Texas Bicycling News February 28th

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Gator Ride – Baytown, TX

runwithapurpose        instagram.com


Biking 62 miles solo today.. With a couple hundred other crazy people. Temp still in the 30s and windy. I’m bundled up! Can’t say I didn’t train in it… Here we go!

Dallas Cycling Trail Riders and Weekend Pub Crawler

Allen, TX
1,678 Members

We are a fun 2 part group. Fitness buddies that want to be social too! So we combined what we like doing, riding our bikes around and doing pub crawls or other social events w…

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DORBA – Dallas Off-Road Bicycle Association

DORBA


We would like to congratulate DORBA member Thomas Mullins on being featured in the new REI catalog! Thomas is one of the many assistant trail stewards that builds and maintains the Northshore trail in Grapevine, TX. He is …

Cyclists report a disproportionate number of errors to Google Maps

Updated by Joseph Stromberg        www.vox.com

Google relies on user-submitted complaints to continually improve its maps. If the turn-by-turn directions tell you to turn left at an intersection where lefts are forbidden, for instance, you can report the problem, and engineers at Google’s Project Ground Truth will adjust their data accordingly.
In this new video (above), the Wall Street Journal’s Christopher Mims dug up an interesting fact about this system: cyclists contribute disproportionately more complaints than anyone else. Google hasn’t …

Huebner Creek Hike and Bike Trail

www.texasbids.net

Bid Date & Time: 03/27/15 10:00 AM
Prebid: 03/20/15 10:00 AM
Solicitation Title: Huebner Creek Hike and Bike Trail
Owner Solic Number: 2117-001-00     Status: bidding    Report: 6157458
Country :United States     State: TX    County: Bexar
Location: Leon Valley
Scope: The project includes construction of a hike and bike trail. 15 SY of rem conc (sidewalk or ramp); 3,072 SY of erosion control compost (2″); 6 mo of barricades, signs, and traffic handling; 10 ea, trail signage; 2 ea, trash receptacles; 1 AC of cellulose fiber mulch seeding (perm). See attached file.
Notes: Pre-Bid Details: March 20, 2015 at 10:00 AM at CIty of Leon Valley, 6400 El Verde Road, Leon Valley, TX 78238. Deadline for questions: no later than seven (7) full calendar days prior to the bid opening time and date. This project has a “prevailing wage” requirement.
Plans: From CivCast USA / Amtek Information Service, Inc., PO Box 692303, 4001 Sherwood Lane, Houston, Texas 77092. See attached & linked files.
Outside Link: http://www.civcastusa.com/projectdetails.aspx?projectID=6080
Bond: 2% bid bond
Owner Type: Public
Buyer: Leon Valley, City of
Address: 6400 El Verde Rd
City: Leon Valley    State: TX    Zip/Postal Code: 78238 …

Bike MS 2015 training is in full swing!

by Laura        lauramakes.com

Well, it’s official. I’ve signed up for my 8th annual Bike MS ride and started training 3 weeks ago! For the second year in a row, I’m doing the Sam’s Club Round Up Ride in DFW on the first weekend in May. I had originally planned to choose a different ride, but our schedules this year just didn’t allow it. Plus, they’ve changed up the Sam’s Club Round Up Ride so that it ends in downtown Fort Worth’s Sundance Square on Sunday, rather than ending at the Texas Motor Speedway both days. Thanks to you, I achieved top fundraiser status last year, so that should make this a good year. I haven’t yet set up my fundraising page, but I did have an interesting training ride last weekend that I wanted to share. We were in Dallas to tour some breweries and I took my bike and explored the …

