Have you been slacking over the winter months? Has your bike been collecting dust in the garage? Are you looking for an excuse to get out and ride again? Well then you sound like a great candidate for the DSSF March Saddle Challenge!

This annual DSSF event lets you set a mileage goal for the month of March. We have set up a logging system on our website that allows you to enter your miles on a daily basis. The tracking system will tally your miles and let you know how close you’re getting to your goal. There are charts available that let you see how other participating members are doing as well.

To get started, you will need to create your login here (use “sc2008” for the password.)

Then on March 1st, just sign in on the same page and start logging your miles!

The Ron Wilmot Ride will not be happening this year, but DSSF is continuing with the tradition of supporting Project Inform in his name. Ron Wilmot was a DSSF member who founded the ride in 1995. He died of AIDS in 1997 and we would like to continue supporting this cause. When you sign up for the Saddle Challenge, you have the option of making a pledge on a per mile basis or as a fixed, lump-sum contribution. Again, note that this is optional; you may participate in the event without a donation.

This event has been enjoyed by members for several years now and, as is the case with most events, the more people that participate, the more fun it is! So whether your goal is 10, 100 or 1000 miles, we hope you will join us in the DSSF March Saddle Challenge!

– The DSSF Web Team

For questions, please contact Jerome at webmaster@dssf.org or Michael at webslave@dssf.org

Date: Saturday, February 9, 2008

Time: Immediately following the Jersey Ride

Present: David Gaus, Chair, Will Bir, Roger Chapman, Chris Contos, Dave Glidden, Patrick Heryford,
Michael Schmucki, Jerome Thomere

1. Call to Order

David called the meeting to order at 3:40. Agenda was reviewed and no changes were made.

2. Public Comment

No members present for public comment.

3. Approval of Minutes

As this is the first meeting of this board, there were no Minutes to approve.

4. Board Reports

A. Treasurer: Roger reported that he had a transition meeting with Scott Steffens. There are two keys to the club’s Post Office box. Roger will keep one, and Michael will have the other and volunteered to check the box when Roger is away. The primary expense this time of year is the club’s annual renewal with the Insurance League of American Bicyclists. The premium is approximately $100 and is based on the number of members. Other annual memberships which will be renewed are San Francisco Bike Coalition and California Mountain Bike Association. Roger reported that the club has $3,200 in its credit union account and $800 in its Citibank account. Roger noted there is a $10 monthly fee for the Citibank account. He questioned why we have two accounts, particularly since one charges a service fee. He recommended closing the Citibank account and moving all money to the credit union account. Board unanimously accepted this action. Roger, Chris and Jerome will meet to clarify membership and PayPal instructions.

B. Membership: Chris reports there are currently 57 paid or pending members. Chris will send an email to those who have not renewed. Patrick suggested after the second email that the board divide the remaining non-renewals to see if a personal call will encourage them to renew, or give them an opportunity to discuss why they did not renew. Some work needs to be done to update the PDF that includes the membership card. The PDF still refers to the old eGroups distribution list, and the list of benefits should match benefits listed elsewhere (on dssf.org, in renewal correspondence, in the Member Guide, and other places where club benefits are listed). Chris will update the benefits list. At Pride and for the remainder of the year, memberships will be $10 for the rest of the year.

C. Web Content: Jerome will present suggestions at the next board meeting for combining main website with Yahoo! features. We need a list email function and a polling feature. It might make it easier for members to only have to go to the dssf.org website instead of also the Yahoo! Group site.

5. 2008 Board – Appointed Positions

Four positions are open: Ride Coordinator; Newsletter Editor; Women’s Outreach; and Men’s Outreach. Board discussed potential appointees who will be contacted to determine interest.

6. Newsletter

Board agreed that the newsletter should be a quarterly, four-page publication. We would like to distribute the newsletter to local bike shops as a way of promoting the club. Because of this, the newsletter should avoid “inside jokes” and have appropriate design and graphics to present the club in a positive view. Patrick suggested that a team be formed to help produce the newsletter. Patrick and Chris will oversee the newsletter until the team is formed.

7. Rides and Events Calendar

The calendar was discussed and final decisions were made on key events. David will finalize the calendar in the absence of a Ride Coordinator and post. All rides will be listed on the calendar, but it was decided to make a distinction between those rides actually organized by DSSF and those in which we are participating as a club. Rides used to be referred to as “club sponsored,” which was confusing to some people in that it implied DSSF was more involved, i.e., providing SAG support, making trip arrangements for members, rather than just as a team of riders. Rides will now be designated as either “DSSF Sponsored” or “DSSF Involved”.

