Club Rules

GENERAL RULES AND CONSTITUTION

Amended 24th January 2023 - Rule 3 changed.

1. The Club shall be called the Redbridge Cycling Club (hereinafter referred to as the Club) and Membership shall be open to all, regardless of sex, age, disability, ethnicity, nationality, sexual orientation, religion or other beliefs.

2. The object of the Club shall be to provide Racing, Touring and Social Facilities for its members, and to encourage community participation in cycling in general.

a) A First Claim member shall be one who, when joining the Club, is not a member of any other club having prior claim.

b) A Second Claim member shall be one who is unable to fulfil this condition and as such shall be entitled to participate in all Club activities. A Second Claim Member shall not be eligible for Club Championships, Club Records, Standard Certificates or any Awards or Trophies given annually. A Second Claim Member will be eligible for an award specific to the single event entered, having entered so in advance and according to the entry rules in force at that time.

c) The following classes of membership and annual subscriptions shall apply to both First and Second Claim members:

(i) Senior Member – 18 years of age or older when applying for or renewing membership, £25.00.

(ii) Junior Member –16 years of age when applying for or renewing membership, £10.00.

(iii) Juvenile Member – Under 16 years of age Membership is free until 16th Birthday at which time Junior Club Subs and Third Party Insurance must be paid immediately.

(iv) Life Member – Nominated and approved at an AGM. Full benefits of Senior Membership, but no subscriptions due for life.

(d) In addition to the above every member intending to ride or race shall be covered by Third Party Insurance. This is obtainable through the Club’s affiliation to British Cycling or Cyclists Touring Club, or other insurance approved by the Committee. Note British Cycling ‘Go-Ride’ insurance is not acceptable for competitive riding, nor is British Cycling Bronze acceptable for Club rides.

(e) A prospective member not wishing to become a First or Second Claim member may seek election as an Associate, which shall confer the right to take advantage of all social facilities of the Club and to vote on all social matters. Associate members shall not be entitled to take part in Club Racing events, nor to take office on the Committee. Annual subscription for Associates of all ages shall be £12.00.

(f) A Member joining during the last three months of the Club year, shall receive Membership to the end of the following Financial year. The proportion of the Annual subscription due to compulsory Membership of British Cycling or Cyclists Touring Club, shall be payable as required by the Rules of each body, current at that time.

(g) In addition to the fees shown above, members of each class may optionally choose to pay an affiliation £50 per annum, to Redbridge Cycle Centre. Payment of this fee entitles members to use the cycle circuit whenever the facility is open and not commercially hired by a third party user. Where members choose not to pay this annual fee they must not use the track, but have full access to the other facilities provided to Redbridge Cycling Club.

4. All Members attending the Clubroom shall pay the attendance fee in force at the time on the occasion of each attendance.

5. The Club Financial Year shall run from the 1st November until the 31st October of the following year.

(a) A prospective Member shall apply for membership in the first instance to the Committee, which must notify the applicant of its decision within three months of application. All decisions of the committee regarding applications for membership shall be subject to ratification at the following Club General Meeting and any member refused membership by the Committee shall be entitled to speak at the General Meeting at which the Committee’s decision is tabled for ratification.

(b) No fully paid-up member may be expelled from the membership except by resolution passed by the Club in General Meeting.

(a) The Club shall be managed by the Officers of the Committee which shall comprise the President, Vice-President, Chairman, General Secretary, Treasurer, Time Trials Secretary, Membership Secretary, Road Race Secretary, Runs Secretary, Social Secretary, Press Secretary, Minutes Secretary, Women’s Representative, Webmaster and two additional lay members , although one or more vacancies in the Committee shall not invalidate its collective powers. Any member having 1st Claim membership of another cycling club shall not be eligible for election to the Redbridge CC Committee”.

(b) The officers of the Committee shall be elected at the Club Annual General Meeting and shall retire at the next A.G.M.

A retiring officer shall be eligible for re-election, except that the President and Vice-President shall not offer themselves for immediate re-election after having served five consecutive years in that office.

The Committee may appoint any eligible member to fill a vacancy in the Committee, including a vacancy dating from the previous A.G.M.

(c) Any officer of the Committee may be voted out of his post at any time by resolution passed by the Club in General Meeting.

(d) The Secretary shall be empowered to convene the Committee whenever he thinks fit and shall be obliged to do so upon request of any other officer.

Reasonable notice of each Committee meeting shall be given to every accessible officer verbally, by post or any other effective means. For all Committee meetings five officers shall form a quorum and the Chairman shall be entitled to a casting vote.

(e) An Auditor shall be appointed, either from the membership or an outside source, at each A.G.M. and shall hold office until the next A.G.M.

A casual vacancy occurring in the office of Auditor may be filled until the next A.G.M. by the Committee, but the Club in General Meeting shall always have the power to appoint, remove, replace, or re-appoint the Auditor until the next A.G.M.

8.
Within two months of the end of the Club Financial Year the Committee shall call an Annual General Meeting at which the Committee and Auditor shall present their reports and at which the Committee elections and the appointment of the Auditor shall take place, along with any other Club business.

