Dale Robertson’s Cycling Notebook in The Houston Chronicle today reports on Peter Wang’s goal for improving the biking mobility in Harris county. Houston’s bike routes are planned but Harris County does not appear to factor bikes into the transportation scene.
Texas’ Top Two Youth Volunteers Selected
from businesswire.com
These two youth raised over $700,000 for charities in Texas. Shelby Romero started a charity bike ride and other events. This is amazing.
Patrick Foster, 17, of Sachse and Shelby Romero, 12, of Hutto today were named Texas’ top two youth volunteers for 2009 by The Prudential Spirit of Community Awards, a nationwide program honoring young people for outstanding acts of volunteerism. The awards program, now in its 14th year, is conducted by Prudential Financial in partnership with the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP).
Patrick, a senior at Sachse High School, co-founded a nonprofit organization that has raised nearly $300,000 in merchandise and cash donations over the past five years to support American troops serving overseas.
Shelby, a member of the Williamson County 4-H and a seventh-grader at Farley Middle School in Hutto, organized a charity bicycle ride and other events that have raised nearly $400,000 over the past three years for a horseback-riding therapy center for disabled children.
Texas Bike Blog Roundup February 10th
Another day with too many bikers writing about their activities so I am continuing in the digest mode.
Tour of New Braunfels Criterium 2009
The start of the 2009 Season has begun!!
I was very thankful to be able to stay with Misty’s Parents house in New Braunfels with Shawn and Misty. Thank you VERY much for your hospitality!! I’m looking forward to seeing the new house for next year!
Race Report:
The race got off to a pretty slow start, of course you have your attacks off the front.
I’ve used the Weather Underground web site for many years. One of their more recent features is called the WunderMap and I’ve found that it can be quite useful as a “pre-ride” weather source when you’re wondering just how many layers you may be piling on in order to stay warm. In addition to superimposing weather radar over neighborhood level maps, it displays detailed weather information from multiple weather reporting points.
from Nearly Famous Fred – Texas Cyclist
Sometimes, life surprises you in the most unexpected ways.
As a big time, famous writer of a free Internet cycling blog, I knew there would be certain benefits. The parties with rock stars. The world travel. Hanging out with professional athletes. Dating super models. And don’t even get me started on the money. All of these were benefits that I certainly anticipated. But the other day, I discovered a bonus “super power” benefit of writing this blog.
Girl Power is the theme of Austin Cycling this spring
A lot of cycling is dominated by men. Head out to most Saturday morning hammerfests or even many social rides, and you’ll find the rides made up of mostly if not all men. (Even rides advertised as can get out of hand pretty quickly.) So it is nice to see this trend being bucked in a major way in Austin with the occurrence of tons of women only and women specific events designed to help female riders race and ride in a nurturing, non-aggressive atmosphere.
from Nearly Famous Fred – Texas Cyclist
In keeping with my stated policy of preemptive self deprication, I have a true story that I’ve been meaning to write about. This story confirms the long held public and personal opinion that I am, indeed, a big Doofus. Please keep in mind that I am willingly telling this story about myself. I only hope that my story can help others.
Last fall, specifically, October 18th, I made the long drive from McKinney to Mineral Wells, TX, for a ride called the Kiwanas Crazy Kicker.
Trek Valencia Review : Ride #9 – Dog Sitting by Bike
My sister and her family were out of town this weekend so they asked me to stop by during their absence to feed and play with Hershey, their beagle. Google Maps identified a distance of just over four miles, one-way.
Instead of reaching for the car keys, I decided to take the Valencia…and why not? Cars create most of their pollution in the first few miles of a drive when the catalytic converter is still warming up.
A Digest of Bicycle Blog Posts Around Texas
The bicycle blogs have been active. Rather than devote a post to each of these I decided to put them together in a digest format. This also helps me catch up.
from the Law Office of David Bosworth, Attorney (who apparently is a bicyclist)
Kelly (Port San Antonio ) with the Hill Country Bicycle Touring Club (hcbtc.org). February 1, 2009.
Of course, it’s another beautiful, clear, cool day in San Antonio – no, we never get tired of them. This was my first time to ride the Kelly ride, which Vern leads every month or so (check out www. hcbtc.org for the next ride.) It’s a great way to see this area that has been so important to San Antonio.
American Red Cross Tour du Rouge…In conjunction with the six (6) day ride, there is now a one day ride being offered from Humble, TX to Beaumont, TX to lead off the Tour du Rouge. All cyclists will leave on Sunday morning from Humble, and the one day riders will be bussed back after arrival in Beaumont. The space for this one day ride is limited to 500 cyclists and online registration will begin on January 31st.
from Beginning Bicycle Commuting
Why do you ride a bike to work?
I get asked that question quite a bit. There are lots of reasons commute to work on my bike.
All the way through high school and college, I didn’t own a car. My only independent means of transportation was my bicycle. After college I bought a car, but since I was newly married and we shared one car, I bought a bike and was bicycle commuting way back in 1984. At the time, the reason was, “Because I can’t afford a second car.”
from Far Out Son of Lung
Super Bowl Ride
The day started early. With a commuter bag packed with an extra water bottle, a sandwich, banana & apple and a camera I set off for Bike Mart North in Frisco. Today would encompass roughly 60 miles of riding from Frisco to downtown Dallas. It is the 24th annual Super Bowl ride, designed to bring cyclists together from all over the Metroplex converging on the West End in downtown Dallas.
from Nearly Famous Fred – Texas Cyclist
I didn’t die, which only added to my enjoyment of the ride
Today I’d like to talk about the Super Bowl Sunday Ride that we did yesterday.
As I mentioned in my last post, every year on Super Bowl Sunday, cycling groups from all over the Dallas/Ft Worth area, ride to the area of downtown Dallas called the West End, have lunch, then ride home. For Team Bikin, this was about a 50 mile round trip ride. Now usually, a 50 mile ride isn’t a lot to get excited about. But since this was the first time I’ve ridden outdoors in over 3 months, I was extremely excited about it. Some might say, I was down right giddy about it. Given to my Lutheran heritage and upbringing, I smiled myself downright silly.
My weekend was filled with a lot of fun- the kind of fun that wears you out so much you pass out asleep with a smile on your face. Greg and I made our way to the team shop for some bike work and then to Warda for some great mountain biking. I’m not sure how many states have this but with TMBRA (Texas Mountain Bike Racing Association) we have what is called paydirt, where you earn standing points and can win some pretty sick prizes by going out and working on the various race trails. Riders are required to put in 10 hours of paydirt. Greg and I got 7 done this weekend. We cut face-slapping branches, hauled junk, and cut a new trail. It was lots of fun and lots of work.