Well,
We have put another edition of Cruisin the Conejo to bed, and, in my opinion, we had an absolutely stellar event. It was the perfect synergy of preparation running headlong into a batch of good luck to deliver a great time for a fabulous bunch of riders!
When Lee, Sheri, Jim, Norm, Debbie, Caitlin, Henry and I sat down almost a year ago (we start the planning for the following year 2-3-weeks after the finish of the last one), we looked at things that needed to change, and things that were working. The first on the list was a major route overhaul, and we wanted to go to the coast! The team worked hard at making all the necessary changes (new rest stops, permitting, etc) and we did it. Then we looked at the expo and our lunch. We knew that moving the Expo to the north parking lot last year was a winner, but we also thought a beer garden area might be popular, and, it was! We were moving tables and shade structures into the beer garden area as fast as we could to keep up with the space demand, and all the folk seemed to be having a blast enjoying a cold one after the ride. We also made changes to our lunch menu and made sure we were serving the best after ride meal to be found at any ride. OK, all these changes are great, but if no one shows up, its all for naught. That brings us to the luck part. You can plan your brains out, but if it gets windy, really hot, rains, or the course burns to the ground and much of the route is closed, you are....how do I put this delicately...HOSED. Basically, we missed every one of these maladies by mere days (and in some cases hours) and had perfect conditions!!!! As they say, I'll take luck over skill any day. And with all this, did they come to ride? They surely did. We had a great turn-out, and by all accounts, everyone loved the routes. I spoke to a great deal of riders and ALL praised the course markings, and the rest stops. They really appreciated the Boy Scouts, who acted as bike valets for all the riders. They also loved the routes, especially going to the beach on the Challenge metric and the Century. When the riders came back, they were treated to a delicious lunch from the Cub Scouts. We also had a great raffle that kept our participants in the expo lunch area for a fun time of listening to music and fending of flying water bottles and other give away's. All in all, Cruisin the Conejo 2013 was a huge success!
But, none of this can happen without a team of planners and a large number of hard working volunteers. Let me tell you about a few of them.
I'm going to start with the person that is the glue, and the detail & idea monger behind Cruisin', and that is Cruisin' Director Lee Cole. Lee has put literally 1000's of hours into this ride, he has worked with every person involved and looked at every detail. This is his baby and we could never have pulled it off without him. He deserves a huge thanks from all of us.
Another is Norm Weir, Norm spearheaded the route changes, helped with so many details, and with the help of James Hickey, marked all routes!
Jim Doane again this year took care of our expo, and vendors. He also did a smashing job of running our raffle sales and conducting the raffle. Jim, You Rock!
And of course, my wife, Sheri Leiken. the person who built the volunteer system, pulled all the volunteers together, made sure all jobs were covered, coordinated the Cheerleaders, pestered us to change the routes to the coast this year, and did her best to make sure I didn't forget anything (along with putting up with me, and calming me when I turned into a stress cadet).
Another of our core team is Debbie O'Meara who did an outstanding job of running the registration again this year and making sure all were accounted for, and out on the course to ride.
I also want to thank our other 2 board members, Treasurer Caitlin Steel for keeping us financially on track through all of this and Membership Director Henry Montalvo for always thinking outside the box, and setting up our new CVC and Cruisin' webites
Thanks to all of you for your selfless support of our ride and our club.
There are also a very large number of volunteers that gave up their day of riding and in some cases there friday eveining to come and work very hard to make cruisin' the great success that it is. You worked the registration tables, raffles, sales table, safety, parking, acted as runners, jockeyed water and trash, kept the site clean, and anything else that was needed. I want to mention a few, knowing I will forget some, and forgive me because there are too many to mention all. Thanks go to Nick Steel for running SAG and making sure all was good out on the course, Big Mike Hasenfratz, Mike Bass, Zac Cohen and the CVARC & VCARS HAMM radio clubs for real time, on course reporting and coordination, James Hickey for helping with the course markings and as cheif of the rest stops , Sherrie Felton for laying out and editing all of the route slips, Brian Davies and Ken Taylor for taking ton's of pictures, Rebecca Henry and Jennifer Littles for organizing the the Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts and serving delicious food at our stops and finish, our DJ Brian for the great announcing and energy, RC builders for the use of their inflatable arch used at the start/finish line, Brian Shaughnessy of Skyworks for allowing us the use of the property for the event, Glenn Bachman for helping with all the graphics design work including the Jersey's. I also want to give a special shout out to a few volunteers who went above and beyond the call of duty; Dan Matera, a member for only 3 weeks, for working his tail off all day Friday and most of the day Saturday (he took a 4 hour break to sneak in a ride and then came back to help pack it all in), Dale Smith who picked up trucks, equipment, whatever and worked himself to the bone, and then is the last one to leave, Phil Cullen who just shows up at the crack of dawn and does everything to keep the start/finish area going smoothly, never stops,reminds me to breath when I start going in circles and then is also among the last to leave. To all of you, A huge Thank You!
And lastly, a big thanks to all of our sponsors and vendors for their great raffle prizes and for making Cruisin' and the Expo the success that it was.
Gratefully yours,
Kent.
Kent Koral President Conejo Valley Cyclists (818) 802-0826