Rockwall Herald-Banner (Texas)

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August 22, 2012

Rotary bike race runs smoothly

Terry Cookston Herald-Banner Staff

ROCKWALL — The 26th annual Rockwall Rotary Club Hot Rocks Bike Ride ran with no problems under cool weather conditions on Saturday through the Rockwall-area countryside.

The event, which features three races of 13, 43 and 57 miles, drew over a 1,050 riders from children to aggressive for the competition.

Each of the three rides started and ended at Wilkerson-Sanders Stadium, with top aggressive riders leading the way.

Check-in time was at 6 a.m. at WSS for those who didn’t pre-register and the start went off on time at 7:30 a.m.

Participants in the 57-mile ride headed north through Nevada and Josephine before continuing back south through Royse City and Heath towards the WSS finish line.

The 43-mile competitors cut off at Hwy. 276 in lieu of continuing South on FM 550 through Heath. Fun racers in the 13-mile ride went North up John King Blvd. to Hwy. 205 before turning back on the same route to WSS.

Volunteers and Rotary Club members served drinks, ice and fruit at rest stops every eight to 10 miles.

All riders picked up Hot Rocks T-Shirts and were treated to an on-site lunch catered by Applebee’s following the races.

Multiple winner Ginny King captured her second straight and seventh overall Women’s Division championship.

“It was really nice out there today,” said King. “The weather was great and I like the new course much better. Lauren (second-place finisher Lauren Stephens) and I rode together for most of the race and had a lot of fun.”

King also earned the women’s top prize of $250, Stephens picked up $175 for second and Ashlea Britton claimed the $100 check for third place.

The Top-3 Men’s Division winners cruised across the finish line together, with first-place finisher Bret Crosby taking the $250 top prize, Mat Stephens (Lauren’s husband) the $175 second-place check and Christian Helmig the $100 third-place money.

Proceeds from the annual event go to benefit the Rockwall Rotary Club Scholarship Fund that has given over $600,000 to area students in college scholarships.

Bike Ride chairman Bart Miller was really pleased with the rider turnout, which was over 200 more than in 2011.

“We had a great response to this year’s race, the weather was perfect and we couldn’t have asked for a better race,” said Miller.

Many of the aggressive riders from the Hot Rocks competition plan to compete next at the Hotter ‘N Hell 100 in Wichita Falls on Aug. 25.

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