Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup December 17th

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Cyclist killed in Round Rock crash identified
by TINA SHIVELY / KVUE News and Photojournalist SCOTT GUEST and KVUE.com Staff

ROUND ROCK — Police have identified the bicyclist hit and killed on his way to work in Round Rock Tuesday morning.
The accident happened Tuesday around 6:45 a.m. on the service road of southbound Interstate 35 between FM 1431 and Old Settlers Boulevard in Round Rock.
Joseph Holan, 44, of Georgetown was riding his bike when the driver of a Buick Milan hit him. The driver told…

Free Skills Clinic Hosted by Tristan Uhl and USA Cycling
The Austin Mountain Bikers Meetup Group
Saturday, January 18, 2014        11:00 AM
Pace Bend Park
2011 Pace Bend Rd N, Spicewood, TX
This sounds like a good time and is free if you register early:

787 Racing Mountain Bike Skills Clinic Hosted by Tristan Uhl Learn cornering, ascending, descending, jumping up and down ledges and hopping skills from Tristan Uhl. Tristan has competed in world championships, achieved national championship podiums, and…

4th Annual Winter Tour!
Violet Crown Sports Association
The 4th Annual Winter Tour is here! Thurderbird Coffee rides all leave from the north location (Woodrow and Koenig) and will roll at 9 a.m. The Bagel and MJ’s rides are as described on the Rides page. See below for the ride list.
Sat Dec. 21 – Bagel Ride
Sun Dec. 22 – Sunday MJ’s Ride
Mon Dec. 23 – Thunderbird Coffee
Tues Dec. 24 – Thunderbird Coffee
Wed Dec. 25 – Rest Day …

Meet a #TXCX Local – Todd Hauber
by Minor Baker        texascx.com
For our latest profile, we sat down with local TYC hardman, Todd Hauber. Todd is new to the TXCX scene this season, but he has jumped right in, and has been dominate enough to now be racing as a Cat 2 after starting the season as a 3.

Tell us about your rig.

Geekhouse Team Mudville

Obviously you are racing with TYC this season, the floral pattern was a dead give away, but how long have you been with the team?

I boarded the vessel this past August.

Wow, you guys really go “all in” with that nautical stuff. What are your goals for the 13/14 season? …

Family remembers man killed in bicycle crash
Cyclist killed while riding bike to work
By Angie Beavin        www.kxan.com
AUSTIN (KXAN) – Joseph E. Holan, 44, of Georgetown died Tuesday morning after a car crashed into the bicycle he was riding. It happened in Round Rock on the Interstate 35 southbound frontage road.

Round Rock Police said the driver of a four-door sedan was trying to change lanes about 6:45 a.m. when he rear-ended Holan.

Holan leaves behind a wife and four children, ranging in age from four to 17. His sister-in-law spoke about him and his love for bicycling following the accident.

“Biking just became a part of who he was. I mean, he was very passionate about it. He loved to do it. It was his thing,” said Amy Jaeger.

Holan would ride bike from Georgetown to North Austin for work every day, nearly 20 miles each way. …

Flat Creek Crossing Ranch Jingle Bell Ride
Austin Ridge Riders
Saturday, December 21, 2013 – 09:00 – 14:30

Flat Creek Crossing Ranch    County Road 201 & Ulrich Road, Johnson City, TX
Flat Creek Crossing Ranch is open again on Saturday Dec 21 for mountain bikers!

Gates open 9:00am – 12:00pm, ride until 2:30pm
Gate fee is $10, proceeds benefit Child Inc.

Bring your own beer & meat (that would be “BYOB&M” I guess?) for an after ride social gathering of friends, our very own Ride Coordinator Tony will have his famous grills fired up and ready for you to cook.

You can show up any time between 9 & 12 to ride alone or with your own group, but if you want to join me (Lloyd) I’ll be wheels down at 10am for one casual paced lap. Look for the…

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

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Motobecane Le Champion CF Neglected

Texbiker.net Posted on by

My Motobecane Le Champion CF road bike felt neglected for so many days. Whenever I would go in the garage I looked longingly at it wanting to ride but held back because of the weather outside. Today the neglected ended. The sun shined and the temperature finally made it past the 60 degree threshold at 67 when I left home at 12:51. Since my last ride on December 4th the southeast Texas weather has turned cold and when it wasn’t cold it rained. By the time I returned home at 3:32 it was 68 degrees with a blue sky full of sun.

This time off the bike is dragging my yearly total down but I reached 6164 miles with today’s ride of 32.67 miles. With all of these days not riding (I avoided the dreaded windtrainer substituting removing wallpaper from our master bathroom) I thought my legs would be jelly but I managed to average 15.6 mph on the ride through Atascocita, Walden and Huffman. It felt great to get out turn those pedals.

