Texas Bicycling Daily News Roundup November 5th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Bicycle Sport Shop – Cody Johnson, RIP
I regret to inform our community that Cody Johnson, our friend and staff member at Bicycle Sport Shop, was struck by a car while riding his bike on Riverside just after midnight Saturday morning, and has died due to the severe injuries he sustained. Cody joined our team in March of this year, but in that short time had become close friends with many of our staff, who are heart-broken about his untimely death.

In observance of Cody’s life we are organizing a short ceremony and bike ride on Sunday, November 11th at 9:30 am. We will gather at the Pfluger bridge over Lady Bird Lake to share our thoughts about Cody, and then take a short, casual bike ride around town. Please join us, even if you didn’t know Cody, but would like to let people in Austin know that every life is precious and that killing a cyclist will not be tolerated.

Hill Abell

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Most expensive chain ever.
by EmbraceTheHate            forums.mtbr.com
Broke a chain at walnut creek and ended up getting this
2012 kona cadabra
Atx bikes hooked me up. Good guys over there!

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HBC Urban Challenge Ride Ride
Houston Bicycle Club
Sunday 11/11/12        9:00AM
Starter: Daniel J. Lyons
The Urban Challenge Rides are in-town group rides, faster and longer than the EZ Rides, each time taking you to different parts of the city each time. You should be able to maintain a pace of 15 mph and above for a distance of 40 to 45 miles, usually with one rest stop.

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2012 Tour Das Hugel Event Information
We hope to have more information posted here soon, but for the most current happenings, always check our Facebook Page.

2012 Dates:
Nov. 10, 7 a.m.
2360 Stratford Drive, Austin, TX  (Parking lot by MoPac ped bridge at Zilker Park)
Alternate Date (small group ride for those who can’t make Nov. 10)
Nov. 10, 7 a.m.
2360 Stratford Drive, Austin, TX  (Parking lot by MoPac ped bridge at Zilker Park)

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24 Hours of Rocky Hill Recap – Piglets Point of View
Off-Camber Trains of Thought:
Ryan: When Kevin came to me and asked for a partner for 24 Hours of Rocky Hill, I was under the impression that he was joking. I’ve only heard, and seen, the likes of Rich Szecsy, Ray Porter, and the bearded wonder Mike Frazier even attempting this race. Surely two Cat 2 racers with minimal racing experience (in comparison to the field) do not belong at such an event. The inquiry came in around summer time, so October seemed like it would never come. I accepted, and started training.   With the experience and knowledge of Rich at our disposal, we made sure to pick his brain on training techniques, schedules, benchmarks and the…

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Tweets

https://twitter.com/TXSTsportclubs/status/265493335060402176

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Breaking the Barrier But Nothing to Show – November 5th Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

A big difference in today’s weather versus last Saturday’s ride setting. Scattered clouds today while last Saturday I raced the rain clouds home. The temperature for today’s ride started at 79 degrees and ended up at 81 degrees when I finished around 1:40. The forecast calls for a 50% chance of rain today but during the ride no sign of that happening. The light WSW 8 mph breeze kept me from overheating. The wind seemed different today because only when I rode to the northwest did it feel like a headwind. All of the other directions the breeze pushed me along.

I rode one of my more frequent routes going up US59 to Porter and then jogging east to Loop 494 to continue to New Caney. I could tell when I headed northwest because the wind resistance picked up. I rode a short distance west on FM1485 to the US59 south service road. Once I was on the service road I continued to the Valley Ranch entrance and wound through Valley Ranch to FM1314 before riding south on Old Sorters Road through Briar Tree, Oakhurst to Northpark Drive. From there I took Kingwood Place south and thena side street back to US59 service road to Kingwood Drive. Taking the u-turn under US59 I went north for short distance and turned right to get to Loop 494. After that it wasn’t too far to get back into Kingwood and follow the residential streets and trails back home. At this time of day traffic was not an issue. The Garmin was faithfully recording my travels all this time.

I don’t have much ride data or map today because when I tried to download the data from my Garmin Edge 500 it would not connect to my computer. So after several tries I did a master reset which erased all of the ride data including today. Fortunately I remembered some of the ride data like the 31.4 miles but the rest went in the dark data hole. With that 31.4 miles I passed into the 6,000 miles for the year territory for the first time ever in biking career. I started riding in 1979 so there have been many years to try but when you work full time and have a long commute most of those years I thought I did great getting in the 4,000 mile range. The mileage standings: 90.42 for November and 6030.65 YTD. With almost 2 months to go I am not sure how many miles I will ride this year but each one will set a new record.

Now that daylight savings time has ended I need to start my rides no later than noon to give time to ride and then at least start writing about my trip with some daylight left. I accomplished that today starting around 11:25.

Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for November 4th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Tweed Ride Update
Bike Friendly Oak Cliff

Many people have been asking about the BFOC Tweed Ride, which is usually held each November.  This ride has always been lead by one of BFOC’s co-founders, Jason Roberts.  As some of you may already know, he has recently been facing some serious health issues.  After discussing this year’s Tweed Ride at a recent meeting, the board of BFOC unanimously decided that we should postpone the ride until Jason will be back in action and ready to lead the ride as usual.  We all feel that it would not be the same without him.  We expect to hold the ride in January or February of 2013.  So you have a few extra months to get your tweed…

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Pace Bend – 11/03/12
www.austinbike.com

Today we hosted a group of people from Houston out at Pace Bend. With about 30-40 total riders, we broke into several groups, which kept the ride going and allowed everyone to have a stress free day.  The weather was perfect and the beer and snacks afterwards were well deserved. (many more pictures)

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Barton Creek Greenbelt Ride – 11-04-12
www.austinbike.com

Beautiful day, perfect weather, a great time to be out on the greenbelt.  Dennis and Crispy were determined to maximize their mileage and chose to start further upstream.

