I actually wrote this last night before I collapsed, but because of a glitch with our web site, it didn't go out until this morning...sorry!  

I'm at home after the 48-hour whirlwind that was the 2008 Bike MS Valero Bike to the Beach.  As usual, I didn't sleep all weekend, and I'm starting to feel it.  Before I descend into a sleep so deep  that it will take a stun gun to wake me, let me spend a little time trying to summarize what was once again an amazing two days in the saddle on the road to Corpus Christi for a truly great cause....

...First of all, let me set the record straight.  Yes, at the begining of the ride, as almost three hundred Velo Valero riders started off from the AT&T Center with the energy and force of a tsunmai, with yours truly at the helm and a full nine years of experience with this route - well, there's no way to sugar coat this - I took a wrong turn.  An officer of the law, with a big ol' badge on his chest and who seemed to know what he was doing, pointed right and I followed.  Little did I know that he was telling a truck to turn right, and not the three hundred amped up cyclists ready to commence on a 160 mile fast-paced odyssey to the coast.   I will forever be known as "Wrong Way Ray" from this day forward, and it's a cross I have to bear - yes friends, I am navigationally impaired, and I need help.  I like to think it's a testament to my leadership skills that the team followed me even though most of you knew we were making the wrong turn, because hey, everyone knew things would end up all right.

And they did - and it was amazing.   The English language, as rich and expressive as it is, lacks the adjectives to describe this weekend.  When I arrived at our team tent compound in Beeville, I was overwhelmed - Board Member and miracle worker Lucy Hernandez somehow topped what she did last year (which, frankly, I didn't think was possible). She and her crew created a small cycling village that we could all enjoy in the middle of a hard ride, to help us forget for a few hours the endless chip seal, the constant headwind, and somewhere far away in Washington and New York, the financial crisis.   We tried to add a few new things this year - chocolate milk to aid the Day 1 recovery for riders, an air conditioned set of porta-potties (which, unforunately, ran our of water very early on Saturday), and on-site bicycle repair from our friends at Performance.  Hats off to all the volunteers that made this happen - Sammy Nieto for coordinating the cooks, Jana Borie for arranging our massage tent, and Laura Vaccaro for coordinating the SAG vvehicles and the luggage truck, which I know now is a job of biblical proportions with a team this size.

What were my favorite memories?  Here's a few...

• Watching my 70 year old father-in-law Stan deliver the prayer at the beginning of the ride to a sea of 3000 riders, and then seeing  him ride 100+ miles over two days, including the climb up the massive Harbor Bridge at the end
• Being shanghaied into wearing a straw skirt and singing some Beach Boys song that I really didn't know the words to (I'm a man of many talents, and as you all know now, singing is not one of them!)
• Trying as hard as possible Saturday night to meet everyone on the team, and in the midst of shaking so many hands and making so much small talk, forgetting to eat any of the incredible dinner the volunteers had prepared
• Sucking wheel on some amazing pacelines led by Velo Valero hammerheads Luis, Lori, Chuck, Pat, and Mike, as we battled the wind, the chip seal, and a couple of slick roads for two days, and having to put up with Andrea's constant sarcasm and short jokes the whole time
• That ferocious and relentless headwind south of Sinton that once again proved to be 20 miles of some of the most challenging cycling many of us will every do
• After nine years of doing this, having my mom finally present at one of our finish lines, and seeing the pride in her face in what I've accomplished (although it did cost me two nights at the Omni to get her there!)
• And finally, joining up with so many of my teammates and friends at the base of the Harbor Bridge, and then struggling to climb it together, enjoying the awesome vista at the top, and then rolling down to that incredible finish line.  Included in the group were folks like Laura, PJ, and Donna, who have been such a huge part of the team for so many years and have done countless Bike to the Beach rides, but this year for some reason or another were unable to do the entire ride.  I can't describe what it was like to finally cross a finish line with the Queen Laura Vaccaro, who has been such an inspiration to me in my job as Captain.

I need to crawl into bed and call it a weekend, so I'll end this for now.  I promise I'll have more in the days to come.  Please send an e-mail to cycling@valero.com if you have any stories you want to share or any great photos from the ride.   As in year's past, I'll post them to the web site in the 2008 - Bike MS - Bike to the Beach - What Did You Think? thread. Limit the photos to your two or three best ones if possible, and I promise to publish as many as I can. 

I'll end with a few pictures I took - there's lots more to come!

Luis and Stella, the First Couple of Velo Valero, at the Day 1 Ride Start

Jacque and Dora workin' that whistle!

Stan saying a prayer before the start, and before completing his own personal century over two days (actually 110 miles!)

El Hefe with the Coffee Beaners, aka Zora and her niece, at the Day 2 Breakfast

Tony Ralf, VP of the Lone Chapter of MS, who completed the entire route in his first year as a rider, hogs the mike at the Day 2 Start to distract us from his socks

The group that crossed the Harbor Bridge and finished together - it was such a thrill to ride in with the Queen!  I've had so many great times with some of the these folks that they have become more than just teammates and friends, they are now more like an extended family

This mohawk from one of the strong new riders on the team survived two days, 160 miles, and the Harbor Bridge under a bike helmet.  I asked him how it stayed straight the whole time and he said, "Lots of wax!"

First year rider Hal Adams and his wife.  Hal finished strong, and was one of over 100 riders on the team this year who participated in the Bike to the Beach for the very first time

Velo Road Warrior who injured her wrist during a fall while climbing the Harbor Bridge, but who finished the ride anyway!

Valero CEO and Velo Top Fundariser Bill Klesse signs autographs for fans at the end of the ride.  Throughout the ride as I passed rest stop after rest stop, people would ask, "Where's Bill?  Is he coming soon?" 

Finally, one of the many Father-Son combinations that rode with us this year.  I was so proud to see these young people rise up the challenge of doing our ride!

...see you on the road (when I wake up!)

- El "Wrong Way" Hefe