I dressed warmly with short sleeve and long sleeve jerseys under a windbreaker. I probably could’ve made without the leg warmers but I wore them anyway. Half finger gloves were just right thanks to the warm sun. I wasn’t the only rider out today as I passed three other bicyclists. The first was on Old Atascocita Road at the railroad crossing. I said hi but I didn’t hear any response. The other two were too far away to greet: one on the FM1960 causeway over Lake Houston going the opposite direction and the other was on Atascocita Shores Drive also going the opposite direction separated by the esplanade.

Riding over Lake Houston on FM1960 I was struck by the calm water. It was almost like a sheet of glass with some small ripples. Near the middle is a clump of trees on the south side where a bunch of white pelicans gathered in the low limbs or floated in the water. I wondered if there were some geese among them.

My wife tells me I obsess over the weather and maybe I do but I am looking for the next riding day and they have been few and far between in December. Tomorrow looks like it could be another one with a clear sky and 69 degrees.

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Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup December 16th

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The Next Big Thing is Now! Building Bicycle Tourism in Texas
BikeTexas.org
Ginny Sullivan, Russ. Roca and Laura Crawford
Thursday, March 27
We know that building trails and creating communities that promote active transportation is about more than just laying pavement and painting lines on the street, but what are ways we can make our case more effective? This session provides an overview of the why’s and how’s of building bicycle tourism in communities both large and small and provides a step-by-step approach to making it happen. We will highlight the most recent economic and social benefit studies and reports; help define Texas assets and potential partners that create bicycle travel destinations; provide concrete examples of effective bike travel promotions and tourism partnerships; demonstrate the benefits of making the connection between local…

Pedernales Falls State Park Trail Building Day
The Austin Mountain Bikers Meetup Group
Friday, December 20, 2013        10:30 AM
Pedernales Falls State Park
2585 Park Road 6026, Johnson City, TX (map)

Park along Fitzhugh Road for this MeetUp, see map link below…
Pedernales Falls State Park TRAIL BUILDING Day

Austin Ridge Riders trail building project to bring new trail at the park.

NO TRAIL BUILDING EXPERIENCE NEEDED! Austin Ridge Riders will provide tools & guidance for volunteers. Volunteers get into the park for free on trail building days.

If it’s been a long time since you have built trail, or if you have never built trail, please give it a try. It’s very rewarding to see a…

Pedernales Falls State Park TRAIL BUILDING, CAMPING & RIDING Weekend
The Austin Mountain Bikers Meetup Group
Friday, December 27, 2013 10:00 AM    to Sunday, December 29, 2013, 3:00 PM
Pedernales Falls State Park
2585 Park Road 6026, Johnson City, TX (map)

Pedernales Falls State Park TRAIL BUILDING, CAMPING & RIDING WEEKEND December 27-29

Austin Ridge Riders trail building project to bring new trail at the park. Come for all or part of the weekend.

NO TRAIL BUILDING EXPERIENCE NEEDED!
Austin Ridge Riders provides tools, guidance, food & prizes for volunteers. Volunteers get into the park and camp for free on trail building days.

If it’s been a long time since you have built trail, or if you have…

Charming Portraits of People With Their Bicycles at the Dallas Tweed Ride
By Jamie Laughlin
Tweed is an oddly versatile textile. Tug the stuff on and assume all kinds of mothballed personalities, from tuppence-snatching chimney sweeps to classy bootleggers and warbly penny farthing operators. It all works, and it’s all fun.

Each year those scamp cyclists at Bike Friendly Oak Cliff celebrate the throw-back fiber with a themed ride. The 2013 event launched Saturday afternoon from the Grassy Knoll and closed in pinkies-up drinking. It was a chilly day, but tweed is like, super warm, so…

Bearded Women Racing Team – 2013 Year in Review
Jonathan Braddick

Congratulations to our 2013 CLUB OF THE YEAR winners!
www.usacycling.org
Colorado Springs, Colo. (December 16, 2013) — USA Cycling is excited to announce the winners of its 2013 “Club of the Year” awards! Three clubs earned overall “Club of the Year” honors in divisions I, II, and III and an additional seven clubs earned special awards in the junior/interscholastic, masters, women’s, new club, mountain bike, cyclo-cross, and collegiate categories.

In addition to bragging rights, the winning clubs will receive a trophy and complimentary renewal fees for 2014. Congratulations to our winners!

Division I – xXx Racing (Chicago, Ill.)
Division II – Northwest Cycling Club (Houston, Texas)…

I have been avoiding my windtrainer like a plague this winter. I keep hoping the weather will warm up the next day and I can get back on the road. Tomorrow finally looks like it could be one of those days!!!

