Spring is here!
It's mid April already--time flies. The weather has been great lately and I guess many of us are taking advantage of it—there are some big rides to do. The Easter Hill Country Tour starts on Friday. I love riding in the hill country and I'm planning to do all three days of EHCT. Of course, if you don't want to pay for a ride, you should join us on one of our weekend rides, like Big Joshua or the Gruene Latte Ride.
Speaking of great rides, the club will host its annual Independence Day ride in Fredericksburg. We'll have routes of 35 and 55 miles. All routes will be fully marked! The ride will include a rest stop and will be followed by a picnic. If you plan to attend, or have any questions about the ride, or would like to know how you can help us make it a success, please e-mail Andy Hinck.
In other matters, a club member, Joe Bray, proposed that SAW support a wounded warrior for a ride event in November. Donors and members could join the ride from Austin to San Antonio. The club board approved to match up to $750 of funds raised. If you want to help with this cause please contact me at president@sawheelmen.com.
We'd like to thank Jennifer Barton, a new member of the club, for volunteering to serve as our Social Events Coordinator. Jennifer will be in charge of planning our social events during the year. We can always use more members like Jennifer. Please consider volunteering to help the club.
Have a great spring. 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.
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.
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 next Road Riding 101 class will start on May 31.
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. The next Road Riding 201 class will start on April 26.
RR101/201 graduates will be invited to join RES instructors at Wheelmen rides for stay-together and no-drop rides.
Please visit our web site for details on the classes. Contact info@sawheelmen.com if you're interested in taking either class.
If you recently received an e-mail about renewing your membership, you can do so on
. You can also complete the
, print it, sign it, and mail it to us. We need your membership and we're constantly looking for your feedback on how we can improve the club. Please feel free to e-mail your suggestions to
The latest Wheelmen jersey has the same great design, but more lightweight material! Please contact
