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Thank God for volunteers

Nothing like a warm, windy day to get the bicycling juices going. We hit the low 80s today, so I went out for a 20-mile ride in the early afternoon.

After that, it was back to work on the Tour de Stooges, which will be Saturday, May 6, at McKendree College in Lebanon, Ill. I drove out to the Lebanon area to make arrangements for the all-you-can-eat buffet at the end of the ride, take a look at some of the roads to make sure there isn't some detour I have to worry about and see Joe Crabtree, who has hosted the final rest stop the past few years on the 30-, 42- and 63-mile routes. It's always a pleasure to see Joe, and he's ready for us!

I suppose I get much of the credit for the success of the ride, but it's really people like Joe who make the ride what it is. Knowing that I have friendly, helpful people at the rest stops makes my job as ride coordinator a whole lot easier. Then, there's Randy Gall of the Troy Knights of Columbus, who has made the Knights' property open to us every single year of the Tour de Stooges. Randy is there bright and early to help me set up the first rest stop, and all he asks for is a T-shirt. I am most willing to oblige.

There's also Dawn Weber, the manager of the Touring Cyclist shop in Belleville. Every year, I help her shop's biathlon at the trickiest intersection of the route, the Illinois 159-Milburn School Road intersection, and she returns the favor by handling the Highland rest stop on Stooges.

While I'm out trying to deal with issues on the course in the morning, Laurie Wild-Schultz helps keeps things moving at registration. Laurie is a tireless volunteer for Gateway Council of Hostelling International, and her job isn't over when registration. She then keeps the films rolling during brunch, again allow me to handle more issues on the course.

I would be amiss if I didn't mention The Cyclery in Edwardsville. The Cyclery has handled sag support for the ride from the beginning. Steve Parks and his crew have always been good to the Tour de Stooges.

Finally, there are the numerous volunteers who handle parking and registration at McKendree. Their job got a lot tougher when nearly 500 people showed up for the ride last year, more than twice as many as in any previous year. We're expecting at least that many this year, and I know they will be up for the task.

We still need a bit of help with this year's ride. I would feel more comfortable if I had another sag driver, and I'm need of people to handle the New Baden rest stop for the 63-mile route. If you're inclined to help, contact me at tourdestooges@rogerkramercycling.org.

Pre-registration is going well, and we're now hoping the weather will cooperate with us. We encourage you to pre-register for the ride -- you get a substantial discount if you do -- and you can do that at the ride's Web site.

Roger 0 comments 11:48 PM