Texbiker.net

Participants will leave Moody Gardens taking a scenic ride along the coast. All pre-registered riders are guaranteed a t-shirt. There will be banana bread and goodies at all rest stops.

$25, if registered by September 11, 2007, $30 September 12, 2007 or after, including the day of the ride.

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Today over 11,000 riders crowded Scott Street in Wichita Falls for the 26th riding of the Hotter’n Hell Hundred. I was one of those.

Unlike last year I did manage to find my wife at the finish line even though her cell phone again refused to make calls. She borrowed a fellow shopper’s cell phone and called my cell phone which was working. My theory is that an over load of 832 area code cell phone arrive in Wichita Falls and the local roaming carrier is overwhelmed. I guess not many riders with 936 area code phones were since mine worked.

This year there have been some nice improvements with pre-registered riders not having to wait in line for half an hour like last year. At the start “street” (Scott St.) the different riding distances were separated by large pylons on trailers with the distance marked on each one. As that group was ready to start the pylon was moved out of the way.

Weather was great. When I finished at 1:17 PM it was 88 degrees with a light breeze.

I arrived at Hell’s Gate before the cutoff time but decided to go the short cut anyway. The short cut rides through Sheppard Air Force Base. As I was riding down the base’s main street airmen and air women were lining the street shouting and cheering as the riders went by. I should have been the one shouting and cheering them but that is difficult while riding. I was very touched as I was also by the four T38 trainers that flew up Scott Street from the south shortly after 7:00 AM before the start. After they passed the starting line the T38’s pealed off one by one. Proud to be an American overwhelmed me.

My wife took pictures at the start line. Behind a few feet was a father and his young son getting his bike adjusted. I did not get their names but here is the picture.

Future Rider in Training. Link to fullsize picture (2MB)

I will post other pictures shortly.

from KTRE Channel 9 (full article)

by Ramonica R. Jones

East Texas cyclists are preparing for the Pineywoods Purgatory. The 16th annual race is more than a month away, but now is the time to start getting ready to ride. The Pineywoods Purgatory is set for October 6th in Lufkin.

There are several rides of varying distances to choose from. Most veteran cyclists ride all year to properly train for the all day event.

from the San Antonio Express-News (full article)

Paula Hunt
Express-News

It started as a dare eight years ago when Peter Ray and a friend challenged each other to sign up for the Valero MS 150 Bike Tour, a two-day, 150-mile charity bicycle ride from San Antonio to Corpus Christi. The experience ended up transforming Ray, 44, from a recreational cyclist into a true enthusiast and MS 150 advocate.

“Riding into the wind going across the (Nueces Bay) causeway was the thing that got me hooked,” says Ray, who works in information services at Valero. “It was such a sense of accomplishment.”

from Galveston County The Daily News (fuularticle)

Olivia Wright’s been following her father to the velodrome in Katy since she was in diapers. Finally, last summer, at age 10, she took a developmental class and got hooked.

“She found that she really enjoyed it, and she stuck with it,� said Olivia’s father, John Wright.

Turns out, she’s pretty good, too.

The 11-year-old League City resident won the Texas State Time Trial title in the girls’ 10- to 14-year-old division on Aug. 4 in Pattison. 

from the Austin American-Statesman (full article)

City of Austin proposes to spend $4 million for bike bridge over Barton Creek at MoPac.

The people in charge of transportation around here are going to make a decision about tollways in a couple of months, and you can be sure that it will get a lot of attention.

But further down in the big stack of documents dropped in the lap of the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization board a few weeks ago was a non-toll-road project that caught my eye: The City of Austin would like to spend $4 million to build a bicycle bridge. The CAMPO board probably will vote on this project when it decides what to do about five potential toll roads.

This article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram covers Parker Thompson of Bartonville as he races at the HHH.

The 15-year-old sophomore at Argyle High School is one of Texas’ top junior cyclists in criteriums, stage races and time trials. He’ll be attending the Hotter’N Hell next Saturday with his club team, Compliance Depot.

According to this article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram you should confirm your reservations. The Holiday Inn is closed due to the June flood. They hope to open in time for the ride and race but are not sure. Another hotel, the Knights Inn, has closed without word of why or what. The two new hotels under construction may not be open though they are trying to.