Hello Members, For those of you who were at the meeting Monday, you heard about the financials of Cruisin. For those of you who were not there, let me explain. Cruisin took a bit of a loss this year. That said, we made most of our charitable financial obligations with nothing to spare. Why has Cruisin taken a turn when it looked so successful? Ridership is down with every club we have had conversations with over the last few years. Even the Solvang Prelude was cancelled due to not making financial goals. In addition, there are now hundreds of rides to choose from and everyone has a budget. I literally get at least 1-2 announcements a day for a new ride on the CVC email. The other factor is the bureaucracy involved. With Cruisin, we do everything by the book and we do it right. We get the permits required. These are costly! We're required to have a permit from each municipality we are riding through. This would mean Westlake, Moorpark, Simi, Agoura, etc. Not all rides go through this many municipalities. We are also required to have CalTrans permits. We could not receive one of those permits last year without supplying CHP in different locations. The CHP costs thousands of dollars that we were not budgeted for. Also, we have taken Cruisin to a very high standard. The riders who come out have nothing but praise about our ride. We have covered tents on asphalt over our lunch and beer garden areas- a touch that you do not find at even the most well-known rides around. But these touches are very expensive. And the problem is that when you have delivered this level of an experience, it is almost impossible to go back without suffering. We also have one of the most well marked routes anywhere, where many others are no longer doing this. This too costs money and hundreds of driving miles and hours in the weeks prior to Cruisin. We have to have something unique and special since we are not a "destination" ride, (i.e. Big Bear, Sea Otter, Amtrak, or even a flatter coast ride.) We are so thankful for the donations for the silent auction and raffles which have really stepped up and helped us to make our donations. But that said, the tables, the tents, the table cloths, all cost money. Our club members make Cruisin look great; from jerseys, to smiling faces, to helpful rest stops, to accurate turn by turn AND labeled routes, to the SAG drivers, to the entire club and all you do! Now, in addition to the financial situation, most of the work that is done in the preparation of Cruisin, (prior to the day), has fallen on the hands of few. And those few hands have had to take off work, have dozens and dozens of meetings, and deal with time and stress issues. Cruisin doesn't happen on the day of Cruisin, it happens months and months beforehand. The organization and preparation takes hundreds of hours. So we are at that point of asking; . Do we risk all this time on the steady documented decline of riders and increasing expenses? . Are you willing to donate your time and effort to the leadership team? . Do we risk any more Cruisin reserves on the hopes that we will attract more riders given the history of the steady decline over the last few years? . Do we have a strategy to make more money? (We have tried many alternate ways ) . Do we have a strategy to bring in more riders to make it work financially? (will take at least 100-200 more to show.) I want all of you to think about how we should move forward with this and ask yourself some questions: . Why are we doing this? . Is it worth it? . Are there other ways to either make charitable contributions? . Are there other ways to build club camaraderie? . What ideas do you have to share? It takes strong leadership and a very strong team to successfully promote and execute Cruisin the Conejo. Yes, we can come up with ways to cut expenses, but will they make a big enough difference? Will these cuts affect the integrity and reputation of our ride? . Or, are there other things we could do that would not require the expenditure of so much time and the risk of so much money that has to be spent in advance? . Can we make a new and different Cruisin? . Are there ways to give opportunity for more club members to get involved without donating so much time? In my own experience as a teacher, I've personally witnessed a complete change in our fundraising at my school. Of course I was very opposed to it thinking it would never work. Plus, it was not the way we "always did it." The event turned out to be the most successful fundraiser that the school ever had!! CHANGE MAY BE NECESSARY. I am proposing a brainstorming session where you can share your thoughts and suggestions with other interested CVC Club Members. I want you to add your 2 cents! Plans and strategies need to be built. I have some ideas that I would like to share, that I think may be helpful. Even if it is small, it is big. even if it is one building block on someone's start, we need ideas! Come build upon others. Please realize that the funds we raise help build our community and they allow us to enjoy the social gatherings, and the other benefits of the club. Share your voice in the future direction of your amazing cycling club and of Cruisin the Conejo by attending and bringing your ideas. Please come Monday, August 15th to the Westlake City Library meeting Room at 7:00 to help out and share your ideas! 31220 Oak Crest Dr, Westlake Village, CA 91361 7:00, August 15th! Sincerely, Sheri Leiken CVC President