This Saturday marked de Vere’s Irish Pub’s first foray into the biking scene with the launch of the first annual de Vere’s to de Vere’s bike ride. Rick Houston, the regional liaison for the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, proposed the event.
The ride began this past Saturday morning starting at the de Vere’s 1531 L Street location in Sacramento. At 9 a.m. the riders set out to the Davis de Vere’s location, spanning a roughly 17-mile trip from Sacramento to Davis, in under an hour.
Among the first arrivals was Team Madcat member Sam Gusman. Team Madcat is a local racing team in Sacramento.
“Group rides are always fun. On a road bike you can meet new people,” Gusman said . “In a big group like this it’s just fun to ride with everybody.”
Gusman is a new member of Team Madcat, but he’s been racing competitively for two years now.
“I race year round, pretty much,” Gusman said. “I work at a desk so I gotta make sure I stay fit.”
Team Madcat also supports local events like the de Vere’s bike ride. The riders from the team split up to lead the waves of cyclists heading out from Sacramento.
Paul Durenberger, another one of the early arrivals, also spoke about his experience with both the event and cycling.
“I started [cycling] 10 years ago, I was 40 at the time and I had cholesterol that was almost 300,” Durenberger said, “So I took up bike riding, lost 15 pounds, cholesterol is now at 190 … It’s really kinda changed my life.”
Waves of bikes trickled in at a steady clip. There were people of all ages. Families, couples and friends all came together to participate in the event. The headcount for those who registered clocked in at a whopping 115 riders, according to Mari Tzikas, who does publicity for the pub.
Even employees of de Vere’s readily participated. Teddy Burns, the pastry chef at de Vere’s and a UC Davis senior English major, took part in the event, biking from Davis to Sacramento and then back to Davis.
“It was really fun to do, and it was a good promotion for de Vere’s,” Burns said. “It was easier coming from Sacramento to here than Davis to Sacramento.”
After enjoying a beer or two at the pub, some proceeded to head to Davis’s own Bicycle Hall of Fame.
The owners hope to make this bike ride an annual tradition of the restaurant.
ANDREW POH can be reached city@theaggie.org.
