Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for November 29th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Build Your Own Arduino-Powered Bicycle Lights, Turn Signals, and Odometer for Safe Night Riding
by Thorin Klosowski                lifehacker.com

Riding a bicycle at night is a bit dangerous, but electronics blogger Jenna DeBoisblanc shows off how to build a system that includes turn signals, a strobe light, speedometer, and brake lights to keep you safe.

The entire system is built on the backbone of an Arduino Uno with a few other parts totaling at about $150. That seems expensive, but DeBoisblanc’s build covers a lot of ground. You not only get safety-centric features like turn signals and brake lights, you also get a handy speedometer…

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CYC indoor cycling studio opens near UT campus
By Pam LeBlanc            Fit City
Holy quivering quadriceps, someone finally did it.

They melded cycling and clubbing, and the whole dimly lit, sweat slinging, music thumping experience leaves you with the most heavenly fitness hangover.

Tuesday afternoon, I popped by the new CYC studio adjacent to the University of Texas campus (a brilliant marketing plan) to try out one of the indoor cycling classes.

This, as they say, is not your mother’s spinning class. And I should know, because (with all due respect) my mother-in-law is a die-hard spinner, and she might…

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Group Riding Class
by Chris Mathews            Plano Bicycle Association
Group Riding Skills Agenda
Presentation w/ Q&A    .5 hour
Parking lot drills             2 hours
Practice ride                 1 hour

Want to be more confident riding in groups? Want to ride more safely in groups? Want to help others ride better in groups?

Then take Group Riding Skills Sunday Morning, Dec 9, at Italia Village Restaurant, Northwest Corner of Spring Creek Parkway and Coit Road in Plano, TX. This is the location of the Plano Bicycle Association ride starts.

Check in at 7:45 am for a prompt 8:00 am start.

Instructors will be Chris Mathews, Brian Bedingfield, Mike Cantrell and Warren Casteel, all League Cycling Instructors. We will do our drills in the parking lot behind…

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Tweets

https://twitter.com/JuliaBikes/status/274222258325700608

https://twitter.com/JuliaBikes/status/274221706531442689

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Dry Dusty Trails – November 29th Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

I hit the trails today on my Motobecane 700HT MTB because the temperature stayed in the 60’s. Yesterday it barly got into the 60’s so I did not ride. Tomorrow and Saturday it could get back to the upper 70’s or maybe even 80. What a way for December to arrive! I waited until 12:54 hoping it would get warmer before heading out the door. Scattered clouds and a 9 mph south breeze did not help it feel as warm as my home weather station showed: 67 at the start and 69 when I got back home. Later I saw it get up to 71 degrees.

Riding the Kingwood trails can be interesting since there are no markings. Google Maps show the trails but when you are out riding knowing when to turn is not always clear. I know most of the trails but there are sections that I don’t ride very often and I usually get lost when I go there. Today I wanted to ride 15 or 16 miles so I took the trails I thought would get m to that number. I ended up with 17.96 miles (SportTracks) or 18.48 miles (Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com). While this is not a large difference it is over a half of a mile. Not sure how this happens. I thought my average speed would be higher than the 12.3 mph I ended up with. Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com both add .3 or .4 to that number, respectively. I did not encounter many people on the trails but since it is a weekday and in the middle of the day I would not expect anything different. One lady jogger I passed was dressed a lot less than me. I wore leg warmers, long sleeve jersey and a windbreaker jacket.

I went on two sections of dirt trail along the drainage bayous. It is very evident that we need rain. I am not that aggressive of a rider but the very dry dirt was hard as a rock and there were times when I bounced around a lot. My tires are about 58 psi which is fine for the paved trails but riding over ruts and roots I get to bouncing. We are now back in the drought status according to the National Weather Service. Earlier this week we got a heavy dew instead of the rain that was headed our way. It dissipated by the time it got Harris County.

With some warmer weather on tap for the next two days I probably will be back on my road bike.

Some ride numbers for today:

  • Riding time: 1:27:48, 2:36 stop time
  • 22.3 mph top speed
  • 53.99 miles this week
  • 308.57 miles for November
  • 6248.79 miles YTD

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Texas Bicycling Daily News Roundup – November 28th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Help BF Duncanville!
Bike Friendly Oak Cliff
We received a recent post on our Bike Friendly Oak Cliff Facebook group page from Bike Friendly Duncanville that we thought we’d pass along here.  If you’re interested in helping be apart , contact Jeff Jones here on FB here:  http://www.facebook.com/jonesjeffa or just reply to this post and we’ll pass along your information.

If you’d like to organize a group to participate as BFOC in their parade, we would be most appreciative.  Simply post your intentions in a reply here or on our FB group.

Hey Bike Friendly Oak Cliff People!
Bike Friendly Duncanville is trying to spread the word about cycling in our little corner of the earth. On December 7th @     7pm, the Duncanville Christmas parade will be traveling down our…

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By the time you this the event has happened but I wanted to include it to give them recognition.

Lend Your Legs: SCA + Bikes for Kids
By Keith Byrd
Wednesday, November 28, 2012   6:00pm in CST
Want to make a kid’s holiday by getting them on a bike? Like to ride bikes yourself? How about free beer and pizza? If yes, read on. If not, who are you?

