Member of the Month for January 2012

/

San Antonio Wheelmen are ringing in the New Year with Jeannette Burris (on the left in the photo) as our first member of the month for 2012. Jeannette started with SAW in 2006 as a RES class student, preparing for her first event, the BP MS 150. She ended up having a successful and enjoyable 167 mile, two-day ride and soon after, she started helping with the RES classes.

Later in 2006, Jeanette was elected as SAW Treasurer, and continues to serve in that position. Cibolo ride fans recognize her as a co-starter of the Cibolo ride each month, and she has also started the Freiheit and Woman Hollering Creek rides. She assisted with the Easter Hill Country tour when SAW hosted it three years ago and proudly serves as the PB&J queen at the SAW rest stop each year for the Tour de Cure. Additionally she often leads stay-together rides and is frequently heard inviting RES grads to ride. She also volunteered to help with some city events including the kickoff for the San Antonio “B-Cycle” bicycle sharing program.

 Jeanette started road riding in 2006 and mountain biking in 2007. She enjoys the road riding because it lets her chat with friends and see all the many RES students she’s met thru the classes that are continuing to ride.  She also professes a love for mountain biking and the “challenge trying to dodge trees and rocks, sometimes not so successfully.”  Jeanette’s road bike is a 2006 Bianchi Eros Donna, and she is completely in love with it and has no interest in trading it for another. 

The longest ride she has completed was the MS 150 from Houston to Austin, but says her hardest ride was the mountain biking portion of an adventure race at Camp Eagle. Appropriately enough, Jeanette’s favorite rides are the Cibolo ride, because of all the friends she has been able to see each and every month for over 3 years. Jeanette says, “It’s like a social event and that’s what I love about biking.”  Her favorite ride for scenery though, is a mountain bike ride at Camp Eagle in Rocksprings, Texas.

Jeanette is constantly on the move, taking on three to four sprint triathlons, one or two adventure races, and a few kayak or canoe races each year. She likes to mix these up and do races that involve all aspects as well.  She started doing these activities when she turned 50 and feels that this activity “keeps me healthy and definitely happy.”  For her 55th birthday, she challenged herself with a 100 mile canoe race, the Colorado River 100. Jeanette and her teammate finished in 19:53:26 to earn a 3rd place finish, and she notes, “We are proud to say that we were one of 133 finishing teams out of 260+ teams to start the race.”

She and her husband of 36 years, Michael Burris, have three grown children and two grandsons. Although she grew up in San Antonio, she spent 27 years in Alice, Texas. Despite moving back to San Antonio five and a half years ago for her husband’s job, she remains Administrator for the Alice Heart & Vascular Center, commuting for a few days each week, and then working remotely from home on the other days.   

Jeanette says, “I know that taking the RES class in 2006 and then successfully completing the MS 150 gave me the idea that I could do anything with great teaching, some good preparation, and a lot of help from friends.”

Please join us in a tip of our helmets to Jeanette Burris, SAW Member of the Month for January 2012!

Member of the Month for December 2011

/

Fellow riders, please join the San Antonio Wheelmen in recognizing Shawn Gordon as the December 2012 Member of the Month. Shawn and his girlfriend, Melissa Mintern, have been active members since November 2010. He is also a Road Riding 101/201 graduate and has been an instructor for several classes this year, usually encouraging our new riders to “stretch their legs” at the close of outings.

Shawn loves riding the downtown San Antonio area, and is the leader of the monthly Urban Breakfast Ride. Companions on these rides have seen him pedaling his current bike, a 2009 Fuji Roubaix, but Shawn will be checking under the Christmas tree for a Orbea Orca (preferably in orange), which is his current favorite.

With about a year and a half riding experience under his belt, he currently is focused on road riding, but would like to expand into mountain biking as well. He took on his first “event ride” this year, completing the MS 150 from Houston to Austin, and now has his sights on the Hotter'N Hell next year as well as Houston to Austin and San Antonio to New Braunfels MS 150's,

When he is not leading rides, Shawn is a sales representative for Lincare Home Respiratory.

Congratulations to the December 2011 Wheelmen Member of the Month, Shawn Gordon!

