Not much different from the rides before on this route although according to a message board at the west entrance to the FM1960 causeway over Lake Houston the right lane is supposed to be closed from May 17th to August 21 but there was no sign of any lane being closed. Today is May 17th. At the 27 mile mark another biker caught up to me. We chatted for a second as he went by. From the looks of his bike and outfit he was a triathlete. Later on I caught back with him at the Kings River Drive and W Lake Houston Parkway traffic light. He said he was out for a 20 mile ride. He turned left at the light while I went right.

Tomorrow my ride will be an afternoon event because my wife and I are going to Bush Intercontinental Airport to welcome back about 250 wounded warriors in the morning.

NTC: Track calendar off to strong start after Matrix Track Cup
www.usacycling.org
SPRINT

The sprinters contested only the time trial over the weekend. Daniel Gay (Temecula, Calif./Get Crackin’ MS-Society) tops the NTC men’s sprint standings after winning the men’s race ahead of Zack Carlson (Plano, Texas/Matrix-Richardson Bike Mart) and Bobby Unverzagt (Torrance, Calif./Get Crackin’ MS-Society). Gay collected 15 points for his win, …

Bike Friendly Dallas, Er, Richardson
by Steve A        Dallas Point-to-Point
I’m going to celebrate “Ride Your Bike to Work Day” this year with more fervor than ever before. Really, riding my bike to work is something that I do every work day, and I’m under no illusions that such events will result in some groundswell of cycling support around DFW, much less the world. However, I send flowers on Valentine’s Day and on Mother’s Day and those holidays don’t change things much either. Instead, they remind us of things we ought to remember anyway. In my case, I DO appreciate the ride to work, despite less than…

Only at The Omni Dallas Can You Get a Pimped Out Bicycle As Seen on ‘Shark Tank’
by juliana        www.hotelchatter.com
Where there’s a reality show, there’s bound to be a hotel connection. And that’s just what we found while catching up on some old episodes of “Shark Tank” this past weekend.

Villy Customs is a high-fashion bicycle designer that lets you customize your ride from the seat to the wheels right down to the bell that you put on the handles.

While Villy Customs is mainly an online business (and a pricey one too with full bikes costing about $500+) we did some research and saw that they have a partnership with Omni Hotels. As it turns…

Cycling notebook: Houstonian coasting out West
By Dale Robertson        Houston Chronicle

Before heading west for his first significant stage race as a pro, Lawson Craddock said the Amgen Tour of California represented a whole new level of competition. He conceded that winning, for him, might be “just finishing.”

Seems he was being overly modest. After all, Craddock was coming off a victory in the SRAM Tour of the Gila in New Mexico, a significant accomplishment – and “morale booster” – for the 20-year-old Houstonian, who rides for…

Georgetown Grand Race Preview With Andrew Willis
by Keith Hutchinson            news.georgetown.org
The Subaru of Georgetown Grand, the state championship criterium race, will be held in downtown Georgetown this weekend on May 19 – 20. The event is organized and sponsored by Holland Racing, a bike race promotion company in Austin.

Where are the best places to watch? Who should you look for to win? And what’s a prime?

Andrew Willis, president of Holland Racing and a former professional bike racer himself, sat down at Roots Bistro with Keith Hutchinson from the City of Georgetown to answer these questions. As a veteran of the pro cycling world, Andrew gives you an insider’s view into the sport of…

Ride of Silence is TONIGHT! Ride, Baby, Ride!
By Chris Phelan / Contributor            healthblog.dallasnews.com
It’s here. This is THE day when all the world cycles, when the globe is united if only for a little while. Besides Christmas, this is the only time this occurs.

The Ride Of Silence kicks off at, that is leaves at 7 pm. You want to arrive before then (6:30) to line up and prepare your heart and mind.

Race, religion, economic status, what kind of bike you ride, how often or far you ride or what you ride it for won’t be questioned. Tonight we as part of humanity will join together to in silence memorial for those killed…

Recreation calendar, camps, clinics
www.mysanantonio.com
Bicycling: Today, 8 a.m., Wheelers Senior Ride, 30 miles, Floore’s Country Store, Helotes. 210-643-0314.

Running: Today, 6:15 p.m., SARR Wednesday Night Zoo Run, Brackenridge Park. 210-286-6291.

