A lot has been said, here on FB, and elsewhere, about the proposed AIR organisation and the new fee structure, going forward... accusations have been flying... claims have been made... info has been shared... But there seems to be a lot of misunderstanding / misinterpretation about the same... This post is an attempt to clear any misinterpretation (accidental or otherwise) and to try and put things in perspective here... Lets start with all of us riders, shall we? A lot of hue and cry has been about how Riders are going to be overcharged... Really? So lets look objectively at what is this additional amount each rider would pay AIR, going forward... Registration Fees? Well, we riders have always been paying these fees, so theres nothing new here... So what is this huge, new amount that some organisers claim would make it impossible for ordinary guys like me to ride brevets any more in India? - Annual Rider Membership Fee - Rs 500 or 600 Thats it! AIR is charging nothing more from the riders... regardless of what anyone may have misunderstood or misinterpreted or misrepresented... So... is this fee really so high? Once a year? For even those of us who hail from a modest background... we still pay the registration fee for each brevet that we ride, right... And we all, including those of us who are of modest means, have invested in a bike, a helmet and lights, even if they are not as expensive as some of the fancy ones out there... I dont think anyone said: Oh, its expensive, so lets not make helmets (or lights, for that matter) compulsory... No. These were necessary, and so we bought them, even if they cost more than Rs 500 or 600 (which is the amount of the proposed Annual Membership Fee for riders)... and annually, we do spend a fair amount to recharge/re-use those lights, be it batteries, battery packs or electricity... Now, lets look at what we clubs are expected to pay AIR, going forward... >> Annual Club Membership - Rs 5000 >> Deposit - likely to be the same This is for security purposes - for deducting penalties etc. >> Brevet Fee - Rs 500 per brevet in the clubs calendar Each Brevet added into the calendar requires a certain amount of work to be done at the start of the year. (And often, changes have been requested at a later date, such as change of date, change of route etc - this adds more work.) So, if say, Mumbai Randonneurs has 10-15 brevets in the calendar, then that club should pay more than their Mysore or Nashik counterparts, who may have just 4-6 brevets lined up... Thats fair, right? >> Homologation Fee - Rs 100 (This includes the homologation fee to ACP.) Please note that its NOT THE RIDER, but the club, that would be paying this to AIR. Yes, it is a fair bit of money, for sure... And as an organiser, I would be forgiven for worrying where that money would come from... But, Im sure that, with proper planning, over the course of a year, the money to be paid to AIR can be saved and set aside by any club... regardless of how big or small they are... how many members/riders they have... how much registration fees they charge... or how much they spend on the facilities they provide... That was the financial part... which has never been one of my strong suits, I admit... Im just sharing my understanding of these fees... As for the other part... all these accusations about Divya Tate trying to make money out of randonneuring via the proposed AIR organisation... Those of us who know Divya, already know that she is not the type to try and make money out of any of this... so I am not addressing that segment of this group... To all the others out there... lets get this straight... if Divyas intention had been to make money, it would have been much easier for her to just accept sponsorships for brevets... clubs have been trying to do it anyway... she could have just allowed it to go on... just imagine how much more could have been made at the national level! Instead, ever since the no sponsorship policy was put in place, she has steadfastly refused to accept or allow any corporate sponsorship, or for that matter, allow any mileage / visibility to be taken by corporates... at any level... by anyone... Coming to the AIR organisation itself... the proposed organisation format may appear scary to some, but knowing Divya, I think its pretty safe to trust her to take it forward in the right way... Ive been given to understand that this is the fastest option... equally important, I know from past experience that the intention is right... And lets face it, guys... the amount of work she has done over the last 3 years... if it were a job that she were to be paid for, fairly, that in itself would be a pretty big amount... and she has never taken a rupee for it till now... so is it fair, to suddenly start accusing her of trying to make money? Also, let us remember that she has been carrying out all her duties responsibly and without fail, at all times... and this has been at considerable cost and sacrifice at a personal level... So for someone to suddenly say that I dont trust you anymore; so please resign, so we can put someone else in your place is really unreasonable... and expecting her to quietly comply with that unreasonable demand is not only unfair, but downright ridiculous... Some people have stated here: Give me the responsibility; I can do this just as well as Divya or anyone else... Well, they really should have done it at some point in the last three years... during all this time that Divya has been handling it almost single-handedly... She repeatedly asked for help with the AIR workload at the national level... and there wasnt any help forthcoming from most of the guys who are so vociferous now... To say it now, in retrospect, is... well... pointless... So this is what I would really like to say here: To all the Riders: Some people have been trying to scare us about the increase in cost for the rider... Well, you have the correct information now... Decide for yourself, if this increase in cost was really worth this entire fracas... and accusations... and mud-slinging... To all the Organisers: Yes, paying AIR does mean that we will have to bear some additional costs... But I sincerely believe that, with some prudent planning, we would be able to set aside that amount, without burdening the riders, or running into major losses at the club level, across the year... Speaking for Mumbai Randonneurs, let me put it this way: even if I may not be good with financial planning myself, we have riders in Mumbai who can help on that front... Im sure the same would hold true for other clubs too... Also, while the current organisation may appear to some as not being the perfect option, the fact remains that it is currently the most expedient... and you can rest assured that the intent is clean... I know that we all have the best interests of the riders (and randonneuring, as a whole) in mind... So does our National Representative to ACP... We had entrusted Divya Tate with a responsibility... of facilitating Randonneuring in India and helping it grow... We have trusted her to carry it out properly... And she has definitely done that, and more... So far, she has lived up to the trust reposed in her, by us and by Audax Club Parisien, France (they have reiterated and reinforced that trust, in an email today, in response to a mail sent by some organisers, demanding that Divya resign)... so let us trust her for a little more time... I think thats a reasonable expectation, and Im confident that no one will be disappointed with the results... May I, in all humility, request everyone to focus again on the riding... As we are all aware, we have a PBP year coming up... and it will take the cumulative efforts of all of us to ensure that India puts up a respectable performance at PBP 2015... Ride safe... have fun...
Posted on: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 16:36:02 +0000
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