San Angelo Currently Second-Healthiest Mid-Size Community in Texas

By Chelsea Reinhard        sanangelolive.com


It’s been two months since countless San Angeloans swore off their sweets in favor of becoming better versions of themselves in the new year, and so far the hard work has paid off: San Angelo is currently ranked second in the state for healthy activity, logged online as a part of HEB’s annual Community Challenge.
Over 11,000 individual activities and participation from local schools, businesses and organizations have logged the city 129,300 points—Some 375 lost pounds. The efforts are pitting the city behind Pharr and just ahead of Cedar Park (in DFW) in the number two slot in the mid-size range.
The challenge, which began statewide three years ago, was brought to San Angelo in 2014 and …

31st Annual Tour de Paris Looking for Sponsors

www.eparisextra.com


Paris Visitors and Convention Council and Lamar County Chamber of Commerce are already making plans for the 31st Annual Tour de Paris Bicycle Rally to be held on Saturday, July 18, 2015.
This bicycle rally brings over 900 bicyclists from all over Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and states as far away as California.
Many of these riders will be staying in local hotels, visiting area retail outlets to shop and eating in our restaurants.
There is a lot of expense involved with putting on an event of this magnitude and organizers are looking for sponsors.  There are several levels of sponsorships available.
The Tour de Paris offer the riders many …

Tail Wind Ride from Piney Woods, TX to North Woods BWCA, MN

by Brian Riecker        www.crazyguyonabike.com

Bicycle Touring Classifieds
37 year-old experienced touring cyclist biking 30-80 miles per day with occasional layovers. Averaging 13-15 MPH fully loaded.
Starting in late April 2015 and taking about 3 months. Meandering route from Gulf of Mexico in piney woods region of Texas to northern Minnesota, ending with a week-long canoe trip in Boundary Waters. Taking advantage of scenic highways, historic spots, and state parks. Smelling the roses with no definite schedule or route.
Self-Contained, Camping and Warm Showers with occasional Motel when necessary. Looking for several people any age or gender for all or part of the ride. …

Frankenbike is a go. My toes are a-frozen.

Austin on a Bike

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Texas Bicycling News Digest February 27th

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Boston, Columbus, Detroit, Indy, Minneapolis, Houston, Denver & Seattle all unveil protected lanes

Michael Andersen, Green Lane Project staff writer        www.peopleforbikes.org


… Houston began painting its first protected bike lane on Feb. 8, a 10-block bidirectional track on Lamar Street downtown that’ll connect two existing off-road paths to one another. …

Oblate Trail Ride 2015

Bluebonnet Trail Signal and Crossing at Preston Road Project

www.texasbids.net

Bid Date & Time: 03/06/15 10:00 AM
Owner Solic Number: 2015-158-B; 6321    Status: bidding    Report: 6131444
Country :United States     State: TX    County: Collin
Location: Plano
Est. Low Value: $175,000    Est. High Value: $175,000
Scope: The improvements under this contract include the following including furnishing all plant, labor, material and equipment and
performing all work required: Concrete work including roadway, center median, curb and gutter, recreational trail, sidewalks and associated
ramps for a bike and pedestrian crossing. Provide and install a traffic signal and pavement markings. Approx 150 LF of 2″ scheduled 80 PVC
conduit; 338 LF of 4″ scheduled 80 PVC conduit (bore); 24″ traffic signal drilled shaft foundations; 200 LF 4″ solid yellow pavement marking.
Notes: Q & A deadline: Feb 27, 2015 12:00 PM.
Plans: From Owner. See attached files. Please note that attached files are for review purposes only.
Bond: 5% bid bond
Update Notes: Q&A attached.
Owner Type: Public
Buyer: Plano, City of …

