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