Texas Bicycling News – March 1, 2023

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Texas cyclists need safer roads. Here’s a law to help them

By Dallas Morning News Editorial | www.dallasnews.com

Legalize the Idaho stop at intersections.

A cyclist shares the road with a car on Mockingbird Lane above White Rock Lake in Dallas.

An advocacy group for cyclists is lobbying to legalize the “Idaho stop.” Texas should support this measure but implement it carefully over time.

The Idaho stop, so named because it first became law in Idaho in 1982, gives cyclists the right of way at intersections. Practically, it allows cyclists to treat stop signs like yield signs, and traffic lights like stop signs. Versions of the law have passed in at least 10 other states, including Oklahoma, Arkansas, Colorado and Utah.

And it works. According to a study by DePaul University, cyclist injuries declined by 14.5% in Idaho the year after the law was implemented. A 2022 report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said, “Based upon the current research and data available, these laws showed added …

Upcoming Events

Greater Dallas Bicyclists | gdbclub.clubexpress.com

Mar 2 6:00 Mesquite Casual Ride A casual, moderately paced ride through Sunnyvale and Mesquite Mar 2 6:30 PM Thursday Night Downtown Ride Mar 4 Lancaster Pre-ride #1 Mar 4 9 AM Distance Builder Mar 4 10 AM Easygoing Ride Social, slow-paced, no one left behind ride Mar 5 9:00 AM Sunday Roll An "Explore Dallas" ride, starts at NW corner of Preston & Royal. Mar 7 6:30 PM Tuesday Evening Bike Ride A 30 mile ride through Las Colinas

Trek Travel Designs Hill Country Rides for Serious Bicyclists

Written by: Lori Rackl | texashighways.com

Multiday expeditions occur in Central Texas destinations like Fredericksburg and Luckenbach

In his 1977 outlaw country classic, Waylon Jennings croons, “Out in Luckenbach, Texas, ain’t nobody feelin’ no pain.” I guarantee Waylon and Willie and the boys didn’t ride a bike to their beloved Luckenbach. I did. And my legs were feeling plenty of pain.

I was halfway through a weeklong cycling trip in October when I pulled my two-wheeler into Luckenbach, an Instagrammer’s dream destination. As I gulped electrolytes from my water bottle, I noticed a black and white cat posing on the rustic porch of the post office turned general store and chickens congregating under the shade of a sprawling live oak.

I’d pedaled 190 miles in the past four days, climbing more than 10,000 feet along the way. My quads were tired. My glutes were beat. My whole body was wrecked. But that’s exactly what I bargained for …

Life Time Announces Lineup of 2023 Athletic Events Spanning Mountain Bike and Gravel Races, Marathons and Triathlons

www.prnewswire.com

New mountain bike event for 2023, Little Sugar MTB, adds to line up of 25 iconic events, including the Leadville Trail 100 MTB, Chicago Half Marathon, UNBOUND Gravel and Miami Marathon, delivering exceptional participant experiences

CHANHASSEN, Minn., Feb. 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Life Time (NYSE: LTH), the nation’s premier healthy lifestyle brand that operates 160+ athletic country clubs across North America, has released its 2023 lineup of more than 25 premier athletic events. Composed of cycling, running and triathlon events, the portfolio spans 11 states and draws participants from around the world, helping them embrace their endurance sports passions and live healthy, happy lives. Unique to Life Time athletic events is that they are part of the comprehensive Life Time ecosystem of healthy living, healthy aging and healthy entertainment destinations, programs, events, and services for people 90 days to 90+ years old.

2023 Life Time athletic events highlights: …

… November 4: Stages Cycling Austin Rattler MTB & Life Time Austin Rattler Run, TX – Saddle up for a Texas mountain biking or running favorite. The MTB offers a 20-mile loop course (with option to do 60-miles as a Leadville qualifier). The run course features 10-miles of single track fire roads and granite formations (with option to do 30-miles as a Leadville qualifier). Registration is now open for both events. …

Bicyclist shot in Texas, authorities investigating

By Ronnie Marley | www.fox26houston.com

TEXAS CITY, Texas – Texas City police are investigating after a bicyclist was shot on Tuesday morning.

