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April 2008 - Posts
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 Good morning and Happy May Day (and Thursday). I leave for California today at noon, so you're getting a special treat - the Friday blog one day early! I'm soooo looking forward to the Napa Tour de Cure and riding with Dan and the good folks from the Valero Benicia Refinery, along with the 14 folks from San Antonio that are traveling to do the event and enjoy the wonders of the NoCal wine country. I'll have plenty of stories and photos when I get back for you, but for now we have some bidness to attend to...
Weekend Rides
There are number of ride options available this weekend. The San Antonio TDC is only 17 days away, so if you plan on doing any of the longer distances during the event, you need to be getting some miles in!
 Andrea Shull will lead her family friendly ride from Bullis County Park at 06:15 pm on Thursday.
 Carl Crawford will be joining many team members who will be doing the Castroville 100 on Saturday. (There's a rumor Team Vice President David Sloan will try and make the Castroville ride, now that his knee has healed. This is great news - see details below!)
 Finally, San Antonio Team Captain John Tenison will be doing the official joint Tour de Cure training ride hosted by Matt and our good friends from Bicycle Heaven on Saturday. There are two routes (25 and 40 miles) with wheels up at 09:00 am. There will be an official packet pick-up from 07:30 to 09:30. The ride starts at the BH shop - click here for directions.
As always, check our complete Event Schedule for details.
Jerseys Are In
 Woo-hoo! The jerseys from our spring order are in! Patricia is frantically sorting them as I type - we hope to get the jerseys for the out of towners in the mail today. For San Antonio area folks, you'll need to come to the packet pick-up at Valero HQ on Tuesday (see detail below). As I've said many times, we require all Velo Valero riders participating in events like the Tour de Cure and Bike to the Beach to wear our team jerseys on all days of the ride. It's the best looking jersey on the road, so why not???? I ordered a new sleeveless one to replace the one I lost last year, and I can't wait to get on the road with it and show off mah' guns... (Jus' kiddin'...)
Packet Pick-up
Mark your calendars for May 6th, from 04:30 to 07:30 pm, where Velo Valero will host a Tour de Cure packet pickup at Valero HQ. At the pick-up, you'll be able to pick-up your ride materials from ADA, drop off any fundraising monies you have raised, pick up a team jersey (if you ordered one this spring), obtain your team "goodie bag" (which is brimming with goodness this year), and meet your fellow Velo Valerians before the big ride. Hope to see you there!
Cruiser Bike Raffle
 To help boost our team fundraising for the TDC, we are once again raffling off tickets for a chance to win a swank new cruiser bike to compliment that sleek road bike you have. This year we're doing it with a twist - we're actually auctioning off two bikes, one male and one female. You can purchase your raffle tickets conveniently on-line at our team store using a credit card or PayPal. Tickets are only $5 apiece - what are you waiting for? Click here to buy those tickets and get a chance to win that cruiser bike of your dreams. The winner will be announced May 17th at the Saturday night celebration during the San Antonio Tour de Cure - but you need not be present to win. Don't be bashful - send this link to friends and family - everyone is eligible to participate in the raffle, and all monies raised goes towards our goal of raising $100,000 as a National Team for the American Diabetes Association.
Status of Fundraising
 ...Speaking of fundraising, here's an update from fundraising Czar David Sloan -
It's getting down to the end. I have now finished sending e-mails from my own personal e-mail account at home to avoid those pesky spam filters - and that round of e-mails has brought in over $1,200 already. I do plan one last round of "urgent" e-mails about a week before the ride to move those who have been putting off giving. Keep up the enthusiasm and keep the training going!
Depending on what the Doc says tomorrow, I hope to be riding in Castroville this weekend to take advantage of the flats.
Have a great weekend!
- David
As a National Team, we are making great progress. As of this morning, we have raised $40,383 across our 8 teams, which is just over 40% of our goal of $100,000. I'm anticipating that the fundraising will pick up the pace as we approach the actual dates of our 6 events, and people submit the funds they have collected during event registration. If you haven't raised the minimum yet, what are you waiting for? If you've raised the minium, why stop there?? Click here for our latest numbers.
MS 150 Video
 ...Even though we're in the middle of our Tour de Cure Spring campaign, I need to remind you that the Bike to the Beach, our flagship ride, is only 156 days away on October 4-5. The Bike to the Beach was the first ride I ever did back in 2000, and got me hooked on cycling. I rode fully upright and un-aerodynamic on a heavy, steel frame hybrid bike, wore tennis shoes that gave me massive blisters, and experienced excruciating chafing that made it difficult to walk for days - but damn did I feel proud finishing that second day. The lesson I learned that year was you have to start somewhere in this sport. The first ride is going to be hard, but it only gets easier as you gain experience and improve your technique and fitness. At the time, I had no idea that nine years later I'd be doing 5 Tour de Cure events in 8 weeks and and leading the finest cycling team in the land on record setting fundraising campaigns for ADA and MS year after year. ...Last week between Fiesta events I put together a short 30 minute video that documents the history of Velo Valero's participation in the Bike to the Beach, beginning in 1988, and ending last year with an appearance by the King himself, Elvis Presley, at our team tent. To watch the video, click here. Enjoy!
To register with Team Velo Valero for the Bike MS: Valero Bike to the Beach, click here.
Dora in Paradise
Just got this photo from long time team member Dora Esparza. It is the latest entry into our Velo Valero Around the World Photo Gallery. This is from her recent trip to Paradise (aka, Hawaii) - now, doesn't she look like she's having a good time???
Just looking at this, I can feel the cool ocean breeze...
...See ya on the road!
- El "Pinot Noir" Hefe
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Good morning and happy Monday!