Member of the Month for November 2011

/

The Wheelmen member of the month for November almost needs no introduction.  Graduates of the 101 and 201 rider education courses are very familiar with Tom Manning’s friendly instruction and encouragement, both as a training ride leader, and as lead instructor.  Others may know him as a Wheelmen board member and Ride Committee Chair, setting up the ride schedule, and keeping us all in the know.  Tom is also working on being the Director of the Easter Hill Country Tour, which SAW sponsors in 2013.  Keep reading as we highlight some things you may not know about our November member of the month.

Tom has been a Wheelmen member since 2009, and has been an active rider for three years now, (though he wishes he had started years ago).  Most of his rides have been in San Antonio and surrounding areas, but he can also claim the “Bike the Drive” in Chicago and a tour in the Michigan Amish country as accomplishments, and is presently planning a trip to Vermont.

His current bike of choice is the Giant Advanced Defy road bike, although like many of us, he is still looking for the one bike that gets him up all hills effortlessly; might be a long search, but here’s wishing him luck!  “Any ride that starts with a cool morning breeze and finishes in the warm sun.” is Tom’s idea of a perfect ride, as many of us can appreciate.  He also admits to being partial to a ride from Bullis Park to Boerne, because a cappuccino and pastry await him at the Bear Moon Bakery.

Tom grew up in Chicago, graduated from the University of Illinois, and completed his post-grad work at Miami University, Ohio.  He served in the Air Force as a Russian linguist, and recently retired in 2010 as Chief Historian, Randolph Air Force Base.  He is married to Barbara Manning, and when not riding, is busy keeping his wine refrigerator full (or maybe emptying it is a better way to put it), sailing, reading (particularly history), and figuring out his new iPhone. 

Join us in saluting Tom Manning, Wheelmen Member of the Month, November 2011.

Member of the Month for Ocotber 2011

/

If you have attended a Wheelmen ride started by Jerry Hyndman you will remember the booming voice and ready whit at the pre-ride briefing. Jerry is a very outgoing person who makes bike rides fun and interesting. Some of us remember the 2009 EHCT where He managed to lock his keys in the car (it may have been running at the time!) and where the Kerrville police issued an “all points bulletin” when he forgot to pay his breakfast bill! To Jerry those were just normal bicycling adventures.

Jerry has been a Wheelmen member for 10 years and has served on the Board as Executive Vice President and Ride Committee Chair. He assisted with the EHCT several times, has been a ride starter, and initiated the Schwapenbike program for the annual picnic. He was also an instructor for one of the early Rider Education classes. He did several special projects for the Board including our early attempts to join the electronic era with Facebook and a Wheelmen Blog. Jerry is always willing to help the Club when volunteers are needed.

Jerry has been a road bike rider for the past 22 years. He currently rides an older Trek 2100 but his dream bike is an Orbea.  He has a done a variety of rides in the U.S. and overseas including Provence, France, the Hill Country River Region Challenge, the Ft. Davis Cyclefest, the Schulenburg Steeple Chase and the MS150 Bike to the Brazos. A highlight of his cycling experience was riding in the Alps and Pyrenees during the ’04 and ’05 Tour de France. His favorite ride was Mont Ventoux in France. He also had a unique experience one morning riding downhill in Westover Hills when an owl swooped down and flew alongside him.

Jerry was raised in Corpus Christi and attended Texas A&M, graduating with the “fighting class” of ’74. He served as an officer in the Marine Corps and is presently employed by Pratt & Whitney here in San Antonio. His hobbies include collecting rhinos (I assume he has a big back yard!) and Star Trek Borg items. Jerry and his wife Judith have been married for 15 Years and have three children.

Member of the Month for September 2011

/

Tony Beauford joined the Wheelmen in 2003 and has been a very active club member since that time.  He has lived in the San Antonio area for over 24 years and wishes that he had been riding for that long.  He has been the Wheelmen Vice President,  Membership for the past 2 years and does an outstanding job keeping the membership renewals and records for over 400 members up-to-date.

Tony become a roadie when some of his friends in a spin class convinced him that he should give it a try.  After borrowing a friend’s road bike for a weekend of riding, he decided to buy a road bike and has been an avid rider ever since.  He eventually joined the Wheelmen for the camaraderie and the variety of weekend rides.  Two of his favorite rides are Bullis County Park and Cibolo. He rides to Cibolo, usually does one of the longer routes, and when the rest of us are getting ready for a cold drink and lunch he's riding home!

