After enquiries, we discovered that only 4 rides were planned, all in the lower mainland, and that they had to be ridden in sequence. As I was in Hawaii when the 200 was run, I missed the entire year. (That's why we introduced a summer series in 1988). 1986--well, if we wanted rides on Vancouver Island, I figured out I had to organize them. After a quick trip to the Pacific Populaire to see what randonneuring involved, I organized a 200 and 300 km brevet. Thus began 20 years of organizing and riding brevets, mostly on Vancouver Island. In 2005 I retired from organizing so that I could spend more time riding. Well, neither happened. I'm still organizing the occasional event, and I'm still 2000km short of my 40000 pin.

I enjoy randonneuring for the pleasure of exploring new roads, riding with great people, and having fascinating stories to tell at work. The principle underlying our sport, challenging cycling while self-sufficient, appeals to my background as a cycle tourist, and to my profession as an engineer. We ride because we love to ride. The club provides structure for our rides, so that we can interact on common ground. It is this spirit of camaraderie that keeps me hooked.

I would like to champion an idea proposed by an Island rider at a recent social. Quite simply, lets make sure an experienced randonneur rides with the slowest new rider in each 200km the club organizes. We need to encourage new riders, and by assuring them that they will never be last on the road, I think we can allay some of the uncertainty surrounding that first big ride.

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