Bikes for Kids is a program in its 16nth year that provides bikes to kids from families that aren’t able to afford them. Money is raised to buy hundreds of bikes, then it is up to volunteers to assemble them. Mellow Johnny’s is supplying a workshop space , volunteer supervision, beer and pizza. This Wednesday and…

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Sparse bike lights designed to frustrate thieves
Sparse is looking to light up your bike life with a set of rechargeable LED lights that integrate onto the bike and keep themselves safe from opportunistic thieves.
by Amanda Kooser                news.cnet.com

If you want to steal Sparse bicycle lights, you’re pretty much going to have to steal the whole bike. The Sparse headlight is called the Spacer Light, so named because it sits beneath the handlebar stem. It features a 3-watt white LED and can be set to on, off, or blink.

The 1-watt Sparse taillight slips onto the seat post. As with the Spacer Light, you would have to start removing parts of the bike in order to steal it. Both lights are made from die-cast aluminum…

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Bike parts get artists’ imaginations in gear
When a bike components company challenges artists to create sculptures and collages from bicycle parts, expect the unexpected. Like deer skulls and one-person circus machines.
by Leslie Katz                news.cnet.com

You know that greasy bike chain sitting in the corner of your garage? Take a look at the below gallery of original art made from bicycle components, and you might think twice about getting rid of it.

Chicago-based bike parts company SRAM gave a group of handpicked artists a box each of 100 high-performance bicycle components and told them to craft something amazing. They…

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HBC Christmas Lights Ride
Houston Bicycle Club
Hermann Park Rose Garden
Saturday 12/08/12    5:30
This is a liesurely social ride for a couple of hours through Houston neighborhoods with good decorations. We’ll stop somewhere for a light meal on the way back.   Come with good lights, charged batteries and reflective clothes!  Decorations encouraged.

Next Club Meeting
When: Program: Tuesday 01/01/13 at: 8:30 a.m., West University Community Center New Year’s Day Ride and Potluck Lunch

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Cranksgiving was awesome!
by spinnincin            Austin Ridge Riders
Hey Everyone!  Here is some exciting information from the 2013 Cranksgiving event!!
We had about 150 riders at Cranksgiving this year, who rode over 500 laps of sweet sweet singletrack. That’s over 4500 miles! A few statistics for those of us who like that kind of thing:

–Nineteen percent of the riders were women, and they rode about 19% of the total laps.

–Thirty seven percent of the riders were men 40-49 and they rode about 37% of total laps.

–Most laps ridden by men: 8, Matt Barkley; three male riders rode 7 laps – Marshall Bell, Bryan Rodriguez, Martin Casas

–Most laps ridden by women: 6, Sarah Ginsbach, Jennifer Taylor, and Margie Nolan; three women rode 5 laps – Melanie…

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Upcoming Rides
Hill Country Bicycle Touring club
December 22, 2012 9:00 am
Seguin Ride to the “Old Kingsury Aerodrome”
Parking lot at Hwy 90A & Hwy 123
Hwy 90A & Hwy 123, Seguin, TX, 78155

December 29, 2012 9:30 am
Five Golden Rings Ride
Roosevelt Park Trailhead
Roosevelt Park, San Antonio, TX, 78210

December 30, 2012 9:00 am
Salado Creek Greenway Ride
McAllistar Park
13102 Jones Maltsberger Rd, San Antonio, TX, 78247

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Hack! Ultegra Di2 Mated to 9-Speed Mountain Bike Cassette
posted by Tyler (Editor) – www.bikerumor.com

The first question that comes to mind is “why?” Why spend the coin on Di2 only to run an antiquated derailleur. Turns out, it was sort of an accident, but it showed just how versatile Shimano’s Di2 system can be, even if it was unintentional.

“A customer of ours is training for RAAM and wanted Di2 but has to run a mountain cassette,” said Jason at Cycles Unlimited. “So, we started playing around with derailleurs, and the older XTR M971 has the same cage design as the Ultegra Di2. So, we could just pop it out and…

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Aransas National Wildlife Refuge
Hill Country Bicycle Touring Club
Saturday, January 19th:  We will meet at 10:00 AM at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, which is home to many rare birds, including one of the rarest birds in North America; the whooping crane. We will meet in the parking lot in front of the visitor’s center for a16 mile ride on the paved road which circles the park.  Camping is available at Goose Island State Park and at the Riverside RV Park in Tivoli on the Guadalupe River (about 15 miles from the wildlife refuge).  There are also many motels in close-by Rockport and in other communities in the area which offer off-season rates.  For more information contact ride leader Randy Frazier at…

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Nelo’s Cycles Annual Marble Falls ride – Dec 2nd
By Nelo’s Cycles
Sunday, December 2, 2012
7:00am until 2:00pm in CST
Every year we lead a ride out to Marble Falls and back that totals over 100 miles and 7 thousand feet of Elevation gain. We have a follow car with spare wheels and nutrition just like the pro’s! For more info email David@neloscycles or view the links below
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/21091640

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Tweets

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Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for November 27th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

The Etiquette of Group Rides
by John            www.AustinBike.com
We all ride.  We ride a lot. Sometimes we ride by ourselves, and sometimes with ride with others.  Eventually we fall into groups of people that we like to ride with because a.) we like to hang out with them and b.) their riding skill/style is complementary to our own.

