Texas Bicycling News Digest December 5th 2017

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Research hopes to fill in the gaps for bicycle and pedestrian data

by Andrew Weber | www.austinmonitor.com


Traffic is terrible.

City and state officials are really good at counting cars to see how terrible traffic is and how it got that way, but that sort of data-collection infrastructure doesn’t exist for bike and pedestrian data. New research hopes to change that.

The project has a simple goal, but you wouldn’t glean that from its name: “Evaluation of Bicycle and Pedestrian Monitoring Equipment to Establish Collection Database Methodologies for Estimating Non-Motorized Transportation.” …

Bikes for Angels turns 10 years old

By Ashley Rose | www.cleburnetimesreview.com


Waking up on Christmas morning to a new bicycle can be a fond memory for any child. However, some children have never owned, let alone ridden one before.

One local organization wanted to change that.

The nonprofit organization Bikes for Angels turns 10 years old this year, and Rick and Dee Curlee of Joshua still can’t believe it.

The year before …

Opinion: It’s the end of the road for the IBD: Say hello to the IBS

By Dan Sotello | www.bicycleretailer.com


Editor’s note: Dan Sotello was the founder of Onza, the parts and accessories brand from the 1990s. He is the inventor of the mountain bike bar-end and worked with several bike brands including Shimano, Specialized, Maxxis and Panaracer. For 10 years, he’s operated a bike shop on Mercer Island, near Seattle, called Bike Lair.

Back in 1968, my career started as a proud Factory Trained Schwinn mechanic in Southern California. I can safely say this was the golden era for IBDs. Ever since, I’ve witnessed every great, surprising, and sometimes agonizing twist that IBDs had to endure to stay in business. And now I can honestly say, “This is the end of the road for IBD” … Welcome, IBS: Independent Bicycle Service

What the current IBDs need to do is …

Children’s Advocacy Center bicycle check

alzandar | www.planobicycle.org

It’s holiday bike giveaway time and you know that means opportunities for us to show off our bike building skills! This Thursday, December 7th, at 5:30 P.M., we have been asked by Children’s Advocacy Center to once again come out and double check all the bicycles that were donated to them to make sure they are put together properly. We may also be donating a few to them as well. Post below if you can make it out to help. Should be about 150 bikes to check. Thanks!

2205 Los Rios Blvd. Plano, 75074.

Shoal Creek, part trois (?)

dougmc | bicycleaustin.info


It’s not hard to tell which side of things the makers of this flyer are on.

In any event, somehow I suspect this may even be …

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Texas Bicycling News Digest December 4th 2017

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Biking Through the Lights

www.kksa-am.com

About a hundred bicyclists came out the enjoy the Concho Christmas Celebration last evening for the annual San Angelo Bicycle Association’s “Bike Through the Lights” with Santa and his Elf. Individuals and families rode bikes along the …

Just keep biking

by Rachel Herzer | ntdaily.com

Maybe it’s my anxiety, or maybe I’m scarred from that one time when I was little and my brother accidentally ran me over with his bike. Either way, it seems like every other day on campus I find myself coming within inches of losing my life to a cyclist speeding by. Maybe I’m just being dramatic.

Once, a guy hit me with the handle of his bike, and I apologized. While savage cyclists are concerning and definitely something to be vigilant about, above all, UNT’s affinity for bikes is inspiring.

On Nov. 8, The League of American Bicyclists recognized UNT as a bronze level Bicycle Friendly University. This …

Committee delays vote on update to Balcones Canyonlands Preserve access guidelines

Pam LeBlanc | fitness.blog.austin360.com


A vote on updated public access guidelines at the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve has been postponed.

Dozens of mountain bikers, motorcyclists and other park users, concerned that a rewording of the guidelines might jeopardize future access to the preserve, spoke at a meeting Friday at which the Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan Coordinating Committee considered the update.

