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