Good morning and happy Friday. And what a good Friday it is - the San Antonio and Philadelphia Tour de Cures are only a week away, the Spurs finally won a game against those pesky Hornets, and (more on this later) I found my missing camera bag. Today's blog will be all about good things, so clip in and enjoy the ride!
San Antonio Weekend Ride
The joint TDC packet pick-up and ride this weekend is being hosted by Ken Mayfield and our friends at NuStar. The packet pick-up will run from 07:30 to 09:30 am, and the ride begins at 09:00 am. There will be two routes - a 30 miler and a 50 miler. If you missed the Valero packet pick-up on Tuesday, this is your chance to get your packet and also pick up the Velo goodie bag - I'll have a bunch in my truck before the ride. As usual, check our Event Schedule for all the details.
San Antonio Tour de Cures News
As mentioned earlier, the San Antonio Tour de Cure is next weekend. If you plan on riding, please review our checklist on the Event Information page to make sure you are ready to roll. Next week I'll publish a packing list for you so you'll know exactly what to pack to insure you have the best weekend ever. If you are riding, make sure you pick up one of the Velo goodie bags from me so you'll have the shirt we want everyone to wear at the Saturday night celebration - I really want us to look like a team at this event!
Regarding the San Antonio Tour de Cure, I received this quick note from Event Chair and Chief Warrior Against Diabetes, Ken Mayfield, on Thursday -
Good afternoon Warriors against Diabetes, The first thing I want to say is GO SPURS GO! I saw Bruce Bowen in HEB at 11:30 AM this morning. I told him that I was really looking forward to watching a strong defense tonight. He said “We’ll do our best.”
We are going to have a great event this year. We have already passed the ADA’s goal of 1200 registered riders. They should have listened to me months ago when I said that I want 1500 registered this year. It looks like we are going to get there and maybe beyond. I want 1,750 next year and 2,000 in 2010.
- Ken
Calling All Volunteers for the San Antonio Tour de Cure
Attention all Valero San Antonio employees - The Inside Valero SignUp application has been updated with the volunteer jobs needed for the San Antonio Tour de Cure, plus there's a place for you to SignUp to record your volunteer hours if you are a rider. Lots of volunteers are still needed. If you have friends and family that aren't riding, try to talk them into volunteering - it's a great way to see what an organized bike ride is all about, and who knows - next year they may decide to ride with you!
Philadelphia Tour de Cure is Coming up!
The Philadelphia Tour de Cure is also occurring next weekend - we sent the jerseys out last week for the Paulsboro and Delaware City teams, and will be shipping the goodie boxes for the Team Captains tomorrow. I look forward to getting the reports on the ride from Team Captains Mark and Stephanie. If they ever schedule the San Antonio and Philadelphia rides on different weekends, I'll definitely do Philly - I had such a great time when I there a few weeks ago and the route looks so scenic!
Delaware City riders at last year's Philadelphia Tour de Cure. For more photos from the ride, click here.
Napa Tour de Cure
As I mentioned ealier this week, the Napa Tour de Cure was a delight as always. Team Captain Dan Rubio was once again a gracious host, and the route through the wine country was gorgeous, especially those winding hills on the Silverardo Trail when the sun came out and the vineyards blazed a bright green. The sixteen of us that traveled up from San Antonio to enjoy the ride also got to do some sightseeing, including a winery tour by limo on Saturday and an afternoon trip to San Francisco after the ride. I'll be providing more Napa news in the next few blogs, including the photos and videos I took, now that I found my missing camera bag. In addition, Alan Dedman is working on a another of his amazingly detailed narratives of the Century ride; I'll post it as soon as I get it. But, for now I just have to share this one anecdote because it's just so good. While at one of the rest stops, I had a lady come up to me and give our team one of the greatest compliments I've ever heard. She said that she was so impressed by the Velo Valero team that she was only going to buy gas from Valero stations from now on. She said that we were all such polite and well behaved riders, calling out as we passed, allowing others to join our pace lines, and so on. She was also impressed that we stopped to help a rider who crashed instead of racing to the finish line. I was so proud to hear this - it's one of those things that makes my job as National Captain one of the best jobs on the planet. Think about this as you ride in events this spring, and try to keep the Napa mojo going!
Group shot at the Fish and Game rest stop. For more pictures, click here.
Happy Mother's Day!
For all you Mothers out there, enjoy your special day on Sunday. You earned it, because each of you is doing one of the hardest jobs on the planet. We'll be doing Momstock at my house like we do every year, and I look for to treating my mom, my sister, and my wife - all hardworking mothers I respect immensely - to a wonderful afternoon. Also on the mom front, I got the following awesome news from Monika Harper, Team Captain from Krotz Springs, that she is now a Grandma - she sent me this yesterday.
I have a good announcement....My grandbaby came into the world yesterday at 4:09 pm. His name is Hunter James, he weighs 7 lbs 5 oz and is 21 inches long. He's beautiful. Really. That's not just a grandma talking. I think he has a bike riders build too !!! Ha Ha... I will be leaving work in just a minute to go see him again. I think he misses me. Good news is, since Jessi's due date was May 14th I wasn't sure about the San Antonio TDC. I had signed up but was playing by ear. Since he's a week early, I'll be there.
- Monika
Congrats, Monika - and all look forward to seeing you on the road with us in Texas and then again at the end of the month when we join you, your team and the folks from St. Charles for the Baton Rouge Tour de Cure!
BBQ Benefit for Injured Cyclist
New team member Nerissa Muniz sent me this. For those of you San Antonio folks not doing the Tour de Cure next Sunday, you may want to consider this.
One of my friends from AT&T has a son, Joshua Charles, who is an avid cyclist. He and another cyclist, Leroy Mendoza, were hurt in a cycling accident a couple of months ago in Castroville. Josh has organized a BBQ plate fundraiser to help with medical expenses. See the email below that I received from Josh's mom. I also called Soler's just now and Lindsay confirmed the time, price, and benefit. I know that alot of us will be doing TDC, but maybe some others can swing by Soler's in Helotes and support this fundraiser.
Josh has organized a fundraiser for himself and another cyclist. They were involved in a crash while racing in Castroville a couple of months ago. Josh did not have health insurance at the time and the other guy had head trauma and his bills are huge. The brisket and sausage plates will be offered for $7 on Sunday, May 18th at 11am behind Solers in Helotes. Hope to see you there. Bring friends and family.
Thanks,
Nerissa
More Velo Valero Around the World
Finally, I got this e-mail from Greg Thompson, one of the hammerheads from the McKee refinery, who recently posted the photo below to our Velo Valero Around the World gallery -
We did the 30th Anniversary Enchanted Circle ride the weekend following Labor Day. 100 beautiful miles with lots of hills and one mountain to climb. The thin air wasn’t too noticeable (accept on Bobcat pass), since we are half way there with an elevation of 3600-ft at Dumas. Being a flat-lander, I just haven’t developed the legs yet to push myself up a 5-mile climb at more than 3 to 4 mph. About 1000 riders participate. Starts out pretty chilly in the morning with temperatures in the high 30’s low 40’s and afternoon reaching the high 70’s to mid 80’s. The weather has been perfect both years I participated. We are planning to go again this year. You should come join us. This ride and the Hotter ‘n Hell Hundred are still my favorites.
Doug and Greg posing at almost 10,000 feet at Bobcat pass in New Mexico. For more Velo Valero Around the World photos, click here.
See ya' on the road!
- El "Mama's Boy" Hefe