Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for March 8th

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The problem watching Paris-Nice and Tirreno – Adriatico races did not happen; EuroSport (English) finished Paris-Nice before GazzettaTV (Italian) began streaming Tirreno – Adriatico.

Tour Dallas Bike Ride Looking for Volunteers
With the Tour Dallas Bike Ride, (www.tourdallas.org), falling on Easter weekend this year, (Saturday, April 7th), the organizers are experiencing a critical shortage of volunteers to help put on the ride.

They are needing volunteers to help with the pre-event activities, day of event activities, and post event activities.  Their greatest needs are at the break points and on the route corners on the day of the event.  They are also looking for help with the pre and post event Work Crews.  A list of the volunteer opportunities can be found at www.tourdallas.org, and then clicking on the “Volunteer Opportunities” link.

Bonus – Work and then ride for Free
As a special incentive, volunteers who work on the day of the ride at one of the break points or out on the route, qualify for a free registration for the Collin Classic, scheduled for June 9th in McKinney, TX.

Please share this with your family, friends, and fellow cyclist.  You don’t have to be a cyclist to help, and no experience is necessary.

Interested parties should go to www.tourdallas.org, click on the “Volunteer Opportunities” link, and then scroll down to the bottom of that page to register as a volunteer.  You can also contact Fred Miller, Tour Dallas Route Coordinator, at fred.r.miller.jr@gmail.com, for more information or if you have questions.

The Whole Damn Loop Mountain Bike Series – Race 1
Graded Cheese Racing
Date: March 11, 2012
Location: Lubbock, TX
Contact: Chase Wesley
Details: The Whole Damn Loop mountain bike series begins at 3 pm at the MLK parking lot. Everybody rides the same course. Enough challenges to keep the skillful people honest and the beginners attention. Lap is approx 12ish miles.

Fredericksburg 300k
Hill Country Randonneurs
Date: March 24, 2012
Start time: 6:00 am
Starting location: 3108 Creeks Edge Pkwy, Austin, TX 78733
Due to the lack of volunteers, this will be a lightly supported ride. The rider check-in will be open from 5:00-6:00am.   You must have a helmet. A tail light and a head light are required if you cannot finish before dark.

The course is very hilly so be prepared for a real Texas Hill Country ride. The scenery is beautiful and the roads are mostly kind to cyclists. The wind can be a factor at this time of year. …

Community Bike Shop Gathering at National Bike Summit
Alliance for Biking & Walking: People Powered Blog
The Alliance is hosting a meeting of leaders from community bike shops from across the country during the 2012 National Bike Summit. We invite leaders of community bike shops from across the continent to attend this gathering so your voice can be heard.

Register for the meeting here.

While community bike shops play a critical role in getting more people on bikes, and engaging people and communities whose needs are often not addressed by traditional advocacy groups, there has not been a clear avenue for community bike shops to engage with…

Cycling for Better Health
by Victor Jimenez, Darryl Kotyk, Rob Grissom        Cycling 360 media
We all know that cycling is a great way to increase your fitness level and overall health.  But there are a lot of people who buy a bike with that thought in mind, but just never seem to figure out how to get the full benefit of riding.

Some new riders will go out on a weekend and take a nice leisurely ride, and then wonder why the pounds are not just melting away.  Does this sound like you?  If so, then here are some easy ways for you to get more out…

Austin Bike Culture Calendar Events: 3/8- 3/14/12
by elliott            Austin on Two Wheels
The annual SXSW madness descends on our fair city for the next week. If you go anywhere near downtown in the next 10 days, leave the auto at home and ride your bike. You’ll be glad you did! And if you are downtown on your bike Saturday or Sunday evening, be sure to join in BikeHugger’s Mobile Social ride. No badges required.

Here’s a quick run down of recommended events for the coming week from our comprehensive calendar of all cycling events. As always, if there is an event you know about that’s not on our calendar contact us, and we’ll…

Downtown bike parking for SXSW
By Pam LeBlanc            Fit City
Planning on riding your bike to SXSW but don’t want to deal with it once you’re downtown? (Or don’t want to lock it to a metal fence, as some SXSW fans did last year?)

Here’s an option — a staffed parking lot just for bicycles. …

Cycling Notebook: New trails offer more options
By Dale Robertson        Houston Chronicle
All is not perfect on the local cycling scene – road, highway and bayou drainage projects continue to muck up the works for pedal-powered commuters – but I’m here to report some good news today courtesy of Dan Raine, …

Bike bridges to help link Southwest Austin to downtown
by Austin American-Statesman
The alternate bike route will also clear the way for the Texas Department of Transportation to add a vehicle lane to southbound MoPac in that area. The council today will consider spending $1.4 million for an environmental study and final engineering …

Spinistry via Twitter
The Dorba Boulder race is postponed due to the weather again but rain only makes the gravel that much more fun….

Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for March 7th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

A problem I like to have: How do I watch Tirreno – Adriatico and Paris-Nice races at the same time?