Dave reported that the Team DSSF Fundraising Party for AIDS/LifeCycle is Sunday, April 13, 2008. We will continue to have a parade contingent and a booth at the San Francisco Pride festival. We should discuss having a presence at other Bay Area Pride celebrations. Project Inform is no longer organizing the Ron Wilmot Ride, but DSSF will continue to organize the March Saddle Challenge with donations going to Project Inform. Michael will handle the weekly Saddle Challenge reports.

8. Member Guide

David presented a draft of a new Member Guide which will provide helpful information for both new and renewing members. David will continue to work on the guide and all board members are encouraged to send him suggestions and ideas.

9. Website Updating Needed

Two pages need to be updated: Links and Discounts. Michael volunteered to check and update the Links page. We need to work on updating the Discounts page since there is a good deal of bad information there, such as bike shops that no longer exist and a few that have new addresses. There are also new bike shops in San Francisco that have never been solicited to be included in the DSSF discounts program. Jerome mentioned that the most traffic on dssf.org comes through the Discounts page as people are searching for bike shops and the follow a link to our site. So, even if a shop does not give a discount, we should include them on the page. Patrick recommended that perhaps the page could be divided into two, with shops that give discounts more prominently displayed at the top, and other bike shops listed below and less prominently.

10. Communications

A. Monthly Email Blasts: It was suggested that, as a way to further communicate with members, that we institute a monthly email blast, including a President’s Message and other information of interest to members. This would include more pressing information rather than the quarterly newsletter.

B. Annual Report: Patrick will be preparing an Annual Report at the end of the year. He shared a draft of the information that will be collected through the year.

11. Annual Awards

Patrick shared an idea for encouraging participation on rides: a set of annual awards given at the Holiday Party in December. The data for these awards will be collected from Ride Waivers, so it will be critical for ride leaders to return the waivers. Members will be told about these awards early in the year so that they can set a goal of winning one (or all!).

A. Most Road Rides Led
B. Most Mountain Bike Rides Led
C. Most Miles Logged on DSSF Rides
D. Highest Participation on DSSF Rides

12. Meeting Calendar

A. Board Meeting: David will let the board know about the next meeting in March or April.
B. General Membership Meeting: David, Will, Dave and Chris will work off-line on the General Membership Meeting.

13. Jerseys

A. Refunds: When the last jersey order was placed, the club eventually ordered extra jerseys, and as a result the price per jersey was reduced after members made payments. This means that some members are due a refund. Unfortunately, the refunds were not processed at the time the jerseys were received. In fact, so much time has passed that some people are no longer members. However, the board feels the refunds need to be given to the jersey owners with an apology for this not being handled sooner. Records show that two former board members already received their refunds. A total of $738 is owed ($27 per jersey). Roger will email those remaining members due a refund and ask them to confirm their mailing address so that he may send them a check. If they decline the refund or if Roger is unable to locate the jersey owner, the money will be applied to the club’s next jersey order.
B. Inventory: The club has some jerseys left in inventory. Some jerseys were never delivered to members who purchased them at the time of the last order. The jerseys are marked with these names. Michael will follow-up with these members (or former members in some cases) to deliver the jersey. If they no longer want the jersey it will be donated back to the club inventory. Chris will do an inventory on remaining jerseys and send an email to the club offering to sell them to members.
C. New Order: David has had conversations with Voler and will oversee our next order with Dave. If we have an order to Voler by March 17th we would have delivery by the end of April. Pricing: Short-sleeve jerseys: $99; Sleeveless jerseys and wind vests: $92; Long-sleeve jackets: $103. It was suggested that perhaps this time we only order short sleeve jerseys since those are the most popular garments.

14. Adjournment

David adjourned the meeting at 6:58.

Present: Chris LaR., Chris C., Patrick H., Anne Z., Dave G., Scott S., Stephanie V., Jerome T., David G., Mark H., Kim W., Liz A., Matt E.
Absent: Bill B.

Meeting called to order @5pm.
Passing of gavel from Dave Glidden to Chris LaRussell.

Updated Bylaws discussed and will be emailed to Board members by Chris LaR.

According to our bylaws, quarterly Club meetings are required.
The first quarterly club meeting will be @Sports Basement (weekday, Presidio, evening) by the end of April. The remaining 3 meetings will likely be linked to club events. Liz will contact SB regarding availability and get back to the Board with information and final date setting.

Outreach
Kim W. is inquiring about listing DSSF on Betty’s List. Kim to return info to Board: cost, target audience, #reached. Stephanie V. lists Iron Horse Trail ride, wears jersey. Matt as Yahoo! Group moderator gets questions about joining DSSF. He will send those contacting him informational email and then will shoot those emails over to outreach for further follow up.

