Texas Daily Bicycling News Digest May 1st

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Cycling Leaders Kick Off Bike Month In Austin

www.keyetv.com

Please Be Kind to Cyclists, Bike Texas, City of Austin and CapMetro have joined forces to keep cyclists safe. Cycling advocates not only came out to the Texas State Capitol Wednesday to rally for respect but also to get one very important message across. The message is a law and it’s called safe passing. It’s been around for nearly five years. For the next two months CapMetro buses will remind drivers of giving cyclists their space. That means leaving three feet between a car and cyclist and six feet for commercial vehicles. Cycling leaders say it should reach a…

Austin Ridge Riders Board of Directors – May Meeting w/ Public Forum

Wednesday, May 7, 2014, 6:00 PM

Old Quarry Branch Library
7051 Village Center Dr. 78731 Austin, TX

6 Mountain Bikers Went

The Board of Directors of the Austin Ridge Riders invites you all to attend our May Board of Directors Meeting!Come out and see first-hand the activity behind the scenes that keeps Austin’s biggest and best Mountain Bike Club running smoothly. Board members will provide updates on various activities ARR is administering, and this is your chance to…

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Southlake Veteran to Bike With Bush, “Wounded Warriors”

By Ellen Bryan        www.nbcdfw.com

A North Texas man will be joining 15 other military members this weekend for the fourth annual “Wounded Warrior” bike ride.
The event is a 100 kilometer mountain bike ride hosted by former President George W. Bush at his ranch in Crawford.
James “Will” Williamson, a veteran from Southlake, hasn’t been on this trip before but he’s not a stranger to cycling. He said he uses his bicycle as a form of therapy.
“Freedom. You know. Once you get out on the road and start riding, it’s just you,” Williamson said.
That’s what he also said about flying a helicopter for the Army. He joined the Army after…

Texas tumbles in ranking of bike-friendly states

By Dug Begley        blog.chron.com


A lack of investment and planning for bicycling booted Texas to the bottom half of a ranking released Thursday by a national cycling group.
To kick off National Bicycling Month, the League of American Bicyclists released its 2014 report cards and ranking of state cycling policies. Texas, which has seen an increase in bicycling among residents, fell to 33rd, a drop of 11 spots from 2013. The drop followed three years of steady inching up the rankings on the part of the Lone Star State, from its ranking of 41 in 2010.
Of 10 best practices identified by the group, Texas actually has four of them. Despite efforts by some lawmakers, such…

Biking with Bush: Former President opens up about veterans, Jeb 2016

by CNN Chief Washington Correspondent Jake Tapper and Eric Marrapodi and Sherisse Pham

Crawford, Texas (CNN) – It is not an easy ride.
The rugged 100-kilometer mountain bike ride cuts through the Texas hill country and was designed to keep a fitness freak on his toes.
Former President George W. Bush spent the morning putting to shame men and women half his age as he powered through the course.
This is his personal bike trail through his sprawling 1,600-acre Crawford ranch.
When Bush pushed off for the first leg of the journey with 16 veterans from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, he wanted you to notice something. Despite their…

Cycling team member crowned Conference Champion

By Javier Davison        ww.thenichollsworth.com

Nicholls State University’s cycling team traveled this past weekend to Wichita Falls, Texas, to compete against collegiate cycling teams where Catherine Gauthier, dietetics junior from Quebec, Canada, was crowned as the 2014 Women’s C Conference Champion for the South Central Collegiate Cycling Conference.
Gauthier is a Division C cyclist, which means she is a new cyclist. She competed in the race against a combination of Division B and C cyclists. She placed second, beating everyone in her division and all but one Division B cyclist.
“I am proud of her, because she put in a lot of hard work and got a reward from it. And she found a sport that she enjoys a lot which is my main goal,” Scott Banville, English proffesor and cycling advisor, said.  “My main thing is that people…

Ride Interview – Bosque Tour de Norway – Clifton, TX

www.wheelbrothers.com

Happy May Wheel Brothers! We hope everyone has been enjoying all the great rides this summer, and there are so many more to come! A great ride that is coming up in a few weeks is the Bosque Tour de Norway, on May 17th! We took some time to interview this busy ride director Brent Grelle, about this awesome ride.