Bicycling: Saturday, 7:15 a.m., South Texas Tour de Cure, 18, 30, 61 and 104 miles, Champion High School, Boerne. 210-829-1765. …

The weather improved from yesterday with the rain clouds leaving and scattered clouds ruling the sky. A favorable NE wind at 10 mph and gusts to 16 mph kept everything very comfortable. Temperature ranged from 77 at the start to 84 at the end. When I rode in the shadows the coolness helped. With 45% humidity I did not perspire enough to get my jersey very damp.

With the wind assist from the 23 mile point until Kingwood Drive my average speed end up at a nice 16.4 mph while my max speed topped out at 22.9 mph. I don’t believe I reached this average speed for quite some time. The previous ride averaged 16.1 mph for two in a row. The route today came in at 42.46 miles. Average cadence moved up to 84.1 RPM even with the higher gear. It took 2:35:25 to bike this route with 30:37 stopped for a refill and snack in Porter. Mileage now stands at 90.58 for this week, 449.75 for May and 2385.42 year to date. So far my average speed for all of May stands at 15.7 versus 15.1 for April. Link to another data view at RideWithGPS.com.

June 9 Club Event @ Reveille Peak Ranch
Austin Ridge Riders
Saturday, June 9, 2012 – 09:30
We’re really looking forward to our June Event at beautiful Reveille Peak Ranch.

As usual, we will break into groups based on skill level and how long riders wish to ride. “No Drop” policy in effect so if you have been looking for an opportunity to to explore RPR, now’s your chance!  RPR gate fee is $10 per person. Members in good standing will receive the…

Bike Bot Fash Bash, Saturday, May 19th
by Il Pirate        Austin Ridge Riders

BikeBOT is throwing their first annual BikeBOT Fash Bash on May 19th from 8pm to midnight at the Pine Street Station in East Austin. The BikeBOT Fash Bash is a cycling fashion show produced by BikeyMeLikey that will pull together local businesses with the cycling community for one night in order to promote cycling in Austin and beyond. We love riding our bikes and we love doing it in style – the goal of BikeBOT Fash Bash is to show the world that you don’t have to sacrifice your self expression just because you’re on two wheels instead of four. Proceeds support local cycling…

Did you notice more bikers on the road or at rides?

Warming trend continues at IBDs in March
BOULDER, CO (BRAIN)—Overall merchandise sales at IBDs surged 29 percent in March as the warm weather continued to smile down on dealers, according to Leisure Trends Group’s RetailTRAK data.

Merchandise sales totaled $322 million for the warmest March on record, with unit sales jumping 33 percent as average selling prices inched 3 percent lower.

The strong month fed into quarterly sales of $634 million, up 21 percent from the first quarter of 2011. All major categories saw double-digit dollar growth in March and the first quarter, Leisure Trends said in a statement.

IBDs sold almost 237,000 bikes in March, up 24 percent—or 45,000 units—from a year earlier. Bike dollar sales rose 25 percent $174 million, and the average sale price ticked up 1 percent to $736. …

TCS ATP and More
by Steve A        Dallas Point-to-Point
John Romeo recently made a post about what he called “Total Cycling Support” versus “As Traffic Permits.” IMO, it was a thought-provoking and important post. Go read it if you haven’t already. Clearly, based on THIS post, it provoked some thought at this locale. After consideration, I’ll toss out the notion that, in reality, it isn’t really one versus another. For TCS, simply look here. We might debate the relative importance of various elements under various circumstances. But I think we really pretty much agree. JRA noted the Netherlands as an example. I think the Dutch would mostly agree with the LAB link. Indeed, I just saw an interesting post about the role of education in Dutch cycling, here. TCS consists of…

Who Wants Saddle Sores?
by Darryl        lovingthebike.com
Getting or having saddle sores is probably something us cyclists would like to keep to ourselves, right?  I don’t get them very often, but here I am publicly announcing that I just so happen to have a couple right now and they sure did make today’s ride a little uncomfortable.  Yeah, it’s a nasty subject to talk about so I’ll keep things very…

Ride of Silence Wed May 16th, 7pm
by The Announcer Guy        Biking in Dallas
The Dallas Ride of Silence will occur this Wednesday at 7pm.  We’re meeting about 6:45 and then at 7pm we’ll begin the 9 mile ride around White Rock Lake.  Meet at 4200 W. Lawther (between Fisher…

