Technical officer

[geocycle]

This is the second time I've stopped my CTC membership.

I'm in a quandary.

My membership is up for renewal and they've sent me a certificate for my tenth year of membership. Nice of them eh?
The trouble is, we aren't "members" any more, but "supporters" of a charity.

I voted against conversion and given the choice, I'd revert it back to a club. I joined a club ten years ago.
Last year, I prevaricated about renewal but eventually paid up, thinking I was better inside and complaining, rather than outside with no voice.

In June, we'll have a referendum. We have a choice.
In or out.
In, we can complain. Out and we have no voice.

I feel strongly about getting out of the EU. Perhaps I should get my act together and leave the CTC/CUK instead of prevaricating. I can't have dual standards.

I've cancelled the DD renewal so unless things change during the year I have had enough. After doing some of the longer sustrans routes about 10 years ago and enjoying the experience I joined CTC. I've not done any club rides but enjoy the magazine, this forum, the tech advice from this forum, definitive legal advice, the now lapsed CTC recommends scheme for cafes etc and the thought that there is someone there to lobby on trains, ferries, highway code etc. I just don't see a niche for Cycling UK alongside British Cycling, Sustrans, local cycling campaigns etc.

Europe is different. I just don't trust the Westminster based government to make good on the funding that will be lost if we leave. Regions like Cornwall and the north will be badly hit. I am also concerned at the potential loss of some excellent environmental legislation.

[Si]

I don't know the history of how or when this forum was established but it is frequently mentioned in Cycle magazine (the CTC house rag) and there is a link to it from the CTC website.

The forum was originally established in the days of "everyone must have a forum"...but no one quite understood what to do with it. As such it ended up an unmoderated mess of trolls, vindictive personal attacks and not much cycling. It was thus canned. Then a certain Councillor (the long lamented Mr Legg) suggested that it be re-established along the lines of the old ACF forum before the big bust up there. National Office/Council, AIUI, said OK as long as it was strongly moderated...thus it was restarted in the current form with one person being paid a small amount for hosting maintenance, etc, and a number of volunteer moderators/spambusters who are, for the most part, left to their own devises to run the forum as they see fit (based on their understanding of what is best for the forum membership and the CTC). Certain issues get refereed back to National Office, but this is fairly rare. However, National Office are now taking a bit more notice of it and thinking about how it could be better integrated into the website and other media.

[Des49]

It has to be said that the CTC aren't great on communications. I'm a lapsed member. Any other organisation would view you as a customer that they might be able to win back and would send you emails every so often to remind you what you're missing. The CTC on the other hand, excommunicates you immediately. This was a few years ago and maybe they've got better, I don't know. This forum IIRC wasn't an initiative from the CTC but was an initiative from one individual (sorry I've forgotten the name of the person who set it up).

I'm yet another lapsed member with the same thoughts.

Having joined in my early twenties I was a member for probably 20+ years. Found the mag useful, generally for CJ's articles. Even used their touring advice. Other than that got no benefit that all.

They did something where they changed membership system which resulted in my card showing member since the current year rather than being a long established member, this annoyed me especially the response when I followed it up. Then within a year or two I just didn't renew, no reminders or anything! That must have been a dozen or so years ago now.

Thank goodness for this forum, shame I didn't realise one didn't have to be a member to join until relatively recently.

[Bmblbzzz]

I don't know the history of how or when this forum was established but it is frequently mentioned in Cycle magazine (the CTC house rag) and there is a link to it from the CTC website.

The forum was originally established in the days of "everyone must have a forum"...but no one quite understood what to do with it. As such it ended up an unmoderated mess of trolls, vindictive personal attacks and not much cycling. It was thus canned. Then a certain Councillor (the long lamented Mr Legg) suggested that it be re-established along the lines of the old ACF forum before the big bust up there. National Office/Council, AIUI, said OK as long as it was strongly moderated...thus it was restarted in the current form with one person being paid a small amount for hosting maintenance, etc, and a number of volunteer moderators/spambusters who are, for the most part, left to their own devises to run the forum as they see fit (based on their understanding of what is best for the forum membership and the CTC). Certain issues get refereed back to National Office, but this is fairly rare. However, National Office are now taking a bit more notice of it and thinking about how it could be better integrated into the website and other media.

Thanks. Enlightening!

[hondated]

It has to be said that the CTC aren't great on communications. I'm a lapsed member. Any other organisation would view you as a customer that they might be able to win back and would send you emails every so often to remind you what you're missing. The CTC on the other hand, excommunicates you immediately. This was a few years ago and maybe they've got better, I don't know. This forum IIRC wasn't an initiative from the CTC but was an initiative from one individual (sorry I've forgotten the name of the person who set it up).

Indeed CTC HQ has often been at pains to distance itself from this Forum (even getting a 3rd party to post messages from Tuohy and Cox) ... which in this day and age is quite strange? Interaction with customers is vital - and having the courage to receive criticism, and praise.

Rob

Thats an interesting point which I never knew.