Why join your ride?
I think riders should join our ride, to enjoy the beauty of the county, to experience the challenge of our hills and the friendliness of our volunteers as well as to discover a little bit of the history of the area as they ride through the area that the first Texas settlers from Norway lived in.
How long has your ride been around?
This will be our third year.
What was the motivation behind starting the ride and who benefits from it?
After years of living and riding in the Dallas – Fort Worth area I was fortunate enough to be able to…

Suspect in Montrose bicycle hit-and-run death rearrested in Austin

By Carol Christian        www.chron.com


Margaret R. Mayer, accused of fatally injuring Montrose bicyclist Chelsea Norman, has been rearrested.
Mayer, 35, who was initially arrested Feb. 5 and freed on $30,000 bond, was taken into custody again April 30 in Austin at her twin sister’s house. On Thursday, she remained in the Travis County Jail for alleged violations of her bail conditions.
Mayer is accused of hitting Norman about 10:20 p.m. Dec. 1 as the Whole Foods employee pedaled her bicycle home in the 1600 block of Waugh Drive. Norman, 24, died of her injuries Dec. 4 at Memorial Hermann Hospital. Mayer is charged with failure to stop and…

The 2014 Get Ready to Bike Around the Bay Training Program

Pearland Cycling Club

PROGRAM OVERVIEW:
14 Week Program Begins July 12 and Ends October 12
Group Weekend Long Rides to Prepare You for BAB Distance
Saturday/Sunday Back-to-Back Rides
Hill Training Rides
Various Pace Groups
Program Developed by Experienced Cycling Coaches
Weekly Suggested Training Schedule via Email
Fully Supported Long Bike Rides
Experienced Mentor Coaches Training at Your Side
Seminars on: …

Bicycle rally scheduled for Friday morning in Main Plaza

By Vianna Davila        www.mysanantonio.com


SAN ANTONIO — To kick off National Bike Month, the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, along with the city and county, are holding the 18th annual Walk & Roll Rally Friday morning in Main Plaza.
The event starts at 8 a.m. and lasts for one hour.
The event encourages people to walk or bike to…

Have You Ever Called Out Another Cyclist?

Bike Noob

I made a run for carry-out food this evening, and while driving home, I saw something that teed me off. A cyclist was in the bike lane on the four-lane street I was in, but was riding against traffic.
There are bike lanes on each side of the street. The direction of travel is clearly marked by arrows. The lanes are in generally good condition — not too much grit or gravel — but they’re wide enough for only one bike. And this guy was traveling in the…

May 3rd and 4th Rides!

Steiner Ranch Cycling Club

Jason Yunker did a great job of recapping last Saturday’s ride and Steve added some flavor to the recap as well.  Overall sounded like a great ride for everyone.
Derrick Jones fired out an email with a recap on the Sunday J&A Steakhouse ride which was also really fun.  I was told that the breakfast will no longer be 50% off and they will only have brunch buffets which may or may not be discounted.  That will be effective starting in May.
The CAPTAIN AMERICA kits should be here any day.  Keep your eyes peeled for an announcement.
REMINDER:  Check our calendar of events page out at www.steinerranchcycling.com as there…

Spoke&Word #2 is out

BikeHouston

Coming up in May…
May is bike month so it is no surprise that BikeHouston’s calendar is bursting with rides, meetings and bike-related outings. Enjoy riding your bike and explore the city and its surroundings.
mid-mainMid Main at First Thursday
Starting tonight at 3700 Mainstreet where everyone is invited to enjoy First Thursdays at Mid Main. And BikeHouston is their chosen charity. Come to eat, drink, shop and cycle from 5 pm until midnight. You will have a wonderful time while supporting BikeHouston and there are great prizes to win too. Go to BikeHouston.org for more information.
Confident cycling hands-on course
Saturday May 3 you are welcome at Eggbert street to hone your skills at cycling in Houston. Learn the best tricks how to maneuver in busy traffic. How can you be visible, predictable…