Weekend Ride
...Well, Mother Nature had other plans for us during the Sunday Morning training ride we hosted for the San Antonio Tour de Cure. The weather map showed a monster storm to the north of San Antonio, and it was supposed to hit us during the morning with the force of an angry defensive lineman. As a result, very few folks showed up to attend the ride. San Antonio Team Captain John "the Benevolent" Tenison scratched the 65 mile route to insure that folks were in by 11:30 am, when he thought the front would arrive. The 15 or so us that did show up had a wonderful experience for the first 21 miles as we roared south to Devine with a ginormous tailwind that pushed us up to 32 mph on some of the flats. When we turned North back towards Castroville, that's when the real work began, because suddenly that friendly tailwind turned into the headwind from hell. It took everything we had, but eventually we made it back to the City Square in Castroville, where we dined on leftover fruit salad from Saturday's Fiesta Pooch Parade. During the ride, we were graced by Lori's smooth stroke, which we hadn't seen in a while, plus we had Kirstin back from her month long cycling sabbatical (with no ill effects - once again, she led the pack). We also had unbelievable SAG support provided by Della and company from the Cool Cats Cycling Club - she and her team are such an asset to the San Antonio cycling community!
As always, check our Event Schedule for upcoming rides. Please note that the Wednesday Night Hillfest will be on Tuesday this week.
Posing with Della from the Cool Cats Cycling Club in Devine
Packet Pick-Up on May 6th At Valero HQ
Mark your calendars for May 6th, from 04:30 to 07:30 pm, where Velo Valero will host a Tour de Cure packet pickup at Valero HQ. At the pick-up, you'll be able to pick-up your ride materials from ADA, drop off any fundraising monies you have raised, pick up a team jersey (if you ordered one this spring), obtain your team "goodie bag" (which is brimming with goodness this year), and meet your fellow Velo Valerians before the big ride. Hope to see you there!
Tour de Cure Odyssey Begins this Weekend
...This weekend begins an 8-week Tour de Cure Odyssey for Velo Valero, where we'll field 8 teams in 6 different events all around the country, beginning with the Napa ride on May 4th, and ending with the Oklahoma City ride on June 28th. I'm so pumped up about our National Campaign this year - in fact, I plan on riding in every event except for the Greater Philadelphia, which unfortunately occurs the same weekend as the San Antonio Tour de Cure. This will be 5 events in 8 weeks, which I think officially qualifies me for the nut house. Many of the Valero HQ riders will be participating in the out of town Tours, which we started doing last year and looks like has now become an annual tradition for Velo Valero. As usual, I'll be taking plenty of pictures and blogging my fingers off to keep you posted on things. Let's get this party started!
Click here to see the list of Teams, Captains, and Events. It's not to late to sign up for an event - what are you waiting for??
Delaware City Team Captain Stephanie Cocoran and Velo Valero riders at the 2007 Greater Philadelphia Tour
Update from Krotz Springs Team Captain Monika Harper
 I received this update from Krotz Springs team captain Monika Harper, who is working hard to get her team ready for the Baton Rouge Tour de Cure on May 31. Monika will also be riding in the San Antonio Tour de Cure and the Oklahoma City Tour de Cure, and has done the Bike to the Beach for a number of years now - way to go Monika!
...Well guys, we are just a few weekends away from our TDC St. Francisville ride. Hopefully everyone is ready. I know the guys that rode this past weekend are. Before I started riding bicycles, the wind did not blow in Louisiana. Now the wind blows from every direction. We struggled against the wind both going and coming. What's up with that?
Edie and Ken started at Red's Levee Landing Bar and rode to the State Park ahead of us. That's 13 miles one way, 26 miles round trip. This is Edie's greatest distance to date. Yaay, Edie. Phillip, Jason, Ralph and I met them at the Park (where the picture was taken - thanks Ken) then we all headed back to Red's. Along the road we saw numerous dead snakes , one dead alligator, all types of flattened critters and even a hawk nesting at the park (he was alive). Louisiana's Atchafalaya Basin is just so scenic! By the way, did I tell you guys about the snake getting in my car Friday at work? Yes, Louisiana is just wonderful !! Anyway, after leaving Red's, Ralph showed us a new route through Catahoula which was nice. This Fausse Point ride was the first for Jason. He was looking forward to it too, but, at about 4 miles from the end, Jason caught a flat. His tire was losing air so he pumped it up and just rode like the wind hoping to get to the end before it went completely flat. Unfortunately, he didn't make it. Edie had picked up her truck and rode SAG for us from Red's. Thank goodness for that too. She was a blessing. She picked up Jason and his bike and carried them to the end. Jason was pretty bummed about not finishing but he shouldn't be. He rode hard. Saturday was tough for Phillip too. He was not 100%. He wasn't feeling good when he arrived and had forgotten to pack his midpoint snack - egg Mcmuffin from McDonalds, so that didn't help. But you would not have known, he stayed right there. I know he was feeling it when we finished.
We had a very good ride. Everyone is doing so good. We really are working great as a team!
- Monika
The Krotz Springs V-Team on the road
...see ya' on the road!
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Good morning and happy Friday! I've been on vacation this week, but when I got back in today, I was so happy to see the team hasn't missed a beat due to the diligent efforts of the Velo Valero Board of Directors.
Castroville Ride San Antonio Team Captain John "the Punisher" Tenison will lead the joint Tour de Cure training ride on Sunday morning. We have routes of 25, 42, and 65 planned that start and end in scenic Castroville. SAG support will be provided, with wheels up at 08:30 am. Check our Event Schedule for all the details.