Pace Bend Road Race Report

Grant Koontz        texasbikeracing.com


Photos : KM Creative
Grant Koontz, 21, is a Junior at Texas A&M University, studying Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences. This is his second year as a member of Super Squadra’s developmental program, the Super JETS.
The lead in was typical. We all had a rough day at Walburg. Cross winds. A crash. A hard fought 12th place finish by Michael Pincus. We retreated to Austin, and sought refuge before another Texas Monument, Pace Bend. I spend the night in my new mobile home, my recently purchased 1994 Chevy conversion van. Life on the road in this van, however brief, has been an exciting adventure for me. I parked my mobile home in front of my dear friend and teammate Ian Dille’s house. I went to bed at 7:30 p.m., and managed to get a solid 12 hours of sleep (four REM cycles). My aim to recover as much as possible was a raging success.
The next morning, I awoke to a breakfast of special Dille family cornmeal waffles, infused with bacon. Not long after, we prepped and loaded our bikes into my van and hit the road for Pace Bend. We were …

Where to ride your bike in the Borderland

www.kfoxtv.com

(Video)
The Borderland is full of trails, including biking ones.
McKelligon Canyon
Roughrider Canyon Freeride Park (Horizon City, Texas)
Archuleta’s Acres
Arroyo Park & Nature Preserve (AKA Monk’s Trail)
Crazy Cat Grande
Franklin Mountains State Park (Tom Mays Unit)- Beginner Loop
Franklin Mountains State Park (Tom Mays Unit)- Lower Sunset Trail
Franklin Mountains State Park (Tom Mays Unit)- Upper Sunset Trail
Heinrich Park/Hitt Canyon Trail
Pat O’Rourke Bike Trail
Redd Road Trails
Rio Grande River Trail
El Paso Bicycle Club also lists their rides when …

Webinar watch: Race, ethnicity, class and protected bike lanes

Michael Andersen, Green Lane Project staff writer        www.peopleforbikes.org


The Green Lane Project has spent the last eight months gathering ideas about the connections between protected bike lane planning and issues of equity, diversity and social justice.
In a free webinar on Wednesday, we’d like to share what we’ve learned.
As part of the release this Tuesday of a 36-page report written by us and the Alliance for Biking and Walking, we’ll be sharing a series of lessons that we think can be useful to people interested in questions like these:
How can protected bike lanes fit into efforts to make American cities less inequitable? In what ways are they failing?
How can city staff and advocates better infuse transportation justice into bikeway planning?
How should bike infrastructure investments combine with other issues to diminish inequities between communities?
Presenting at the webinar will be Chema Hernández Gil of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, who …

Lumberton, TX to DeRidder, LA – Day 3 of Leg 5

by Brian        www.brothersbikeride.com

Mark wants Tim and me to describe the day’s ride, which I totally understand because we’re all exhausted and really just want to go to sleep.  It was an 84 mile day that took a few minutes longer than yesterday’s 89 miles.  It felt colder than yesterday and the wind was unrelenting.  Plus there were the dogs!  It seemed they were just waiting for us to ride by so they could chase us. …

Lumberton, TX to DeRidder, LA — Said Goodbye to Texas

by Tim        www.brothersbikeride.com

Glad that ride is over. Just as demanding as yesterday even though a little shorter. The wind was consistently a headwind. We started out at 8am again and saw our breath for the first hour or so. We have every layer on that we brought and barely stay warm enough.
I thought I got my second flat but after we changed the tube, we figured out my valve stem was unscrewed and the air was leaking out every time I hit a bump. I will buy some extra tubes when we get to our first bike store which …

Yes, I am here, too. Howdy fans!

by Mark        www.brothersbikeride.com

“If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.”
So I won’t bore you with words. Tim and Brian can do that. Here is a photo pictorial of what today was like.