Indoor Cycling 101
www.texasmountainbiketrails.com
Why to do it, what equipment you need and  most imporantly  how to stay motivated while doing it.
Why You Need Indoor Cycling
Reason #1: Weather

No matter where you live, weather is not always on your side. In the northern states you are forced to stop mountain biking outdoors once the snow starts piling up.

Here in Texas we are blessed with unbelievable weather year round for riding. However, we still have plenty of rain and the occasional icemaggedon that prevents us from hitting the trails. During those times instead of sitting on the couch getting fat, jump on the indoor trainer to keep up your current fitness level or, …

Hill Country Bicycle Touring Club
December 22, 2013 2:00 pm
Blue Star – Mission Espada Afternoon Ride
Blue Star Brewery
1414 South Alamo, San Antonio, TX, 78210
December 28, 2013 9:00 am
New Berlin Ride
Brietkze Station Cafe
9015 Fm 775, Seguin, TX, 78155
December 29, 2013 8:30 am
Leon Spring to Shavano Park
Leon Springs Park and Ride
Leon Springs, TX, 78257

8th Annual Texas Scholastic Road Series Schedule
by League Director in News
4-weekends, 10-races highlight a spring of school-based racing

Departing from last year’s 7-weekend series that strained everyone’s travel budgets and weariness the 2014 edition only has four race weekends plus the pre-season league fund raiser race in February.

Feb. 8-9: preseason race @ Cedar Hill Race Festival

March 1-2: A&M race @ College Station

March 8-9: Fair Park Crit & Jesuit Ranger Roundup RR @ DFW

April 26-27: MSU race @ Wichita Falls

May 10-11: Coldsprings RR & Houston Grand Crit @ Houston***

*** = State Championships w/ points worth double

Of note with this schedule is that the A&M race conflicts with Lago Vista, which is of course a popular race weekend in Texas and will force a number of competitors…

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Tweets

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Texas Bicycling Daily News Roundup December 15th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

DFW Annual Retro Ride and Bike Show 2013 (picture heavy)
by cuda2k            www.bikeforums.net
I think the weather was too good and everyone decided to go riding instead today as the turn out was rather light considering the number of emails and inquires that Southwest Frameworks and the other individuals who put this year’s event together had. There were still some awesome bikes, some new, some I recognized from years past. I’ve started processing some of them, probably be a day or two till they’re all done (about 80 shots in all to go through in all). …

Upcoming Rides – Houston Bicycle Club
When: Program: Wednesday 01/01/14 at: 8:30 am West University Place Community Center, 6104 Auden – on the corner of Rice Blvd. (2 blocks east of Weslayan). Ride starts at 8:30 a.m. Lunch at 11:30 a.m. Join us for the annual New Years Day pot luck feast. Start with a leisurely in-town ride. Then bring out your best dish for the traditional pot luck lunch! Please bring serving…

Long-awaited trails coming to four West Side creeks
By John W. Gonzalez            www.mysanantonio.com

SAN ANTONIO — While $270 million was poured into improvements on the San Antonio River, West Side residents have waited patiently for modest recreational amenities to arrive on four creeks that feed the waterway.

Finally, they’re seeing action.

By mid-2015, the city and the San Antonio River Authority plan to complete trail segments on each of the four creeks — Alazán, Apache, Martinez and San Pedro — using funds set…

Intermediate & Faster Ride – Montgomery
Woodlands Cycling Club
Saturday, December 21, 2013, 08:30am – 11:00am
Montgomery High School
Address:  22825 W. Highway 105 W.  Montgomery

Directions:  I 45 N  Exit 87, left on 105 W for about 10 miles, go thru Montgomery about 1 mile past FM 149, The school is on the left across from the Sports Complex

No restrooms available.

Routes from 30 to 50+ miles.  Helmet and hydration required.
Intermediate group:  average 16-18 mph
Faster Group:  18-20+ mph
Route is generally decided at the…

Dallas Tweed Ride
billchance.org
Today was an event I was looking forward to, the Dallas 2013 Tweed Ride.

I had what was, I guess, the bare minimum – a tweed jacket from Goodwill and a tweed cap a friend had found on Amazon. So I was ready, if only minimally so.

The ride was originally scheduled for a week ago, but had to be postponed because of the ice storm. The weather was impossible that day, but it was pretty cold today – low forties, overcast, foggy, with a wicked north wind screaming in like a wave of icy razor blades. The last tweed ride – two years ago – was on a preternaturally warm day and had a huge turnout. Today looked like the opposite. I had to think hard about whether I wanted to go. It was nasty outside and the house was warm. I had plenty to do at home.

I futzed and dutzed and prepared as best I could. I decided to ride my commuter bike, and strap on as much crap as I thought I needed onto it. One pannier was packed with…

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