Status of TDC Fundraising
Too see the current status of our TDC fundraising, click here. We are over $35,000 as a National Team, with the first Tour de Cure event happening next week in Napa.
Video from the LBJ 100
 The video from last week's LBJ 100 Bicycle Tour has been posted to the site. Click here to view.
Jerseys Arriving Next Week
Jerseys from our spring order will be arriving next week (yippee!). We'll distribute locally at the Packet Pick-up on Tuesday, May 6th, and will be shipping to out of town folks. More details to come next week!
Stop and Smell the Bluebonnets
...I've been spending the week with my 75-year-old Aunt Mary from Wisconsin. I promised her at the family reunion in Michigan last summer that I'd invite her to San Antonio in the spring to enjoy the wildflowers and Fiesta, and that's what I'm doing. She's a wonderful woman who has spent her whole life in service to others, including years of mission work in Central America in the 60s and 70s, working with at risk kids in inner city schools in Chicago, and teaching English to migrant workers at the canneries in upstate Wisconsin. I have never known anyone so relentlessly upbeat and cheerful. Spending time with her reminds me constantly of the simple pleasures in life, where the chirp of every bird in the sky is a miracle, where every flower along the road is work of art, and where every cool breeze that wafts across your skin on a hot day is a cause for celebration. These are lessons in our busy lives we too often forget. As you ride your bike this spring, take a moment to marvel at the sky, smell the bluebonnets, and listen to the excited heartbeats of your friends and teammates as they pedal next to you - this, my friends, is why we ride!
El Hefe and his Aunt Mary in a field of bluebonnets outside of Navasota
...see ya' on the road!
- Peter
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Good morning and happy Monday! I'm on day 2 of my waltz through the San Antonio Fiesta season with my Aunt Mary, and I'm still recovering from the thrilling double overtime win by the Spurs over the evil Suns, but I'm never too busy to spread the gospel of Velo Valero. We had a great weekend of rides, so let's get right to it, eh?
LBJ 100
I joined 100s of cycling enthuiasts on Saturday morning for the first ever LBJ 100 including Carl, Andrea, PJ, Chuck and John, along with the Yin and Yang of of Hill Country cycling, Arno and my father-in-law Stan. The ride started deep in the heart of the legendary ranch, right on the air strip LBJ landed his private jets on. Park Rangers were everywhere to help us out at the start, and the first 5 to 10 miles were on winding roads through the ranch where we passed prize winning steer and fast moving antelope. Once on the open road, the fun began. Chuck, PJ, John, and I opted to do the 65 miler, which consisted of one spirit crushing hill after another. We passed a bunch of riders from Corpus Christi who were enjoying the vertical challenges, including long time Velo cyclist, Wayne Genzer (the guy who was on our team truck last year!). The real challenge began when we turned south at Sandy, and began the ride back to the ranch. We had this gnarly headwind that was so fierce and relentless, we would lose speed on the downhills (I hate when that happens!) I once again filmed the ride using the Action Cam (aka, the "butt cam"), and will post the video once I get it edited so you can see what an incredible event this was. In fact, I had my own personal You Tube moment during the ride as a result of the BC. As I was rolling into one of the early rest stops, I was furiously fiddling with the controls on the camera, trying to get a sweeping panorama of the riders enjoying the stop, when I slowly...began to lean over...and suddenly fell to the ground with a thud (and, yes, I got it all on camera).
The team posing with Park Ranger at the ride start. To see more photos from the LBJ, including the steer that tried to climb into my truck, click here.
Fiesta Wildflower Ride
Got this update from Board Member Carl "Teddy Bear" Crawford, who was a double dipper this weekend - he did both the LBJ and the Wildflower rides (way to go Carl!) -
The Wildflower 100 was a great ride yesterday. At the ride, I saw a lot of Velo Valero jerseys - Gene, Luis and Kyle did the full century ride while Jacque, Nerissa, Stella, Henry and myself did the 65 mile look (actually 68 miles). Kudos to Nerissa - this was her longest ride since she started earlier this year. The ride was very well supported with break stops every 10 - 13 miles and everyone that I spoke to on the ride seemed to have a great time. It was overcast during the ride with winds out of the east, which kept things cool. We had a headwind for about 10 miles during the middle of the ride and then a tailwind for most of the last 20 miles which was great. There were sections with some wildflowers and the country roads were nice and green. Over the next month, we should have some great rides planned where we'll be seeing lots of wildflowers. I will definitely do this ride again and if both the LBJ 100 and the Wildflower 100 are on the same weekend again, I will do both (it's just too hard to choose one or the other!). See you on the road next weekend!
- Carl
Isabel and Jacque at the ride start. For more photos from the Fiesta Wildflower, click here.
Weekday Rides
As usual, there are plenty of weekday rides for you to participate in to help you get ready for the San Antonio Tour de Cure (which is only 27 days away!) - John Tenison will be leading the HillFest this Wednesday, Ken Mayfield will lead the Wednesday night joint TDC ride, and Andrea Shull will lead her Thursday night ride. The days are getting longer and the air is full of FIesta confetti - it's definitely a great time of year to join your friends on the road for a fun-filled weekday evening in the saddle! Check our Event Schedule for all the details.
Bicycle Workshop at NuStar on Tuesday
 On Tuesday, April 22, there will be a Bicycle Workshop open to all San Antonio area riders from 06:30 pm to 08:30 pm. Matt Hamlin from Bicycle Heaven will be yapping about bikes, and "Prima Donna" Escobar from Health by Design will be speaking about fitness and nutrition. All new and nearly new riders are encouraged to attend - for more details, click here.
Velo Valero Hosted Joint TC Ride Coming Up!
