The Tour de Gap 2009 is officially over. Thanks so much to everyone who rode, sponsored, and volunteered. As we've said before, it's a great ride for a great cause, and with everyone's help the Tour de Gap raised thousands of dollars for the Food Bank of West Central Texas. The final numbers are not in yet, but we are closing in on proceeds of $10,000. That does a lot to help fight hunger in the Big Country and could not have been done without everyone's participation.
A special thanks goes out to our sponsors:
Wheel Sponsor
BikeTown
Chain Sponsors
Domino's Pizza
Levrets Ink
Abilene Bicycling Club
Handlebar Sponsors
Allen Law Firm - Greg Allen
Ear, Nose & Throat Specialists of Abilene - Dr. Braaten and Dr. Goodnight
Women's Health Professionals of Abilene - Dr. Tadvick
First Financial Bank
Pedal Sponsors
Sterling Volkswagen
Mayor's Council on Physical Fitness
Senter Realtors
Abilene Teachers Federal Credit Union
Xerox
American State Bank
LePrint Express
Lawrence Hall
Perry Hunter Hall
Robert R. Hawley, DDS, FACP
Automated Copy Systems
United Supermarkets
We also want to say thanks to John and Peggy Brolls who let us use the Old Settlers Reunion Grounds, the South Taylor County Emergency Services for volunteering as the EMTs, and RPM Direct for broadcasting the Tour de France. There were also several groups who volunteered to staff the rest stops. They included the Food Bank, the Boy Scouts, the Lion's Club, and ENT Specialists of Abilene. And, of course, thanks to everyone at the pavilion area who helped with registration, food, marking the course, setting up, ... the list could go on and on. As you can tell it takes a lot of people to make something like the Tour de Gap happen. Thanks to you all!
All right - you've waded through all the thanks - on to the results. Go to this link - www.cadencesportsonline.com/results.cfm - and check out all the results. Only riders who wore the timing chip will show up on this list.
Check out this link for some cool pictures from the Abilene Reporter News:
www.reporternews.com/photos/galleries/2009/jul/25/tour-de-gap
Lorraine Wilson, a rider on the 27 mile route, sent us some pictures from the pavilion area. I will get those posted in the next few days.
Thanks again to everyone who participated. Go ahead and make plans on joining us next year for Tour de Gap 2010!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Tour de Gap 2009 Results
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Tour de Gap This Saturday
All right - this Saturday is the Tour de Gap! If you haven't already registered you can still sign up the morning of the event. Registration and packet pick-up will start at 6:30 am at the Old Settlers Reunion Grounds in Buffalo Gap. Everyone will be getting a timing chip this year, so give yourself enough time to go through that line.
RPM Direct will be setting up a booth at the pavilion area and will be broadcasting the Tour de France throughout the day. There will also be several varieties of La Popular burritos available mid-morning, so make plans to relax a bit after your ride, enjoy the burritos, and watch the climb up Mount Ventoux on the Tour de France.
There are prizes for the top three finishers in each category of the 77 mile route. There are also raffles for each route. Keep your bib number and be listening for the announcement to turn them in as your entry in the raffle.
Here is the schedule for the 2009 Tour de Gap:
6:30-7:50 am - Registration
7:50 - Line up at the start area/Pre-ride announcements
8:00 - 77 mile start
8:05 - 52 mile start
8:10 - 27 mile start
8:15 - 11 mile start
9:00 - Brunch/lunch (La Popular) available at the pavilion area
9:45 - 11 mile raffle*
10:45 - 27 mile raffle*
12:00 - 52 mile raffle*
12:30 - 77 mile prizes*
1:15 - 77 mile raffle*
2:00 - Routes close
* Must be present to claim raffle/prize
It's going to be a great ride for a great cause, so come on out and help support the Food Bank of West Central Texas while enjoying a bike ride!
Thursday, July 16, 2009
TMBRA Spring Series Final Results
Friday, July 3, 2009
July Road Time Trial Results
Wooh - it was hot out at the time trial. Times were pretty impressive given the heat. Here are the results:
1. Josh Brown - 24:10
2. Jason Frazee - 24:22
3. Joel Thompson - 24:51
4. JR Brock - 25:19
5. Paul Patterson - 25:32
6. Adam Gerow - 27:12
7. John Cope - 27:31
8. Patrick Stevenson - 27:33
9. Chuck Patton - 27:36
10. Baylor Blessing - 27:37
11. Rob Atkinson - 27:41
12. Derrick Oakley - 28:48
13. Craig Jones - 29:15
14. Allen Wilson - 29:21
15. Mike Thomeson - 30:03
16. Patrice Sharbutt - 33:37
17. Albert Sharbutt - 36:36
See y'all next month - same time, same place!
