Member of the Month

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For the past four years, Gil Hine as served as the Ride Director of our annual charity ride. He's been the Ride Director of the Wheelmen 100 for the past two years.

He's lived in San Antonio since 1982. And yes, he got here as soon as he could! He is married to Evelyn and has two daughters and four grandchildren ranging in age from 8 to 17.

Last year, Gil sold his company to his current employer, Worldwide Facilities.

Gils started riding a bicycle at age 5 and he's still going strong at age 73!

He's participated in the Hotter'n Hell Hundred since the 1980s with this best friends.

Gil enjoyed cycling vacations to France for the 2004 Tour de France and the 100th edition of the Tour in 2013. During one of these trips, he made it up an iconic climb, Mt. Vontoux. Gil fondly recalls turning the corner just after the ski lodge and seeing the moonscape head!

In 2007, Gil conquered a cross country cycling tour from Los Angelos to Boston. The friendships he made during that event made it his best ride ever.

He currently rides a Trek Project One Edmonda SL. He loves this bike because it fits him like a good pair of shoes.

Be sure to thank Gil for his commitment to our Wheelmen 100 ride when you spot him at one of our weekend rides.

Member of the Month

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Myrna Gonzalez Childress, who joined SAW earlier this year, is a Lead Business Intelligence Analyst at USAA, where she's worked for 20 years. She grew up in San Antonio, spent many summers in Mexico, and lived in Mexico for two years. She obtained a BS in Computer Information Systems from Our Lady of the Lake University. 

Myrna is married to her best friend, James Childress. They enjoy spending time together eating healthy food, riding their Indian Roadmaster Elite motorcycle, traveling, and taking care of their beautiful home and three fur babies:

  • TobyJ – a pitbull/boxer mix

  • HarleyD – a long-haired, standard dachshund

  • MayaB – a French Bulldog

Since Myrna is a French Bulldog fanatic, MayaB is her favorite. She says that she will always have a Frenchie in her life!

Although she started cycling in high school, Myrna didn't ride for decades because life got in the way. After rediscovering her passion for cycling in 2010, she's found time for this great sport ever since. Myrna is a member of E2 Multisports, a local triathlon team lead by Coach Roland Moreno. She's completed six half Ironman (70.3) and two full Ironman (140.6) events! Cycling is her strongest discipline and her favorite part of any triathlon.

She loves her bikes:

  • Celiney - a Cervelo P2 tri bike that she's owned since 2017.

  • Fiona - a Bianchi Infinito road bike that she's owned since 2012.

Of course, Myrna also has a couple of dream bikes:

  • BMC Time Machine TT bike

  • The new road bike from Bianchi

Earlier this year, Myrna took a five-day Bike Trek Travel trip to Vermont! It was an incredible experience. She rode a minimum of forty miles each day, experienced some great lodging and met interesting people. The SAG support during the ride was outstanding. She'd love to take a similar trip in the future.

Member of the Month

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Until recently, Ron Pratt was a long-time runner who occasionally enjoyed the pleasure of a road bike. He rode off and on over the years and had opportunities to ride Turkey, Japan, and Germany. However, since joining the club about six months ago, Ron's become a regular at our weekend rides.

Ron, who is married to Judy, grew up in Minnesota and attended Pharmacy School at North Dakota State University and Dental School at the University of Minnesota. He was a dentist in the Air Force for thirty years, a dentist for the VA for five years, and a pharmacist for the VA for four years. His military career provided him with opportunities to live in Turkey, Japan, Germany, and several locations in the US.

He recently upgraded his primary bike to a Trek Domane SL7 with disc brakes. He is delighted with it!

When Ron isn't on the bike, he enjoys classic cars/motorcycles, traveling, and reading.

Member of the Month

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Bridget Archer started riding seven years ago. She has three children and is married to Michael Archer. They joined the club over six years ago. 

After graduating from Texas A&M, she taught school for thirteen years. Bridget has been a real estate agent for the past twenty years. She currently is an agent for Kuper Sotheby’s International Realty.

Bridget, who currently serves on our board as the Secretary, rides a Specialized Ruby S-Works. Of course, she'd love to be riding the latest S-Works! 

Since she's been cycling, Bridget has enjoyed the Fort Davis Cycle Fest and the Hotter than Hell 100. She's also completed rides in California, Montana, and Wyoming. She and Michael greatly enjoyed America's Most Beautiful Ride, a scenic ride around Lake Tahoe.

Bridget has also served on the board of the Ronald McDonald House Charities for the last five years.


Thank you!

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The Wheelmen board would like to thank the cyclists who joined the club or renewed their membership in June 2019:

Sandy Barsun
Marlon Borja
Claudia Bravo
Arlene Castellanos & Stephen Marasco
Mike Cottrell
John and Cynthia Deaton
Katie Dietsch
Patty and Steve Hale
Scott Harris
Larry Meyer
Richard Moore
Lydia Placzek
Mark Pyrc
Robert Ross
Robert Sailer and Laura Skillern
Jorge Tijerina
John Tenison
John Vega
R Michael Williams

Thank you!

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The Wheelmen board would like to thank the cyclists who joined SAW or renewed their membership in October 2018:

Marlen Baca
John Bauml
Bob Belgam
Bill Blackford
Ben Carsten
Michele Davis
Cather Nolan-Ferrell & Robert Ferrell
Michael & Jennifer Forsyth
Steve Gray
Thomas Harmon
Janette Kasper
Edward Kotzur
Susan & Don O’Brien
Steven Patrick
Steph & Sam Pepi
Samuel Perez III
Jorge Tijerina


Member of the Month

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Eric evans is third from the left.

Eric evans is third from the left.

We'd like to offer a warm welcome to our newest board member, Eric Evans. Eric, who is now our VP of Membership, is originally from Oregon and has been a SAW member since 2016. He is currently a software engineer for Wikipedia and is also a volunteer developer for the Apache Software Foundation and the Debian GNU/Linux project.  

Eric and his wife, Darla, are blessed with two children. Their daughter is studying to become veterinarian. And their son has made them grandparents with a five-year old daughter of his own.

Although he’s been on a bike for a good part of a quarter of a century, it’s only during the last four years that he’s become a serious road cyclist. His Texas rides include Ft. Davis Cyclefest and the Mount Locke Climb on his Orbea Avant. His all-time favorite ride is The Paradise Loop in California. Of course, he enjoys our local club rides. His favorite club ride is our Garden Ridge-Gruene Latte ride.

When Eric is out of town on business, he combines work with pleasure by renting a road bikes. He's had great rides in Geneva, Vancouver, San Francisco, Montreal, Valencia, and Cape Town. 

When he's not riding, he enjoys brewing beer. Be sure to catch Eric on one our club rides!