More than one person could be saddled with the responsibility of Bermuda Bicycle Association?s (BBA) top post for the coming year.

This possibility emerged after nobody wanted to accept the position of president during last Tuesday?s annual general meeting of cycling?s national governing body, leaving the organisation?s leadership in a quandary.

The BBA?s four-member board of directors ? Francois Bertrand, Dannielle Bezant, Steve Millington and Keith Fenn ? must now determine how best to progress amid this uncertainty but Bertrand has already assured that, regardless of what happens, Bermuda?s cycling calendar will not be compromised.

?The BBA is not planning, at this point, to cancel any races for 2005. We?re disappointed that nobody stepped up but as far as we?re concerned there?s still going to be the same number of races next year. We?re still planning to have the same events ? either road races or time trials. We just have to operate differently.

?It?s probably going to involve looking for many members to help. What?s probably going to happen is that instead of having a small number of people doing a lot of the work we?re going to have a larger number of people doing little bits of work,? he said, outlining the likely solution.

?Already people have been coming forward, saying ?Don?t worry, we will take care of this or that?. I foresee that?s what?s going to happen this year.?

However, Bertrand said he would have to check the BBA?s by-laws to verify whether the association could function without a specific individual as president.

?We?ll do that in the next couple days and then we will go forward from there.?

The director explained that the BBA operated as a company with its four directors being elected by the membership. Thereafter, officers are chosen from the new board. While various directors were happy to fill positions such as secretary, treasurer and vice-presidents all ? including outgoing president Bezant ? refused to lead the sporting organisation.

?Up to this point none of us has expressed desire to be president,? confirmed Bertrand who was not surprised at this development because ?it?s often an issue?.

Speculating on why all of the directors shunned the presidency, former president Martin Bolton stated candidly: ?It?s an awful lot of work. It?s a thankless task and you?ve got to devote a lot of time to it and I guess no-one was prepared to put that time in.?

He added that, as far as he could recall, this was a first for the BBA though there had been times that people had quit as president before their term finished and someone had taken over the reins until the next elections or people continued for a second term because nobody else stepped into the breech.

?It really is a huge job. I guess it?s maybe time we have paid officials in Bermuda for some of these sports positions like the BFA (Bermuda Football Association).

?It?s becoming too big a task to do in your spare time. It?s a huge commitment. It?s a shame but you can?t force people to take on responsibility,? said Bolton, predicting the situation could affect how cycling is run in Bermuda.

?It?s unfortunate but there will probably be less people to organise events.?

Despite its demanding racing schedule ? running more than 30 events annually, including a summer programme of 15 road races and six time trials ? Bertrand termed it ?unlikely? that the BBA would hire a full-time, salaried employee to spearhead its operations in the near future.

?Our membership is not that big. I don?t see how we could fund that without some outside help,? he noted.