Nissan Innovation for Endurance: Texas Custom Bicycle Show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zl4O5e1hGtc
Jason Sumner visits the Texas Custom Bicycle Show in Austin and talks to innovative creators of custom bikes, including bike-makers at True Fabrication Bicycles, KirkLee Bicycles, and Violet Crown Cycles. For more innovations in…

Peddler Dirt Derby holds bike races on Tuesdays
By Bobby Blanchard            www.dailytexanonline.com
With the hope of getting more beginners riding on Texas trails with their bikes, Central Texas Grassroots Cycling will be hosting four more bicycle races this spring.

The Peddler Dirt Derby, CTXGC’s 2012 spring bike series, takes place Tuesday nights at the Del Valle Motorcross Park. The nonprofit organization CTXGC names the Dirt Derby series each year after its title sponsor. The Peddler, a bike shop…

Thirty-four domestic elite teams to vie for 2012 NRC & NCC crowns
www.usacycling.org
Thirty-four men’s and women’s domestic elite teams will join 17 total UCI Continental squads in competition for the USA Cycling National Racing Calendar (NRC) as well as the National Criterium Calendar (NCC) team titles in 2012.

Following the February 15 registration deadline, USA Cycling is pleased to announce the 34 squads that will compete as domestic elite teams (DET). Twenty-three men’s DETs are set to contest the NRC and NCC while 11 women’s DETs will compete for…

Weekly Collegiate Racing Wrap – March 6, 2012
www.usacycling.org
SCCCC: Season Opener at Texas A&M University – by Kristen Kjellberg

This weekend the SCCCC gathered for the 14th annual Tunis-Roubaix race, hosted by the Texas A&M Cycling Team near College Station, TX. Over the years, this race -specifically the road race- has built a repertoire with both collegiate and TXBRA racers as being the “Hell of the South,” and this year the race lived up to its reputation. The road race Saturday consisted of 12-15 mile loops with each loop containing 3-5 miles of strada bianca, aka “white road” in Italian, or “lots of big rocks” in Aggiespeak. Many racers were left to wonder why they didn’t bring their…

Loving the Mountain Bike: Shawn McAfee
by Darryl            lovingthebike.com
Are you Loving the Mountain Bike?  You may have noticed a lack of attention towards this type of cycling here at Loving the Bike, and that’s simply because I’ve been on a mtb once in the past year and a half.  When this cycling website first started, I wanted to make sure we talked about all kinds of bikes….but since I’m a road cyclist at heart, the focus always seems to go in that direction.

So today we’re bringing you a great post from Shawn McAfee of Texas Mountain Bike Trails, and will be sure to have more mountain bike goodness coming at you in the future as well.  Here’s a great read for all of you who…

Free Beginner/Entry level Mountain Bike Class 3/10/12
by mwilhelm                www.oldtascosacycling.com
RAGE-N-NUGGET writes “Sun Adventure Sports will be hosting a free beginner mountain bike class @ 10am @ Chinaberry @ Palo Duro Canyon on 3/10/12. The class will include all skills and fundamentals of enrty level mountain biking. Meet by the restrooms at Chinaberry and bring enough water to ride for about 2-3 hours. Mountain biking is fun so bring a good attitude and get ready to Enjoy The Ride!”

Plano Safe Passing Video
The City of Plano acts!  Click here for a video on the recently passed Safe Passing bill.

And thanks to Warren Casteel and all the other cycling advocates of the DFW metro-plex that helped make this a reality!

SXSW by bike (or bike share)
By Pam LeBlanc            Fit City
When SXSW rolls around, a lot of folks grit their teeth. It’s not that they don’t like the music (though I’m sure some don’t) — it’s that headache-inducing traffic.

Hipsters and cars crowd the roadways and finding an empty parking space is like finding a double yolk egg — it’s rare.

My suggestion? …

Hit-and-run driver sought in wreck that left Irving bicyclist in coma
by Fort Worth Star Telegram
By Domingo Ramirez Jr. Avid bicyclist Ken Hawkins loved to ride around Irving and North Texas, routinely riding to the grocery store or down the street to a hardware shop. The 50-year-old knew all about safety and riding on highways; he had done it for …

Big Thicket
by Liberty Vindicator
Cycling enthusiasts and anyone interested in a great opportunity for the entire family are invited to grab their bicycles and ride in the annual Texas Big Thicket Bike Tour, Saturday, March 17, 2012. The Southeast Texas Hike and Bike Coalition, …

Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for March 6th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

RockShox Ride Experience coming to Austin area Mar 17-18, 2012
Austin Ridge Riders
I wanted to let you know that SRAM / RockShox is planning a few RockShox Ride Experience days in the Austin Area on March 17th & 18th. We’re a 2nd cousin to what most folks know as a demo. We’ll roll a little differently in the sense that we don’t foucs on the name on the downtube, we’re all about the parts and getting some quality interactions. We’re quality V. quantity focused.

