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!