Momentum Magazine and Robert Cherry
by Christopher Curnutt        Biking in Dallas

A short while back my friend Robert Cherry told me that a magazine was going to publish his comments in an upcoming issue and asked if I’d take a photo or two that they could use.  Well of course.  So we met in Deep Ellum where I took a handful  of shots of him with his bike and some of his family.  I asked him to send me a note when the magazine came out.  Well he did and I think this could be the best cycling magazine I’ve ever…

My Big Fat Greek Bike Ride
by Ray Garza        Ciclistas Urbanos
Another week passed us by and it’s time for another Ciclistas Urbanos (CU) club ride. This week the main event is cycling over to Feldmans Market Center for lunch. Other stops along the way was planned such as Moonbeans and the Food Revolution in McAllen. Even a movie at the Cine El Rey theater to view part of the Fooducation movie series.

My plan for the day was to drop off the car at D-Tronics in Edinburg at 8 am. I need to get the windows tinted before next weeks trip to Austin for the Viva Street festival. This was really the best time for me to get it done. …

Our Town Events
By – Bill Knox / For Our Town        amarillo.com
Amarillo’s eighth annual bicycle Ride of Silence begins at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Potter County Courthouse, Southeast Sixth Avenue and Taylor Street.

The free memorial ride with an Amarillo Police Department escort honors local bicycle riders killed or injured by motorists. Donations will be accepted before the ride for Anna Isom, …

Georgetown Grand This Weekend
by Keith Hutchinson            news.georgetown.org

Professional cycling rolls into town this weekend on May 19 – 20 for the Subaru of Georgetown Grand by Holland Racing, which is the state criterium championship. Races will be held Saturday and Sunday on the one-mile downtown criterium course sanctioned by USA Cycling. Find a spot on the Most Beautiful Town Square in Texas to watch top cyclists speed around eight turns on the double-loop course as they compete for…

Bicycle rides in the State of Texas for the month of June, 2012
The Wheel Brothers

Every month we present to you all of the bicycle rides and criteriums in the state of Texas in less then 90 seconds. Look through the rides, pick your rides or criteriums, on our pages you will find all the registration information including maps on how to get there.

Ira David Levy’s “Pedal America” show pushes pedaling to a broader audience
By John Greenfield        gridchicago.com

As a sustainable transportation devotee, sometimes I have to remind myself that not everyone in this country is as fanatical about biking as I am. But “Pedal America,” a new travel series on PBS created and produced by Chicagoan Ira David Levy, aims to spread the gospel of cycling to the unconverted. “I think that with a lot of bike advocacy, we tend to talk to each other, people who are already enthused,” he says over drinks at a Gold Coast café. “But if you’re going to reach the masses you need to find a way that…

Action Alert! Cedar Park Adventure Bike Park and Trial System Project Meeting Tonight!
by djcurtin            It’s Time To Ride!
In the last couple of posts I’ve talked with our Director of Advocacy and made mention about the importance of investing in cycling infrastructure. It makes for safer bike riding, increases ridership across every level of rider ability, and supports healthy living and lifestyles. Whether it’s a bike lane, a new trail, or a traffic signal, each of these investments can pay off by make riding safer and more enjoyable.

But what does that process look like and how does it start? It’s not as if you can walk into City Hall and order up a new bike lane or…

La Vernia-Floresville Ride
San Antonio Wheelmen
Date:     05/20/2012
Time:     08:00 AM-11:00 AM
Location:     LA Vernia, TX
Details:     Great flat to rolling routes  in the area southeast of San Antonio around LaVernia to Southerland Springs. The longer routes go to the Floresville area. Routes are 25, 30, 55 and 65 miles.
From Loop 1604 (southeast of San Antonio) take HWY 87 to LaVernia. Turn left on San Antonio RD and follow to the City Park on the left. Park on the grass outside the gate (the gate may not be open at 8:00).

