Texas Bicycling News Digest December 27th

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BikeHouston helps the City with a Bicycle Master Plan

BikeHouston


The coming year will pivot around the Bicycle Master Plan the City of Houston is undertaking. For the first time in twenty years the City of Houston will conceive a Bicycle Master Plan. Houston Endowment has earmarked a 100k grant to the plan through BikeHouston to secure cyclists presence at the drawing table of the plan.
We are excited about this great opportunity although it is a huge undertaking. We hope we can …

Austinbikes 2nd Annual Texasbikeracing.com Hangover ride

Texasbikeracing.com

Thursday, January 1, 2015 at 9:00am in CST
There will be two distances, a 2 hour and 4 hour route! Everyone’s invited, conversation pace.
There will be an Austinbikes Sag vehicle with food and support. Caffé Medici Coffee and treats to start the ride! More details soon!

21st Annual NYD Ride

Fort Worth Bicycling Association

Thursday, January 01, 2015 9:00 am
Look who’s turning 21!
The Palo Pinto New Year’s Day Ride!
Join us once again in Palo Pinto for our 21st annual ride on New Year’s Day, Thursday Jan. 1st 2015 at 9:00 AM for a fun ride in the hills.  This ride features Cherry Pie Hill, virtually no traffic, no rednecks or dogs, in fact very little in the way of civilization … perfect!  The longer routes will go to Strawn, where there is a store open for us.
When:  New Years Day starting at 9:00 AM with the annual ritual group photo
Where:  Palo Pinto County Courthouse Square, US 180 @ FM 4
Why:   Perfect time to start working on your New Year’s resolution, you’ve never been out that way and you like an adventure, you’re tired of the same old ride, you enjoy frostbite … need I say more?
How long:  The “short” loop is 42 miles, the longer ride is 67 … and some may want to add the Ward Mountain climb for a total of 75 …weather dependent**.  I’ll provide maps in case you want to quit early.  If it’s raining/ snowing or below 25 degrees, check the radar or call me before you drive out there.
More info:  Call Mike Reade at …

San Antonio man killed while teaching son how to ride bike

Associated Press        www.valleymorningstar.com

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — A San Antonio man has been shot dead while teaching his 5-year-old son how to ride a bike.
Police are investigating the death Wednesday of 47-year-old Kenneth Anderson. Family members say he was outside his home with his son when a car pulled up and someone shot him twice in the chest.
He was quickly taken to …

Dec 27 (Day 361) – Flying blind, more bad weather, thoughts photo big days/years

Biking For birds

The last two days of effectively gearless riding really beat the hell out of my legs. They were as tired and as sore today as they have been in my recent memory. My physical condition coupled with cold temperatures, strong north winds, and forecasted rain made it very difficult to find the motivation to hit the road this morning. It took until 10:30 for me to find the ‘activation energy’ to actually get rolling.
The other big problem I am currently facing is that I really do not have any viable leads on Smith’s longspur. Lake Tawakoni, ~55 miles east of Dallas, has proven to be a somewhat reliable spot the last few years. However, access which is only possible on very select days throughout the year. This was actually one of those days as the Tawakoni Xmas count was scheduled for today. I was unfortunately not able to make it in time to participate. This is where those consecutive 2 days of strong north winds extracted their price. I had originally hoped to deal with Little gull on Thursday and then put myself in …

2014…A Year In Review

bicyclepointofview.blogspot.com

Was 2014 a Defining Year For You?
In five more days, 2014 will be gone and 2015 will arrive at our doorstep. The year seemed to have gone by quickly, however it was jammed pack with lots of international and historical events that we’ll be looking back on in the years to come.  I wanted to make an article about some of the important highlights of this year as well as some of the cool biking trends that have also come about.
This year we were able to enjoy both the winter olympics in Russia and World Cup soccer simultaneously in a single year.  It’s hard to imagine that the recently disputed territory of Crimea lay not far from where the winter Olympics were once held. As cool as it was to see the …

