Velo Valero

Last night on a ride from Wilmington to Seal Beach, CA., I experienced an all time low I think while riding. While riding towards Seal Beach on the Pacific Coast Highway a group of young boys coming the opposite direction to me, decided that I would be a good target to spit upon. This young boys saliva landed on my arm and chest.

I was unable to do anything about, apart from feeling very angry, with all thoughts of retaliation running through my mind, I was in heavy rush hour traffic and moving along in the mid 20's mph, unable to turn around.

Fortunately, I calmed down when I reached my destination 10 or 15 minutes later, thinking that had any retaliation taken place, I would have brought down myself and Valero down to their level, as I was wearing Valero colors.

Alan - I am so sorry that you had that experience.  While it is a pain to call 911 and report an assault, that is exactly that you experienced!  It should make you sad and angry.  The only way to stop it is to report it and try to give the police the best description possible.  If you stop riding at the nearest safe place (i.e. a Valero station, etc), whip out your cell phone and dial, at least the assailants know that you mean business.

Here in the great State of Texas, we are harassed by beer bottles and projectiles thrown from a 60 mph (sometimes faster) moving bubba pickup truck.  The laws of physics tell us that a projectile moving at 60 mph has the impact of a gunshot and can kill you if it strikes you in the appropriate place.  You do understand that those kind of people can't even spell physics, much less understand it's properties?

The safest way to prevent this kind of abuse is to ride with a buddy or a group!  Thank goodness for the Velo Valero Team and those willing to ride with us not so fast riders! 

Valero Team,

I just relocated to San Antonio from Florida and did my first ride up I10 this weekend.  I was riding alone and was picked up by 2 other riders and we were clipping along fine.  A group of 6 Valero riders came up on the left with no warning and went past (ok I can live with that).  We were heading into town against a headwind so I decided to catch the back wheel and draft.  The Valero rider looked back at me during a lead change and knew we were there.  After about a mile we went through an intersection and onto what was clearly a bad section of road with very deep potholes entering into the road from the shoulder.  I went past the potholes, about 2 inches from hitting them, and thought "good lord, no warning to get over, no hand gesture, nothing?" and suddenly I hear a crash in back.  I yelled out "rider down" and went back to see if all was ok.  I looked back at the pack and saw 2 riders look back and then turn and keep riding.  Maybe I'm too helpful but nobody from the pack came back to check on a fellow rider.  It was a rediculous experience that could have easily been prevented with the smallest bit of rider etiquette.  The worst part was that I have told that story to 5 people in 2 days and 3 of them said "yeah I don't ride anywhere near Valero riders because they are terrible on the roads".  Is a new rider to San Antonio, your reputation definitely impacted me.  This is simply an FYI that your good company name is not represented on the roads in reputation or personal experience.

As Captain of the Velo Valero team, I apologize for any part our team members may have played in the negative experience you had on Saturday; however I do not accept your characterization of our team and the event you describe.  I spoke to the riders in question and heard their side of the story.   You are correct that they looked back and saw a rider down, and opted not to provide assistance.  However, their decision was based on two factors.  First of all, they saw three people already assisting the downed rider.  Second, they felt that given the condition of the road and the amount of traffic at the time, it would have been unsafe to make a u-turn and pedal back to provide assistance.   In my view, this was the correct decision.  The mistake we made Saturday was to include that part of the I-10 frontage road on our training route. In retrospect, it is clear that because of the increase in traffic and construction activity along IH-10, it is no longer safe for any cyclist to ride this section of the frontage road.    Therefore, we will not be including this stretch on any future team training rides.

I take great pride in the focus our team puts on safe cycling.    We conduct a safety briefing before each of our organized rides, we conduct periodic workshops on safe cycling for our team members, and we encourage folks to always ride in a group of riders of comparable skill and speed, to use all the standard call-outs for hazards, and to assist fellow cyclists in need.  We also post a number of safety tips on our website.  Since you are new to San Antonio, I am sorry your introduction to Valero’s cycling team has been a negative one and I welcome you to check our training schedule and come out and ride with us sometime, so that you can see first hand our commitment to safe and responsible cycling. 

mtbmarcus,

It is poor form to pass without calling out "On your left." Of course, with the headwind you mentioned, could it be possible that they did call out but you did not hear due to the wind noise?

On another note, do you typically join a pace line and draft with a group of riders you do not know and have not asked if you can jump on the tailend? I know that I do not do that and I do not appreciate someone doing it to me.

Mr. I95301,

I don't believe the headwind was significant enough to prevent me from hearing them.  I would imagine that had they done what you stated, I would have heard them say "One your left" to the two people drafting off me as well as when they said it to me.  Trust me, nobody said a word.

As for your second question on picking up a paceline, the two people I was riding with picked me up on my return and yes I do pick up pacelines and I am picked up very often.  I was drafted off, and I have drafted off, riders again this past weekend and on almost all of the rides I do.  I have never met a paceline that has not wanted another rider to take pulls at the front, nor have I ever been upset when someone drafts off me.  I may get upset if someone is drafting and doesn't want to take a pull, but otherwise I've found it to be a very common practice.  When I jumped onto the Valero team's line, the end rider turned and looked straight at me just after I got on, so I knew he understood I/we were there.  The front rider had not finished taking their pull so I did not feel a need to announce my presence again.  Generally I would have said "3 on the back" when we got settled in and if I anticipated being able to handle the pace.  If I felt the pace was good for me, when the 'pull rider' had finished their time and started drifting back I would have annouced to that rider that there were 3 additional on the back.  Standard practice in all the pacelines I had been in before.  I have met most of my road friends by getting into pacelines and helping.  It's a way to meet people and also to earn respect from them for helping.  You finish the hard part of the ride and start the cool down and make introductions and ask when they will be out again.

I find it very strange to meet a rider that truly thinks it's unacceptable to ride with people you didn't start with?  I've started many group rides and either found the group I started with too fast or too slow and decided to bridge up or drop back to a different group.  Under your rules, I should not do this and should continue riding on my own for the duration of the ride.  I should not assist another rider I come upon who may have bonked and doesn't want to fight the wind, nor should I bridge up to different group and help them pick up their pace if they want to ride faster.  I've been in many pacelines and I have never been upset with someone for jumping on.  I truly hope San Antonio does not follow your way of thinking, otherwise it will be a long lonely road for a new rider or an experienced rider new to the area.

Thank you,  mtbmarcus