Authorities said Texas City police received a call of a subject being shot on a bicycle in the 6200 block of FM 1765.

Investigators learned that a 20-year-old man was shot in the upper right left by an unknown suspect while riding his bicycle.

The victim was picked up and taken to a local hospital by a passerby driver.

Police are asking anyone with information to contact the Texas City Police Department at (409) 643-5720 or the Mainland Community Crime Stoppers at (409) 945-8477.

The Nearly Completed Northeast Texas Trail Is an Outdoor Sports Paradise

Written by: Pam LeBlanc | texashighways.com

With a distance of 130 miles, the route offers a variety of terrain for cyclists and walkers traveling from Farmersville to New Boston.

The Trail de Paris features plenty of room for joggers, bicyclists, and those out for a pleasant stroll. Photo by Stan A. Williams

Imagine hopping on a trail in Farmersville, about an hour northeast of Dallas, and pedaling a bike, hiking, or riding a scooter all the way to New Boston, eight miles from the Arkansas border.

The 130-mile Northeast Texas Trail allows just that, and a recent infusion of about $18 million in federal grants is putting the finishing touches on the longest trail in Texas.

The idea for the trail began in the 1980s, when the Santa Fe Railway abandoned tracks in the northern part of the state. The Northeast Texas Trail Coalition formed to turn the corridor into a recreational trail. Development began in the 1990s, starting at the trail’s midpoint in Paris and Farmersville to the west. Other communities followed suit, improving the surface of the corridor and, in some places, paving it and adding amenities like water stops, fix-it stations and mile …

Bike Night returns to Austin’s Circuit of the Americas in March

By Amber Heckler | austin.culturemap.com

If you’ve ever wanted to get your wheels on the Circuit of the Americas track, now’s your chance. After a highly successful 2022 season that saw more than 11,000 in attendance, Ascension Seton’s Bike Night at COTA is returning in March with a new service for riders.

Ascension is introducing bike rentals for the first time on designated nights for its 2023 events. Riders of any age or experience level are welcome to take a lap around the track and enjoy one of the many post-ride tailgate activities at the …

Show support for Urban Trail Connectivity Saturday 11am Walnut

By cmc4130 | austinmountainbiking.com

The message Austin Ridge Riders will be promoting is that “It’s not about the concrete—it’s about connecting neighborhoods to places people want to ride, like MTB Trails, BMX Parks, Bicycle Playgrounds, Skills Parks, etc.”

It’ll be great to show the elected officials and administrators a good crowd of MTB riders!

Texas Biking from Twitter

Texas Bicycling News – February 28, 2023

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Video: Adaptive bike rides for disabled individuals and seniors

Author: Karla Coe-Specker | www.wfaa.com

Lone Star Wheelers is a North Texas non-profit committed to giving the gift of bike riding to everyone regardless of their disabilities

Bryan woman dead after being struck by vehicle

by: Matt McGovern | www.fox44news.com

BRYAN, Texas (FOX 44) – UPDATE: The victim in a fatal vehicle accident in Bryan has been identified.

The Bryan Police Department says 68-year-old Johnnye Mary Walton, of Bryan, was the pedestrian on the bicycle.

The department said that two vehicles crashed in the intersection of E 29th Street and Barak Lane last weekend. After crashing, one of the vehicles struck a pedestrian on her bicycle who was waiting to cross the intersection – identified as Walton.

Walton was transported to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Occupants in both of the vehicles were not injured.

Roads in the area were shut down, and travelers were urged to seek alternate routes. The roadway has since reopened, as of 5:22 p.m. Sunday.

Video: Lakewood Riders Compete in Texas Bike Tour Fundraiser

Yehuda Leizer | lnnnews.com

The Mesivta of Houston has wrapped up its annual bike tour, which took place over the last two days. Riders from many states, including Lakewood, participated in the fundraiser.

