Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for September 14th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Cyclocross series on ASU campus puts focus back on fun
By Bill Cullins        www.gosanangelo.com    (subscription required)
Last week’s column took a look at the health and fitness events scheduled to take place this semester on the Angelo State University campus.

Querencia Community Bike Shop
Yeah….there’s a shop behind this door!
(Photograph by Richard Hargrove – much respect!)

Despite Texas DOT’s Shenanigans, El Paso Will Go Ahead With Bike-Share
by Angie Schmitt        dc.streetsblog.org
El Paso bike-share is moving forward, despite Texas DOT’s attempt to kill the whole project. That’s the word today from a state representative in El Paso on the latest development in the city’s proposal for a 200-bike system.
The city of El Paso lined up approval and $2 million in federal and local funds to launch its bike-share system. But the whole project was threatened when TxDOT tried to pull funding last month. In the meantime, Streetsblog did a little investigating about whether the state of Texas actually has the authority to strip federal…

Are Bike Clubs Still Relevant?
by downtube42        www.bikeforums.net
In my city of 35k, between the two bike shops and a number of individuals there’s at least one organized ride daily. There is no organization between ride leaders other than keeping their events on different days. Most everything is organized on Facebook. We have a Wednesday evening ride with 300 people in the FB group and up to 100 on any given week – maps and Dan Henry’s provided. Although no official SAG, if someone has a problem they will be taken care of. Heck, we have people delivering food to a guy who was injured in a bike crash a week ago.
Now there’s talk of forming…

Tweets

https://twitter.com/1_Mad_Madone/status/378906717246861312

https://twitter.com/RandyATX/status/378932818245451776

https://twitter.com/bikenoob/status/378925451168976896

Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for September 13th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Blue Ridge School student bikes 782 miles to campus
BY PAT FITZGERALD Record Editor            www.dailyprogress.com

George Bowen Kersey can someday tell his children he did more than walk 10 miles to school, uphill both ways.
The 18-year-old Blue Ridge School senior from Austin, Texas, last week completed a 782-mile trip by bicycle from the start of the Natchez Trace in Mississippi to the private all-boys’ school in the Blue Ridge foothills of Greene County.
“I just decided to do something [special] the last year of high school,” Kersey said of the trip that he began planning last winter and departed on in…

DADA’s Bike Swarm
www.wheelbrothers.com
In honor of International Peace Day, several Bike Friendly groups will come together to ride in DADA’s Bike Swarm on Saturday, September 21 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Cyclists of all age levels and abilities are invited. Bike Friendly Oak Cliff, Bike Friendly Cedars, Bike Friendly Design District, and Bike Friendly Deep Ellum will work together to cover the neighborhoods of Oak Cliff, Deep Ellum and the Design District.
Bike Swarm is part of the DADA Fall Gallery Walk on Saturday, September 21. The event is FREE and includes a self-guided tour of the art galleries located in the Design District as well as galleries in Deep Ellum.  Visit the Facebook event page to register for the event. For more…

DORBA 10th Annual Campout & Trail Ride
Friday, October 25, 2013 2:30 PM
to Sunday, October 27, 2013, 5:30 PM
Solavaca Ranch
7829 FM 205, Glen Rose, TX (map)

10th Annual DORBA Spring Campout & Trail Ride will be at Solavaca Ranch again this year.
when: October  25th, 26th & 27th
location: Solavaca Ranch Mountain Bike Trail and Campgrounds: http://solavaca.com just a few miles northwest of Glen Rose Texas  (see maps below
riding: two excellent trails to choose from:  Dinosaur Valley State Park, and at Solavaca Ranch, one of my all time favorite trails.
Camping: Solavaca Ranch  (see maps below)  There 2 Porta-let toilets. The land owner, Mack, will provide a water hose by his barn, if you need water, but the only showers will be what you provide yourself. I use the 5 gallon Sun Showers sold at Sports Authority and Walmart. They work GREAT, just hang them up from a tree before your ride and…

Interbike 2013!
www.themountainbikelife.com
This is a live blogroll of coverage at Interbike 2013, the largest North American Bicycle Tradeshow. Our man on the street, Shawn McAfee from Texas Mountain Bike Trails, is covering some of the hottest new gear and bikes and giving us updates on what we will see coming our way soon!

Do you want to see something specific from…

Thursday Ride at Walnut Creek – Beginner/intermediate ride level
The Austin Mountain Bikers Meetup Group
Thursday, September 19, 2013        5:30 PM
Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park
12138 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, TX (map)
Back to normal summer hours

This will be a beginner ride and will be doing around 8 -10 miles.
Chris is willing to lead a faster group so we can have an intermediate group.
Please be there and be ready to roll by 5:30 pm. We meet in the parking lot near the pool in the middle of the island.

Any question please call/text  me at…

Resignation
Borderland Mountain Bike Association
Dear El Paso Mountain Bikers,

I’m taking this opportunity to write this letter to you in order to announce my resignation as the President of the Borderland Mountain Bike Association and Director of the El Paso Puzzler.

