Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for August 6th

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I don’t know about everyone else, but this is how I clean my bike
Author: Ray Garza            rgvcycling.com
One thing that many beginning cyclist fail to do is to show some love for their bike and clean the chain as well as the drive train. Bike maintenance is often overlooked until someone points it out to them. A few days (OK 2 weeks ago) a go a friend of mine asked how to clean it after seeing one of my posts. Lucy, this is how I clean my bike. There are a zillion ways of doing it and they all accomplish the same thing, a clean chain and drive train.

First of all you will need some basic tools. You do not need to go out and buy bike specific stuff to do this as simple household items will work just fine. Lets run through…

Kid Trips Event – Troop 97 at Wolf Mountain BSA Camp
Saturday, September 15, 2012 – 09:00
Austin Ridge Riders
Kid Trips will be conducting a ride with BSA Troop 97 at  Wolf Mountain Scout Camp on Saturday September 15th and we need volunteers.

Kid Trips has conducted a ride at Wolf Mountain near Llano, TX in previous years and all reports were that it was a fun event.  The terrain is very similar to Enchanted Rock with excellent mountain bike trails.  The troop will provide lunch and have extended an…

BikeTexas Heads to Chicago
by Susan Wilcox            Bike Texas
BikeTexas staff are on their way to Chicago this weekend for the Ninth Annual National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) Bipartisan Bike Ride. Every year the ride is hosted by Texas legislators in front of a national audience, and BikeTexas provides bikes and works with a local advocacy group to organize the ride. In 2011, over 150 state senators and representatives, their staff members, and their families participated in the ride in San Antonio. Organizers are…

Empowered Pedals Launches
by Eliot Landrum        Biking in Dallas

Last week I had the opportunity to get a glimpse at a new organization in South Dallas — Empowered Pedals. They are operating under “Project Still I Rise” which is a 501(c)3 non-profit. Empowered Pedals is a unique venture that is designed to cultivate financial literacy, business skills, and workmanship for youth through bicycle…

Capital Metro opens fully-enclosed bicycle shelter
The Associated Press
AUSTIN, Texas — Capital Metro in Austin has opened its first secured, fully-enclosed bicycle shelter for transit users.

The site opened Monday at Kramer Station. Agency officials say as many as six more MetroBike shelters are planned within two years.

The shelter is a way for riders to combine bicycle travel with bus and rail line use, but not take their bikes on board. The shelter has key card access with space for 24 bicycles, plus video surveillance…

Longview road planning adapts for cyclists
By Sarah Thomas            www.news-journal.com

Some of Longview’s future road projects could include a concept never-before seen in the city — bike lanes.

The city’s latest long-term transportation plan includes steps to increase safety for people using alternative modes of travel such as bicycles, said Longview’s Transportation Planning Manager Karen…

https://twitter.com/JeffTX4K/status/232627023460306945

https://twitter.com/ps_byrd/status/232590178517131264

STS Results

Texbiker.net Posted on by
Article category: 
General

The STS results are here! PDF files for each race as well as the series overall are listed in the links below. The series is 3 out of 4 races and you must have participated in a minimum of three races to take an overall win in your Category.

How to read the results:
In the final file there are some points listed in red and in green.  The red stands for changes in Cat (up or down). Example, if you are in Cat 3 but you race one time in Cat 2 you will be awarded one level up, the opposite will take place if you are in Cat 2 and race one time in Cat 3.
The green is the lowest score in the series for those racers that participated in all four races.

Have a correction that needs to be made? Contact Raf via our webform.  Corrections are due by Wednesday 8/8.

Results:

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The tires got filled with loose wet sand – August Mountain Bike Ride

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Well the first day riding my mountain bike went off without a hitch. Riding on the greenbelt trails and along the drainage bayou is different from the road. Slowing down and being in the shade most of the time offered a contrast to my road bike ride. I still sweated a lot but when I rode in the shade it actually seemed to help cool me off even with 64% humidity.

Yesterday it rained 3/4″ and I thought the dirt would be too wet to ride along the bayou. It was in places where someone drove their 4-wheeler and stirred up the sand. Normally I avoid wet dirt but I rode in it today some. The tires got filled with loose wet sand and I got some thrown up on me. I am not use to that on the road. When I got home I hosed down the bike for tomorrow’s ride. I think I will survive the dirt.

I didn’t set any speed records but the change of pace and scenery works. A few people were out on the trails walking, jogging and biking. This can present a problem when you round a curve so extra awareness must rule. The route was 15.06 miles at 11.4 mph average speed. I did get up to 21.5 mph as my max speed. This was going down a steep hill which is rare around here. August miles now total 137.26 and YTD is 4072.23 miles. Riding time was shorter than my road trips at 1:19:03. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s ride.

8-6-2012 Bike Ride Data and Map
8-6-2012 Cadence-Distance
8-6-2012 Elevation-Distance
8-6-2012 Home Weather Station End
8-6-2012 IAH Weather End
8-6-2012 Speed-Distance
8-6-2012 Splits-Time

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Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for August 5th

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RLAG w/ the Austin Ridge Riders At Pace Bend
Saturday, August 11, 2012 – 09:00
Austin Ridge Riders
We’re joining the ARR Monthly Ride so bring something yummy to share at the post ride lunch.

Ride Like A Girl is a series of women-led, all women mountain bike rides scheduled from May to September. Women learn differently from men so instruction is designed to help women build confidence while having fun and experiencing nature. Each participant chooses which…

River Run Roundabout
El Paso Bicycle Club
Saturday, August 18        7:30AM
Description:     Meet at River Run Plaza, 1071 Country Club. Warm-up ride through El Paso Country Club area then to Sunland Park Dr./McNutt/Airport/Artcraft/McNutt/La Union/Vinton Rd and return via the River Trail. 37 miles, 16-18 mph. Randy Limbird, …

Bait bikes on Texas A&M campus snare 2, police say
www.theeagle.com
Two College Station men have been arrested in the past several days on theft charges after allegedly stealing “bait” bicycles from the Texas A&M University campus.

A 39-year-old and a 22-year-old were arrested on Class B misdemeanor theft charges and other misdemeanor charges in separate incidents on Thursday and Friday, police said, after taking two bicycles from A&M that belonged to the university’s police department.

Police said they had placed a Red Giant Boulder Bicycle at a bicycle rack on the north side of Rudder Tower on Tuesday. On Thursday, the 22-year-old reportedly rode the bike to a residence on…