National Bike Challenge 2014 Photo Contest Winners

by Jenny Rilling

Thank you so much to everyone who entered their photos in our first ever BikeDFW photo contest. We had a difficult time choosing five winners – one for each month of the National Bike Challenge. We appreciate your sharing your talent and passion for cycling with us! …

I Bike Richardson – Josh Ballard

Bike Friendly Richardson

It’s time for another installment of the I Bike Richardson series, where we put a face on Richardson cyclists. We’d like to introduce Josh Ballard. He took the time to answer a few questions about biking. Enjoy:
Name: Josh Ballard
How long have you been riding?
I have been riding since I was a child. For a few years during high school I did not ride very much, but it pretty much has been a part of my life from a very early age.
How often do you ride?
I ride for training about four to five days a week. I also ride to commute three to five days…

Police officers hold ceremony to honor fallen cop

By ILDEFONSO ORTIZ The Monitor


In a solemn ceremony, police officers from throughout Texas gathered Thursday morning at the Pharr Police Department to pay their respects to a fallen officer.
The ceremony began when six police officers who are part of the Texas Police Memorial Bike Trek rode to the police station, where they met with Brenda Garcia, the widow of Sgt. Jose Garcia.
Garcia, known throughout the department as “J.L.,” was a 27-year veteran assigned to the patrol division who died Aug. 9, 2013, while driving to a meeting at the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge.
Garcia’s vehicle was struck by a dump truck near the…

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Event Reminder

Stay West Young Man

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I stayed west of Lake Houston in the Atascocita and Walden subdivisions. I got a late start leaving home at 1:58. The sky was overcast so I wore a short and long sleeve jersey so that I wouldn’t circle back home like yesterday. The home weather station showed 75 degrees as I prepared to leave and I was optimistic that it would be warm while I biked but the NNE 7 mph breeze still had the chill from the cool front that moved through Tuesday. If the sun had been out I think it would have felt warmer. I was spoiled by the 84 and 90 degree days earlier this week.

The wind chilled my desire to ride too long every time I turned into it. My legs were not rested and pedaling was more effort than when it was warmer. I am a warm weather person and the late spring coolness requires more commitment. This morning I was reading the daily devotional The Upper Room. The author was talking about the leaves not turning color yet and then the temperature took a sudden downturn and the leaves changed into brilliant colors. I was confused until I looked at the author’s name and location: Australia. As we head to summer they are getting ready for winter.

By staying west of Lake Houston the route was shorter than my usual ride totaling 23.62 miles. The shorter route did give me enough long sections without stops to push the average speed above 15 mph ending up at 14.9 mph. A new month is underway and the goal is 410 miles for May. This is much less than April because we will be on vacation for a couple of weeks. This week I biked 126.66 miles and year to date 2161 miles.

Friday it could be back to the low 80’s and Saturday the upper 80’s. I will be much happier to bike then.

Links to Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS maps and metrics.

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Daily Texas Bicycling News Digest April 30th

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BBVA Compass Stadium & Houston Dynamo Host Bike to the Game Event

fatcatwebproductions.com

HOUSTON, TX (April 29, 2014)—Go Green By Biking To The Game May 11!  BBVA Compass Stadium, an AEG Facility, and the Houston Dynamo will host a Bike to the Game event on Sunday, May 11th.  Fans are encouraged to go green with an alternative method of transportation to the stadium to see the Houston Dynamo take on Real Salt Lake at 6 p.m.
Participants will meet at The Phoenix on Westheimer at 2 p.m. for the informal bike ride to BBVA Compass Stadium guided by No Promises Cycle Club. Pre-game food and drink specials will be available.  Additional bike racks will be available at the Methodist Gate and at SoccerFest.  Bike helmets are permitted inside the stadium.
A special $100 Bike to the Game ticket package features 4 ticket to the game + 4 tickets to the Bud Light beer garden.  Groups of 10 can access a $250 ticket package, which includes…

Bike MS kicks off Saturday in North Texas

By: Lauren Przybyl        www.myfoxdfw.com


DALLAS – This weekend thousands of people will take part in a huge bike ride, including a Lake Highlands man who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in his 30s.
About four years ago, 39-year-old Jim Casey’s life took a drastic turn.
“I noticed I was having some tingling in my hands and I was starting to having trouble running. My left leg wasn’t firing. I tripped on a couple of things,” he said.
Shortly afterward he was diagnosed with MS, a disease that causes the immune system to attack the…

