Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for August 11th

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Anywhere to get Time ROC ATAC S pedals in Houston?
by Blk02            forums.mtbr.com
I am looking to purchase Time ROC ATAC S pedals before I leave on my trip to Colorado and I am trying to find a shop in Houston or preferably North Houston area that carries these pedals. I will continue calling shops this morning as soon as they start to open. Any hints or help would be appreciated. My SPDs are doing a number on my knees and I need to switch. …

Group Ride to DADA’s Fall Gallery Walk, September 22nd!
Bike Friendly Oak Cliff
Cyclists of all age levels and abilities are invited to the Dallas Art Dealers Association and Bike Friendly Oak Cliff’s Bike Swarm as part of the DADA Fall Gallery Walk on Saturday, September 22, beginning at 1:30 p.m. at DADA member Oak Cliff Cultural Center, 223 W. Jefferson Boulevard. The event is free and includes a choice of a guided or self-guided tour of the art galleries located in the Design District, with free refreshments provided by…

Weight Loss the iBike Powerhouse v1.3 way
Author: Ray Garza            RGV Cycling
As stated before, my number one goal is to lose the weight though cycling. Riding fast, or going on club rides takes a back seat to my objective, weight loss. Going out for the sake of riding is not the ideal way to lose the weight, at least not for me. For me, I need a plan that I can follow day-in and day-out and that is where the iBike Powerhouse method of weight loss intrigues me. It is a simplified Power meter with customized power based interval training sessions created by the…

7:00am – Cup o Joe
by Scott Franklin            Corinth Cycling Club
When: Sat Aug 18, 2012 7am to 8:30am  CDT
Where: Ronny Crownover Middle School
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.  The route can be found by clicking on the link

Bikes Stolen From Cancer Charity Cyclists
By Molly Maddock        abcnews.go.com
Two days after completing a cross-country bike ride to raise cancer awareness, Zach Boyer and Chey Hillsgrove say their bikes were stolen.
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Boyer and Hillsgrove, both college students, were visiting friends in Seattle after completing a 4,000 mile charity bike ride from Baltimore to Portland. They left their bikes locked on a rack on their van’s roof overnight in front of their friends’ home. …

Letter from the President: Upcoming Elections

Texbiker.net Posted on by
Article category: 
General

Members,

Each year, the membership elects the officers and directors for the nine-person board that governs who GHORBA.  We have been very fortunate to have passionate riders who share a vision about molding the future of mountain biking in Houston. The strides we have made as an organization in obtaining funds to build new trails, maintaining and improving existing trails and creating a new website, for example, are the result of hard work by the board and those of you who have volunteered your time.

But an all-volunteer organization can only accomplish its objectives if it replenishes its leadership with new blood and new ideas.  Your opportunity to be a part of pushing GHORBA and mountain biking forward is by serving on the board (or volunteering your time).   I hope you will consider running for a position if you are interested.  Even if you are not ready this year, I hope will take a moment to learn about the officer positions described in the attached link.  Or better yet, come to the general meeting on Monday, August 20, 2012, and talk with one of the current board members directly.  For more information on the duties of each position, click here.

We are accepting nominations for President, Vice President of Trails, Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Director, and the four At-Large board positions from now through September 10, 2012.  The slate of candidate will be published and voted on September 17, 2012—October 1, 2012, with the new board being presented at the October general meeting.

-Bill Rustam
President, GHORBA

Posted in Uncategorized

Action Alert: RTP Funding needs your support

Texbiker.net Posted on by
Article category: 
Advocacy

URGENT ACTION NEEDED!

SIGN ON to a letter to your Governor to ensure they keep funding the RTP in your State! 

The Recreational Trails Program (RTP) was reauthorized – with dedicated annual funding of $85 million for the remainder of this year and Fiscal Years 2013 and 2014 – when the President signed the transportation reauthorization legislation known as MAP-21 on July 6th. The new legislation does contain one potential roadblock to the continuation of the RTP at the state level: a provision allowing the state governors to opt out of the program if they notify the U.S. Secretary of Transportation of their decision no later than 30 days before the funds are apportioned. Since the funds will be apportioned on October 1st, any opt-out decisions must be sent to US DOT by September 1st.

The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) has taken the lead for the Coalition for Recreational Trails (CRT) and developed a grass-roots campaign to convince every state governor NOT to opt out of the RTP. IMBA has prepared a letter to be sent individually to each governor that RTP supporters – organizations (not individuals) – from every state are asked to sign. Signers will be broken down by state and 50 separate letters will be prepared.

We need your help to reach out to your grass-roots contacts, other regional, state and local groups and communities, and any other organizations that benefit from the RTP to ask them to sign the letters, too.

Marianne Wesley Fowler and Derrick A. Crandall, Co-Chairs of the Coalition for Recreational Trails have expressed their gratitude to the trails community, “Working together, we have come a very long way in our effort to protect the RTP…. RTP supporters everywhere should be very proud of that amazing achievement, which was only made possible by the widespread, visible and continuous support that the RTP received prior to enactment of the law. Many, many thanks for your help. The deadline  to sign on to the letters is August so we urgently need your all-out help with this last (we hope) hurdle.” 

Please ask your Governor to keep funding the Recreational Trails Program. Click here to sign on to the letter to your Governor. In addition, please ask other organizations to sign the letter, and everyone should be encouraged to directly contact their Governor as well.

Learn more about this issue and about MAP-21…

Posted in Uncategorized

Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for August 10th

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National Bike Challenge logs 10 million miles
DENVER, CO (BRAIN) Friday August 10 2012 4:21 PM MT—As of Thursday, the National Bike Challenge, a nationwide initiative to inspire Americans to ride, has engaged nearly 30,000 bicyclists and has surpassed its goal of logging 10 million miles. The competition, which kicked off in May, ends August 31.

“We knew 10 million miles was an ambitious goal but… we knew it was possible,” said Andy Clarke, president of the League of American Bicyclists. “Reaching this milestone is a true testament to the many benefits of biking and the growing number of Americans who are riding their bikes for fun, fitness and transportation.” …

Race Week Preparation, with Grayson Keppler
by Shawn McAfee            Texas Mountain Bike Trails
Race Week Preparation – How do you prepare your body the week leading up to a race?

I had planned on a great post about the type of clothing to wear when riding. (What you wear when riding is really important, especially in the heat we have here in Texas.)

But then I got a great message on the Texas Mountain Bike Trails Facebook page, it was a question about race preparation. The question is listed below, and I edited out the readers name with some really sweet looking…

Summer TT #8 – Aug 2, 2012 / TT #9- August 9, 2012
by msrarkitex            Brazos Valley Mountain Bike Association
Time Trial #9
Name     Time
Joel Reyes     0:48:57
Justin Fylnn     0:45:45
James Munnerlyn     0:45:39
JP Rheault     0:37:21
Jonathan Lidbury     0:46:30
Travis Prochaska     0:43:31
Patrick Farnsworth     0:50:35…