By Jason Kearney
There is no comparison. I used to do several charity rides, but now I only do one. Since it is my job to ask people for money every day, I find it a little tiring to ask them for money so I can participate in charity rides. So I decided some time ago to limit myself to just one, and that one is the Livestrong Challenge.
Great pictures and Jason writes about his weekend in Texas.
from austin360.com
by
Four years ago, the University of Texas Cycling Team (of which this author is an alum) decided to raise money by hosting a bicycle rally. It was the start of the fall semester, and they needed money for travel to opposing colleges and cash to pay race entry fees. They conferred with the leaders of the local cycling organizations, who told them putting on a one-day tour within their estimated time frame would be an impossible feat. They’d need at least six months, the experts told them. They had six weeks.
from mtbracenews.com
Round #4 of the Texas Fall Racing series took place last weekend with a stop in Louisiana. Racers made the long drive to Ruston, LA to enjoy the best race on the fall series schedule. Ruston is a rider favorite due to it’s stage race format including a short track race, time trial, and cross country race. This type of format is rare so it attracted many racers. In addition to the stage race format, the promoters were guaranteeing a $1500 pay out to the pro class. With this kind of money up for grabs, the best riders in Texas were all shooting for a great weekend. On top of all of that, the weather was nearly perfect with race temperatures in the 70’s. The course was in perfect shape too with dry weather for a week leading up to the race. The course is a lot of fun offering everything a racer is looking for, climbs, technical descents, flats, and plenty of smooth flowing single track.
The United States is on a path to creating what could become the largest official bicycle route network in the world, thanks to the approval of a new plan by America’s leading authority on national route designations. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) has just approved a National Corridor Plan laying out the framework and guidelines for the development of this system.
The plan identifies corridors connecting America’s urban, rural, and suburban areas. The corridors cover well over 50,000 miles, which, if transformed into routes along roads and trails, would create the largest official bicycle route network in any country or on any continent. By comparison, the planned Euro-Vélo network in Europe is projected to be 60,000 kilometers or 36,000 miles.
The U.S. plan has been under development for nearly four years under the auspices of an AASHTO task force on national bicycle routes, with representatives from federal and state transportation agencies and nonprofit organizations. The plan has gone through more than a dozen revisions—with input from hundreds of federal and state officials, cycling advocacy groups, and individuals—as well as review and approval by AASHTO’s committees on traffic engineering, design, and non-motorized transportation.