{"id":28483,"date":"2014-12-07T23:14:45","date_gmt":"2014-12-08T05:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/?p=28483"},"modified":"2014-12-07T23:14:45","modified_gmt":"2014-12-08T05:14:45","slug":"texas-bicycling-news-digest-december-7th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/2014\/12\/07\/texas-bicycling-news-digest-december-7th\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Bicycling News Digest December 7th"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cutting It Short<\/a><\/h2>\n

Bike Noob<\/h3>\n

With the end of the semester rapidly approaching, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m spending more time at the university, putting out fires that flare up regularly as students realize they haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t done enough to get that A they so covet. And with standard time bringing about darkness earlier than before, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not getting in a lot of riding at the moment. So when the weekend comes, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m ready to saddle up and hit the road.
\nBut this past weekend didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t pan out the way I expected. On Saturday, I set out to do about 25 miles, just on roads in my immediate area. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easy to rack up the miles without straying too far from home, and that would keep me close to get back for the Christmas shopping my wife had planned for the afternoon.
\nBut as I set out Saturday morning, I had a vague sense of unease \u00e2\u20ac\u201d that something wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t …<\/p>\n

Charity bicycle build 2014<\/a><\/h2>\n

USCG Air Station Houston, Texas<\/h3>\n

Coast Guard members from Coast Guard Air Station Houston help volunteers assemble a bicycle at a charity bike build Saturday in Houston, Texas. The bikes will be donated to service member families. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Dustin R. Williams
\n\"\"<\/p>\n

The tattoo Mom didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t give me<\/a><\/h2>\n

Bill Horner III\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0www.sanfordherald.com<\/h3>\n

If that was indeed \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Mom\u00e2\u20ac\u009d we saw on the front stoop of Mom\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Tattoos, then she sure was an imposingly large mother.
\nWhoever she was, her girth made me think of Haystacks Calhoun, a wrestler I watched on TV as a kid, only without the mountain-man hair and unruly beard. The person in front of Mom’s was bald. And she was rotund in a profound way, to be sure. But what was most striking about her was that head \u00e2\u20ac\u201c shaved, I assumed, and oversized, matching her physique, which she clothed with a flowing, floral-patterned dress of some kind.
\nOf course, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be certain that was Mom. We never got close enough to tell for sure.
\nWhy? It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t her physical presence that scared Leonard and me away from Mom\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Tattoos, or at least gave us pause. And it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t fear of Mom\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s needles.
\nIt was fear of our wives.
\nSo Leonard and I came home from our epic Texas bicycle trip with lots of great stories \u00e2\u20ac\u201c killer climbs in the Texas Hill Country, a rattlesnake crossing, Lance Armstrong-ish encounters, a too fast and nearly-blind group descent down a steep hill in the gathering darkness of downtown Austin, delicious organic chili, a run-in with …<\/p>\n

2014 Bike Build – Another Roaring Success<\/a><\/h2>\n

Plano Bicycle Association<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Cycling in the Wind<\/a><\/h2>\n

by Bill Cullins\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 \u00c2\u00a0Team San Angelo<\/h3>\n

\"\"
\nOver the past several weeks, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve listened to cycling friends curse the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcjoy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 of battling 30 mile per hour or higher winds during their bike workouts.
\nI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve also been doing my share of whining about the wind.
\nLike it or not, the wind does blow a lot here in West Texas so if you enjoy cycling (especially on the road) you have to deal with the wind, use it to your advantage where possible and look forward to those great days when the wind is light.
\nAccording to weatherspark.com, our highest average wind speed occurs in late March when we often see an average daily maximum wind speed of 20 mph.
\nDays with stronger winds gusting to 30 mph or more can happen during any month of the year.
\nCombine the actual wind velocity with the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcapparent wind\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 generated by a bike\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s forward motion and \u00e2\u20ac\u201d on a …<\/p>\n

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar<\/h2>\n
\n

New Bike Event: Fast n Furious Time Trail – Fort Worth, TX: When: Sat Feb 21, 2015 9:30am to 11:30am\u00c2\u00a0
CSTWho: … http:\/\/t.co\/3hu4e1qT0e<\/a><\/p>\n

— Rick Ankrum (@texbiker) December 7, 2014<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n