Austin’s Hike and Bike Trail

by Erik Stanley        rootsrated.com

Skirting around the edges of Lady Bird Lake, the Butler Hike and Bike Trail is urban Austin’s crown jewel for fitness enthusiasts, families, and training athletes. With plenty of shade from tall lakeside trees and an impressive bird population around the lake, the trail provides an accessible, scenic escape from the hustle of downtown, while still providing beautiful views of the Austin city skyline.
About the Route
The trail ranges from 8-20 feet in width and its surface is primarily crushed granite with a few short concrete sections – perfect for running, walking, or biking. Terrain is flat with …

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Texas Bicycling News February 26th

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EDITORIAL: Future growth for McAllen

www.themonitor.com


During Wednesday’s State of the City speech, McAllen Mayor Jim Darling made it clear to all 900 people in the room his unequivocal support for children and improving the health and wealth of McAllen when he sprinted into the grand hall of the McAllen Convention Center dressed in a gray sweatsuit, tennis shoes and red headband accompanied by dozens of school children.
His surprise entrance came after the mayor was featured in a video montage, set to the theme tune of the movie Rocky, which showed him running in that same sweatsuit throughout the city and stopping to describe various attractions, planned development, infrastructure improvements and growth in different sectors of McAllen.
This energetic followup was a creative comeback to last year’s State of the City speech when Darling rode in on a bicycle wearing tight, Spandex bike shorts, after …

This is a long read but ends up in Beaumont, Texas.

Pedal Turning, Learning, and Calorie Burning, Days 149-163, 571 miles

by Dylan Peterson        jdwheelsofchange.com


A key factor in why we’re taking this trip is that we aspire to learn more about ourselves. Another reason is to become well-rounded individuals. We’re finding that everywhere we go, we meet people who affect us in some way. It seems that we’re constantly learning new healthy practices and mindful ways to approach life and its peculiar situations. Sometimes we meet people extremely different from us but in pursuit of the same goals. For instance, where we last left off, in Mary Esther, FL, we were staying with our buddy, George, and his roommates Conor and Wimpee.
The three of them are in the Air Force, and Wimpee and Conor told us they were to be deployed within the year. All three of them exhibited outstanding discipline and work ethics. It was great to reminisce on some priceless memories with our buddy George from our times at Springfield College. More so, we were inspired by …

76-Year-Old Man Bikes 300 Miles To Raise Money For Planned Parenthood

by Laura Bassett        www.huffingtonpost.com


Planned Parenthood of South Texas is turning 76 this year, and so is Texas resident Gene Novogrodsky.
To mark the two occasions, Novogrodsky embarked on a 300-mile bike ride at 6 a.m. Thursday from his hometown of Brownsville to San Antonio. The ride, which he is calling the “Spirit of ’76,” has already raised more than $8,600 in donations for the Planned Parenthood clinics in Brownsville and Harlingen, two underserved areas in the Rio Grande Valley. He plans to arrive in San Antonio next Tuesday.
Novogrodsky, a longtime civil rights advocate and instructor at the University of Texas at Brownsville, said he is riding to raise awareness of …

Pedestrian bridge may finally rise over Mockingbird Lane

by Melissa Repko        thescoopblog.dallasnews.com


A long-awaited pedestrian bridge over Mockingbird Lane may finally rise in Northeast Dallas, more than a year after its groundbreaking ceremony.
The Mockingbird Pedestrian Bridge will connect the popular Katy Trail to Mockingbird Station, a shopping complex with restaurants, apartments, a movie theater and a DART station.The suspension bridge will allow pedestrians and cyclists to easily cross the congested street and hop on a train.
City officials say construction could be underway by the fall. The city is finalizing real estate agreements for easements on either side of the bridge, said Chiamin Korngiebel, a senior program manager for Dallas’ public works department. She said …

Midwestern State University Cycling Team


The current & future MSU ladies don’t let the cold weather stop them. They’re using our awesome Cycling Performance Lab to get their last pre-race workout in before our season starts.