Finally, mark your calendars for the joint Tour de Cure training ride we have scheduled for Sunday, April 27th. The ride will begin and end at the city square in scenic and historic Castroville, and will roll through the farming and ranching communities of Devine and Hondo on the southwest side of town. I'd like a huge turnout of Velo riders during this event, to show the other teams in town our appreciation for the TDC training rides they have hosted so far this year. If you have any questions on the ride, or want to volunteer to drive SAG or lead some of the less experienced riders, please contact San Antonio Team Captain, John "the Punisher" Tenison at john.tenison@valero.com. Once again, check our Event Schedule for all the details.
...I'm off to the land of the cascarones - see ya on the road!
- Peter
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Happy Thursday - I'm be out of town in Austin tomorrow, so you're getting the Friday blog today (what a deal!)
Fiesta Weekend Rides
 It's Fiesta time in San Antonio again, the most wondrous time of year. I'm actually going to take the week off for the first time ever, and use the time to show my 75-year-old Aunt Mary who is visiting from Wisconsin what Fiesta is all about! We'll start with the LBJ 100 ride this Saturday, and end with the Alamo Heights Pooch Parade the following Saturday, and try to catch everything in between.
...There are two great rides going on this weekend we'd like you to participate in if you can. Neither ride requires any fundraising, and each will be a great opportunity for new and nearly new riders to get the feel of an organized ride before the Tour de Cures start in May. These two rides are the first ever LBJ 100 (Saturday) and the legendary Fiesta Wildflower Ride (Sunday). If you participate, please wear your full Valero gear, and seek out the Team Ride Captain at the start for photos and pre-ride schmoozing.
John Tenison will our Ride Captain at the LBJ 100 ride on Saturday
Carl Crawford will be our ride Captain for the the Fiesta Wildflower Ride on Sunday
If you plan on riding either of these events, please fill our the ride RSVP form at click here. If you're doing the LBJ ride, let me know if you'd be interested in car pooling to and from the ride, and meeting for lunch in Fredericksburg at 1:30 pm. (Lunch will be homemade lasagna at my father-in-law Stan's house, who will be doing the LBJ 100 ride with his cycling bud Arno).
This will be another Chamber of Commerce weekend for South Texas and the Texas Hill Country, and the best way to see it is form the seat of your bike!
Update from Ken Mayfield on the TDC Wednesday Night Ride
 Here's an inspiring story from Ken Mayfield, NuStar Nova Captain and San Antonio Tour de Cure Event Chair. This, my friends, is what road cycling is all about. Ken has taken his duties as Event Chair to a whole new level, and never ceases to amaze and inspire me - he has the energy of 5 men and the heart of 10.
The wind was with us but more importantly, so was God. We had 8 riders from various teams, a few from Andrea’s Thursday ride, one Cool Cat, two Tour de Cure Committee members, and more importantly, Trey Robertson. One of our younger riders, he is 19, passed out at Brand Rd. and Hwy 46. He got off his bike, sat on the guard rail, and it was lights out. He actually passed out three times. We revived him each time and forced him to drink Gatorade to get his blood sugar up. After he completely revived, we got him to eat a energy bar. While all of this was happening, our other committee member called 911, Trey headed back to the start to get his truck, and the rest of us stayed with our rider. After it was obvious that he was going to be OK, we cancelled the 911, I sent most of the other riders on their way to finish the route. Luis and I stayed with the rider until Trey got there and drove him back. I did get assurance that he would go to the doctor to get a full blood screening and I will follow up with his family to make sure this gets taken care of. Luis and I finished up the ride at a very fast pace, 21 mph avg, into the wind and got back to Bullis Park at 9:00 PM, well after dark.
The weakened rider learned a lot last night about the sport of cycling. He told us that he played football and ran track all the way through school. He always thought cyclists were wimps. He knows different now. He was asking a lot of questions about the sport and nutrition last night. One of his comments was “ Cycling is tough and it takes a lot out of you.” ...I never knew until last week that Trey is in high school. I have ridden with him for two years. We have recruited him to be a Ride marshal in the 2008 Tour de Cure. He is also recruiting riders from Churchill High School. His science teacher has even signed up and will be riding. Trey is wise beyond his years and has a tremendous future ahead of him. He will be working for Performance Bicycle this summer so we all need to send some business his way.
God was truly with us last night and he is an awesome God. Everyone stayed calm and knew exactly what to do. We worked as a team. Thanks for sharing this story with us Ken!
Andrea, Megan, and Trey at the 2007 Bike to the Beach
See ya' on the road!
- Peter
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Good morning and happy hump day. Lots going on in Velo-ville this week, so let's get right to it!
Upcoming Events
A feature of the web site you might find helpful is our Calendar of Events. We keep this calendar up to date with all the key events for the team, including the organized rides some or all of the team is participating in, along with events like Lunch and Learns, Bicycle Clinics, Packet Pick-Ups, etc. Another way to see what is going on is to check our Event Schedule, which focuses exclusively on the training rides and organized rides we do, including weekday rides like the Hillfest and the FFR (Family Friendly Ride), along with weekend funfests like the LBJ 100 (which I'm really looking forward to - I love that part of Texas) and the Fiesta Wildflower Ride. Don't be bashful - check out what's going on, and if it fits into your schedule, come join us! We don't bite (very hard), and I guarantee you that we'll get you in the best shape of your life, introduce you to some extremely fun people, and help you make a contribution to the community you live in. (Now, we don't offer refunds on this guarantee, but to be quite honest - no one has ever asked, and I don't think they ever will...)
An event I'm really looking forward to - toobin' down the San Marcos River during the San Antonio Tour de Cure!