Team Madison Title Agency, which raised $48,000 for the yeshiva, included Elliot Zaks, Moshe Dovid Fischman, Mordechai Klein, Yaakov Forchheimer, Steve Lubin, Tzvi Lundner, Jay Lubin, Yonah Astor, Yehuda Benscher, Eli Abramson, Aaron Sonnenschein, Yaakov Soltan, Joe Wasser, Leib Egert, Liav Bar, Paul Gilbert, Yoel Margolese, and Yonoson Tesser.

This year’s Texas Tour 2023 started from the iconic …

New state park to open near Strawn

By Jessica Domel | texasfarmbureau.org

Texans will soon have additional opportunities to hike, bike, fish and enjoy the great outdoors on public land with the opening of the first new state park in North Texas in more than 25 years.

The 4,871-acre Palo Pinto Mountains State Park is being built on former ranchland west of Strawn. That’s north of I-20 halfway between Fort Worth and Abilene.

“Palo Pinto Mountains is full of beautiful vistas from cuestas and hilltops and mesas,” James Adams, superintendent of the new park, said. “The center piece of the park is 90-acre Tucker Lake. A lot of our facilities kind of center around that lake. We’ll have trails that sort of radiate out for that. We’ll have use for hikers, mountain bikers, equestrian users and great angling and paddling opportunities. It’s a really beautiful site with a lot of rich history.”

The park is expected to …

Upcoming Rides

Fort Worth Bicycling Association | www.fwbaclub.org

Burleson and Beyond
Thu, March 02, 2023 9:00 AM
Spokes Parking Lot, 155 W Bufford St., Burleson, TX
Rusty Romp
Thu, March 02, 2023 9:00 AM
Benbrook YMCA, 1899 Winscott Road, Benbrook, TX 76126
Chisholm Rusty Chain Gang Ramble
Tue, March 07, 2023 9:00 AM
4936 McPherson Blvd, Fort Worth, TX
Rusty Romp Tuesday Edition
Tue, March 07, 2023 9:00 AM
Benbrook YMCA, 1899 Winscott Road, Benbrook, TX 76126
Burleson and Beyond
Thu, March 09, 2023 9:00 AM
Spokes Parking Lot, 155 W Bufford St., Burleson, TX
Rusty Romp
Thu, March 09, 2023 9:00 AM
Benbrook YMCA, 1899 Winscott Road, Benbrook, TX 76126
Chisholm Rusty Chain Gang Ramble
Tue, March 14, 2023 9:00 AM
4936 McPherson Blvd, Fort Worth, TX

Smooth Group Cycling Feb 25, 2023

Veloharmony | www.youtube.com

Prologue: 00:00 Route Map: 00:51 Ride Start at Alden Village Center & Warmup: 02:14 Honea-Egypt Community Road: 19:15 FM 2854 to Rabon Chapel Road: 39:50 South Pine Road to Mail Route: 48:58 FM 2854 to Taco Corner: 57:00 Osborne Road to FM 1375: 1:12:15 FM 1375 to HWY 149: 1:19:03 Hwy 149 to Grissom Trail: 1:27:52 FM 1791 to Taliafero Road: 1:37:09 Cedar Hill to Hoke Road: 1:49:36 Bay Chapel Road to Richard’s, Texas: 1:58:38

Tuesday San Antonio, Texas

Eduardo Salas (Cyclones) | strava.com

Texas Biking from Twitter

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Looping Harlingen, Wind, Dog Chase, Chip N Seal Roads

Texbiker.net Posted on by

I got my bike racing fix today watching the LE SAMYN DES DAMES and LE SAMYN from Belgium this morning before setting out on my slower bike ride. The men and women rode several sections of cobbles. My challenge would be wind and chip’n seal roads. Not quite as bad as the cobbles.