We netted out about 15-16 miles and they ended up around 22.  Great pictures from some of the places we stopped to session the obstacles. (many more pictures)

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James Webster, correspondent for Texbiker.net, sends this video and slide show report from Cross Houston at Houston Oaks Country Club on November 3 and 4, 2012.

Cross Houston
Course information: What is not to like about a CX race on a former links-style golf course? We have lots of grass, rollers, just the right amount of sand, barriers, double wheel pit, start line grid, and full course tape.

Cyclo Houson Nov. 2 2012 video

Cyclo cross Houston slide show

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HBC Cat Spring Ride
Sunday 11/11/12
distances: 28(A), 36(B), 40(B), 47(C) miles
Flat to moderate hilly ride about an hour west of Houston. Stores in Bernardo (not always open on Sundays) and New Ulm.

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Boys & Girls Club of the Austin Area Bike Club
The Ghisallo Foundation
ID: 2012-0011
Start Date: 2012-10-11
End Date: 2012-12-31
Status: ACTIVE
The continued growth of our youth programming led us to the Boys and Girls Club of Austin’s (BGCA) EAST campus. We had previously participated in a Bike Rodeo at Booker T Washington, a low-income housing complex in East Austin, as well as having surveyed the community as part of our Rosewood Neighborhood Bicycle Census. BGCA EAST primarily serves the youth of Booker T Washington and had been interested in restarting a pre-existing on-site bike maintenance workshop which had been in hibernation for a number of years due to lack of volunteers. …

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8:00am – Cup o Joe
Corinth Cycling Club
When: Sat Nov 24, 2012 8am to 9:30am  CST
Where: Ronny Crownover Middle School
Event Status: confirmed
Event Description: The Cup o’ Joe is a beginner level ride of around 15 miles. The ride heads south to Hickory Creek and stops for drinks at Starbucks on the way home. The ride leader for this ride is Bob Troyer. …

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Spooky Cross from Dallas Texas!
The Spooky Cross, hosted in Dallas this past weekend, was the third race on the CX racing calendar in Texas. It was held at two separate venues, both in the …

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Tweets

https://twitter.com/Whelchel/status/265165394401173504

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Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for November 3rd

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Corinth Cycling Saturday Rides
Corinth Cycling Saturday rides start at 8am at Ronny Crownover Middle School in Corinth.
Rides available;
Team – 20+ mph training ride, 50-60 miles will hook up with Mad Duck ride out of Grapevine
A Group – 18+ mph paced ride, routes vary, 50-70 miles
B Group – 16+ mph paced ride, routes vary, 50-70 miles
C Group – 14+ mph pace ride, routes and mileage varies
Cup of Joe – 11+ mph pace, 12-15 miles

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Texas Cup Awards Party
NXNW Restaurant and Brewery
10010 Capital of TX Hwy
Austin, TX 78759

Saturday, December 8, 2012
6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Sit down dinner, with a variety of options including vegetarian and gluten-free options.
Cash bar will be available.

RSVP Information:
There is only room for 100 people at the party. Award winners will be given the opportunity to RSVP first, but they must respond to the email (dated 11/3/2012) no later than 6:00 PM on Sunday, November 11. If you are supposed to be receiving an award and DID NOT receive an email, then more than likely you do not have an email associated with your USA Cycling license and we have no way to contact you.
Tickets for guests and others will be available for sale on BikeReg.com beginning Monday, November 12 – 12:00 PM on Friday, November 30

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With all of the road debris on my routes these could make flats a thing of the past.

Never Worry About a Flat Again With These Airless Bike Tires [VIDEO]
by Kenneth Rosen        Mashable.com

A Colorado-based designer has developed a unique solution to the dreaded flat tire: airless tires.

Brian Russell created a bicycle tire that wraps rubber around carbon nanotube-reinforced composite rods to provide a cushioned, airless solution. While it’s still a prototype, the Energy Return Wheel (ERW) offers a much-needed solution to the inevitable flat.

What are some creative solutions you’ve seen for fixing flats? Let us know in the comments.

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Bicycle passing law needs vigorous policing
By Brian Chasnoff, Express-News columnist
When City Council approved a “safe passing” ordinance nearly three years ago, the law was intended to protect travelers on two wheels from a deadly trend in Texas, where about 50 cyclists were killed every year.

Yet only six people have been cited since.

After the ordinance was passed in February 2010 for the remainder of the year, police cited just three people with the class C misdemeanor. In two of those cases, the drivers were accused of veering too close to the…

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Blind Veteran Rides Bike To Help Other Injured Soldiers
By Sally MacDonald, Anchor-Reporter                www.myfoxhouston.com

It’s not the life Sgt. Major Jesse Acosta pictured.  Nearly seven years ago he was catapulted into 24 hour darkness.  Shards of shrapnel from a bomb in Iraq ripped through Acosta’s eyes.  The doctor’s words still echo his fate.

“I”ll never forget what he said.  He said, ‘Well soldier looks like you’re going to live. You’ve stabled.  You were hit by a bomb, but your life is going to change. From here on you’ll be blind for the rest of your life.'”

Accepting his new reality hasn’t come easy, but with help from his guide dog Charlie and a…

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Tweets

https://twitter.com/BikeMSValero/status/264751577842192384