Of the ten 5 mile laps all but two of them averaged 15.0 mph or more. The weather conditions (78-86 degrees, mostly cloudy, 8.1 mph NNE breeze) helped me speed along even though I thought it might be a touring type of a ride: long and slow. Overall I averaged 16.1 mph with a max speed of 25.9 mph. Average cadence held at 83.5 RPM, a nice increase over my typical cadence. In the slides below the Speed-Distance one shows the distance and time for 4 different speed zones. Zone 3 shows 39.29 miles (2:13:38 time) biking in the 17.6 mph to 21.2 mph range. Total riding time came in at 2:59:02 with 32:19 stopped. I only took one major break in Summerwood at the 35 mile point. The rest of the time stopped was for traffic lights, traffic and a porta-potty break in Deussen Park just before getting to Summerwood.

One statistic I don’t really pay attention to is the climbing and descending since Houston is practically flat as a pancake. Today’s ride shows 2238 upward change in elevation and 2179 down in elevation. This is not quite going over a mountain but it is interesting. This ranged from a max of 115 ft and a low of 0 feet.

There were some other bikers out today as well. Three were turning north off of FM1960 just west of the causeway and another on Aqueduct Road beside the water canal before I got to Deussen Park. Not sure I will be able to ride tomorrow with a 40% chance of rain.

RideWithGps.com data and route map link.

Early Bird Gets the Balloon
El Paso Bicycle Club Ride
Saturday, May 26
Meet at River Run Plaza (1071 Country Club) at 6 a.m. (yes, 6 a.m.) and ride to Santa Teresa Country Club to watch the hot air balloons take off at the annual Balloon Fiesta. Ride to La Union afterward. 25 miles, very moderate pace — great for B/IG riders! Faster riders can break out for a ride to the border crossing. Bob Clark, 915-204-2531.

Lufkin man hospitalized after vehicle runs over bike
By Francesca Washington        www.ktre.com
LUFKIN, TX (KTRE) – A Lufkin man was flown to a Tyler hospital after being stuck by a vehicle during his morning bike ride.

According to DPS Trooper Joshua Senn, Mark Dunn was riding eastbound on FM 1475 with another bicyclist when he was struck by a vehicle trying to pass them.

Senn said the driver didn’t see the bicyclists and struck Dunn in an attempt to pass. …

A scary problem; a ‘practicable’ solution
By Tom Whitehurst Jr.        Corpus Christi Caller
I love the word “practicable.”

Practicable, as in “a person operating a bicycle on a roadway who is moving slower than the other traffic on the roadway shall ride as near as practicable to the right curb or edge of the roadway.” Emphasis mine. The quote is from Texas traffic law. Other states have similar laws that use “practicable.”

Practicable, as in both practical and able. Practicable, as in “Capable of being affected, done, or put into practice,” according to thefreedictionary.com. Practicable, synonymous with “feasible,” “workable” and “realizable.” …

Susan Peak Saturday Ride
by Roy and Christine        Pedal Pushers

…First official stop some 11 miles into the ride. Liz Rappe’ and Donna Durbin were waiting for us at the “rest stop” and joined us to do the 36 out and back of the hilly part. Connie wanted to do the 14-mile route so had already left the group. Riders at this stage: Gary, Rick, Liz Rappe’, Dorothy, Donna Durbin, Eddie, Roy, Velma, Brian, and Dan. …

Chris Aniszczyk        @cra        via Twitter

I wore my special Texas cycling socks today to bring out the sunshine, it didn’t work…

Team Brain and Spine Women’s Team
1st, 3rd and 4th in the Women’s Open, AND 1st, 3rd and 4th in the Women’s 3/4 at University Oaks this morning!! Fantastic racing ladies!

CyclingATX        @CyclingATX        via Twitter
Photos from Texas High School Mountain Bike Racing NICA CycleFest Gala last night.

Around the 4.7 mile point a tandem stopped on the street headed in the opposite direction. The lady stoker was looking at the rear saddle but I waved to the captain. I don’t recall passing tandem on a local ride in quite some time.

I shortened the ride today so that I could back home to take my wife out to lunch for Mother’s Day so the riding time ended up at 1:39:42 with 10:29 stopped time. Most of this was waiting to get through the traffic light from Loop 494 onto Kingwood Drive. It took three light cycles. My wife is very understanding with my biking.

With the week ending my mileage numbers after today’s ride: 193.51 miles this week, 359.17 miles so far in May and 2294.84 miles year to date. So far I biked 11 days out of 13 in May. Riding time in May is 23:09:43.

Link to RideWithGPS data and route map.

