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The 17th Annual Fire-Ant 100K Tour benefiting various scholars invites you to join their upcoming ride happening on June 9, 2012 at Coryell County Activity Complex

We were lucky enough to be granted an interview with Laura White of Fire-Ant 100K Tour to ask some questions about their upcoming ride.

Why join the Ride?
This is a ride that’s early enough in the summer to be a “warmup” for Wichita Falls’ “Hotter’N’You Know What” ride, so we’re a lot cooler. One of the attractions to many of our riders is that it’s not hampered by lots of city traffic, which is a challenge in some of the larger metropolitan areas. Our county roads are paved and traffic is very light on them.

How long has the event been around?
Since 1996 — this is our 17th Annual.

What was the motivation behind starting the tour and who benefits from it?
The initial purpose for this ride was to raise funds to provide scholarships for graduating seniors in our town. Our proceeds are channeled directly into this scholarship fund.

How have they been able to utilize the funds in the past?
Before we had this ride, we were scraping up only a couple of $100 scholarships, and later it grew to two $500 ones. Now we are able to fund two scholarships of $1000 every year. We’d love to see that grow some more.

Do you have a map of the start facility showing registration point, parking, all toilets, water/snacks, start line?
We do have a map that shows where the Complex is, and give a map for each of our four ride routes: 10-mile, 30-mile, 50-mile, and the 100K. We have five “sag stations” where volunteers provide water, fresh fruits, ice, homemade cookies, and special amenity of a portapotty at each rest stop. All of the stops are marked on the maps.

Logistically, can you give us an idea how many volunteers, finances, and planning it takes to put on this event?
Planning usually starts in February, as soon as our annual “Taste of Gatesville” is over, and we start our fundraising campaign for sponsorships as early as March. (This year we got a later start — explained later). By the time we count club members on that assignment, the members who pack the courtesy bags with goodies from merchants and the rider’s specified size of T-shirt, club members who set up the registration area on the morning of the ride (including the organization of the rest-stop supplies, and non-club members who work the rest stops), I’d guess we have at least 40 volunteers. One person (that’s me) works on updating the flyer/mailout and getting it mailed, plus contacting bike clubs and bike shops. Somebody has to accompany the portapotty delivery truck to the five stops (the day before the ride). A couple go out and mark the roads for the turns, so riders can stay on target. There is one SAG Wagon patrolling on every route. Another job is the layout for the back of the flyer, and the layout for the T-shirts, which changes slightly from year to year, depending on who and how may sponsor the ads. This year we’ll spend over $1800 on T-shirts; at least $300 on rest stop supplies. Our most popular snack at the sag stations are the HOME MADE COOKIES made by one of our members who has access to a home economics lab; we call her our “Cookie Queen.” It’s not unsnual for me to receive inquiries as early as January that ask, “What is the date of the ride this year, and will the COOKIES be there?”

What was the most rewarding experience throughout the years hosting this event?
We often get to see FAMILIES involved together in this ride, and this means mom and dad and their kids — and we get to see people who COME BACK because they like our routes (and the cookies), plus our T-shirts. One year we’d had so much rain, for two days prior to the ride, that a few people were afraid it’d stay cloudy and “rain on their parade” during the day — but they came anyway, lined up in the “Pre-registered” line (which means they’d sent their money with pre-registration). They picked up their goody bags , said “See ya next year,” and we asked, “Aren’t you going to ride today?” and they’d say, “Nope, BUT I HAD TO COME GET MY T-SHIRT — it’s the best one we’ve ever had!” In addition to the personal touch with these fine riders, it’s been a joy to be able to increase the amounts of our scholarships, which was the initial thrust for this event.

What is the average number of participants per year? We usually have about 175-200, but would like to see that number increase. How many riders do you assist during the average race?
We have Sag Wagons on every route, but the number of people needing extra assistance has been minimal. Once in a while we’ll have a Sag Wagon bring in a biker and the bike, but not often. And ours is a tour, not a race.

