Specialized Brightens the Holidays for Community Bike Shops
By Carolyn Szczepanski     Alliance for Biking & Walking: People Powered Blog
Thanks to our supporters at Specialized, this holiday season will be particularly merry for more than two dozen community bike shops and Alliance members.

Community bike shops and earn-a-bike programs are on the rise across the country, taking in recycled rides that would otherwise be landfill fodder and wrenching them back into shape for residents who need them most. In many cases, youth and low-income adults get their bike for free if they learn the skills to refurbish and maintain their bicycle. With increased…

Belt drive bikes get a boost.

Gates Belt Drive Sponsoring Design Contest at 2012 NAHBS
posted by Tyler (Editor)         www.bikerumor.com

Gates Corp., maker of the chain-replacing Gates Carbon Driveâ„¢ belt drive for bikes, has formed an all-star panel of bike industry legends and pioneers including the founders of Breezer, Ibis, WTB, Salsa and Rock Lobster to judge a new design contest at the 2012 North American Handmade Bicycle Show, March 2-4 in Sacramento.
The “celebrity” judges will cast the deciding votes in Gates Carbon Drive’s Innovative Belt Drive Bike Design Contest, which will award $8,750 in cash and prizes to qualified frame builders who create the most innovative…

The Hump Day Quick Tip – Pack a Snack
by Shawn        Texas Mountain Bike Trails
Ok, imagine this. You are out on a ride and all of a sudden you start getting weak. You feel off-balance, dizzy, and your legs just can’t push up the slight hills. Soon you start feeling hungry and off-balance feeling just gets worse. Next thing you know you are laid out on the grass next to the…

6 Rules of Night Riding
by Shawn            Texas Mountain Bike Trails

We are just about to Christmas and winter is under way. If you’re like me you’ve probably had enough of the short days and no chance to ride during the week after work. During the summer you had 4 more hours of daylight to soak up some single-track and get dirty. Now, you just feel…

Resolution Ride hosted by Bicycle Sport Shop
New Year’s Day, Sunday, January 1, 2012, 9 am
Bicycle Sport Shop, 9900 W. Parmer Lane
Start the year out ride with a bike ride! This is a social, at your own pace, ride. The full 50-mile route is to the Andice General Store and back, but riders can turn back at any point along Parmer. The route will be marked with signage and a turnaround point at ~ mile 12 for those who wish to ride 25 miles. Cost is $12, which includes 1 supported rest stop, post-ride food and 2 beer tickets.

Spring Creek Trail To Close For Repairs
by dickdavid            Bike Friendly Richardson

Here is the notice from the city about some trail closures:
Starting January 3, 2012, the City’s Parks and Recreation Department will begin rehabilitation work on the Spring Creek Trail in north central Richardson. The trail is located between Central Expressway and Plano Road, south of Renner Road, and meanders through the Spring Creek Nature Area. …

Bicycle giveaway has special meaning during House of Hope graduation
By Dan Kleiner            www.madisonvillemeteor.com

The Lord often works in mysterious ways. But sometimes, He bestows blessings and makes miracles so obvious that it’s nearly impossible to not take notice.

Such it was for the House of Hope several months ago when Andrew Morrow arrived at their doors. On the same day that Morrow, a lifelong BMX and dirt bike enthusiast, found his new home, a donation of 65 badly worn bicycles also rolled through the doors.

Morrow stood on stage at The House of Hope’s graduation Saturday night, not yet as a graduate, but as a man who has dedicated himself to healing through Christ. After exceptional music, inspired words, and even a magic show, Morrow’s healing process continued as he presented 20 children in Madison…

I think I am doing good to go 500 hundred miles without a flat.

Cross-U.S. Cyclist Had Only One Flat
The East Hampton Star

A seasoned triathlete, mountain-biker, marathoner, and long-distance swimmer, Emi Berger, a vivacious 34-year-old veterinarian, said during a recent conversation at The Star that she didn’t think one could train for the 4,000-mile bicycle trip that she and Kevin Harrington had recently made across the United States. …

“We began at Montauk — we dipped our back wheels in the Atlantic at Montauk Point on Sept. 23. Our goal was to dip our front wheels in the Pacific in San Diego. . . . The trip took 54 days — we rode for 53 of them, rain or shine, taking one day off, in Austin, Tex. The night before each day’s ride we’d plan our route — the Adventure Cycling organization puts out bike-specific maps for the U.S. We looked at those, and took those routes, for the most part, on country roads. We…