Webpage
Board update to be imported by webmaster

Rides
Discussion about inappropriate ride postings. Discussion about purpose of Jersey Ride. Discussion about posting additional rides on Jersey Ride day. Discussion about cross-posted rides.
Resolution: Continue the Jersey Ride, JR will continue to be Board led (email exchange prior to ride defining roles), the Board will monitor when additional rides are posted on JR days making sure that outreach is not affected. When crossposting rides, make sure the other club mentions our club in their post. DSSF membership is encouraged to wear their jerseys on ALC rides and to promote DSSF on ALC rides.

Events (Bill B. not present, but conveyed his ideas to Chris LaR. prior to the meeting.)
The Board defined DSSF Events as club events that are not regular rides. Century Rides (as designated for DSSF club participation), social gatherings (such as Holiday Party, picnic) and DSSF planned weekends, all which are not regular member posted rides on our monthly ride calendar, are considered Events. A Special Events ChainLetter will be published for the membership with information about these events. The Event Coordinator (Bill B.) will be responsible for the coordination and finding volunteers to help with the “out of town” events and the Vice President, Dave G., will help with the picnic, Pride Day and Holiday Party, Chris LaR. will help coordinate the “local” events (examples: Evil Stepsisters, Tierra Bella) . Fiscal impact to club needs to be considered when planning a particular event, with final approval of Treasurer and President.

Events for 2007 were decided to be the following:
Jersey Ride, March 10th
Cinderella & Evil Step Sisters, March 31st
DSSF Saddle Challenge, March 2007
Tierra Bella, April 14th
Chico Wildflower Weekend, April 23-24th
Wine Country Century, May 5th
Jersey Ride, May 12th
GWBR, May 25-28th
Team DSSF @ALC, June 3-9
Jersey Ride, June 9th
DSSF in SF Pride, June 24th
Club Picnic @China Camp, July 8th
Jersey Ride, July 14th
Death Ride, July 14th
DSSF Wine Country Weekend, July 27-30
Marin Century, Aug 4
Jersey Ride, Aug 11
Team DSSF @Bike Against the Odds, September 16th
Konocti Challenge, Oct 6th
Amador County Weekend, October 12-14th
Fall Social, October 28th
Mount Hamilton in the Fall, November 3rd
Jersey Ride, November 10th
Jersey Ride, December 8th
Holiday Party, December 8th

Solvang as event in May, Tour de Napa, Ride from Seattle to Vancouver and Party, Tour of the Unknown Coast voted down as events. Amador weekend moved from weekend of October 6th to weekend of the 13th due to Bill B. Italy conflict.

ChainLetter (Chris C., Patrick H., Chris LaR.)
The ChainLetter (CL) needs to return. Not only for outreach, but its existence is also necessitated by our bylaws. Much discussion about the blog and how it fits into the CL’s return. Much discussion about format of CL. Much discussion about using last names.
Resolution: Keep blog, but with a CL addition. Chris C. is going to work with Jerome to incorporate the existing blog format to accomodate a CL format that can be printed in hardcopy as one monthly unit. CL will have board business, membership stats, treasury report, new members/profiles, first names and initials, blog highlights, member’s contributions, discounted bike shops. .

Membership
Matt reports that paid membership is: 98 – 23 of which are women.

Club Treasury
Scott reports balance is: $3,478.00

Philosophy of Board
General conversation on “what” DSSF is. We are a Gay and Lesbian road cycling club that encourages safe riding, following the “rules of the road’ and as our Web Page states, we welcome our friends from the GLBT community to participate on our rides. We are friends who ride together. We are not affiliated with any political or other groups, cycling or otherwise and we do not have a political agenda. We are a member lead club, which means the success of our club is reliant on the participation from the general membership.

Club equipment
Chris C. to keep.

Motion made and seconded to adjourn the meeting. Meeting adjourned @715pm.

How many miles can you ride in the month of March?

Have some fun, get in bike shape: DSSF Saddle Challenge!

Whether you’re a beginner or you’re a hardcore ultra-distance rider, come join a bunch of your fellow club members in the Saddle Challenge. This annual Different Spokes San Francisco event lets you to set a goal distance for the month of March and watch as you and the other club members work toward your goals. All you need to do to participate is to enter your name and the password (SC2007) on the web page at http://www.dssf.org/dssf_html/SaddleChallenge/DSSF2007.php, and then enter your goal mileage. Then when March comes you’ll be able to enter your mileage for any day, and see how other riders are doing.

DSSF is asking that people give (in a lump sum or per mile) to the Ron Wilmot Ride to support Project Inform. The ride was founded by DSSF member, Ron Wilmot, who died of AIDS in 1997. To learn more go to http://www.projectinform.org/calendar.html

Past participants have enjoyed this event and, as it is with most events, the more people that participate the more fun it is. So if you have a goal of 10 miles or 2000, hope to see you on-line and on the road and trails in March for The Saddle Challenge!

