Texas 4000 packing their bags

The members of the Rockies Ride of the Texas 4000 and members of the other rides have just completed a mandatory test to ride 100 miles in less than 10 hours to qualify to ride to the Canadian border from Austin, Texas and back this summer. On the way to Montana, the group will stop in Santa Fe on June 15 and 16. SOB members and guests will have the opportunity to meet the group in Eldorado and ride with them to their motel in downtown Santa Fe. And then, enjoy dinnerwith the groiup and members of the University of Texas Alumni of Santa Fe at the magnificent Las Campanas Country Club. Meeting the students is a meaningful experience–the students, all leaders, are stimulating with their enthusiasm for the ride and the future.

And, here’s some great news! Susy Battaglia and the Battaglia children and grandchildren have stepped up to cover the motel expenses of the Rockies team for both nights here in Santa Fe. In past years, Frank Battaglia donated the cost of the motel. Frank graduated from Southwestern Louisiana University, but he said he was also proud of the University of Texas and welcomed the opportunity to help the students of the Texas.

Below is a brief profile of two students who will be riding this year with the Rockies Route:

Shroothi Ramesh is an upper division mechanical engineering major focused on making the world a sustainable environment. Ms. Ramesh is from Sugarland, TX and is in the President’s Award Program to study developing sustainable products for living and in textiles. She has dedicated herself to a community that can make a difference, she writes.

Alexander Mutamarra, reports that he is an Arab and a graduate student in Finance at the University of Texas. He is also from Sugarland. He says to call him “Alex,” and he is a member of a large Arabian family living in Sugarland. Alex rides to support cancer research. Alex feels grateful for the opportunity to commit to the purpose of raising funds for cancer research. “You don’t deserve anything that you have unless you are grateful for it,” he writes.

Get ready to meet these and the other 22 students of the Texas 4000 when they arrive in Santa Fe. Visit their website and read more about the routes and the riders at

www.texas4000.org

Submitted by Bill Pollock