For this effort, We’ll entertain accepted applicants and swap their frame suspension with, you guessed it, RockShox fork and rear shox. We’ll let you ride evaluate the product on the trails you know and…

Bike Overnight
Lone Star Cyclists
Date: Saturday, April 21, 2012 – 8:00am to Sunday, April 22, 2012 – 1:00pm
Join us for the first LSC Bike Overnight!

Are you ready to get out of town and enjoy a bike tour but have only limited time?

We’ll be gone overnight and it will feel like a vacation!

We’ll leave our vehicles at Mark Robinson’s place in Maypearl and spend the day on scenic roads looking for wildflowers. We’ll arrive in Ennis after about 66 miles, where we can enjoy the annual Bluebonnet Festival. On Sunday we’ll head back to Maypearl for another 47 miles or so. …

IBD sales up 15 percent in January
Bicycle Retailer & Industry News
BOULDER, CO (BRAIN) Mar 6 2012 1:26 PM MT—They say what’s bad for snow sports retailers is good for bike retailers. And that notion held true in January as warm, dry weather set the scene for a 15 percent jump in bicycle merchandise sales compared with a year earlier, according to Leisure Trends Group’s RetailTRAK data.

Sales totaled $145 million for the month, with strong 29-fueled growth in mountain bikes—up 21 percent to $19 million. Dollars sales in 26-inch mountain bikes declined 2 percent, while 29ers surged 61 percent, the Leisure Trends report noted. Also, the…

Good news for bicycling in the Senate—but the future remains uncertain
www.peopleforbikes.org
A few weeks ago, we asked you to contact your Senators telling them to oppose bills that would have eliminated essential biking and walking programs. Good news: the future of federal funding for bicycling is now looking brighter thanks to strong bipartisan support in the Senate. This support is newly expressed in the successful Cardin-Cochran Amendment, which was accepted into the Senate transportation bill thanks in part to strong feedback from the bicycling community. This bipartisan amendment guarantees our local governments a voice in…

Austin lands 2015 cyclo-cross championships
By Pam LeBlanc            Fit City

Austin has landed the national championships for a style of racing in which bicyclists pedal around a 1.5- or 2-mile course that covers pavement, trails, grass, steep hills and sections where they must hop off and carry their bikes over obstacles.

The 2015 Cyclo-Cross National Championships will take place at Zilker Park. The competition is expected to draw nearly…

REI to Outfit Outdoor Adventurers in San Antonio, Texas and Jacksonville, Fla.
National gear and apparel retailer to open first Florida store and expand presence in Texas
www.marketwatch.com
SEATTLE, March 6, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.), a national retailer providing quality outdoor gear and clothing, is introducing its outdoor expertise to two new communities by opening a store in San Antonio, Texas in the fall of 2012 and its first…

March Meeting Minutes
Brazos Valley Mountain Bike Association
Camping trip
The club is planning a trip to the Colorado Bend State park trails on April 22, Earth Day. It looks to be about a 3.5hour drive, we’ll find a place to camp, hang out, ride ride ride! More detailed planning and coordination will likely happen at the next meeting.

Saturday Trail Maintenance
There are 5 “No Trespassing” signs that BTU has given us to put up. A few people will follow Mikey around to figure out where those will go. James’ new trail needs a bridge moved into place. The bridge itself may or may not need some work. There is a lot of erosion on the doubletrack that runs along the powerline just before Hematoma Hill (Game Trail). It is getting dangerous through there so be on your toes…

Improve Your Mountain Biking Through Road Riding
by Shawn            Texas Mountain Bike Trails
I make it pretty clear that I’m not really a roadie kind of guy and it’s been my motto for a while that “Road riding is all work and no play.”

But I do have a road bike and it is one of the most effective ways to become a better mountain biker. That is even where I got my start in cycling and completely fell in love with the sport. The picture above is of me when I used to race triathlons. …

Don the White Caps – March 6th Bike Ride

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Yesterday I watched the Paris-Nice race on TV. The peloton split into several groups because of the 20+ mph crosswinds. Today I could understand the situation on my bike ride. At the beginning of my ride the southeast wind blew 18.4 mph with 28.8 mph gusts and by the time I finished the wind “slowed down” to 21 mph and 25 mph gusts. As I rode across Lake Houston heading east I looked down at the full lake and saw 1 to 2 foot waves with those white caps in the post title. With this strong wind the clouds rolled in to cover the blue sky from yesterday. The temperature also fell to 73 degrees from the 81 or so on Monday. I prefer the 81 temperature. The ride today was chilly at times.

There was one other biker out and our path crossed around the 22 mile point on my route. The ride ended up with 30.11 miles. Even with the wind I did keep my average speed at 15.2 mph and the max speed at 21.8 mph. For the first 10 miles I rode into the wind and the average speed looked like it would be in the 14 mph range but the places I rode with a tailwind I made up for the deficit. Average cadence was 79.9 RPM. March miles total 147.68, YTD miles are up to 783.77. No biking tomorrow due to a meeting.

The Garmin Connect data and SportTracks data are starting to coincide again. I am not sure why they are.

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3-6-2012 Home Weather Station End

3-6-2012 Home Weather Station End