The Committee may as it thinks fit call an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) at any other time, and shall be obliged to do so upon the written request of ten members. Reasonable notice of each Extraordinary General Meeting shall be given to every accessible member verbally, by post or by any other effective means.

For all General Meetings eleven members shall form a quorum.

If no quorum has been attained within half an hour of the appointed time, the meeting shall be reconvened by the Committee at a later time, at which the quorum shall be one.

Voting shall be by a show of hands unless the Chairman stipulates another method, and the Chairman shall be entitled to a casting vote.

All decisions shall be decided by a single majority of votes, except as provided in Rule 9.

9. Rules and Constitution may be amended or replaced only by a fifty-five percent majority of votes cast at an A.G.M. or E.G.M, and any changes in Rules shall be expressly stated in the notice convening the meeting.

10. The Club may be dissolved by a resolution passed by a majority of members present and voting at a Special Meeting convened for the purpose. Any assets remaining after the settling of any debts and liabilities shall be applied towards charitable bodies and/or another Cycling Club(s) with similar aims. Such bodies to be decided on and approved by the aforesaid majority.

11. The Club’s finances are to be run on a purely amateur ‘not-for-profit’ basis, with no distribution of any surplus.

12. No member of the Committee, nor any of the ordinary membership, shall receive remuneration from the Club, with the exception of that detailed in Rule 14.

13. The Club shall endeavour to maintain a cash reserve sufficient to meet contingencies, capital projects and future unknown expenditure. The reserve level shall be decided upon by the Committee. Any amounts considerably in excess of the declared reserve figure shall be used for the benefit of the Club and its members by means defined by, and costed by, the Committee.

14. Organisers and Committee members may claim for reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred for their event or duties (e.g. travel to race for risk assessment, travel to controlling body AGMs etc.) Any significant individual items over £100 shall be approved by the Committee before purchase. All purchase claims to be supported by receipts where applicable. Discretionary claims up to 25p per mile may be made by marshals for travel if they wish.

Time Trial Rules

(1) All Time Trials shall be conducted in accordance with the appropriate CTT Regulations.

(2) That a panel of Handicappers and Timekeepers be appointed.

(3) First Claim members only shall be eligible for Championships, Club Records and Standard Certificates. Club events shall be open to all but Associate members. A First Claim member is one who, at the time of joining the Redbridge Cycling Club is unattached or has resigned from a club or clubs with a prior claim.

(4) Only members who have started in at least three Weekend and/or Evening Series Club Events during the current racing season and not being the holder of an individual record established in the present season and not having fastest time or first handicap in such events shall be eligible to compete in the Consolation “25”. Entrants who do not qualify for the Consolation 25 shall compete for handicap awards only.

(5) Entry fees for all Club Time Trials shall set by the Committee at the start of the season. Fees shall be paid before the start of the event, note the age limit for juniors competing in events is 18 years. No member under 16 years of age shall race over a distance greater than 10 miles without providing the Club with prior written permission from a parent or guardian. No ride after the last Sunday in October shall count for any Trophy for that year except the Hill Climb. Club Records, Standards and Trophy qualifying rides can only be carried out in Club, Open or Association events. Private time trials will not be considered.

(6) Notice of any place to place record attempts shall be given to the Racing Secretary together with a full schedule of the course at least 10 days before the date of the attempt. No place to place record attempts shall be made on the same day as a Redbridge Cycling Club Time Trial. Charges as Solo £2, Tandems £4, for all record attempts and providing proof of the ride rests with the rider(s). All place to place attempts shall be proposed to the Committee for approval prior to any attempt is made.

(7) All race and record times shall be subject to ratification by the Committee.

(8) A medium gear shall be measured against the prescribed distance of 18feet10½in (5m 76cm).

(9) Subject to an event having its own Special Closing Date, Entries for Club Time Trials with the appropriate fee, will close 96 hours (four days) prior to the event taking place. If less than 3 entries are received by that date, the event may be cancelled. Entries may be accepted later than the time stipulated, but the entrant will be classed as a Private Time Trial Rider, and not eligible for either Scratch or Handicap awards.

(10) All Club Time Trials and Club Records shall be open to members competing on all terrain bikes (ATB). Any Club Event with four or more ATB entrants will include ATB awards to the same ratios as existing awards. All Club Records shall include an ATB section. Definition of an ATB to be agreed by Club Committee.

(11a) Where no Club Championship event is promoted at 30, 50 and 100 miles, Championships shall be decided by the fastest ride in any Open or Association event listed in the current year’s Cycling Time Trials National Handbook.

(11b) Where there are no eligible Club Champions from a Club Championship 10- or 25-mile event, or no Club Championship 10- or 25-mile event is organized, the Championship(s) shall be decided by a members’ fastest ride in any club 10- or 25-mile event or Open or Association event, which has been listed in the current year’s Cycling Time Trials National Handbook”

(12) The VTTA Standards Tables 2011 shall be used for all Redbridge CC Records and Club Veteran competition. Riders are reminded entries to VTTA events may require previous performances to be expressed using VTTA Standards of the current year.