On behalf of Bicycle Sport Shop I would like to thank the town of Blanco for hosting our 3rd Annual Bicycle Sport Shop Real Ale Ride. This was the best Real Ale Ride yet and we could not have done it without your support. I would like to extend a special thank you to Mayor Tina Gourley for stopping by to speak with our participants and lead out our ride. Blanco is very lucky to have such an energetic leader at the helm.

The ride began right on time at 7:30am. The light cloud cover at the beginning of the ride provided a cool start for participants. The first to go were our 80 milers followed by the 65, 50, 30 and 15 milers. As Ride Director I’ve been too busy in years past to participate but this year the event was going so smoothly I decided I would join the fun. I stopped at rest stop one for a water bottle refill. Where I found the riders still light hearted and cheery. There seemed to be a great mix of rookies and seasoned cyclists, all of them expressing how beautiful the scenery was and how steep the hills were. On the 30 and 50 mile courses there were a few kickers that climbed a little more than 300 feet in a mile causing a few riders to dismount and walk, but the epic views of the valley from the top of those monster hills was worth the struggle.

I got a great picture at the top of Baby Everest. “Baby Everest” is the steepest climb on the course and comes up between rest stops 1 and 2. I am sure that hill caused a few riders to make resolutions for next year’s ride; you could almost hear people saying to themselves “you will not make me walk next year!” Thank you to Connie Grandburg and family for the use of your property for rest stop number 2. I think our riders were ready for a much needed stretch and a refill. We continued to wind our way along the Blanco River back to 1623 and past the new site for the Blanco Library.

I could smell Bonnie Riley’s BBQ from Main and 281 when I made the left to head back in. It was like one of the old cartoons where the wafting aroma took on physical form and carried me the last mile. The clouds were melting and the sun was beginning to warm up now so that cold beer, bbq and seat in the ice cold baby pool were just what I needed post ride. Top that off with some good old fashioned bluegrass and you’d think you were in heaven. Well we were in Blanco so maybe that’s not too far from the truth.

So once again we would like to thank all of the local businesses for your continued support. People are already looking forward to next year’s ride and encouraging their friends who didn’t make it to join in the celebration.

If you did not have an opportunity to participate in this year’s ride as a volunteer, sponsor or participant please contact us. We would like to include you in the 2010 Real Ale Ride.