And sometimes there are larger group rides.  Lots of people love to take advantage of these to learn the trails or make new acquaintances, but group rides are a minefield of challenges for those that try to lead a group through the trails.  Over the years we’ve pulled together a “code of ethics” for joining in a group ride.  If you come across any suggestions that we missed, leave a…

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Weekly Road Bike Ride-Medium/Fast Paced
Houston Cycling Club
Monday, December 3, 2012        6:30 PM
Terry Hershey Park
15200 Memorial Dr, Houston, TX (map)

Look for silver Nissan Titan . Robert Hopper

This is a weekly road bike ride.  The total distance will be between 20-23 miles.  The ride is a straight shot to Katy’s Fry Rd on a well paved path.  No need to worry about red lights or traffic because there aren’t any.  The pace will be 18 + mph.
Don’t like pulling?  No problem, just draft and enjoy the ride!
C’mon out and join us !
What to Bring: …

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December Ride Leaders Needed
Fort Worth Bicycling Association
I was just looking at the calendar and realized we need ride leaders to sign up now. This is one way you can give back to your club. I look at as picking my favorite ride and then getting all my friends to come ride with me. We have plenty of established rides or you can do one of your own. If you need help posting the ride, Gary will be glad to help walk you through it. gary.p.gottlieb@me. So please look at the ride calendar and sign up now to lead a ride! Thanks! Jerry

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Stovall Stages
Lone Star Cyclists
Pace: Touring (varied pace with frequent stops averaging 12-15 mph)
Date: Saturday, December 1, 2012 – 8:30am
Location: SJ Stovall Park, 2800 W Sublett Rd, Arlington
Distances: 34 and 54 Miles
Ride Leader: Determined on-site
Ride Map:
Stovall Stages 34 Mile Route
Stovall Stages 54 Mile Route

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Hoping for Help
by Steve A                DFW Point-to-Point

I have tried. Really I have. So far, I think I’ve gotten to a place where I can ride in conditions between 0F and 110F. Rain or shine, though black ice and lightning are on the ragged edge.

So where have I failed? I have yet to find a way to keep my hands dry when it is raining the way it rains here in Texas. That isn’t much of a problem when it is reasonably warm out – I simply ride without gloves. In the winter, however, and it is quickly approaching, wet hands are no fun. Wet gloves are no fun, either. I go to “Amazon” and…

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Black Friday along the Buffalo Bayou
by Eliot Landrum            Biking in Dallas
For my Black Friday ride, I convinced a few family members to grab their bikes and go explore the Buffalo Bayou bike routes near downtown Houston.

Fountain Stop

My mother has not ridden a bike in over 10 years, even though my dad and 3 of us 4 kids have been into rallies, triathlons, and bike culture. Her dad and mom did significant bike rides… I have a map of the USA with my grandfather’s bike routes marked from Kansas City to Portland, Oregon. Yup, you read that right. Significant.

But knowing that she hasn’t ridden in awhile, I promised her that we would go very slowly and only ride on routes that she was comfortable with. Exploring the Buffalo Bayou was on her “Houston Bucket List”, so she was happy for the chance to cross that off her list. We loaded up and set out for…

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Frisco Mountain Bike Trail – Frisco NW Community Park
by Shawn McAfee            Texas Mountain Bike Trails

If calm, cool and relaxed is your style the Frisco mountain bike trail at NW Community park is for you. Currently the trail is at 2.4 miles, yet it is planned for very quick growth. Already another half mile is in the works. This trail is a great piece of easy-rolling singletrack located just off the corner of Panther Creek and Teel parkway in Frisco Texas. It is the only mountain bike trail in Frisco and sits just minutes from both the Dallas North Tollway as well as Hwy 380 between McKinney and Denton.

The Frisco mountain bike trail is a great trail for beginners with a smooth and non-technical flow. The more advanced rider has a couple of whoop-de-doos and tight turns to keep them entertained. The trail is very open and there isn’t a lot of shade, which can make for a hot ride during the summer and a chilly ride on a windy…

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Consistency
by Ken            Texas Racing Life
This is my third year with a power meter, and it’s amazing to see that each year I get more and more consistent with my training. In 2010, I was working to become a Cat 2 cyclist. I would have good weeks, where I would meet all my workout volume goals, and some weeks where I would fall flat on my face, only getting in 4-5 hours. In the 2011 racing season, I even had a point where I couldn’t ride for 2 weeks, which ruined a good part of my racing season.

While working with David Wenger going into the 2012 season, I found having a coach plan workouts helped me to have accountability and to remain more consistent. But some weeks, I would be too tired, and would have to cut back. I was working offshore a lot, causing me to have a couple of big holes in training volume, but nothing…

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Tweets

https://twitter.com/grandpajerald/status/273443689219624960

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