Earlier today the Wisconsin Cycling Association held its annual meeting, so my time as its president has come to an end. I was honored to serve for the last year, but I am happy to hand the reins to someone else. I was not elected in 2024; I was, apparently, the only person willing to volunteer when other leaders within our cycling community realized there was nobody in charge. During the last year I had a mandate to restore order to the WCA, and I did that. But from my earliest days in the job I made clear that I would not serve more than one term. I hope it was obvious that everything I did in service of the WCA was for its sake only; I took nothing for myself, my team, or my friends.
The accomplishments of the 2024 WCA Board of Directors were many:
- Filled the vacant Board of Directors positions.
- Ensured all Board members received SafeSport certification as required by USA Cycling.
- Re-established a website and a social media presence (Facebook).
- Published the WCA bylaws and financials for review by the public as required by USA Cycling.
- Organized WCA criteriums into a Wisconsin Cup series and incentivized participation with a $1,000 team award.
- Hired a contractor to provide finish line camera services for the 2024 road season, helping to ensure the accuracy of the race results and freeing individual event promoters from the burden of contracting for these services individually.
- Partnered with the Wisconsin Off-Road Series (WORS) and with Midwest Youth Cycling League to award state championships in cross-country Olympic mountain bike racing. Prior to 2024, USA Cycling recognized WORS as the state championship organization for this discipline. Beginning in 2024, this responsibility rests with the WCA.
- Established road racing and mountain bike racing committees intended to function similarly to the already established cyclocross committee.
- Supported Hampshire Cycle Club’s application to hold USA Cycling Midwest Regional Cyclocross Championships in 2025.
- Hired a contractor to provide registration services at all WCA events in 2025, ensuring consistency of the process and freeing individual event promoters from the burden of providing these services individually.
- Exercised careful stewardship of WCA funds, spending money where necessary and saving it where possible. We entered 2025 with a bank account balance that was larger than the one we inherited a year ago.
- Revised the bylaws (1) to provide for a fifth Board member, thereby eliminating the possibility of deadlocks on issues that require a vote, (2) to extend the terms of Board members from one year to two years and to stagger the elections of Board members in a way that ensures continuity from year to year as a safeguard against wholesale changes, (3) to replace outdated references to the United States Cycling Federation, now recognizing USA Cycling as the national governing body, and (4) to remove gender-specific language.
It truly was a productive year that put the WCA back on the right course. I’m glad I did it, I’m glad I’m done, and I wish nothing but the best for the new people who have stepped into leadership roles for 2025 and beyond.