Cyclists flock to FrankenBike swap meet
Pam LeBlanc, Fit City
Take a cycling fanatic to FrankenBike and watch his eyes spin like bike wheels.

Cranksets and derailleurs spread on tabletops. Bike seats and handlebars heaped on blankets. Racks of used cycling jerseys. And did we mention beer?

Open to anyone who wants to buy, sell or trade bicycles and bicycle-related gear or parts, Austin-born FrankenBike takes place monthly at rotating sites across the city. Part bike swap meet, part keg party and all bike-geek-o-rama, the latest edition unfolded on the lawn of University Cyclery on North Lamar Boulevard. “It’s a lot cheaper than buying new parts, and you can get really cool stuff,” says…

Corsicana Stage Race debuts Saturday
By Michael Kormos Corsicana Daily Sun
Corsicana — It wasn’t cars or chili or a parade filling downtown Corsicana streets Saturday — it was high performance racing bicycles speeding through the streets.

And it’s an event that could place the city on an important bicycle tour competition each year.

The Corsicana & Navarro County Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Dallas Racing Club and Corsicana Convention & Visitor Bureau hosted its inaugural…

Bike helmets, other safety/health ideas covered during Helo’s Health and Safety Day at Capp Park
By BRITTNEY BENNETT        FOR THE AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Josiah Mendoza, 4, is fitted for a new bicycle helmet by Martha Howell at the Lubbock-Crosby-Garza County Medical Society Alliance and Texas Medical Association booth during the Hero’s Health and Safety Day at Clapp Park on Saturday. The group gave away 100 free helmets. …

Ride of Silence
May 16 event to promote safe biking, driving
By Stuart Frohm        for the Midland Daily News
A silent ride by bicyclists is planned for 7 p.m. May 16 in Midland. It will be in honor and memory of cyclists injured and killed in accidents with motor vehicles on public roadways.

The Ride of Silence will be the eighth annual event in Midland.

Such rides began 10 years ago in Dallas, Texas, and are planned for more than 250 other sites around the world.

Local and area participants are asked to arrive by 6:30 p.m. at the Midland Civic Arena, 405 Fast Ice Drive off Bay City Road. Cyclists may make the entire 12-mile round trip — to H.H. Dow High School and back to the…

Walk Versus Talk
by Steve A            Dallas Point-to-Point
This Scene Captures a Sense of What FW is About – Strictly IMO
I Might as Well Have Used the PANTHER PIC – Foisted on FW by D OR “A Tale of Two Cities”

To the outside world, “DFW” is all one place. However, it really isn’t. Like many metropolitan areas, DFW has many individual cities within in it. To my “Yankee” eyes, the DFW Metroplex has a more, distinct, bipolar nature than other places I’ve lived or visited extensively. While Seattle, Everett, and Tacoma are all distinct to those that “know,” they are clearly birds of the same species. Ditto for Los Angeles and the South Bay cities – or even Anaheim. In DFW, sometimes it reminds me of an echo of life on either side of the Berlin Wall. I was reminded of this yesterday when I happened to have to go into Downtown Fort Worth on the same day I checked…

CyclingATX        @CyclingATX        via Twitter
Today we posted our 1st cyclingatx.com Featured Partner Video of the Week from Bicycle Sport Shop. Check it…

Around 10 AM the weather started to clear up for our trip to the show and sale. This held while we looked, shopped and drove back home. After a lunch stop at Whataburger I got ready for the ride. The temperature during the ride was 81 to 82 degrees. The light NNW wind at 10 mph had a coolness to it that negated the warmth from the partly cloudy sky enough to make it very pleasant. Starting out north I wanted to get a longer ride in since I did not ride yesterday. The route I chose was a good fit with a headwind for the first 20 miles becoming a tailwind for the majority of the ride after that point. This favorable scenario allowed me to kick up the speed to the point I averaged 16.2 mph. This was so good the 25 to 30 mile split averaged 19.6 mph. To go along with this my max speed hit 25.1 mph. I was feeling good once the wind came from behind. Before that I did not think these speeds would come to pass. The slideshow shows the breakdown of the time and distance for each speed zone. The riding time totaled 2:41:11 with 30:46 stopped.

Mileage numbers:

• today 43.54 miles
• this week 168.08 miles
• May 333.74 miles
• year to date 2269.41 miles

Alternate data view at RideWithGPS.com