Thanks to all who came out to support the Venuto family yesterday.  We had the opportunity to celebrate the cycling that Nick loved.  It was a huge turnout and many of the Descenders played important roles in its success.  Pat Johnson and his team did a great job setting up all the logistics.  Voris and Rick helped a ton with set-up and tear down on the course.  Guido brought a table, cooler and his pop-up cover to help with the ride.  Bernie was on security detail and passing out post ride snacks.  Eric was at the turn down in Fairbanks Ranch to make sure everyone had a safe ride.  We had guys on point leading out the ride, guys along the route and a large Descenders presence throughout the event.  There must have been 500+ riders from many clubs in the county.  We saw Art riding with his Mira Mesa crew.  The Ranchos were there, acting like the Ranchos.  Guys from SDBC rode and many with Ride Across California jerseys too.

Nick, Sr gave a moving speech before the ride about Nick’s bike riding history.  Nick’s widow, Deb, and the 2 kids were there.  I was able to take a couple of photos of them on their ride.  It was an emotional time, remembering Nick, and celebrating his love of riding.

After all the tear down and clean-up, a few of us went out for more miles.  Ernst, Guido, John Moran and I rode back towards Rancho Sante Fe.  We added about 35 miles before getting back to Westview High School.  Guido and Ernst whipped John and I along the route.  We did climb the 3 witches again to finish another great day on the bike.  Here are a few photos from the Nick ride.

Dave Voris and I are planning the next few weeks of group rides.  They will be posted soon on the web site.  

Ride safe-

Rob