Crank Up that VVM
As we get closer to the start of the Tour de Cure event season (which begins May 4th, with Dan's team from Benicia riding in the Napa Valley Tour de Cure), let's start cranking up the Velo Valero Mojo (VVM). This means as you train during the week and participate in organized rides like the LBJ 100, wear that Velo jersey and those team socks, throw on a few Velo tattoos, wear a red ADA wrist band or two, and tell everyone you meet on the road that you are a proud member of the finest cycling team in the land, one that has stepped up once again to the challenge of being a National Team in the battle against diabetes. If you need wristbands or tattoos - come on by. Look for other Velo Valero riders while you are on the road, and if you don't know them, introduce youself. And finally, if you're a San Antonio rider, mark your calendar for Sunday, April 27th. That is when Velo is going to host the joint Tour de Cure training ride for all the other teams in the area. I want to show some mad love to teams like the Cool Cats and Team Faaster that have done such an awesome job hosting rides for us this spring - more details to come!
NOTE: For those of you who ordered a jersey this spring, they should be coming in the last week of April - I'll keep you posted. We'll definitely have them by the Valero HQ packet pick-up on May 6th.
Extreme VVM in action - riders at the start of the 2007 Bike to the Beach - you can almost hear those whistles blowin'!
Fundraising Status - "Yippee! We are over $20,000" (actual quote from David earlier this morning)
Here's the current status of our fundraising from our resident guru, David Sloan -
As of Thursday, April 17, there is only ONE MONTH remaining until it's wheels on the road for the 2008 San Antonio Tour De Cure! That means it is time to make that final fundraising push. If you have been using your Tour web site to send e-mails to your prospective supporters, and are wondering if they are getting through those ever more sophisticated spam filters, here is what I am doing to be sure that the message is being received.
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Click on the "Follow Ups" button. This will bring up the list of people in your database, and also shows who has donated.
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At the top of the "Contacts List" window is a drop down menu.
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Click on that and use the Filter - Those who have not donated on your behalf for this event.
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Click on the "GO" button to bring up the list of people that have not yet donated
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Now, either print the list or download the list
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Pick out the folks who have not opened any of your previous e-mails and assume that their spam filter has prevented your message from getting through.
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Personally e-mail each one of those individuals using your home e-mail. This does two things for you:
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First, your personal e-mail will very likely get through any firewall
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Second, if the e-mail address is no longer working, you will get a response that will allow you to update your list
Yes, it's a little work, but then so is training for the ride. Don't forget, the money goes to find a cure for diabetes.
- David
As of today, the San Antonio team has pushed over the $20,000 mark, and nationwide, we are almost at $31,000. The glass is filling, my friends, but there's still plenty of empty space for our fundraising to occupy. I know I sound like a broken record on this, but hey, it's my job and this is such a great cause that I truly believe in - If you riding in a Tour de Cure event this spring and haven't raised the minimum yet, what are you waiting for? If you've raised the minimum, why stop there? To see our current fundraising totals, click here.
Rider of the Week
 Our new rider of the week is (drum roll please!) Tanya Carrasco, who works in the Organizational Development (OD) department at Valero HQ. Tanya is training hard for the upcoming San Antonio Tour de Cure - to read more about her and why she decided to ride this year, click here.
...see ya' on the road!
- Peter
P.S. I'll be out Friday on a recruiting trip in Austin, and on vacation next week, so please contact David Sloan (david.sloan@valero.com) for any team related matters during this time.
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Good morning and happy Monday! This blog is going to 100% about cycling, because there's so just much incredible riding going on these days. The air is cool, the sky is blue, the wild flowers are out, and almost every day we have a great ride for you to participate in - what more could you ask for?
Tall Texan
 My heart is still racing from the incredible ride some of us did Sunday morning on the legendary Tall Texan route. The weather was incredible, and the hills were awesome - they don't call it the Tall Texan for nothing! The wonderful thing about road cycling is that's there's just so many routes out there for you to ride. I've been cycling in the San Antonio area for 9 years, and I've never tackled those grueling hills before - but, I guarantee you after Sunday, I'll definitely do it again. (This is the same way I felt about the hills on Crabapple Road during our retreat a few weeks ago.) I once again used the Action Cam, which we are renaming the "butt cam", because it seems to get alot of posterior shots when I have it mounted on my handle bars. When I get the chance, I'll edit the footage and post to our Video Gallery. To see all the pictures from the Tall Texan ride, including a frightening close-up of John's breakfast taco in Comfort, click here.
Tour de Cure Training Ride Led by Team Faaster
 Chase, PJ, Andrea, and Paige at last year's HTH
I was unable to participate in the joint Tour de Cure training ride Saturday, because I've been playing with a team in the Valero HQ basketball league and we had the end of season tournament that morning. I received this note from Paige Wright, co-captain of Team Faaster, who coordinated the ride, which from all accounts, was a huge success. Thanks to Erica from ADA and Ken from NuStar for arranging these joint training rides - I'm convinced they will become a permanent feature fo the San Antonio cycling landscape in the years to come.
We had the small mix up at the start - Raymond Russel Park did not open their gates until 9 a.m. Thankfully, Ken Mayfield came to the rescue and he and Tammy re-routed people to the HEB parking lot at Leon Springs. Once at the HEB parking lot, we had a slight problem - one of the shop managers was very upset about the parking issue in front of her store and she came out and confronted Tammy and said she was authorized to tow any vehicle with a bike rack on the back. We quickly had people move their cars and Ken stayed behind to talk to other shop owners and to make sure that no vehicles were being towed. Once he ascertained that everything was okay, he sagged the route for us. Also sagging the two routes [35 and 51 mile routes] were David Sloan, as well as Tony Beuford, a Team Faaster member and myself. Alan Green rode some of the route on his bike and then swept the long route on his scooter!
