Reported by Stephen Whalen

Another big weekend for Big D! Twan, Hincie, Chip and I traveled to St. Louis to participate in the Ronald McDonald House Charity timed 100 mile Fondo hosted by our teammate Todd Seabaugh. With over 300 participants signed-up, more then $200K in donations tallied, a fairly flat course and great food this ride looked like it was going to be alot of fun. Unfortunately, we have not had much luck with the weather in St. Louis the past couple of trips and this week end was no different. After arriving at the race course under very dark skies for a 6:40am start we were told by the race officials to seek cover immediately. Within 2 minutes we were deluged with 50mph winds and lots of rain. After the first storm passed the race officials decided to start the race 1 hour later (in the remaining drizzle). Nothing like trying to form a pace line in the rain! Not too mention the sand detours along the Mississippi river. But in the end our traveling contingent took care of business.

Hincie – 1st place 40-49 division
Twan – 2nd place 40-49 division
Chip – 2nd place 50+ division

Whaledoggey provided spotting help for the race chairman and insured the beer was kept at the optimal temperature during the day as the sun broke through and heated up the last 40 miles for our boys. All in all a very quick in and out trip. Many thanks again to our hosts, the Seabaugh’s who have an awesome home and Miss Emily’s pancakes, the best in the world! Also thanks to Twan for providing the team Expedition which also doubled as a great storm shelter. Looks like we will be adding more Big D riders to the roster from St. Louis in the near future and should plan on adding more St. Louis races to our calendar in 2012.