ATTENDEES (b=board member): Lois Springsteen (b), Jennifer Wise (b), Don Hamilton, Mike Dayton (b), Edward Robinson(b), John Lee Ellis(b), Eric Vigoren(b), Cecil Reniche-Smith (b), James Kuehn .

  1. PBP 2011 Communications and Planning.

    The Board continued its ongoing review of issues associated with PBP 2011 communications and planning. Lois Springsteen observed that since the Board's previous meeting the Audax Club Parisien had validated its formula for determining ridership quotas by country. It had not, however, calculated the specific quotas that would be imposed for PBP 2011The ACP also had indicated that it was anticipating some 6,000 participants. The Board members were encouraged that this level of participation might result in a larger quota for the eventual RUSA rider contingent. Souvenir Committee Chair Jennifer Wise discussed with the Board her plans for preparation of PBP-related memorabilia, as well as the status of the current PBP jersey design contest.

  2. Showers Pass Jackets.

    Cecil Reniche-Smith updated the Board regarding her project to make Showers Pass rain apparel available to RUSA members. In particular, jacket samples had been obtained that included screen-printed RUSA logos, and these were being evaluated. Cecil estimated that RUSA could begin advertising the jackets' availability by year's end.

  3. American Randonneur in PDF format.

    Longstanding newsletter editor Mike Dayton informed the Board that work was almost completed toward making all past issues of the American Randonneur available at the RUSA website. Mike expected the project to be completed shortly.

  4. American Explorer Award.

    The Board continued its discussion of the proposed "American Explorer" Award, which would recognize RUSA members who completed events in multiple states. The Board's primary concern was the potential volunteer workload for record-keeping and determining riders' award eligibility, as well as for correctly and timely processing any retroactive award applications (one issue being potential ambiguity in "start point" determinations under RUSA's current event reporting scheme). Also of concern was the potential workload associated with preparing and shipping awards to members who successfully applied for recognition. Mike Dayton expressed concern that any multi-state award program could suffer if the responsible volunteer(s) were to step down without plans in place for additional, sufficient volunteers to take over. Lois agreed to speak with the award's proponent regarding the Board's concerns.

  5. R-5000 Award for 2010.

    Lois regretfully noted that RUSA inadvertently missed the ACP's annual deadline to submit rider applications for the 2010 R-5000 Award. The ACP was unwilling to grant an extension, which meant that current, pending applications would have to be held over for 2011. Lois suggested, and the Board agreed, that RUSA would explain the issue to its 2010 R-5000 applicants, and also refund the medal fee for the 27 riders whose 2010 applications had been delayed.

  6. Committee Reports and New Business.

    The Board received and discussed committee reports from the Brevet Coordinator, Rules Committee, Membership Committee, Newsletter Committee, and Souvenir Committee. The Board also received reports from Eric Vigoren as Treasurer, Edward Robinson as Secretary, and John Lee Ellis as RBA Liaison.

    As new business, Eric Vigoren referred to the Board a question that he had received from a RUSA member, namely whether the R-12 Award might be extended to include non-ACP events held outside the U.S. The Board declined to expand the R-12 Award to include non-ACP-sanctioned events held in other jurisdictions. The Board also discussed a proposal from a RUSA member for an award modeled on the R-12 Award, but which would recognize members' monthly rides of events of less than 200km. The Board members generally favored the award concept and elected to take it up again at the Board's next scheduled meeting.