Last week, I was in Denver on business. I usually bring workout clothes on my trips and often get up early enough to make my way to the hotel's fitness center. That's exactly what I did on the Wednesday morning of last week. I got in a strenous workout on the recumbent bike while watching the last episode of Netflix's House of Cards. I felt great after the workout and I made it to our Denver office early. About seven hours after my workout, I began experiencing pain in my left inner thigh. By the time I got to the airport that evening, the pain was still there. I could only guess that it was a muscle strain, but I wasn't certain.  

The pain made the flight back to San Antonio an unpleasant experience. If I wanted to move my left leg without experiencing a jolt of severe pain, I had to reach down and move my leg with my hand!  After landing in San Antonio, I walked off the plane by dragging my left foot along the floor.  The pain was intense!

Needless to say, the pain eliminated any thoughts of a workout on Thursday.  Instead, I ended up relaxing and taking an anti-inflammatory for a strained muscle.   I was pain-free by Sunday evening.

Moral of the story - warming up and stretching are not a joke!

Don't forget that Daylight Savings Time begins on Saturday night.  Be sure to move your clocks forward one hour.

 

President's Column

What are we here for?
 
If you’re training for a big ride or  simply riding for the pleasure of it, spring is a great time to enjoy a bike ride.  There are so many options and beautiful rides around our area.  When the weather cooperates and warms up a little bit, we all will start putting in the big miles.
 
Our weekend rides are a great option for getting serious about riding. We offer a great variety of rides every Saturday and Sunday for all levels, with various distances and paces.  We also have stay-together routes on some of our rides.  New riders can learn a great deal through our Rider Education Series, which prepares new riders to safely undertake the sport of cycling.
 
We also organize social events for our members. We are the only local bike club that has a seat on the Bicycle Mobility Advisory Committee (BMAC), which supports the San Antonio - Bexar County Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) on issues related to bicycling facilities. Our charity programs have expanded with donations and volunteer support for different organizations. We are here to promote cycling as a way to improve lives.
 
Our members are the essence of all this--without you this club cannot do much. So, please renew your membership and, if possible, bring new members to our club.  Keep this great organization rolling!
 
Finally, I want to thank Delaine Hall for her help as our social events coordinator. Since she is no longer able to actively participate on the board, we are in need of a new social events coordinator.  The individual in this role is responsible for putting together events like our picnic and holiday party. Please let me know if this is something with which you can help the club.

Thanks and see you on the road!

Jose H. Rojas

Tour de Cure 2014
If you're looking for a fun and challenging charity ride for this year, look no further than our local San Antonio Tour de Cure. This year, the event will take place on Mother's Day weekend on Saturday, May 10, with the start and finish at Retama Park. Route distances include 19, 30, 60 and 100 miles with the return of the ever popular Miracle Mile. The funds raised for this event benefit the American Diabetes Association. San Antonio and Bexar County currently have one of the highest rates of prevalence of diabetes in the country at approximately 14%, which is twice the national average. YOU can make a difference! Ride with the SAW Tour de Cure team and help Stop Diabetes! This is a fully supported ride with lots of rest stops, SAG support, motorcycle and ride marshals, safety and first aid, lots and lots of signs, great food, massages and music at the finish line, and fun activities for the kids as well. You will receive lots of encouragement and gratitude along the way. As a result, you’ll have a huge sense of accomplishment at the end because you will raised money for a great cause that likely impacts someone you know.
 
Come check out what all the hype is about for free on Saturday, March 15, at our Rider Rally, which is also fully supported. Start and finish south of town at the Texas A&M San Antonio campus with route options of 15, 30, and 50 miles. For more information, go to the SAW team page at: http://main.diabetes.org/goto/SAW. You may also contact our team captain, Karl Gilbert, via email or mobile at 210-677-5407.

Síclovía
Síclovía is a free event that turns major city streets in to a safe place for people to exercise and play. The YMCA, HEB, The Mayor's Fitness Council and City of San Antonio, will make 6 miles of San Antonio streets temporarily car-free and during the event, the streets will belong to individuals and families to run, ride bikes, take exercise classes and enjoy their city streets. Visit http://www.ymcasatx.org/siclovia for details.

 

Rider Education Series
We're implementing some changes to RES in 2014  The purpose of the changes is to better prepare the RR101 students to take the RR201 class, to improve the graduation rate for RR201 students, and to encourage RR101/201 graduates to attend the regularly scheduled Wheelmen rides.

The RR101 class will increase from four to five sessions with one session of classroom work followed by four rides (with additional instruction at each ride) gradually increasing in distance from 16 to 33 miles. This will provide one additional ride to help the students improve their skills of riding in a group safely, learning to shift and brake, and enjoying riding on the open road.

The RR201 class will still consist of four rides with instruction before each ride. The emphasis will shift from riding the scheduled Wheelmen ride for that week to improving hill riding skills while gradually increasing the riding distance from 33 miles to 52 miles.

RR101/201 graduates will be invited to join RES instructors at Wheelmen rides for stay-together and no-drop rides.  If you are interested in additional information on the classes or want to volunteer as an RES instructor contact Kelly Sile at 210-601-2919.