“We obviously weren’t …

ARR Trail Crew / WC Drainage and Berm building

Friday, Dec 8, 2017, 3:00 PM

Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park
12138 North Lamar Boulevard Austin, TX

5 Mountain Bikers Went

Meet at the POOL PARKING LOT. With recent rains, there will certainly be drainage issues to address to make sure the trails dry out faster so we can ride them again. There are a wide variety of tasks to be handled for every range of individual abilities. If you are not allergic to poison ivy, we have a special hero job for you! 🙂 Please sign up he…

Check out this Meetup →

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Rain Had the Upper hand on Today’s Bike Ride

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I pressed the bike ride issue today and paid the price, biking in the rain. As I walked out the back door to get the Blue Norcross AL bike I stopped because the rain was coming down enough to make noise hitting the cloth patio cover. I went back inside to check the radar which show an isolated patch of rain over the area so I waited a few minutes until it quit. Back out the door and this time no rain but the streets were damp but no major puddles. Planning to ride to Huffman I rode on the Kingwood trails to start and around 1.6 miles into the ride rain caught me again, this time getting me pretty wet but I moved from the street to the greenbelt trail thinking the trees would shield me from the rain. No! And I got wet but crossing Northpark Drive riding south the rain slowed until I got near the cross street when it rained harder. Not too far from home I pedaled quickly to get back there for cover. Wet I pulled into the driveway and parked the blue under the roof to the garage. The rain continued for several minutes and I dried off in the garage while I waited.

Finally the rain stopped and I set off again on wet streets. I could see gray clouds to the south and west but I hoped they would not come towards me. As I bicycled south on W. Lake Houston Parkway I changed my route to the “Atascocita – Walden – E. Lake Houston Parkway” one concerned about getting caught in more rain. To get to E. Lake Houston Parkway sooner I altered the order of the streets following Kings River Drive and some side streets before getting on Atascocita Shores Drive north of FM 1960. At FM 1960 I crossed the over and headed east over Lake Houston. I picked up the speed thanks to the wind not being in my face and made the u-turn at E. Lake Houston Parkway.

Biking west I could see the gray clouds but thought they were well west of where I was going. Wrong! About 1/2 mile from the west side of the lake the rain caught me but between me going west and the rain going to the east it only lasted a few minutes and I was out of it. I made the left turn at the traffic light to ride through Walden and loop back to FM 1960 at Pinehurst Trail. That part of the ride was rain free. Pinehurst Trail north of FM 1960 was mostly dry until I got close to Kings Parkway where it started to sprinkle. With all of the wet I was glad the temperature was in the upper 70’s to avoid chilling.

On Kings River Drive more sprinkles and I thought I would get wet again. fortunately I didn’t wait long at the W. lake Houston Parkway traffic light where I turned right. I could see the road was wet and the light rain was coming down but at the north end of the bridge it looked like the sun was shining and I hoped it would dry. By the time I got there the sun was gone but the light rain stopped. From there to the finish no more rain though some of the streets were damp. After starting at 11:45 AM I finished the ride at 2:08 PM.

Leaning the bike against the fence I saw mud and dirt from riding in the rain. I moved the Blue Norcross AL to the spot where the hose reel stands and washed the bike. As I finished a few rain drops fell from the sky maybe to remind the rain had the upper hand on today’s bike ride.

SportTracks Ride Summary

SportTracks Bicycle Ride Summary

Texas Bicycling News Digest December 3rd 2017

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The Racing Post Closes Down

Dallas/Fort Worth Bike Trails

Richardson Bike Mart | bikemart.com

If you’re new to the area, new to cycling, or are looking to expand your cycling horizons, you’ve come to the right place! The Dallas / Fort Worth area is home to many amazing bicycle paths and off-road mountain bike trails of varying distances and difficulties. We’ve put together a list of the metroplex’s trails to help you find the best places to ride. We spend a lot of time on these trails, and we’re happy to give you …

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