Last year, Tony had an opportunity to take one of his dream vacations.  He went to France for the last two weeks of the Tour de France where he rode a number of the climbs and got to see the race up close.  While the climbs were challenging, he never once got off his bike--even if he was only going 8 mph!  His favorite climb was the Col du Tourmalet. Those who watch the Tour regularly will recognize this as one of the most challenging climbs on the Tour. He would love to take a similar trip during the Giro d'Italia. 

He currently rides a Cervelo R3SL with SRAM Red components.

Tony also enjoys participating in a number of charity rides each year.  One of his favorite charity rides is the Tour de Cure.  He likes to hammer during first day with the front pack and then ride with his team on the second day.

He  has been in the telecommunications industry for the past 20 years.  Today, he helps companies build service provider networks.  His team was involved in bringing Wi-Fi service to airline flights.  He now enjoys using that service during his flights around the country.

Join Tony for the next ride in Cibolo!

Member of the Month for August 2011

/

John Yoggerst has been a Wheelmen member since 1989 which makes him a senior member of the club. He served the Club as treasurer and has been a prolific ride starter/leader and participant in special events. He currently serves as the economic development member on the Bicycle Mobility Advisory Committee.

Club members who do the monthly Boerne ride (Is This the Last Hill) will recognize John as the ride leader for one of the most popular Wheelmen rides. John developed the Boerne ride and has been the ride leader for the past 18 years – that has to be a record. He does an outstanding job keeping track of road conditions on the various Boerne routes and occasionally provides SAG support for the ride. The great scenery and roads on this ride mean a large turnout every month in spite of the numerous hills.

John rides an older model Trek 5200 that has seen too many miles to count. His choice for a new bike would be a newer Trek 5200. However, he and the current bike have done countless rides together and he still enjoys riding it. His favorite ride on the Trek is leaving his house and riding from Camp Bullis to Scenic Loop and then to Toutant Beauregard then back home via Scenic Loop. He says it is close to his house, no gas wasted driving to a ride start, and he gets 35 hilly miles. He does nearly all of his riding in the San Antonio area. He likes to ride because: “It makes me appreciate a cold beer after the ride”.

John and his partner Diana have been together for nine years. He is an Illinois native who attended college in St Louis and has lived in San Antonio since 1974. John does real estate development and also does financial restructuring and assists clients in the sale of their business. He is currently working on a small hotel conversion. John is currently a member of the Texas Credit Union Commission and a former member of the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality.

Join John for the next monthly ride in Boerne.

Member of the Month for July 2011

/

Edmond (Ed) Shadrock is a native of San Antonio. He grew up on the banks of the San Antonio River and rode frequently on Mission Road (river road) from King William's Roosevelt Park to Bergs Mill at Mission San Juan. He joined the Wheelmen in 1985 and for the last three years has been the ride leader for the quarterly Elmendorf ride. Those who do that ride are familiar with his friendly, helpful attitude. He is a great riding companion.

Ed formerly rode a fluorescent orange Italian Tomasso (all iron and vintage Campy) bicycle. He recently upgraded to a black and gold GT Series, which may not be as classic as the old bike but sure looks great. He was a strong rider on the old bike, but is even stronger with the new bike. In the 1950's, Ed worked a downtown shoe-shine route on a knee-action Schwinn with two inch knobby's! He has come a long ways as a rider since those days.

Ed has been active in a variety of San Antonio bicycling activities for a number of years. He helped plan and conduct the MS Society's first charity ride from UTSA to Fredericksburg. Over the past five years he organized and led rides for Chain Reaction, the Cyclones, the Hill Country Bicycle Touring Club and the Wheelmen. He helped organize and develop routes for the first LaVernia Hammerfest Ride which has become a very popular annual event enjoyed by numerous area riders. He has also promoted Southside cycling by publishing a webpage of area-specific route maps

While Ed also has a competitive streak. In 2006 and again in 2010 he competed in the San Antonio Senior Games. In the 2006 Games, Ed took second place in the 20k and 40k road races. In the 2010 Games he took second place in the 10k time trial.

Join Ed the next time the Wheelmen ride at Elmendorf. He runs a great ride and you will enjoy the experience.  Even better, ride the 44 mile route