MEMBER PROFILES

His T-Shirt reads: "Just because I'm moody, doesn't mean you're not irritating!" Dwaine, age 63, who would make a dead-ringer stand-in for Walter Mathau in the role as "Grumpy Old Man" in both demeanor and looks, hates foul weather and inconsiderate motorists and doesn't hesitate to express his opinion about either. Reticence and patience are not his virtues. But under the hairy, wrinkled and gruff exterior is a man with a heart of gold. He must be since his very sweet and kind wife, Sadie, has stayed married to Dwaine for 45 years. Born and raised in Kansas, Dwaine met Sadie in 1952 on Halloween Eve. Was this a spooky omen or what? Married after high school, the Batts raised two daughters who both reside in the Los Angeles area. They have three grandchildren.

Dwaine spent 23 years in law enforcement, working for local, state, and federal agencies. In 1978, at age 42, weighing 232 pounds, smoking and drinking to excess, plus working long hours and constantly travelling, he suffered a minor stroke. His doctor warned him he would not live to see age 43 if he continued this lifestyle. After surviving several life-threatening episodes as a cop, narc and undercover agent, the job stress and pressures finally took its toll and he retired in 1980. His hearing loss is a result of pistol firing next to his ear while he was trying to disarm a criminal as they wrestled and rolled around on the ground. In Dwaine's wry sense of humor, he jokingly says, " losing my hearing was nothing...you should have seen what I did to him?!" This "Dirty Harry" styled former cop considers himself lucky to have retired before the era of camcorders.

After retiring, ultra-distance running took over his life. He moved to the Sacramento area from Tucson in 1995, just to live and run in what is considered the mecca of ultra-distance trail running. His accomplishments are legend in the running community. Over a 20-year career in running, he has run over 50 "ultras" (ultras are any distance over a marathon - 26 miles), completed the Western States 100 Mile Run three times, holds four American age group records for 100 miles, 200 K, 12 hours, and 24 hour runs, and in 1995 won the USA Track and Field Northern California/Nevada Grand Prix Ultra Championship Trophy. The same year, he was named by USA Track and Field Magazine as one of the "the sublime five" runners in the U.S. for the year. His running highpoint was outdueling two runners in the '96 Western States in what was dubbed the "OK Corral Shootout" of the top three best 60+ year old runners in the U.S. Then in October 1996, what he believed would never happen did. His running career came to a crashing en after a year of painful running and knee surgery revealed that he had no cartilage left in his knee. Also, tests revealed his liver was in danger of permanent damage from excessive use of pain killers and anti-inflammatories. His spirits went from the proverbial runner's "high" to the cellar in less than one year.

Finding bunko and ikebana too complex, Dwaine turned his energies into walking and bicycling as an substitute sport. He was wearing out the bike trail riding more than a thousand miles a month, when Bernie Slingerland took notice and invited him out to a Wheelmen breakfast ride. Dwaine joined the Wheelmen for his first breakfast ride in March 1997 after he bought a road bike, a Performance R007. I amusingly recall Dwaine on this day, when I sized up this big old guy during the pre-ride introductions and thought to myself we'll drop him like a lead balloon on the climb up Green Valley Road on the way to Three Brothers Cafe in Cameron Park. On the long climbs I would glance in my rear view mirror and kept seeing this big guy riding about 10 feet behind me. Every time I accelerated and thought I dropped him, he would slowly work his way back to hang on my rear wheel. By the time we hit Bass Lake Road, Dwaine blew by me with hardly a sweat. It was like a scene out of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid when they ere relentlessly pursued by the Pinkertons led by the Indian tracker, Lord Baltimore, when Butch and the Kid kept wondering, "who is that guy?" It was after the ride when I approached Dwaine and found out about his extensive ultra background and realized its cross-training benefits to bicycling. It was then that he was annointed his cycling nickname - Lord Baltimore.

Dwaine officially joined the Wheelmen in May 1997. He has become quite a force in the Club this year with the titanic duel occurring with the five-time mileage king, Ken "Taco" Bell, for the top mileage trophy. Both riders are approaching 10,000 Club miles for the year and as of this writing it's too close to call as to who will win. You will find out who the winner is at the Awards Banquet. Dwaine has traded in his R007 for a new bright red Masi Team 3V, which he keeps impeccably clean.

Ray McAfee

Ray has become the Ride Coordinator’s favorite club member. He can be counted on to regularly lead two weekend rides every month with the ever popular Ray’s Romps out of Loomis Park. As a result, he annually wins the award for leading the most club rides with over 20 rides per year. This next season, the "Romps" will incorporate the CENTURY TRAINING SERIES, which Ray will direct and impart over 38 years of cycling knowledge to novice cyclists. So new members out there who wish to ride more miles and want to learn from "The Master", make sure you attend this new series.

Ray started riding in 1960 at age 19 on his first bike, an 8-speed Raleigh. He was one of the pioneers in starting the cycling boom in the area some 39 years ago. Ray, along with 5 or 6 others who were interested in cycling, formed the Sierra Wanderers Bicycling Club in 1962 to ride the Sierra foothills. There were very few clubs in the country doing century rides so Ray started sponsoring century rides in the early 70’s. He made up the course map (can you imagine how many turns there were then?), drove sag, carried water and refreshments to the halfway point where he served it out of the back of his VW Squareback, then drove back to the end where he gave out patches! The Sierra Wanderers sponsored the Mt. Lassen Double Century Ride in the 1970’s and 80’s and Ray tied for the fastest time one year.

Ray joined the Wheelmen and Bike Hikers in the late 80's. He has been on several Bike Hiker summer tours and on every Wheelmen tour since 1986 and has been the tour mechanic for the last four years. During the last two tours, Ray conducted the "Tip of the Day" where he would give a mechanical lesson after the evening meal. Even veteran riders admit they learned something new from Ray’s tips.

To give you an example of what a considerate fellow Ray is, in 1996, he invited Jenny Brown to do the week-long Wheelmen tour as his tandem stoker so she could participate in the tour after the accident the previous summer which had impaired her vision. Ray was also a member of the support crew for one of Ken Bell’s RAAM rides in the early 90’s. A cycling highlight was his participation in the 1993 Tour les Cols-Alpes for 21 days through the French Alps, sponsored by the Chico Velo Club. He recalls that this was one challenging tour even for a tough rider.

Ray had his own pro shop in Orangevale called "The Fixed Wheel" from 1978 to 1982. During this time he built many quality wheels for his friends and customers, some of which are being used today. He still does bike repairs out of his home.

Ray graduated from Sac State in 1965 and attended graduate school at UC Davis. He was in the Air Force from 1965 to 1969. Ray teaches geometry and trig pre-calculus at Del Oro High School in Loomis and has been a teacher there for 24 years. He lives in a new home in Loomis with his wife Janice and his frisky ball-chasing dog "Jude."

When pressed for a quote to give for the Wheelmen, he said: "I hope all of you realize that you are more to me than just bicycling friends; you are my family!"