Texas Bicycling Daily News Roundup October 15th

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*AUSTIN*- Oct 19th: HH Thumper Bicycle DEMO & LAUNCH PARTY
by Cbaron                forums.mtbr.com
Hello all,
Everyone is invited to come join the Hammerhead crew for the Austin launch of the new Thumper 130mm travel FS bike! This event will take place at the Thumper trail…of course! It will take place at the house of Bill, the trail’s founder, who’s backyard accesses the trail directly. There will be BBQ, beer and half a dozen Thumper demo bikes to ride on a pre-set short-loop on Thumper. Bill’s house is in a culdesac off Yaupon and it perfect for this kind of event. Feel free to bring the kids and the family, the backyard has a pool too. …

Urban Action, Short and Long
Lone Star Cyclists
Pace: Touring (varied pace with frequent stops averaging 12-15 mph)
Date: Saturday, October 20, 2012 – 8:00am
Location: River Legacy Park, 703 NW Green Oaks Blvd, Arlington

Stay to the right as you enter River Legacy Park, and park in the last parking lot east of the restroom pavilion.
Distances: 19 and 52 miles
This Saturday’s ride will feature a short route that loops around north Arlington and a long route that encircles DFW Airport, with several stops at…

Hundreds participate in Ultimate Bike Ride
By Victoria Holloway        www.dailytoreador.com

A mass of bikes and flashing lights met in Memorial Circle to begin the fourth Ultimate Bike Ride on Saturday.

Students biked 10 to 12 miles throughout campus and places near it. Ultimate Bike Ride occurs about every two weeks at 10 p.m. Saturday.

One of the founders of the event, Peter Longno from Odessa, graduated in August with a university studies…

Temporary Gap In Postings
Pedal Pushers
There will be a temporary gap in postings. Saturday before last, we went to Pineywoods Purgatory and had a great ride. I had some of the pictures lined up for the write-up and was going to post it last Monday after our routine Monday Group Ride.

About half way through our ride, we do a turn around on Spillway Road. After a re-group, we continue the ride. However, on this ride, as I started my turn around, I hit some loose gravel. My front tire went out from beneath me and I landed on my…

Overcast Sky with a Hint of Fall – October 15th Bike Ride

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After two days not riding I wanted to get back on the road today. I chose the Stroker Road – Huffman route with a couple of tweaks on the route. I added to the starting streets and then on the return leg I did not stay on W. Lake Houston Parkway like the last I rode this route on 8/31/2012. Then the route distance was 37.55 while today’s route totaled 39.12 miles. In August I averaged 15.2 mph but today I upped that to 15.8 mph (15.9 mph on Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com). My top speed today was 20.7 mph at 80.5 RPM average cadence. The 5.8 mph north breeze did hinder my speed much in any direction but I could tell when it was at my back.

Yesterday’s cool front chased out the heat so when I left the house at 12:08 PM I could tell the difference even though my home weather station reported 78 degrees. I wore a short sleeve jersey which kept me comfortable but when I rode in the shade and into the wind I felt coolness. By the time I finished the ride at 3:01 PM overcast sky allowed the temperature to get up to 84 degrees. I did not notice much evidence of the little rain we got yesterday so puddles were not a problem. October miles now total 388.22 and YTD miles now total 5685.07.

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Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for October 14th

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Anyone with a XL Turner DW-Link 5.Spot in Houston Area?
by Blk02            forums.mtbr.com
I am looking to swing my leg over (test ride) a XL DW-Link Turner 5.Spot. I would like to find a 2012 or 2011 model year, but as long as it has a DW-Link rear I am game. I saw one at the Anthills and another one at Memorial Park in the same weekend while doing trail work so I know they are out there. It would be worth some beer of your choosing for your trouble. PM me if you are interested in…

USA Cycling saddened to learn of tragic passing of Kyle Bennett
www.usacycling.org
USA Cycling is deeply saddened to learn of the tragic passing of 2008 BMX Olympian Kyle Bennett. Bennett was killed in a single-vehicle automobile accident in his hometown of Conroe, Texas, in the early morning hours of Sunday, Oct. 14.

Bennett, 33, was a three-time BMX world champion and won an automatic spot on the first U.S. BMX Olympic Team.

“All of us at USA Cycling were deeply saddened to learn this morning of the tragic and untimely loss of Kyle Bennett,” said USA Cycling CEO Steve Johnson. “Kyle was a pioneer in Olympic BMX and an inspiration to those of us that knew him. He will be sorely missed, and we offer our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones.”

He is survived by his fiancé and young daughter, Kylie.