What was the most unforgettable experience or worst accident you had in this event?
The ONLY accident we’ve had in the 16 years befell an older gentleman, and it was due to a health problem he already had. Right after the start of the ride, he apparently had a “sinking spell,” and took a tumble on his bike; we had an ambulance crew on hand, and they transported him to the ER of the local hospital. He was shaken up and bruised, but otherwise okay. He said it was his own, and nobody else’s, fault. MOST UNFORGETTABLE? There are a few: I’d say one is the time we had riders come all the way from Oklahoma (we’re in Central Texas). Another would be when we had a lady rider who was pregnant at that ride, and the next year, she and her husband brought the baby for the ride, in his own little wagon hitched to his mother’s bike! (She said this was the baby’s SECOND RIDE, the first one having been ‘in vitreo.’) There’s also at least one romantic touch to the ride: last year, a young man who grew up here, but was working in Dallas, brought his girlfriend with him to ride in the Fire-Ant 100K, during which time he proposed to her (and she said “YES”). We hope they’ll be back this year.

What can folks do to support you and your mission?
First: we’d invite bikers to COME RIDE THE FIRE-ANT 100K — pick any length of route you prefer; give us a try! Second: we’d encourage people to look for an Exchange Club in their community. Exchange Club is a service organization, and this event falls in the category of YOUTH SERVICES; our other program areas include Community Service, Americanism, and our national project is the prevention of child abuse.

What is your role in this race and to the success of it?
I’m the one who is the “paperwork person,” having designed the first flyer, drew up the first mailing list, and organized the sponsorship campaign (printing out the paperwork the members take to the businesses in town to ask for their contributions), and have been stuck with the “job” ever since. I have been the one who keeps up with the pre-registration process, sets up the “packet packing party” the night before the ride, and keeps up with funds we receive and expend. (And writing the thank-you letters to sponsors, after it’s all over.) Guess I’m the “Mother Hen,” but without everybody else’s help and volunteer time, I wouldn’t be worth a plug nickel. And without the vision of one of the members who said in 1996, “Why don’t we have a bike ride here in Gatesville?” none of this would have come about.

Do you ride and if yes, what kind of bicycle do you ride and what is your favorite route in your area? Which are your top 3 favorite MUST DO rides in Texas (besides your own)?
No, I’m not a rider, but have good friends here in town who are avid cyclists. I keep telling them that somebody has to “do the paperwork to get ready for this event, so let me do this, and y’all come make our efforts worthwhile!” The Waco Wild West ride in September is one of the finest events that we know about, and some of us took our snow cone machine (at the request of the Waco Bicycle Club) to make snow cones for riders there.

If you had to come up with a David Letterman style top 10 about the race, what would it read like?
10 — enjoy the gentle hills of Coryell County, even if every ride has just one little ‘killer hill’
9 — bask in this early summertime ride before it gets too hot (better than Wichita Falls in August!)
8 — get away from the crunch of “big city” traffic
7 — take advantage of the City’s fitness center and/or the City swimming pool (free tickets for both)
6 — meet riders from several bike clubs in the area
5 — be treated like royalty at each “sag station” by friendly folks
4 — ride our county roads and avoid heavy city traffic
3 — enjoy true Texas hospitality when you arrive
2 — feast on homemade cookies, fresh from the “Cookie Queen’s” ovens!
1 — be the proud owner of one of the most favorite T-shirts of all the bike tours ANYWHERE!

Additional stuff you would like the folks to know about this year’s ride?
We’re running behind schedule this year with our publicity (our club has extremely busy with some important and excruciatingly time-consuming events, like a Motorcycle Rally on March 31, involving five Exchange Clubs and one BACA Chapter, for awareness of child abuse prevention), and we’d like for the folks to PLAN TO COME, and help us by passing the word along, via e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, etc. We’d love to be YOUR FAVORITE RIDE — make us the REUNION RIDE OF BIKING BUDDIES EVERY YEAR!

Thanks Laura for this quick interview and we hope to catch everyone at the ride!

Click here to view the event details of the Fire-Ant 100K Tour