On Saturday, Sept. 20, the United Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce held its annual Conquer the Coast bike ride in downtown Corpus Christi. Del Mar College Testing Center employee Teresa Janice, 62, competed in the race.
“It was an exhausting and challenging moment for me because I had to maintain my biking endurance for more than 20 miles.
At the beginning, it was so easy, but after 10 miles, I started to feel the tiredness and soreness building up in my system,” Janice said.
The bike ride has three divisions: 10 miles, 21 miles, or 69 miles. The 10-mile ride is taken down Ocean Drive, and it’s often the race used by families and younger riders.
The 69-mile course takes the rider over the Harbor Bridge and all the way to Port Aransas, where they take the ferry to Mustang Island, over the JFK Causeway, and to the finish line at Whataburger Field. This year was the first time the event has crossed the new Harbor Bridge, which opened on June 28.
The 21-mile ride is “for those looking to push themselves,” as described by Visit Corpus Christi. It goes past Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi and the gates of Naval Air Station Corpus Christi.
“I rode my bike with my friend every Sunday and we tried to ride 20 miles in order to build up our speed,” said Janice.
Part of what makes Conquer the Coast a successful event is the number of volunteers that sign up to help serve food, beer, water and pickle juice. Volunteers also sign up to hold out medals for riders as they cross over the line.
“Once I passed the finish line, I was so relieved that I made it, and all of the volunteers’ people were cheering at us with the noisemakers,” Janice said. “I would do it again because I get a kick out of people’s reaction when I tell them I rode 20 miles.”