Today’s route was a variation of yesterday’s route adding 8 miles to it. Using RideWithGPS.com to plan the route took several tries to get above 20 miles. The route plan came in at 22.3 miles. I rode north along US77/US83 to Loop 499 turning to the east. A nice tailwind helped me get to Loop 499 and hung around for a short time on Loop 499 as I made my way almost to the airport where I turned left onto FM 507. This put the wind at my back biking north to FM 508 or the Combes Rio Hondo Road. The wind was now coming from my right as I rode east. There some trees in places to interfere with the wind but the homes were far enough back from the road to not provide much wind relief. The big right turn onto FM 509 put me square into the wind. The turn-by-turn information on the Bolt computer showed at least 6.8 miles to Business US77 and turning away from the wind.

Wind and road surface on FM 509 punished my legs. My speed slowed to 8 – 10 mph. A couple of times I thought about going to an easier gearing than the 35×15 I was using but I stayed with them. In the video I tell about the road surface changing to asphalt removing half of the difficulty. Around that time a dog sprint happened and I tell about that in the video too. Nothing like a strong headwind and a dog sprint. Only thing worse might be headwind and going uphill with a dog chasing.

FM 509 bent from the south to the southwest giving me some relief from the wind. At Business US77 I turned right for the final miles. Now the right shoulder was chewed up from asphalt removal moving me close to the white lane line but traffic was forgiving allowing me space. Camelot Drive was my turn left leaving the chewed up shoulder but back with the strong side wind. The finish was near and I stopped the Bolt computer at 12:56 PM ending the ride. My legs were glad.

Before the ride I did some research on previous Jalapeno 100 rides. I found my blog post from February 16, 2008 recounting my ride in the Jalapeno 100. The wind was brutal. Riding the Jalapeno 100 Wind Tunnel. I rode the Jalapeno 100 two times I think when it started on South Padre Island. That was before I had a GPS bike computer for it to show up in my computer logs. I’ll have to look in my paper bike logs.

Texas Bicycling News – February 27, 2023

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Tour de Houston 2023 Houston, Texas

Reynaldo Juarez | strava.com

Gorgeous Morning Ride San Antonio, Texas

Mark Noblitt MTCCSA | strava.com

When Jennifer Rodriguez MTCCSA? says "Ride!" we ride!

Greater Houston Cycling Foundation Newsletter

Stuart Gardner, Program Director | shoutout.wix.com

… Upcoming Events

11am Sat March 18th – Track Intro Class

1pm Sat March 25th – Track Cleanup & Swap Meet

11am Sun April 2nd – Track Intro Class

6:45pm Tues April 4th – TNR Bunch Races

6:45pm Tues April 11th – TNR Track on Speed

9am Sat April 15th – Age Based State TT Championships 8:30am Sun April 16th – Super Sunday #1

6:45pm Tues April 11th – USAC TNR …

… USAC Race Weekends

We have 4 weekends lined up for 2023, each will have racing on Sat, Sun & Tues. Reg opens for these events on March 1st!

April 15th-18th Atomic Age Based TT State Championships, Masters & Junior State Keirin Championships, Elite Points Race State Championships & more! – Reg

May 13th-16th Atomic TT Series #1, Elite Keirin State Championships, Masters & Juniors Scratch Race State Championships & more! – Reg

June 3rd-6th …

2023 40 50+ Pace Bend Day 1 at Driveway

HawksNestCorp | www.youtube.com

Video: Racing through the decades on a BMX bike

Author: Alan Kozeluh | www.kens5.com

74-year-old "Miss Kittie" Weston-Knauer spent the weekend in San Antonio encouraging black women to take up BMX racing.

SAN ANTONIO — A trailblazer in the world of BMX racing spent the weekend in San Antonio encouraging young women of color to follow her down the path she continues to ride.

Perched atop a custom built, 26-inch Jayhawk at Lone Star BMX Saturday, Kittie Weston-Knauer yelled out: “All right, I’m good to go!” before the metal platform dropped out and sent her careening down the track.

Weston-Knauer, also known as "Miss Kittie" in BMX circles, has put a lot of track under her wheels over the years, but her focus is still on the road ahead.

“For me, understand that every time I get on my bike, I win,” she said. “Because I started, and I finished."

At 74, she is the oldest female competitive BMX racer in the United States.

"It is fun, it is a very healthy sport." Weston-Knauer said. "And I …

Texas Biking from Twitter