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Tower Topics ~ Fall 2007 |
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Border Raiders roll through Conceptionby Jarrod Thome Every year during the middle of the summer, people from all walks of life decide to take eight days and spend them on their bicycles, riding through a patch of the United States known as the Missouri River Valley. The 500 mile, 4 state “Border Raiders” ride attracts around 150 people each year and has been going on since 2005. Every year they stop through Conception to rest and refuel and since I’ve recently taken up road biking as a pastime myself, I decided to accompany these Border Raiders on the leg of their trip from Maryville to these hallowed monastery grounds in order to get an insight into this great and interesting group of people. Let me just warn you, though—to an outsider, the sanity of these people might be questionable...actually, it’s probably questionable to an insider too, but that’s just normal for the cycling enthusiast. Let me explain.
First off, many of the people who participate in the Border Raiders ride have to take vacation time from their jobs. It takes a special kind of person to view 500 miles—many of which are littered with daunting hills and cavernous potholes—as a vacation. Secondly, there’s the early mornings. When I drove myself and my bike out to the high school in Maryville, I left at about a quarter after five in the morning so I could join everyone for breakfast. On my way in, I met some of the early birds who had already gotten a head start and were a third of the way to Conception. Then, when I arrived at the high school and saw all the people milling about in colorful jerseys and spandex, I started thinking of where to look to find Paul Corcoran, my contact and one of the main organizers of the event. I wasn’t too worried (in one sense) because someone had told me that he was easy to spot...seeing as how he wore a kilt. So Paul and I had a nice chat and I was thankful that it wasn’t too breezy out...for sake of a headwind, of course. Anyways, turns out that Chris Cakes, who specializes in pancake catering, was inside serving breakfast. So I stepped over the bikes and equipment and people still sleeping on the cafeteria floor and made my way to the back of the line. It was there that I discovered that I’d have to do a little more work to get my breakfast as I watched cyclists at various levels of alertness scramble around in order to catch flying pancakes with their plates. When it was my turn, I think I had five rapid-fire disks of hotcake deliciousness fly at me before I could say “That’s good.” I’m pretty sure the hearty woman behind the spatula was actually trying to get me to drop one; and maybe it would’ve been better if I had since I had a 17 mile bike ride to look forward to after I ate them all. They were quite good, though, and I took the time to enjoy them as I conversed with the other people at my table who came and went, filling me in on the stories of the different people on the ride—it was almost as if I was being welcomed into a family.
One of the people I got a chance to talk to happened to be the youngest person on the ride—a 12-year-old from Kansas City who received his first road bike at age six and was tearing through the miles with his father. Perhaps one of the most interesting individuals, though, was a 30-something bike shop owner named Eric who was training for a 24 hour ride by doing the entire Border Raiders trek on a 3 speed cruiser bike complete with wide tires and fenders that might as well have been parachutes when going into a head wind. This would probably be the equivalent of driving a Cadillac station wagon in a NASCAR race...and not finishing last. This guy was hardcore. I mean, his helmet had all kinds of things sticking out of it, including shifter cable and a Barbie doll leg. How do you not be amazed at someone like that? At any rate, I had a blast and I enjoyed sharing my life and info about Conception with a great group of people. I just did a fraction of the total ride, but it was enough to make sense of it all for me. There’s just nothing like the hum of your wheels on the pavement, the clicking of the derailleur, the fresh air, and the looming sun on the horizon as you take in the beautiful scenery and history of the Missouri Valley. For more infomation on the Border Raiders ride go to:www.borderraiders.com We welcome your comments: |
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