We provided water, fruit and cookies - on the route, as well as afterwards. Our main concern was keeping people on course, as we had an area through Fair Oaks that required frequent turns. Our sag support, for the most part, were able to keep people on course. Although some people took a wrong turn, they were quickly able to figure it out and were back on track.
The Cool Cats showed up in mass numbers and the were ready and on their bikes at 8:10 or 8:15! I was concerned that this may be a hard route due to some hilly and windy conditions, but they came in with smiles and with very positive feedback.
Tammy and I wanted to send a special thanks to Ken, David and Alan for helping us with sagging and sweeping the course. Everyone seemed to have had a good ride and the only complaints we heard were about how windy it was.
Way to go Paige and Tammy - you guys did a great job this weekend, and we look forward to repaying the favor in a few weeks.
Update from Ken Mayfield
Ken Mayfield, TDC Event Chair and the hardest working man in the cycling business, sent me this update on the weekend training ride and the upcoming Tour de Cure -
We have had 5 training rides so far and each has been a success and each different in its own way. We have had beautiful weather, lots of wind, rain, dogs, horses, pot-bellied pigs, and more wind. This past Saturday’s ride was hosted by Team Faster. The theme was “improvise, adapt, and overcome.”
We had to improvise the start because Raymond Russell Park does not open until 9:00 AM. We moved the start to the HEB/Starbucks parking lot in Leon Springs. We had to adapt to a irate and hostile employee of one of the retail stores who felt that she owned the parking lot and threatened to have our cars towed. I did talk to all of the other stores in the shopping center and they were not only OK with us being there, they were happy and support our cause. Of course, we were drinking HEB water, many of us bought lunch at Quizno’s, and I bought some elixir at the liquor store. To finish up, we had to overcome the wind and overcome we did. More than 75 cyclists braved either the 35 or 55 mile route with very strong winds. It seemed as if the wind constantly changed directions so that it was always a headwind.
If you rode Saturday in the ferocious wind, I promise that the Tour de Cure will be a breeze in comparison.
Tammy and Paige along with Team Faster put together an excellent training ride. We had 4 SAG vehicles, 1 of which was piloted by our very own David Sloan. He cannot ride yet but you can bet that a bum knee will not keep him away from the Tour de Cure.
This Saturday, we are off to the LBJ 100. I hope to see you there. It promises to be a beautiful ride.
ON TO THE CURE!
- Ken
Thanks Ken - your energy and your commitment to the cause is an inspiration to all of us!
BP 150
 Ray with the team at the starting line of last year's Tour de Gruene
I received this note from Ray Housely, Velo Valero team member who rode with 27 other riders from Team Kickin Asphalt in this year's BP 150 from Houston to Austin.
I had an outstanding cycling experience. We started off with an Italian feast on Friday night with most of our 27 team members and their spouses. We rose at 4:15 to be at the starting point at 5:30. We started at 6:00 am with a vehicle escort for safety. The morning was crisp high 40’s with light winds. We started off in a nice pace line A, B, C groups. A group paced along for the most part 18 – 21 mph for the first 15-20 miles., then we had a super fit guy with a Cervelo tri-bike increase the pace to 24 MPH. We got him to settle a bit and then he came off. When he rotated in again he busted my butt to keep up. When we hit the first larger hills the pace line dissolved just before the lunch stop. At the lunch stop the seven of us agreed that we would finish in two groups. I opted for slower of the two, so I rode all but the last 10 miles with my buddy Chris from Boerne, and another guy from our team. My training paid off. I finished very strong leaving them way behind. I rode through the finish and toured the La Grange tent city. I was going to redeem my Michelob Ultra beer ticket from my jersey number. The beer stand wasn’t open yet – bummer. Our shuttle picked us up at the Shell station down the street the ride back to Stony Creek Ranch – near New Ulm. A lunch spread, cold drinks, and snacks were waiting for us ( along with some smoked meats). After showers in the cabins, everyone received massages from heaven (free). That evening the cooking crew grilled fillets and chicken for everyone.
Then next day we had breakfast waiting for us at 4:30. We started riding at about 6:15. It was much colder on day 2. I had to wear leg warmers and a jacket. I rode through Bastrop by myself. The Cervelo guy and another fit team member took off and the rest of our team opted out of the ride through Bastrop State Park. I took off the leg warmers and jacket in Bastrop and enjoyed the sun during the rest of the ride. I rode in from Bastrop in a 4-7 man pace line. Again I felt very strong coming in. The wind was with us at the end making for nice finish. Complete joy overcame me cruising through the Campus and rolling through the finish corridor.
The team Kickin Asphalt tent was just right from the finish line across from the music stage. The tent was excellent, catered by Pappasito’s – margarita machine and all. I changed my clothes and enjoyed the experience for a few hours. It was one of those days that I didn’t want to end!!
This morning cruising to work I was feeling kind of sad at the thought of not being able to ride my bike today...
Thanks for the update Ray - we'll make sure we have other chances for you to ride that bike of yours!
Upcoming Rides
Three weekday rides are available - The Punisher and I will be doing the HillFest on Wednesday night, Ken will lead his weekday TDC training ride Wednesday night from Camp Bullis, and Andrea will lead her family friendly ride on Thursday from Camp Bullis. Saturday, the joint TDC training ride will be the first ever LBJ 100, and on Sunday Britton's will be hosting the legendary Fiesta Wildflower ride, which has a full century for those of you ready for it. Plenty of ways for you to get out and enjoy this incredible Texas spring from the best seat in the house (i.e., your bike).
