Member of the Month

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Robert Waldo joined the club in the spring of 2017. He’s served as our Ride Chairperson since 2019. Bob has also supported our charity ride, the Wheelmen 100, in a volunteer role.

Bob grew up in Jackson, Michigan, and joined the Army right after high school. He is a West Point graduate and served in the US Army for 10 years. 

One of the jobs he held after leaving the Army was selling Mercedes and Porsches. For the past 11 years, he’s lived in San Antonio and is employed in Technical Support for Becton Dickinson.

He’s been riding bikes for many years. He primarily road cruiser bikes. When Bob was stationed in Panama, he rode bikes everywhere. He didn’t own a road bike until he joined our club.

Two of his favorite rides are the Shiner G.A.S.P and the Fiesta Wildflower.

He currently rides a Trek 1.1 and would love to own a Trek Domain SL 5.

When he’s not riding, Bob enjoys scuba diving, especially in the Central America area.

Be sure to thank Bob for serving as our ride chair. And, if you have any suggestions for a new route, please let him know!

 

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.

W100 Route Review Ride on Labor Day

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We are reviewing the routes of the Wheelmen 100 and we would love to have your help in this task! Yes, you can get in a great Labor Day ride and help us ensure that the routes do not require modification due to significant road surface or environmental changes on the course.

No, you will not need to ride the full 100, 63, or 44-mile routes of the Wheelmen 100! Instead, you can ride one of the following sections:

The plan is for everyone to meet at the Whataburger at I-10 & 1604 for maps and instructions. We will provide you with paper maps and pencils so that you can make notes during your review of your section.

Since our four sections must cover all roads included in the Wheelmen 100, there are three different start locations for the four sections. After our pre-brief at Whataburger, we’ll all depart for one of the start locations and begin our ride. Once you complete your section, you’ll return to the Whataburger for a review of your feedback. Lunch will follow! 

Sections A, B, & D do not have any convenience stores--be sure to bring at least two bottles of water if you plan to ride one of these sections! 

There will be two or more people reviewing each section. If you wish to help us with our route reviews, please contact Bill @ 469-693-8247 or Tony @ 210-865-2645.

We hope to see you on Monday!

Tony Beauford
President, San Antonio Wheelmen

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.


Member of the Month

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John Deaton started riding with the club around May 2019 and he joined a month later. He and his wife, Cindy, decided to join the club because they felt welcomed and enjoyed riding with us.

He grew up in Atlanta and attended the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine. John owned multiple veterinary hospitals and worked for Banfield the Pet Hospital for 10 years.

For the last 11 years, he’s been Deputy Chief, Department of Veterinary Science and was recently promoted to XO to a Deputy of the Commanding General at Ft. Sam Houston. Previously, he served in the US Army as a Scout/Sniper for the 1st Ranger Battalion and completed multiple deployments.

He’s been a road cyclist for most of his life, but just started riding again a year ago after 10 years off the bike.  As a result of him getting back into fitness, John lost 80 pounds in one year! He told us that Cindy played a big role in his achievement because she’s been the best riding and diet partner. She’s been with him for the entire journey and every pedal stroke and is a success story in her on right.

John rides a 2018 Trek Domane and would love to have a Canyon Ultimate CF Evo Disc with SRAM Red eTap AXS.

One of his favorite rides is the Gruene Latte ride, which offers a few nice hills, great scenery and a chance to ride through historic Gruene. He usually joins us for all of the rides that start in or near the Cibolo area.

He and Cindy are currently training for the Wheelmen 100.

When John’s not riding, he enjoys guitar, darts and tinkering with his bike.

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