Hot Rocks Bike Race

hotrocksbikerace.com

Hot Rocks is an annual cycling event put on by the Rockwall Rotary Club. Proceeds from the ride benefit Rotary college scholarships. The ride attracts all levels of riders from aggressive to children and offers 3 mi and 6mi kids loop, 13 mi, 23 mi, 40 mi, and 63 mi (100k) courses. Volunteers provide rest stops every 8 to 10 miles serving drinks, ice and fruit. New this year is a family-friendly 3-mile (5k) kid’s loop and 6mi kid’s loop with a rest stop at the half-way point; families with young children can ride the loop multiple times to create the length that best suits them. All entrants receive…

How to Succeed at Bike Warranties

By Ted Arnold        texasbikeracing.com

I talk a lot about being a lurker on internet bicycle forums and how to use them to learn about brands and customers. The other day, I saw a thread about people’s frustrations with bike warranties that struck a cord; it was a thread that was a carbon copy of so many others I’d seen just like it. I wanted to challenge these negative comments as someone who has spent years at a shop as a salesperson, buyer, bike nerd, and social media guy. The whole subject of shops and good service is a huge slippery slope, and the warranty even more so.
Here are some tips to help you deal with bike shops and warranties. Every situation is unique, so the tips are general ideas that may apply or not, but at a minimum, they’ll hopefully help you…

Rally for Respect kicks off National Bike Month

by TINA SHIVELY / KVUE News and photojournalist KENNETH NULL


AUSTIN — Austin’s cycling community is kicking off National Bike Month a day early with a new campaign, the Rally for Respect.
Please Be Kind to Cyclists is partnering with other Austin cycling groups and CapMetro to get out information on how drivers can safely share the road with cyclists. As part of the Rally for Respect, 20 buses will carry infographics of Austin’s Safe Passing Law. Cyclists say with Austin growing the way it is, obeying the…

ARR Trail Steward Meeting

Wednesday, May 28, 2014, 7:00 PM

Blue Corn Harvest Bar and Grill
700 E Whitestone Blvd Ste 204 Cedar Park, TX

5 Mountain Bikers Went

What: Trail Steward meeting (for all ARR Trail Stewards, ARR Members, and interested members of the cycling community)When: Wednesday, May 28, 2014 from 7:00PM to 9:00PMWhere: Blue Corn Harvest Bar and Grill, 700 E. Whitestone Blvd, Suite 204, Cedar Park, Texas 78613,[masked]What: We will be updating all the Trail Stewards on changes to the…

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Rocky Tuesday. Barton Creek Greenbelt. Intermediate Pace. Insane Terrain.

Tuesday, May 6, 2014, 5:00 PM

Barton Creek Greenbelt – Regents Trailhead
3912 Travis Country Circle Austin, TX

2 Mountain Bikers Went

Its time for the nastiest sub-12 mile route anywhere this side of four hundred miles. Lots of chunk, a couple of big climbs, and yes rocks.Note the 5pm start time.  The next four weeks will be the same start time due to my work schedule.  We will drop back to 6pm or so for the four weeks that follow.This is not a ride for beginners or even budd…

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Dallas doesn’t need a bicycle helmet law

by Rachel Stone        lakewood.advocatemag.com


As a vehicular cyclist in Dallas, I say a lot of Hail Mary’s. Thankfully, knock wood, praise the Lord, I’ve never been injured more seriously than a sprained wrist, which was my own fault.
But I have been brushed by a DART van, hit by an AT&T van (all it did was leave a me-sized dent in the guy’s quarter panel) and knocked over by a witless Chevy Suburban driver passing on the right. Not to mention the many times I’ve plumb fallen over onto the hot pavement because I am kind of a ding-dong. Ask anyone who rides a bike a lot, and they’ll have at least that many tales of…