As always, please check our Event Schedule for a list of all the upcoming rides.
...see ya' on the road!
- Peter
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Just a very quick note to end the week. It promises to be Chamber of Commerce weather in San Antonio this weekend, so to paraphrase the immortal words of Freddy Mercury, it's time to get on our bikes and ride!
Weekend Rides
Two rides are available this weekend to help you get in shape for the San Antonio Tour De Cure, which is just a month away, my friends!
This Saturday Paige Wright and Tammy Friddle from Team Faaster are leading the joint TDC Training Ride. Wheels up at 08:30 am from Raymond Russel Park on the Northwest side of town. There will be SAG support and two routes available - a 35 miler, and a 51 miler. Check the maps out they put together for this ride - they are the prettiest maps I've seen in 9 years of cycling. NOTE: Just got called by Alan Green - the ride start is moving to the HEB at Leon Springs, because Raymond Russell park doesn't open until 09:00 am.
 John Tenison and PJ will be leading a Sunday morning ride for the team. They will leave from Po-Pos Resturant at 08:30 am and will follow the Tall Texan route to Comfort and Waring for a distance of around 45 miles. This is one of the prettiest rides in Texas, and is not to be missed.
To see our complete event schedule, click here.
Volunteer of the Year
...I had a truly pleasant surprise this morning when Board Member Carl Crawford called me up to congratulate me for winning the 2007 San Antonio Valero Volunteer of the Year award. When I was nominated earlier this year, I wasn't even going to fill out the application because there are so many volunteers at Valero who do so many incredible things that I thought I didn't have a chance. But, my wife talked me into it and I'm glad she did, because this is something I am absolutely overwhelmed by. It is rare that I'm rendered speechless, but it happened. But I also know that I did not win this award alone. I have to thank my Board of Directors for working so many long hours on so many different things for the team, from running our jersey sales to leading our training rides to organizing volunteers for things like the Tour de Cure and the Bike to the Beach. I have to thank the refinery Team Captains - folks like Monika, Stephanie, and Dan - who are growing Velo Valero teams all around the country. And I have to thank each and every one of you on the team who believe in what we are doing and work so tirelessly to raise money for the causes we support. This award really belongs to all of us, and friends, we earned it!
Crossing the finish line at last year's MS 150 - one of those incredible moments that made all the hard work worth it.
...see ya' on the road!
- Peter Ray
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Good morning and happy Wednesday! I'm back in SA after 5 days in Philadelphia, and friends, even though I had a great time and we accomplished amazing things for the company, it's good to be back. Here's the latest and greatest Velo Valero news -
Rides this Week
Weather permitting, John Tenison will lead the HillFest on Wednesday - wheels up for employees at the Valero HQ North Garage at 5:30 pm, and from Mays Elementary at 5:45 pm. Send John an e-mail at john.tenison@valero.com if you plan on riding.
On Wednesdays, former Velo Valero Board Member and current NuStar Novas Captain Ken Mayfield leads a 20 miler from Camp Bullis Park that is open to all San Antonio area riders. Wheels up at 06:30 pm.
Andrea won't be leading the Thursday night ride from Camp Bullis Park, because she's getting ready for this weekend's BP ride from Houston to Austin. Trey Robertson has agreed to lead the ride - wheels up at 6:15 pm.
This Saturday Paige and Tammy fron Team Faaster are leading the joint TDC Training Ride. Wheels up at 08:30 am from Raymond Russel Park on the Northwest side of town.
Finally, John Tenison and PJ will be leading a Sunday morning ride for the team. They will leave from Po-Pos Resturant at 08:30 am and will follow the Tall Texan route to Comfort and Waring for a distance of approx. 45 miles.
To see our entire event schedule, click here.
Fundraising Update
Here's a fundraising tip from Team Vice President and Fundraising Extraordinare David Sloan -
Want to step up your fundraising? Personalize your web site! Put a photo on there that shows you having fun on or with your bicycle! I understand that some of you just want to raise the minimum $150 that is required for the ride, but for those that want to increase the amount that they raise to help fight diabetes, or are shooting for the great thank you gifts for raising larger amounts, using your web site and personalizing it are major factors. As of today, we have 51 riders signed up for Velo Valero (not counting the "team" phantom rider). Of those 51, only 12 have personalized their web site with photos. However those 12 teammates have raised 83% of the total contributions to the team total thus far, with an average of almost $1,300 per person!
So my fund raising tip for this week is - pump up the excitement on your web site by putting your photo out there, personalize your web site and then let all of your friends know where they can check it out!
As always, if you are having difficulties, give me a call at 210-345-2674 or e-mail me at david.sloan@valero.com.
We are currently at $27,745, almost 28% of our National Team Fundrasing goal of $100,000. Click here to see our current fundraising status. If you're riding in a TDC event, and you haven't raised the minimum yet, what are you waiting for? If you've raised the minium already, why stop there?
 Finally, Board Members Andrea Shull and Lucy Hernandez have an Administrative Professional's Day fundraiser planned that should help boost our team totals. Please contact them if you are interested in helping out - andrea.shull@valero.com and lucy.hernandez@valero.com.
Bike Clinic at NuStar
Ken Mayfield has scheduled a bicycle clinic at the NuStar offices at 06:30 pm on April 22nd. Speakers will be Matt Hamlin from Bicyle Heaven, and former Velo Board Member Donna Escobar from Health by Design. Click here for more details.
LBJ 100
The LBJ 100 Bike Ride in the beautiful Texas Hill Country is less than two weeks away on April 19th. For more details, click here.