For questions, contact: Jerome at: webmaster@dssf.org

The DSSF Board met on 11/11/06 at Michael Schmucki’s house. Present were Scott, Bill B., Patrick, David Gaus, Michael and Dave Glidden.

First order of business was the membership and treasury reports. The current members ship stands at 158 and the club’s current balance is about $2650. The balance was a little higher than anticipated. Previous indication were that we would take a hit from Tahoe and from Jersey refunds. However, we are in good shape. There was some talk about donating the balance to charity. Perhaps a breast cancer charity, the ALC or the Wilmot ride.

Action: The 2007 board will develop a budget for the year.

The group then turned to the calendar for 2007. There are some fixed items on the calendar (like the Jersey) ride. The major centuries were added (Chico, Wine Country, Marin) but the focus was on scheduling club events. The club will plan 3 sponsored weekend rides: a weekend riding in Solvang in early March; a weekend in July in or around the Russian River and a weekend in Amador in early October. The decision was made not to schedule a Tahoe riding trip this year. Bill is planning a winter ski trip, however.

Action: The calendar will be distributed in the next couple of weeks by Chris LaRussell.

We then discussed the 2007 Board. Chris LaRussell is planning to run for president and Dave G. is interested in running for vice-president. Dave and Chris have been in touch and asked everyone on the board to stay if they are interested. Jerome was absent but expressed a willingness to stay. Michael S. said that he would like to rotate off the board. David G. expressed a willingness to stay; however, he is likely to take on new responsibilities at work. People began discussing various positions and people were concerned that some jobs (e.g., outreach) are poorly defined. Dave mentioned that Chris may add some positions such as a social coordinator or a special events coordinator. In that past, offices have come and gone on the board. Patrick said that it would be easier to recruit new board members is we could provide a clear description of responsibilities. It was noted that some responsibilities could be transferred away from ride coordinator to lighten the “load” Patrick volunteered to do write up responsibilities for officers to edit. [Update: This is done and available on request. Some discussion has followed by e-mail and responsibilities for position].

Action: Dave G will put out a general call for board and office volunteers.

Webform: The club will allow members to join off the website next year. This will further streamline the process of joining. Jerome has piloted the process with board members and asked questions about the interface. We had some suggestions for things to add (which is not easy and it was past time for that anyway) and things to remove. Anyway, it turned out he was asking about the general interface which we never discussed.

Action: An e-mail will go out in the next week asking people to join up. Web is encoura

An informal gathering of board members was held on 9/9/06 with Jerome Thomere, Scott Steffens, Dave Glidden and Michael Schmucki.

Membership Report: The club stands at about 150 paying members.

Finance Report: The club has $2100 in the bank.

Jersey ride: Dave noted that we have been having great turn out for the jersey ride. Today we had 31 people including about 6 new members. Dave asked board members to make an effort to seek out the new riders. He’d like to make sure they are all greeted, introduced around and that be given help in selecting the right route for them.

Tahoe Trip: The Tahoe trip is 10/6-10/8. The cost is $75. To fully cover expenses we will need about 12-14 people to sign up. Currently we have 7-8. We need to drum up interest in the trip. However, to date we have not publicized it and we should do this more vigorously.

Action: Dave will send out more information via e-mail and/or on the blog about the Tahoe trip.

Paypal: DSSF has joined paypal so that we are now able to take money using credit cards. People will not need to have a paypal account to pay the club. By the end of the year, our goal is to be able to sign up members off the DSSF website and not having to go through the clunky active.com interface. This will also provide us with a simple alternative way to accept payments for jerseys and other club events. Check will still be accepted.

Action: Jerome will develop a way interface for signing up members using paypal.

Ride Calendar: The club has moved to posting rides through our website. The old yahoo group calendar was still visible (but not writable) for compatibility reasons. Now the discrepancy has become such that we need to delete it altogether.

Action: Michael will delete the Yahoo calendar. The official calendar is on the website

Monthly dinner: Different Spokes-Houston and Fast and Fab in NYC have monthly dinners as a way to stay in touch. Jerome moved that we experiment with this as a way to be social and stay in touch even we are not riding.

Action: Our first dinner with be Thursday September 28th at Tangerine website located at 3499 16th Street at Sanchez in San Francisco map Jerome will coordinate the first dinner.

Jersey: New members covet the club jerseys. There were some extra jerseys paid for by the club during the last order which are going to be available for sale. The decision was made to move these jerseys to the club inventory spot in Michael S garage. We also need to check with Chris about what would be required to generate another order of existing garments. The idea is to 1) know what we have in stock; 2) allow people to sign up for a future order and 3) put that in when the time comes.