[pjclinch]

I joined, and continue to renew, pretty much entirely because of the work of the campaigns/legal side. Chris Boardman may get more of the media headlines turning up at Westminster, but Roger Geffen's there too, and very much on the case, and just as important up there in front of the likes of the Transport Select Committee. TonyR's list of some CTC accomplishments is exactly the sort of set of reasons I give CTC money, and I think it's well spent.

I am a tourer, but I've been doing that since before I was in the CTC, and I'm happy to roll my own without club support. I enjoy Cycle and think it's pretty good, but I can live without it (though as a point of info, I did use Cherry Allan's evidence-based answer from the last issue's Q&A section on why CTC doesn't go out of its way to encourage dayglo on a course for cycle training assistants I was teaching last week, helping to emphasise the importance of not getting Bikeability trainees to think they're Doomed if they don't take the Highway Code's advisory points as Gospel Truth).

Pete.

[patthebike]

This is the second time I've stopped my CTC membership.

I'm in a quandary.

My membership is up for renewal and they've sent me a certificate for my tenth year of membership. Nice of them eh?
The trouble is, we aren't "members" any more, but "supporters" of a charity.

I voted against conversion and given the choice, I'd revert it back to a club. I joined a club ten years ago.
Last year, I prevaricated about renewal but eventually paid up, thinking I was better inside and complaining, rather than outside with no voice.

In June, we'll have a referendum. We have a choice.
In or out.
In, we can complain. Out and we have no voice.

I feel strongly about getting out of the EU. Perhaps I should get my act together and leave the CTC/CUK instead of prevaricating. I can't have dual standards.

Good for you!

I've been a member for a shade over 26 years now (just checked my membership card) and have never received anything from them!

Does it annoy me? Most definitely.

Will I renew when the time comes? I expect so as I've made many friends over the years, and they mean more to me than a certificate/badge from an organisation that has lost touch with its current members.

[SA_SA_SA]

The cycle touring community is a very small minority of the CTC membership these days....

it seems rather unlikely that the majority of CTC members only use bikes for utility/commuting/racing and never go on a ride just for enjoyment such as going through the countryside and/or to visit somewhere like a National Trust site etc ie Touring .

From google:---- tour: verb gerund or present participle: touring
make a tour of (an area).
"he decided to tour France"
synonyms: travel round, travel through, journey through, go on a trip through, go on an excursion in, explore, voyage around, trek around, sightsee in, holiday in, cruise, range over, roam in, rove through, wander through, globetrot; informaldo
"this hotel is well placed for touring Somerset"

http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictio ... sh/touring
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/tour
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/defin ... glish/tour

[PH]

The cycle touring community is a very small minority of the CTC membership these days

According to CJ that minority is 75 - 80% and hasn't changed over the years. It surprised me too, but I haven't studied the surveys over the decades as he has.

viewtopic.php?f=45&t=92645&p=873636&hilit=touring#p873636

(Same thread for the numbers riding with MGs as discussed on another thread)

[Bazza55]

The cycle touring community is a very small minority of the CTC membership these days although some of that community seem to think it should dominate other members' interests because of its history. Unfortunately real life is not like that.

Yes and the cycle touring community within the organisation is about to become much much smaller.

[Philip Benstead]

The cycle touring community is a very small minority of the CTC membership these days although some of that community seem to think it should dominate other members' interests because of its history. Unfortunately real life is not like that.

Yes and the cycle touring community within the organisation is about to become much much smaller.

I have had talk with a young 40 year old female who rides a bike. She thinks ctc need to jazz up existing logo and use the name in full. She think young people are into touring

[Heltor Chasca]

The cycle touring community is a very small minority of the CTC membership these days although some of that community seem to think it should dominate other members' interests because of its history. Unfortunately real life is not like that.

Yes and the cycle touring community within the organisation is about to become much much smaller.

I have had talk with a young 40 year old female who rides a bike. She thinks ctc need to jazz up existing logo and use the name in full. She think young people are into touring

[emoji23] Dearest Phillip. "...a young 40 year old female...young people into touring"

I'm 42 and either take the above as a compliment OR this clique of older, white males that exists in the upper echelons of the CTC/CUK may be part of the problem.

I cycled to Bath today and chatted to a two employees working in 2 different bike shops. Both were doing their last year at Uni and both were planning to set off to lands afar by bike.

Just my observations over a period of few hours...b

[Philip Benstead]

I am getting across the fact that touring is not dead among the young. Regarding age some 40you are old before their time. I am not in the higher echelons . I am 63 but act like teenager I been told

[Vorpal]

I am getting across the fact that touring is not dead among the young. Regarding age some 40you are old before their time. I am not in the higher echelons . I am 63 but act like teenager I been told

[Heltor Chasca]

I am getting across the fact that touring is not dead among the young. Regarding age some 40you are old before their time. I am not in the higher echelons . I am 63 but act like teenager I been told

Sure. Point taken. I think. You are like me and the Royal Mail. We've got the shorts, nice legs and the passion, but struggle with the delivery [emoji6]