It has been an extreme honor to be the director of the BMBA and its main event for the past 6 years.  The growth of the sport in El Paso has been tremendous during my tenure.  During the best times, I feel that I have only been able to give 10 to 15% of the effort necessary to running a club like the BMBA.  Over the past year, I feel I am only causing stagnation for the club.  Trying to balance family with a growing business, a full-time…

Tweets

https://twitter.com/BikeMSValero/status/378654938597163008

Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for September 12th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

 

North Texas Cycling
On-Fire Photography by Rick: Eighter from Decatur 2013 Bike Rally &emdash;
Eighter from Decatur 2013 Bike Rally

It All Ties Together
by Ray Garza        rgvcycling.com
Nothing all that new to report, but here are a few tidbits.

My new bike (Robaix) is doing fine. I already did several 30 and 40+ mile rides over the past few weekends and report no problems. I feel that I can go further and I know I will. The new Salsa skewers that I bought came in and they look nice on the bike. I hated the…

#TXCX Team Profile: Kelly’s Team
Minor Baker            texascx.com
The men of Kelly’s Team on an early spring training camp in Leakey, TX.

Some of the men on Kelly’s Team at an early spring training camp in Leakey, TX. Photo cred: Brian Pitre.

Team Name: Kelly’s Team
Motto:   Whatever it takes.
Goals for the 13/14 CX Season: First goal is to raise awareness of Kelly’s Team and the mission to educate and empower families of children who have been diagnosed with cancer.

Second goal – doesn’t really matter as long as…

Talking Trek MTBs with Steele and Crash
by djcurtin            bicyclesportshop.wordpress.com

Mountain bikes. As any of the folks at the shop can tell you, it’s not my thing. I’ve had a few, but for one reason or another, I’ve never gotten really competent riding one. Probably because I get frustrated and turn back to my road or ‘cross bike. For those that stick with it though, there’s joy to be found blasting trails and exploring areas less traveled. Just like being on the road though, riding the latest and greatest MTBs from Trek is an added bonus to any ride as I found out when I talked with…

I Bike Richardson – Irma Koepke
bikefriendlyrichardson.org
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 Irma Koepke. She took the time to answer a few questions about biking. Enjoy:

Name: Irma Koepke

How long have you been riding?
Started back up again about 5 years ago. Before that it was off and on just when ever I could. Had a very busy schedule with family, work, and…

Continuous Improvement: Updated Hosted Ride Categories
Austin Cycling Association
When the ACA hosted ride program was introduced some years ago, it was established with five ride categories, A through E.  These served us well but it is now time to tweak the system to enable participants to better match themselves to the various rides on offer.  Consequently, we have increased the number of categories from five to six, splitting the former “C” category, which was too “diverse”, into two and refining the descriptions of…

Tweets

Texas Bicycling Daily News Roundup September 11th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

https://twitter.com/BikeMS_DFW/status/377857616539439105

Texas Car Accident Involving Bicycle Highlights The Dangers Riders Face
by Daniel Stark Injury Lawyers            lawyerscope.com
The Texas Car Accident Lawyers with Daniel Stark Injury Lawyers point out that the hill country and its surrounding areas is home to several college campuses and a large volume of avid cyclists. They add that this can cause an increased risk of collisions between cyclists and motor vehicles.
To put into perspective just how common crashes between cars and bike are, an article from KVUE News stated how a cyclist was left seriously injured after being hit by a vehicle this past Thursday. Reports indicate the crash…

Does Texas DOT Have the Authority to Kill Bike-Share in El Paso?
by Angie Schmitt        dc.streetsblog.org

Just a few weeks ago, El Paso was all ready to go with a new bike-share network, or so it seemed. The city had lined up $400,000 in local funds from the city of El Paso, the University of Texas at El Paso and a grant from Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. The regional planning agency had unanimously signed off on awarding the project $1.6 million in federal transportation funds earmarked for air pollution reduction. Suburban communities had even started expressing interest in being added to the system.
TxDOT is trying to crush El Paso’s bike share dreams. But does the agency have the authority? Image: El Paso Times
But last month the Texas Department of Transportation pulled the rug out. TxDOT told local and regional officials it did not support the use of federal Congestion Mitigation and…

Texas Tumbleweed 100 – Sept. 14
Old Tascosa Cycling Club
Join us in Dumas this Saturday for the Texas Tumbleweed 100. You can register online. There are 4 distances: 12, 34, 67.2 and 100. A BBQ lunch will be provided.

The Department of Transportation Didn’t Have a Vision for Biking & Walking, So We Suggested One.
By Mary Lauran Hall                www.peoplepoweredmovement.org
Last week, the US Department of Transportation released their draft strategic plan, a document that will determine how the DOT will manage the United States’ transportation over the next five years. But there was a slight problem: the plan lacked vision for bicycling and walking. Rather than proposing new methods to create walkable, bikable communities, the plan focuses on status quo operations to…

The City of Richardson Talks About Their Trail Expansion
Bike Friendly Richardson
The City of Richardson is starting to realize that they need to really promote their bicycling friendliness. Over the past few years, they’ve made great efforts to improve awareness, expand the trail network and add traffic-calming bike lanes. However, aside from us at BFR and our cycling neighbors, folks in Texas rarely get to hear about it.

It seems like that is starting to change. Here is a video that…

Tweets