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Club History and It's Future

2007 marked a special year at the Loose Spokes Bicycle Shop when several of our younger generation approached us about sponsoring a bicycle club.  There have been many such requests in the past but not with the enthusiasm and the degree of motivation we took note of with this bunch.  What excitement there was when Aaron Beebe, then a Junior at Grand Haven High School approached us formally at a Manager's Meeting to talk about the efforts of the group that was growing.

After much discussion and looking at how the shop could best support a new bicycle club there was action.  As far back as February 25, 2007 when the first meeting took place with attendees Zachary Johnson and Scott DeWitt.  Elections were held that day and the three motivated individuals began to organize.  With the responsibilities of Secretary/Treasurer, Scott DeWitt began to keep notes on that initial meeting and look at ways of generating capital for starting the club fund account. Zac Johnson with the responsibilities of Vice President was given the initial task of club promotion and looking at ways of spreading excitement throughout the high schools of the area as the club was decidedly open to Junior High and High School kids of the area.  Aaron Beebe took on the responsibilities of President and accepted the responsibilities of organizing meetings and safe routes along with the rules of the club. 

The three worked together daily in between classes and talked to everyone they knew and all those who had expressed an interest in the club.  The name they chose and approached us with in March of that year was "The Loose Spokes Juniors".  As a sponsoring shop we were surprised by the group's selection and very much proud of the fact that the club would want to identify itself with the shop in such an intimate way as sharing our name.  We were elated and excited for them.

Our effort as a shop was to provide a meeting facility, initial mailing funds, the functional items of opening a bank account for them as they were under 18 yrs of age at the time and a host of other supportive functions such as providing suppliers for custom club clothing and accessories.

The store's General Manager, Ken Taylor and our Lead Sales Associate, Erin Purdy agreed to be the designated adult leadership coordinators to assist in facilitating the necessary duties of the shop and keeping the club on target with regard to their goals.

The club generated a purpose statement with clear objectives and goals, they enacted and put into place a standard form of bi-laws for conducting themselves at meetings and established a regular monthly meeting date.  They worked diligently at coming up with a custom jersey design and club artwork logos for identification and marketing of the club. They also began a list of prospective sponsors for assisting with financial needs as well as coordinated regular group rides for the members to get involved with.

One of the many goals of the new organization was to generate a new awareness of the benefits of road cycling and to bring in those who had perhaps never been on a road bike before or ever considered a group ride to learn how to bicycle safely in a group and to learn the health benefits of cycling daily to and from school or work commuting by way of bicycle as opposed to driving their car wherever they needed to go. 

And so it was.  On May 10, 2007 regular monthly meetings began and were slated for the second Thursday of each month to follow.  Club promotion was on a roll with the three leaders actively reaching out to their friends and others inviting them to join in on the new group's activities.

On May 29, 2007 all of the necessary signature forms for the new bank account were completed and the first deposit was made into the Loose Spokes Juniors bank account at Grand Haven Bank.

As the group rides developed there were many individuals invited by the quickly growing group that now amounted to eight paid members.  Eric Visser was the first paying member and soon to join were Stuart Cotner, Steve Brower, Evan Heath, Alex Cotton along with the three board members.

The first ride for the group took place with Ken Taylor leading out the three new comers, Eric Visser, Stuart Cotner and Luke Walburg a prospective member.  There was a Grand Haven High school newspaper article with photographs of the newly formed club and the members out for an evening ride that provided some excellent promotion of the group.

There were many highlights of the season with Eric Visser and Aaron Beebe attending their first Grattan Series race.  One of the goals of the club was to develop upcoming cycling racing enthusiasts as well as introduce cycling the general public of their age group.

Along with the weekly Tuesday night ride the club developed and hosted a Time Trial Series and began taking their group ride on Thursday evenings.  One group mixed in with the regular Loose Spokes Bike Shop crowd was over 50 cyclists strong with new comers and seasoned athletes alike.  As the Time Trial developed and with graduation, there were some minor setbacks of the new group and some challenges facing the group for the season. Maintaining enthusiasm and motivation are the two single most important functions of the elected leadership.  Leadership in this regard is absolutely essential for growth and to keep those who have committed involved on a regular basis. 

Although there was tremendous effort and excellent follow through the club growth seemed to taper off as the summer of 2007 progressed and the leadership was confronted with their first big hurdle.  There were not enough members to support the ordering of special custom jerseys as the minimum run is 24 pieces and without the numbers to support the purchase the jersey did not materialize. 

Once analyzed, the club realized there was not a sustained effort for reaching out to the community for financial support as prospective sponsors were not approached as the group fragmented with most of the new members going their own separate ways once school was out and routines were changed from study and sports to working a summer job.  As with any newly formed club there was talk of dissolving the club toward late that summer.

It was decided to not quit but to continue on with a new year ahead.  One member had prepaid for a custom jersey and was offered the opportunity for a refund on the jersey.  He was so excited; he declined the refund and was willing to wait out the winter to see what a new year would bring.  There was such dedication of the core group of participants the bike shop could not see the group dematerialize and go away.  A new surge in enthusiasm and support from the shop will involve the staff at the shop more openly in the group for next year as the Juniors have Graduated!