A Recap of 2014

by Bill Cullins        Team San Angelo

Another year of San Angelo fitness activities has come and gone.
Overall, the trends this past year were more people taking part in run/walk events, a decline in road bike cycling and fewer local cycling events.
There was increased participation in local triathlon events during 2014 with the primary increase being people taking part in the shorter ‘sprint distance’ events.
As noted above, running continued to be popular with most of the same events from 2013 taking place again this year. Several new events were held, including the West Texas half-marathon, the Christoval Vineyards half-marathon and 10K, and the Goodyear Race for Celebration.
Trail running continued to grow in popularity with the Shannon Trail Running Series, Dinosaur Trail Run and the Crazy Desert Trail Run being some of the popular running events during the past year.
On a down note, several of the …

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Texas Bicycling News December 26th

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City to launch $500,000 effort for bicycling plan

By Mike Morris        www.houstonchronicle.com


It would be hard to argue that bicycling in Houston is not on the upswing, with many millions of dollars approved and numerous policies passed in recent years, all aimed at welcoming and protecting riders.
To continue reading this story, you will need to be a digital subscriber to HoustonChronicle.com.

Dec 26 (Day 360) – It’s the Little things……

Biking For Birds

Yesterday I experienced my most major bike malfunction to date: a snapped rear derailleur cable. This left me with effectively 2 gears during the last 44 miles of yesterday’s ride. The bike was certainly ridable, but it took significantly more effort than when fully geared. My legs were really sore this morning as a result. Despite the sore extremities, I needed to continue pushing towards Dallas and the remarkably well-behaved Little gull that has taken up at least temporarily residence on White Rock Lake just east of downtown. The bird has been seen regularly for the last 10 days or so. One of my local spies informed me the bird was present yesterday, Christmas, morning. I had pushed 4-5 days and 320 miles into this …

More folks hit the trails this past year

by Bill Cullins        www.gosanangelo.com

2014 is coming to an end and another year of San Angelo fitness events has come and gone.
Overall, the trend this past year was more people taking part in run/walk events, a participation decline in road cycling and fewer local cycling events.
There was increased participation in local triathlon events during 2014 with the primary increase being people taking part in the shorter ‘sprint distance’ events.
As noted above, running continued to increase in popularity with most of the same events from 2013 taking place again this year. Several new events were held, including the …

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Texas Bicycling News December 25th

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Gear Up Texas

by Anne Clarrissimeaux        texasbikeracing.com


Everyone’s been in this spot before: you’ve upgraded your wheelset, and you’d like to sell your old set to offset the cost of the new ones. Heck, looking around at your bike stuff, you see a few more things you could totally get rid of — so before you know it, you’re arranging to meet up with some random person off Craiglist, your expensive wheelset in tow as you make your way to a dark parking lot. But you just return home without selling the wheels because the guy showed up with $200 less than you were asking and tried to bargain. So now you’re stuck on eBay, reluctantly listing the wheels since you know they’ll sell for way less than you’re wanting.
Oh screw it, you’ll just hang the wheels back in the garage. Maybe you’ll find a buddy who …

Website Helps Fund Disabled Girl’s Wish for Bicycle

www.kristv.com

FLOUR BLUFF – Most kids get their first bicycles when they’re 5 years old but Jasmine Gomez, who’s 13 and has always wanted to ride one, has never been able to. It’s not because she doesn’t know how, but because she physically can’t.
“Sometimes we have to remind her that she’s disabled for the things that she wants to do,” said her step-father Gilbert Reyna.
Since she was 2, Jasmine has suffered from Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 3. It’s left her …

The “Roll Your A**” Tour- West Texas and the Big Bend of the Rio Grande

by Bike Hermit™         biketouringnews.com


It’s Christmas Eve 2014 and 50 degrees colder here in Santa Fe than what we have been accustomed to. After spending 14 days in west Texas and the Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park and sleeping in the tent or the teardrop trailer we are treating ourselves to two nights in relative luxury at The Lodge at Santa Fe. Tonight we’ll be taking the Christmas Eve Canyon Road Farolito Walk, an apparently popular city event, and ending up at The Palace to listen to some country music!
We have the touring bikes with us and left the truck for two nights in Alpine while we …

DORBA Beginner Clinic

Saturday, Jan 17, 2015, 1:30 PM

Big Cedar Wilderness Trail
7532 Saddleridge Dallas, TX

36 Participants Went

DORBA will have a new beginner clinic on Saturday January 17th at Big Cedar Wilderness Trail, in south Dallas County, at 1:30 PM.Chris Mann will be your instructor, you can send him a private message at “landcruiser” on the Dorba.org website, if you have any questions, or better yet, just post up your questions below.What: There is a “classroom” …

