Hi everyone

This year has probably been the most challenging for the Club since our foundation 22 years ago. The Spring of 2020 started almost immediately with a lockdown of all riding activities for three months and since then we’ve been restricted to gatherings of 6 riders. And of course we’ve not been able to hold our monthly St Crispin’s meetings.

But TVAM’s Members are not easily restrained or held back – after all we’re bikers!

In the past two months lots of Club activities have been underway and I thought I would share a few numbers to reassure you that we’re still a very active and thriving Club, despite everything going on around us.

During July and up until the 25th August there were 206 Observed runs with Associates, 31 Cross Checks, 28 IAM tests, 4 National Observer validations, and 28 Trainee Observer runs.

In the same period there were 75 social run reports submitted with a total of 430 riders recorded as participating. I’m sure there were quite a few other social rides organised in addition and I know of members travelling further afield for weekends away around the UK with partners or small groups to comply with the social guidelines.

Membership has also been busy with 32 new members joining the Club during the past two months. A few are returning to biking as a means of getting to work rather than using public transport and want some coaching. The Club currently has a healthy total of 1,052 members.

We are also getting an increasing number of requests for ‘Introductory Rides’ from prospective members. This follows up on the Father’s Day voucher scheme and replicates what we normally offer at St Crispin’s. If you know of a mate who’s interested in joining but hesitating to take the next step get them to contact membership@tvam.org to request a free ride-out with an Observer.

So, if by any chance you’ve been sitting home-alone wondering if TVAM membership is really worthwhile, get onto the Club’s groups.io pages and ping your Local Team to see what’s going on. If you’re an Associate phone/email/badger your Observer and get them to take you out on another run. If you’re a Full Member why not organise a social run of your own and take 5 mates out to your favourite café via those roads you love. It’s the best way to ensure you’re on the run!

Team Leaders will help you organise the run registration process. Just email them (email addresses at the back of Slipstream) or ask your local team online how to do this and help will be forthcoming. What we’ve seen is that these smaller runs are very popular with members who’ve not led runs before and the participants. Knowing the run is restricted to 6 riders makes life as a run leader so much easier as you don’t have to book stops/cafes ahead but just turn up as most can handle 6 customers at a time. Just remember to complete a Social Run Report when you get back (www.tvam.org/social-run-report).

And if you are missing the St Crispin’s banter and announcements then join the St Crispin’s Zoom call on Sunday morning. Everyone is welcome and it’s another chance to ask questions and find out what’s going on.

Happy riding…..

Andy Slater
Chairman