Free Basic Bike Maintenance Clinic

Thursday, Mar 12, 2015, 6:00 PM

Performance Bicycle
7549 Westheimer Rd Houston, TX

1 Cycling Enthusiasts Went

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Barton Creek Greenbelt 360 Entrance Intermediate level – technical Ride )

Monday, Mar 2, 2015, 4:00 PM

Barton Creek Greenbelt – 360 Access
3755 S Capital of Texas Hwy. Austin, TX

3 Mountain Bikers Went

The trail is more technical than Walnut creek. there are more rocks, drops, and roots, so it will wear you down fast. would recommend knee and elbow pads to accompany your helmet.Bring your lights just in case.  I would estimate the ride to be 10-13 miles in 1 1/2 to 2 hrs.  Please ensure you have an extra tube for the ride.All riders must bring…

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Conroe to Lumberton, TX: Day 2 of Leg 5

by Brian        www.brothersbikeride.com

As expected, it was cold this morning when we left our hotel – it was only 28 degrees and we could see our breath vapor whenever it hit the cold morning air. We had a long day ahead of us, so we left our hotel at just about 8 a.m.  The day was pretty uneventful.  We decided to take the road less traveled, which would eliminate most of the traffic.  The price we paid for that was having to deal with all the dogs that wanted to chase us.  We got chased about 4 times that I can remember, and the last two times Mark tried to tactic of yelling “Stay!” to the dogs, to get them to stop.  It worked for him and when I tried it, it worked for me also!
We rode a total of 89 miles today.  It eventually warmed up to 52 degrees around 2 p.m. when we …

Last Night in the Lone Star State

by Tim        www.brothersbikeride.com

I wish I could remember how many nights we have spent in Texas. I have a tremendous appreciation for the state and its diversity. Today was like riding thru the Jersey Pine Barrens. Pine tree forests on both sides of the road. The terrain is now flat as a pancake and the roads are straight as an arrow for mile on end.
Not many photo ops today. We have been too cold to stop and even when we take a break, we keep moving around to maintain body heat. It finally warmed up around 3 this afternoon and we started peeling some of our layers.
Lots of dogs chased us today. We altered our route to stay off main roads but the drawback on the back roads is the dogs that chase us. Not too scary; we might be getting use to …

Saturday 2/28 [? weather permitting] & Sunday 3/1 [Coffee Shop Ride weather permitting]

by Thomas        steinerranchcycling.com

Well Saturday looks like crap.  Current weather shows near freezing with precipitation Friday night which looks like it will roll into Saturday.  If the weather does give us a break just show up at C&C at the regular 8:30 and we will figure something out.
Sunday shows a nice high temp near 70 but with 50% chance of rain at the moment.  If the morning is good show up at C&C at 8:30 for the Coffee Shop Ride OR if we didn’t get to do …

BikeHouston Map Now Available!

BikeHouston.org


Click to see a higher resolution map with laws and safety tips. If you would like a printed version, we sell tear and water resistant pocket maps for $5 (plus shipping & handling). Or, come to a BikeHouston event to purchase.

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Desperate to Ride My Bike So I Changed Bar Plugs

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I must be desperate to do something with my bike. The cold weather has kept me inside and off the roads. A while back I noticed the left plastic handlebar plug had lost the chrome finish as they are prone to do. These are the ones that come with many tape kits. I thought why not upgrade the handlebar plugs with ones that look better, color coordinate with my bike and will not come out as easy as the plastic ones do.

Original plastic handlebar plugs

Original plastic handlebar plugs

My first stop was Ebay.com to see what was out there. There were a bunch of listings but they generally repeated 7 or 8 designs with color options. Some were metal locking while others were rubber locking. By locking I mean how they are secured inside the handlebars. I ended up choosing gobike88 XON XSS-22 HandleBar End Caps/Plugs. The black and red color matched my bike and I liked the rubber locking mechanism.

Placing the order I expected a several week delivery time but they showed up much earlier. Before installing them I wrapped the handlebar tape with blue painting tape to hold the handlebar tape in place after I removed the plastic plugs. One concern I had was whether the XON plugs would fit inside the handlebar but they slid right in and using an Allen wrench the plugs locked in place.

Before inserting
Before inserting
In the handlebar

Now I am ready to ride if the winter weather will just leave me alone!!!