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