Alan does the Red Horse Century Ride in Napa

Hi, this is a guest contributor, Alan. You may know that I have a passion for cycling, which was re-awakened 5 years ago when invited to attend the weekly Friday 6 a m Red Horse group rides. That Fall I completed my first Century Ride with them, and Oct. 1 rode my fifth Fall Classic, although I only did 60 miles this time.

Awaiting the 8 a m  start, just off Silverado Road, near Napa, here are about half of the riders.

At the first rest stop, getting refreshments.

Besides having a good long ride with many old friends, this ride is a fund raiser for "Team Swift", a young rider development team, and these are three teenage members of the team.

   I only rode behind them, young bucks!

David Warner, the owner of Red Horse Constructors, a high end home building business, and instigator of the Friday rides and Fall Century rides.

Thank you Dave for all you've done for us bike addicts.

That said, unlike the wayward professionals, we only use drugs for pain relief after these long rides!

Although we all wear the Caballo Rojo  kits(Red Horse for you Gringos), many of us don't work for the company. On the left is Dave Henderson, my hairdresser and on the right, Jason Hight a San Anselmo policeman. I'm impressed that he runs stop signs right along with the rest of us law breakers!

Here we are waiting for a green light in St. Helena. The rider on the right is Tom Knott, who has organized and put on the Century rides for years. Thank you Tom for all you've done for us! Each year it's been a new course, with sag wagon support, rest stops, lunch and a great meal at the end of the day.

At the last rest stop, this is me and Michael Houts, who is a long time friend, and it was he who invited me to ride with Red Horse some five years ago. Michael has worked for many years at Red Horse and is a key estimator and project overseer, and my great friend!

 

At the end of the ride, we relaxed at where we started, a home that Red Horse built.


A very nice end to a beautiful day!