Texas - New Route for Valero Bike MS Ride in October

http://nationalmssociety.org/chapters/bikeMSValero2009/index.aspx

I was not a huge fan of changing this ride in the first place, and of the available destinations and routes they could have chosen, this ranks pretty close to the bottom of my list. It seems pretty insane to me to plan to have riders going both directions on the River Road at the end of 80ish miles on a fall weekend afternoon. There simply isn't that much space on that road, and mixing significant numbers of riders going both directions with cars potentially full of inebriated river tuber/rafters is just poor planning if you ask me.

Looked at the new route and I agree. I know that the desire to get more riders is behind the change. After looking at the new route, the kid and I are on the fence on riding or not...

If it makes you feel any better...by the time October comes around, there may not be any water left in the river to lure the alky sipping tubers/rafters.

I just looked at the route also - and I would much rather head to the beach myself.

SQ

Unless I am mistaken, a desire to shorten the supply chain and reduce logistics demands was the primary driver behind the change. That and a desire for a more populous and high profile finish location. If you look at the Houston to Austin ride, the finish in Austin is a BIG deal...thousands turn out, it is a picturesque setting, which all equals good publicity for the ride and the cause. Look at what they did with the Dallas ride a few years back. They changed the route to make it use some of the same break points for both days and to shorten the distance the others have to move. They kept it close to urban areas so there are plenty of hotel rooms available (thus lower demand for facilities at the campground). They arranged the finish to happen in downtown Fort Worth instead of Ardmore so it would be more like the Austin finish is now.

The same themes all are present now in the San Antonio route. They can use the same breakpoints both days. The overnight in NB gives lots of hotel rooms (and lots of people's homes) within 30-45 minutes of the day 2 start. The downtown finish is more high profile and should get better turnout. The only problem in my mind is that they don't seem to have given much thought to rider safety when picking the route. Taking 3,000 riders down the shoulder of 46 between Seguin and NB is pretty crazy too. I guess they still have time to rethink some of this, but the more I think about it, the less likely it is I will ride in that ride this year.

Txags is right - these roads are REALLY BUSY roads. It'll be interesting to see if the support is there to keep them safe for the riders. I rode this MS150 last year and made it over the causeway bridge on day 2. What a beeotch. I have to admit I swore I'd never do that ride again, but now I'm kind of curious...

It'll be interesting to see how the MS Society addresses some of the concerns in this post. Surely we aren't the only ones thinking about them.

Wow. My wife is on the committee for the DFW area ride. I have forwarded the concerns to her. Perhaps she can broach it with the society. If they do ride those roads, it will be a miracle if someone is not killed.

She mentioned it to the ride director up here, who will pass on the concerns to the San Antonio ride.

I hope they can do something Griffin. I really like the people who organize the San Antonio ride and wish them nothing but the best. They do a great job 95% of the time, but I just think they dropped the ball on this one. I am sure we can't imagine how much work they put into picking the new route, but it just seems like they may not have thought this all the way through when it comes to rider safety.

I know in November, Tour de Gruene rides the River Road, but by then, it is cold enough that there isn't alot of action on the river and traffic is light. Even with that, they STILL ride it as a loop and only have riders going one direction on the River Road so as to leave room for vehicles too. In early October, it is still plenty warm and if there is water, there will be people still on the river. Riding both directions on River Road is just a bad plan.

FWIW, I got a call a few nights ago from the National MS Society asking me if I had seen the new route info and what I thought about it? I expressed my concerns about rider safety and the gentleman on the phone was very cordial about it and said he would bring my concerns up with the organizers. So they are seeking input and may already recognize that some riders aren't thrilled with the route. I know our team captain also got a voice mail from them wanting to talk to her about it, so they are obviously interested in hearing from riders.

I have to give them kudos for the phone calls and for seeking the input, but I would have liked to have seen them do some of this before they unveiled the route. Hopefully they will take what they are told and make good use of it, and if my opinion ends up in the minority, so be it. I will still support the ride and the cause, even if I choose not to ride in that specific ride anymore.

I rode the MS 150 last year for the first time and if the planned route stays as is I won't be riding again this year. All the complaintants about logistics and hotels have to be the same ones encountered by the BP MS 150, Houston to Austin, but they have not changed that route. Plus the BP is four times the size with three different starting locations. I really enjoyed riding over the causeway at the end of the ride; it was tough to find that last bit of strength to push up over the top but it was rewarding when I did. I also got a nice patch for doing it. As txags92 said "I will still support the ride and the cause, even if I choose not to ride in that specific ride anymore."