Hotter than Salsa
John Tenison sent me this update on last weekend's Hotter than Salsa Ride - We had awesome weather for the salsa ride, complete with a stiff tailwind and smooth new blacktop for the home stretch into Three Rivers. Altogether around 75 riders were registered, down from 2 years ago. The ride organizers are looking for advice on how to grow the ride (aside from repaving the rough stretch before Whitsett) - they have a lot going for them, what with the awesome salsa festival afterwards, where you could get everything from gorditas to fried twinkies, with lots of cold beer to wash it down with, and lots of family activities too. As I hung out with the Hamels after the ride, I commented on how this is one of my favorite organized rides, and it takes only an hour and 15 minutes to get here from San Antonio or Corpus, so why is the turnout so small?… John
Velo Riders at the HTS. To see all the pictures, click here.
This is Pats printout from the Three Rivers ride last weekend. Those are some monster hills (for all of 123 feet of climb... haha.). You can see how our speed perked up after we turned away from the wind on the way home.
PJ's Sunday Ride
PJ sent me this note after her Sunday ride -
Weather was amazing on the Sunday ride. Don't know if it will EVER be that beautiful again… Temp was fabulous and sunny. Believe it or not, we had a tailwind (yes, that is right, a tailwind) practically the whole way back from Castroville…. Andrea and I were just amazed on how perfect it was (given it has been so windy this year so far). We just a few folks on Sunday, but my friends from Dallas were here riding with us (KU fans). We had a great 56 mile ride…Nerissa has only ridden 5 times now and just conquered 56 miles!! One of my friends helped Nerissa during the ride regarding technique and riding on hills. She has not been using her gears, and it makes it really hard for her on the hills. She said his advice and work with her really helped her do such a long ride. - PJ
Velo Valero Spanning the Globe - El Hefe Does Philly, P2 Does the Great Wall
As I mentioned last week, Velo Valero is spanning the globe - from the historical haunts of Philadelphia to the Great Wall of China. If you travel someplace interesting, bring your jersey and get a photo, and we'll add you to the Velo Valero Around the World gallery.
El Hefe in front of Independence Hall. While in Philadelphia I came across a phrase from Ben Franklin that is so wonderful and so right I wonder why I never came across it before - "Beer is living proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy". (Those founding fathers were really smart people...)
Patrick Porter shows off that award winning team jersey at the Great Wall
...that's it for now - see ya' on the road! Good luck to folks like Andrea, Ray, and Greg that are riding the BP 150 this weekend.
- Peter
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Good morning and happy hump day! I'll be leaving later in the week for Philly, so wanted to get the blog done early...
Rides and mo' Rides
John Tenison leads the weekly Wednesday celebration of all things vertical (aka, the HillFest). Wheels up for employees from the Valero HQ North Garage at 5:30 pm, and everyone else at Mays Elementary at 5:45 pm.
Former Velo Board Member and Current NuStar captain Ken Mayfield is leading a weekly Wednesday night ride from Camp Bullis Park to help you prepare for the Texas Tour de Cure. This is open to all San Antonio area riders. Wheels are up at 6:30 pm.
Andrea Shull leads the family friendly Thursday night ride from Camp Bullis Park with wheels up at 6:15 pm.
On Saturday, the team is encouraged to participate with our friends from Corpus Christi and Three Rivers in the Hotter than Salsa ride. Send JT an e-mail at john.tenison@valero.com if you plan on participating. As an alternative, the joint TDC ride is being hosted by Run Gear Run.
On Sunday, PJ will be hosting a ride in the hills around Helotes. She will start from Roger Soler's in old town Helotes with wheels up at 08:00 am, and plans on doing 50 miles or so.
 ...Finally, I posted the video from the Sunday Board Retreat ride on Crabapple Road and Edge Falls Road to our Video Gallery - click here to enjoy the ride! I'll be posting more of these ride videos in the months ahead, now that I've figured out how to use my new Action Cam. (I apologize for how shakey some of the video is, but we were going pretty damn fast on some of those down hills...)
To see our entire event schedule, click here.
Put the Fun in your Tour de Cure Fundraising
Here's an update from Fundraising Czar, David Sloan -
As of today, we are at $25,284, over 25% of our goal of $100,000 as a national team. We have 152 riders signed up in 6 different events around the country. To see our current totals, click here.
Be confident that the money donated to the American Diabetes Association is being used properly. This confidence leads to more positive reception to the request for donations. I took the below paragraph from the ADA web site and share it with potential donors when they ask -
ADA holds the Better Business Bureau’s (BBB) Wise Giving Alliance Seal for National Charities. The BBB Wise Giving Alliance evaluates each charity’s governance, fund-raising practices, solicitations and informational materials, as well as how it spends its money. The Alliance’s standards of measurement hold charitable organizations to higher principals than those required by law, thereby making the seal convey a strong and comprehensive confirmation of each organization’s accountability.
People want to know that their money is being used wisely and properly, and you can be confident that money donated to Tour De Cure is being put to proper use.
- David
Velo Valero Around the World
 Kirstin atop Kilimanjaro
For years I've been encouraging team members to bring their team jerseys when they travel, and to take pictures with the jersey on in front of any interesting sites they encounter. To see the gallery of photos we've compiled so far, click here. I plan on getting some in Philadelphia this weekend, and Patrick "P2" Porter is supposed to snap a few for us when he's in China for business. If you are traveling for work or for play, bring your jersey and show the world how proud you are to be part of this team!
New Rider of the Week
 Our new rider of the week is (drum roll, please!) Edie Wellemeyer, I/S Specialist from the Krotz Springs refinery. Click here to read more about her. As always, if you have a suggestion for a future New Rider of the Week, send it to cycling@valero.com.
...that's it for now - see ya' on the road next week when I return!
- Peter
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