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Local couple tackles 383-mile bicycle race

By Chris Jennings        Herald Democrat


Hang around any bike shop long enough and you’re likely to hear the phrase, “It was the hardest race I’ve ever done.” When you hear those words at Texoma Bicycle Works in Sherman from owners, Pat and Charlie Jenkins, it’s probably not an exaggeration. The couple was part of a trans-continental, record-setting tandem team in the Race Across America.
And that’s how they described their 383-mile ride in the 2014 RAAM qualifying event, No Country for Old Men. “The race was really hard, more compact and harder than RAAM because of the …

10wheels’s Bucket/TMT BB Ride

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Photos from West Texas

Dec 25 (Day 359) – Bike problems strike – more stuff breaks!

Biking For Birds

First, ‘Happy Holidays’ or whatever the correct term is these days. Hopefully everyone is having some nice family time! Second, thanks for all the nice notes and words of encouragement in the last day or so. It’s nice to know everyone is behind me!
As you all know, I am really beat up at the moment, and the weather the last few days has not helped my physical or mental condition one iota. Today, however, was a completely different story. There was not a cloud in the sky when I started riding this morning. There was a slight south wind that built all day and topped out at 20 MPH in the in afternoon. In short, these were certainly the best riding conditions I have experienced in the past 5 weeks. I have been really disappointed with the weather during this stretch, so …

Suspect busted for bike theft attempt

By Philip Balli        Laredo Morning Times

Police served a woman with an arrest warrant Monday charging her with multiple thefts.
Jessica Vasquez Ibarra, 36, was arrested without incident in the front yard of a residence in the 1800 block of Lee Avenue.
On Dec. 5, at about 3 p.m. police received a call from the Walmart Supercenter on Bob Bullock Loop and Clark. A loss prevention officer called saying an unknown female wearing a black t-shirt and camouflage shorts attempted to steal three …

Fun at the Christmas Eve Morning Ride

by Alan Charley        woodlandscycling.org


We had a really nice turnout for the Christmas Eve Ride on a cold and windy morning….It was a great time and the best part were Ingrid’s cookies after the ride …AWESOME

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Texas Bicycling News December 24th

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EP Cyclists

from EP Cyclists

A good year for B-Cycle; Austin bike-share program doubled its expectations

by Michael Theis    Digital Editor- Austin Business Journal


In its first year, Austin’s bicycle-sharing program — run by Wisconsin-based B-cycle LLC — has seen riders complete 150,000 trips, more than doubling official projections when the system was launched.
“I think we can call year one for Austin B-cycle an unqualified success,” said Elliott McFadden, executive director of Austin B-cycle.
The system launched late December 2013 with 11 stations clustered in downtown Austin. Since then, the system has …

Christmas Present Puzzle

Pit’s Fritztown News

Yesterday I got a Christmas present I’m giving myself: another vintage road bicycle – a Gianni Motta from the 1980s:

I had found this on Ebay in Germany and had it shipped over to here. But if I had known that it would arrive taken apart nearly to the last bolt, I might have asked the seller if I could have paid more to have it shipped here in a more complete state. Now it really looks like a big mechanical puzzle, and I …

Reveille Peak Ranch – Super D 1 and 2 – Video Edit

hunrugger        forums.mtbr.com

We used the new Lonestar Granite Enduro start at the top – way much sketchier than the video makes it look. This run has great variety, drops, jumps, berms, rock gardens, bridge, creeks, just plain FUN.

Dec 24 (Day 358) – Another miserable day on the roads

Biking For Birds

If there was going to be more strong north wind tomorrow, I think I would just close up shop and quit for the rest of the year. The last two days have been miserable and relatively unproductive. Yesterday I managed just 37 miles before the wind shut me down. Today was almost as frustrating as I covered just 50 miles from Navasota, TX to Hearne. The wind that blew from 14-18 MPH all morning (gusting >20 MPH) did actually die down a bit in the afternoon. I thought about continuing on, but I was doubtful that I would be able to find food in the next, small town on Christmas eve. When I found out the Pizza Hut here in Hearne would be open until 8pm, that sealed the deal. I have now consumed 2 …

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