Tour de Gap Sponsor Spotlight - Food Bank
The Tour de Gap doesn't happen without a lot of help from people and businesses in the community. These people give their help quite willingly because they know that the Tour de Gap benefits a great cause - the Food Bank of West Central Texas. To show our appreciation to these sponsors, we will be having sponsor spotlights on our blog throughout this month. To start things off, it might be good to highlight the reason behind the ride - the Food Bank.
In the 13 county service area of the Food Bank of West Central Texas (FBWCT), approximately 50,000 people live in poverty and too often miss meals or experience hunger. The Food Bank's clients include working-poor families with needy children, seniors subsisting on fixed incomes, and possibly even you or your neighbors in times of disaster. Nearly 30% of the families seeking emergency food have at least one member working. "Under-employment" leaves families with low incomes needing help just to provide basic nutrition.
While one out of every five adults and one out of every four children in the Big Country lives in poverty and has difficulty meeting basic nutritional needs, enormous quantities of surplus food are available from the the food industry and food manufacturers. That is where the Food Bank comes in. Since 1983, the mission of the FBWCT has been "helping to fight hunger in the Big Country by providing food to non-profit organizations that feed the hungry."
The FBWCT distributes emergency food through 150 partner agencies in 13 counties of West Central Texas (Fisher, Jones, Shackelford, Stephens, Mitchell, Nolan, Taylor, Callahan, Eastland, Runnels, Coleman, Brown, and Comanche). Our partner agencies include church pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after school programs serving disadvantaged children, daycare centers, senior citizen centers, and rehabilitation facilities. Sometimes saving and always seeking to improve lives, these agencies are literally the safety net for Texas' Big Country. By partnering with the FBWCT, these agencies vastly extend their own wonderful missions. This could mean an additional home counselor at an abused women's shelter, or the ability to pay the medication costs of a senior choosing between food and medication.
As our community's #1 safety net for hungry people, the FBWCT has a remarkable ability to recover fresh, frozen, canned, and boxed food and to redistribute it to those who are in need. In fact, for every $10 donated, we provide enough food for 45 meals - an amazing multiplier effect that is rarely matched in the non-profit community.
The FBWCT recovers food from national manufacturers and retailers, supermarkets, food distributors, the USDA, farmers, wholesalers, sportsmen, and through food and fund drives. In the last year, the FBWCT distributed 3 million pounds of emergency food representing an annual wholesale value to our community of $4,650,000.
As you can see, the Food Bank provides an essential service to our community. For more information about the Food Bank and to read more about their programs, visit www.fbwct.org .
You can help the Food Bank by participating in the Tour de Gap. All of your entry fee goes to them. If they can provide 45 meals for every $10, that means your entry fee can provide food for 135 meals! That's impressive. Many thanks go out to the Food Bank and their employees for all the work they do for our community. Let's help them as much as we can!
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Tour de Gap Reminder
Just a reminder that preregistration for the Tour de Gap ends this Friday, July 3. You can register all the way up through the morning of the event, but if you want to save a little cash, get those registration forms in by Friday! You can drop off your form and payment at the Food Bank or at BikeTown. If you are from out of town, just have it postmarked by Friday. There are registration forms at BikeTown or you can print one off from this link:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/16311709/Tour-de-Gap-2009-Registration
July ABC Road Time Trial
Tomorrow is the July version of the ABC time trial. The times have been getting faster. Let's see what this month holds! Here's the directions for everyone:
Meet at Mueller's on FM 18. Registration will be at 6:00 and the first rider will take off at 6:30. It is the same 10 mile loop as last year. Once again, there is a fee of a non-perishable food item to be donated to the Food Bank. This year, all donations will be made in the memory of Don Dunston.
For those who have not been before, FM 18 is off of HWY 36 right before the airport. Turn left (east) onto FM 18 and drive for a mile or so. Mueller's will be on your right. Just park in their parking lot and get ready to ride. This is a great way to see how well you are riding and to see how you improve over the season. Come on out and give it a try. Everyone is welcome!