Former BMX Olympian dies in overnight crash
Houston Chronicle Copyright 2012 Houston Chronicle.
Conroe native Kyle Ray Bennett, a former Olympic BMX cyclist and international champion, died in a car crash early Sunday, authorities said. Bennett, who had a reputation as a role model to young bikers with a smooth-riding technique, recently earned a spot in the BMX Hall of Fame as the team captain of the U.S.’s first Olympic team when the sport made its debut in Beijing in 2008. According to investigators, Bennett was westbound on Old Highway 105, near Southshore Drive at a high rate of speed, when he lost control of his 2006 Toyota Tundra and drove off the roadway. Mike King, the BMX program director for USA Cycling, said cyclists will remember…

El Paso City Hall bike pool rolling on
By Ramón Rentería \ El Paso Times
Sean McGlynn, director of Museums and Cultural Affairs for the city of El Paso, takes one of City Hall’s bike pool bicycles to a meeting Tuesday. Four bicycles in lockers outside City Hall are available to city employees for commuting around downtown. (Mark Lambie / El Paso Times)

A new program that lets City Hall employees check out bicycles for personal or official use around Downtown has become a popular option to driving cars.

Implemented in early summer, the city’s bicycle pool program is already being billed as a success and will be extended within two months to firefighters and Sun Metro employees who work…

Bike MS: Valero bike ride raises nearly $1 million
By Francisco Vara-Orta            www.mysanantonio.com
The Bike MS: Valero 2012 Alamo Ride to the River concluded Sunday with more than $968,550 raised to aid in the fight against multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, unpredictable disease of the central nervous system that disrupts the flow of information within the brain, and between the brain and body. It affects over 2.1 million people globally.

The local Lone Star chapter of the National MS Society annually organizes the ride, one of the largest events of its kind in North America. In 2009, the group changed…

An East Texan’s legacy lives on
By Bethany Moore            www.kltv.com
The Lone Star Circle of Life Bike Tour stopped in Tyler today to honor an East Texas paramedic who passed away last  year.

The Lone Star Circle of Life Bike Tour was started 15 years ago by a grassroots group trying to raise awareness about organ donation, organizer Debbie Mabry said.

“We’re trying to get people to be aware that there are needs in their own community for blood donors, organ and tissue donors. We do that by…

New First Race for the North Series Opener
by League Director in News            Texas High School Cycling League
Since this weekend’s race at RCP by DORBA was cancelled due to rain our Scholastic MTB North Series kick-off and opener race will now be NEXT weekend at TMBRA’s Abilene Bent Wheel Bash on Sunday, October 21st.

Be sure to be there to be part of all the middle school and high school racing action and get a jump start on the season-long overall team and…

Cycling Around The World: Dime Box Texas
Posted by: Rudy Pospisil        blogs.theprovince.com
I have seen many poor animals on the side of the road like this Armadillo. I never expected to see so many Armadillos. Even their tough shell is no defense against the cars out here. Even giant turtles are crushed on the road. The Vultures here make a living on the road kill you can see them circling far ahead and you know why they are there.

Now I am only 50 miles north of Houston. Traffic has become extremely dangerous and heavy as usual near major cities. Plus the general mindless rednecks that you get like the two guys with cowboy hats in the pickup that yelled and threw a can of…

https://twitter.com/brianplemons/status/257505320971149314

Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for October 13th

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Austin Bike Park! Please support by signing the petition for a skills park
by CharacterZero            forums.mtbr.com
Please take a moment to sign the petition to get Austin PARD to recognize what we need and are willing to help build!
Austin Parks and Recreation Department: Build a Bike Skills Park

Cycling Around The Globe: Houston We Have A Problem
by Rudy Pospisil            blogs.theprovince.com
It felt like home in British Columbia. The green grass waving in the wind, trees, streams and cooler weather after the extreme heat in the deserts. I longed to lie in tall grass again so I pulled off the road and dropped my saddlebag down in the tall grass for a pillow and gazed up at the small figures the puffy white clouds made. I drifted off to a short sleep dreaming of bed bugs biting me at a cheap hotel room. I awoke to see vultures that were following me circling over head. The bites in my dream did not stop. I jumped up and my legs were covered in red ants right up into the inside of my cycling shorts and they were biting me with a painful sting.

Frantically I kicked off my shoes dropped my cycling ginch to my knees jumping and rubbing the thousands of stinging ants from my body.I did what must have seemed like an Indian rain dance to any farmer watching me. Likely I would have been shot…

Team LIVESTRONG Challenge 2012 in Austin, TX
by WB admin                The Wheel Brothers – Cycling in Texas
The Team LIVESTRONG Challenge Austin 2012 invites you to join their ride on October 19-21, 2012 starting at Palmer Events Center – 900 Barton Springs Road, Austin, TX

We were lucky enough to be granted an interview with Matt Florio of Team LIVESTRONG Challenge Austin to ask some questions about their upcoming ride.

How long has the event been around?
This is the 16th year of the event.

What was the motivation behind starting the tour and who benefits from it?
Lance Armstrong started the ride, originally called the Race for the Roses, in 1997 to raise money for cancer survivors and their families in Austin.  The event has blossomed as the Foundation has grown and matured.  The money raised goes back to LIVESTRONG and is used to fund programs and services for people affected by…

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