Kidical Mass rides again

BikeHouston

This Sunday, May 4, at 11.00 am BikeHouston will lead a Kidical Mass ride beginning on Westheimer just west of Hazard. Lots of space thanks to Sunday Street HTX which will open up the street for cycling.
Kidical Mass is a legal, safe and fun bike ride for kids, kids at heart, and their families. The first ride was held in April 2008 in Eugene, Oregon and has now spread across…

Ft Davis Hammerfest – Race Story

The Violet Crown Sports Association

Borrowing a line from Delbert McClinton, I had a real good time. Went with my old buddies and fellow 60+ guys John Bartle and Rick Hall. After the race was shut down due to wildfires two years in a row, and was not promoted last year, turn out was much lower than it used to be (only about 100 total), so a number of categories were combined. We 60+ guys did not mind racing with the women. First stage from town to McDonald Observatory sorted out quickly when we hit the big climbing. Bartle, Bain, and John Gordon climbed away, with Gordon first, Bain second and Bartle third. I was 4th, Rick 5th, and a strong, lovely woman from Mexico finished with us. Our finish was just before the last several kilometers of 12 – 14% pitches, which was both disappointing and let me beat Rick in the sprint rather than trying to stay with him up the hardest climbing.
The afternoon’s stage was another RR – only 18 miles, mostly flat, but straight into 30 mph headwind with gusts to 40 mph; took an hour and a half of hard riding with good cooperation amongst the old guys while the women sheltered behind us, and 20 minutes of easy riding to…

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

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Like Riding in a Wind Tunnel

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Overnight a cool front moved through southeast Texas dropping the temperature down to 58 degrees when I got up this morning at 6:45. The forecast called for a high of 74. While I waited for that to happen I watched stage 1 of the Tour de Romandie on BeInsport on Dish. I also did a little yard work and that is when I noticed the wind was blowing strong with a chill in it. The temperature finally got up to 71 or 72 around noon and I rolled out the driveway at 12:12.

It didn’t take long for me to doubt my wardrobe choice of a long sleeve jersey and shorts. I circled back home which I rarely do to add a short sleeve jersey on top of the long sleeve one. This helped even though the shade was chilly. The wind didn’t help either coming out of the NW at 15 mph gusting to 23 mph.

After biking to Huffman 2 days in a row it was time to go north. I chose the New Caney – Roman Forest – Valley Ranch route which put me into the wind almost the whole time until I reached Roman Forest Blvd and turned south. I was slogging along on Loop 494 between the White Oak Cemetery and the bridge when another bicyclist came along side me going the same direction and said it was like riding in a wind tunnel. I agreed and he slowly pulled away from me. I kept in sight until he turned left onto Antique Lane almost to New Caney. The wind was a constant with a few breaks whenever I got behind some trees. When I approached the FM1485 intersection with Loop 494 there were some construction warning signs and as I rode past FM1485 I could see the asphalt grinder removing the road surface in the west bound lane about 1/2 a mile away. Looks like the great weather is helping speed this along.

I took a short rest before going under US59 at Roman Forest Blvd. to get a drink of water. Prior to that there was a section on Loop 494 where the trees were so tall that the wind couldn’t get to me. When I rode out of the protection the wind came back to life. Going south on the service road I was able to make up some of the speed I lost getting there, hitting 20+ mph. Turning into Valley Ranch I was back in a headwind until I made the left onto Valley Ranch Parkway. The legs slowed down when the wind applied the resistance.

Stopping at Stripes I found a warm spot out of the wind to eat a snack and drink a Diet Pepsi. Leaving Stripes I had a tailwind for about 7 miles before entering Kingwood and winding around the streets.

By the time I finished the ride at 3:02 the wind dropped down a little to 9 mph gusting 24 mph from the NNW. The temperature showed 76 but it didn’t feel like it because of the wind.

I biked 33.05 miles and manged a 15.2 mph average speed. Today wraps up April and I surpassed my goal by almost 99 miles riding 877.19 miles. I biked 26 days out of 30 averaging 33.7 miles per ride. The week stands at 103.05 miles and 2137 miles year to date. I am pleased with where I am so far. Retirement is good for biking!!! May will not be near as much with the vacation we are taking.

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