President's Column
Welcome to August! We hope that you had an enjoyable cycling month in July. Since there wasn't a great deal of rain during the month, we had plenty of riding opportunities on weekends and during the week.
Last month, we had a couple of special events, the Watermelon Ride at Bullis Park and a SACA-SAW Latte Ride. Both rides were a success as we received a lot of positive feedback.
One bit of feedback reinforced what I've been thinking for a while. The return route for the Gruene Latte Ride, which includes a pleasurable stroll on the Faust Street Bridge, is also a little risky due to the round-about and the "tunnel" on Landa St. As a result, we've decided to offer a different option for the return path.
Instead of turning left on Gruene Road from Kora Kora Coffee and working our way to Faust Street Bridge, two of the three routes will now make a right turn on Gruene Road, go down the steep incline, and head back through Landa Park:
- 36-miler: This less hilly course includes Landa Park in the return path.
- 40-miler: This hilly course includes Landa Park in the return path.
- 40-miler: The classic hilly course includes Faust Street Bridge in the return path.
We look forward to your feedback on the Landa Park return path.
I recently rode with a group that leaves from a bike shop in New Braunfels. The route that the group decided to take included heading north on Youngsford Road until it ended at the intersection with Short Cut Road. Although I've been riding in the area for many years, I'd never taken Youngsford north of FM 1044. I enjoyed that part of Youngsford and the ride on Short Cut. We'll try to incorporate that path into some of our routes.
We know that many of you ride with other cycling groups. Undoubtedly, you've taken routes or roads that aren't in any of the SAW routes. Let us know about the ones that you find particularly enjoyable. We'd love to figure out how we might incorporate them in our rides.
We recently had a new couple become SAW members, Cynthia & John Deaton. They've made a number of our rides and we're happy to have them as members. Welcome to the club, Cynthia and John!
John is our Member of the Month for August. He'll also serve as a ride starter for an upcoming ride in August.
On Saturday, we're riding some of our flattest routes from New Berlin. We'll ride from Bullis County Park on Sunday.
See you on the road!
TdF Challenge
As you know, the 22 year-old, Egan Bernal won this year's edition of the Tour. Geraint Thomas came in second and Steven Kruijswijk came in third. Well, we had some participants in our Challenge who did a solid job of picking the winners. The results:
- Four people correctly chose Egan Bernal as the Yellow Jersey Winner.
- Of those four, two correctly chose Geraint Thomas for second place.
- Of those two, both chose Nairo Quintana for third place. Quintana actually came in eighth place.
Thus, we have two winners, Gabriel Flores & Pedro Balawag, for this year's challenge. They will both receive a 2019 W100 cycling jersey.
Ride Starters
We are looking for ride starters! Anyone who would like to volunteer to start rides, it would be greatly appreciated. Contact Bob Waldo at 210-488-1926.
2019 Wheelmen 100
SAW members, we are a little over 7 weeks from the event. Register!
For a full list of roles that need to be filled, please review our volunteers' page. If you want to volunteer, you can submit your information or contact us.
We want your cycling photos!
During a rest stop or even before or after your ride, take a photo and share it with us! Please send it to photos@sawheelmen.com.
Saturdays are Jersey Rides
Wear your jersey on our Saturday club rides!
Want a SAW jersey? Contact Jerry Hyndman and he’ll get you fixed up.
Bicycle Education
Our next Introduction to Road Riding 101 class starts in September.
Articles
Tour de France, Rules of the Road
the 'Super Tuck'
The Tour de France to Start in Denmark in 2021
You Can Hit a Wall Riding at Home
America's Most Dangerous Cities For Cyclists
Thank You!
Membership
If you recently received an e-mail about renewing your membership, please visit our
membership page. 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
membership@sawheelmen.com
Pedro Balawag
VP, Newsletter
www.sawheelmen.com
