{"id":3276,"date":"2009-12-18T23:25:13","date_gmt":"2009-12-19T05:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/?p=3276"},"modified":"2009-12-18T23:25:13","modified_gmt":"2009-12-19T05:25:13","slug":"december-18th-texas-bicycling-blog-and-news-roundup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/2009\/12\/18\/december-18th-texas-bicycling-blog-and-news-roundup\/","title":{"rendered":"December 18th Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you are setting goals for next year here is one challenge you might want to consider:<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

from RoadBikeRider.com Newsletter<\/strong><\/a>
\nIssue No. 423 – 12\/17\/09
\nThe Year-Rounder Challenge & Larry Schwartz Award<\/p>\n

These are annual programs that begin in January. They’re offered by the UltraMarathon Cycling Association<\/strong><\/a> to reward consistency in riding centuries, double centuries, brevets and other long rides.<\/p>\n

Cyclists anywhere in the world can participate. You can ride qualifying miles in events or on your own. Standings are published so you can see how you stack up with the other riders, and medals are awarded based on individual achievement.<\/p>\n

The programs are fully explained on the UMCA website<\/strong><\/a>, but basically here’s how they work.<\/p>\n

—Year-Rounder Challenge:\u00c2\u00a0 This is a mileage competition. There are 4 distance categories that go into the Combined division for the overall standings. The shortest ride that can be counted is 90 miles (144.9 km). At year end, the Gold award recognizes riders who have reached 3,000 miles (4,830 km) and the Platinum award goes to those who’ve tallied at least 5,000 miles (8,050 km).<\/p>\n

—Larry Schwartz Award:\u00c2\u00a0 This is named for the late endurance rider from Texas. To earn a medal you need to do at least one Year-Rounder ride (90 miles or more) each month during the calendar year. There can be 2 make-up rides. So if your winter is so nasty that you can’t do the distance in January and February, for example, you can start in March and make up for the 2 missed months later in the year.<\/p>\n

To do qualifying rides on your own, you simply gather store receipts at refueling stops or ask witnesses to sign a paper for you. These things verify distance and time. Or you can use printouts of GPS-generated maps and ride data. Then you mail the documentation to the UMCA.<\/p>\n

PLANO BIKE CLUB GIVING THE JOY OF CYCLING TO NEEDY CHILDREN<\/strong><\/a>
\nPLANO, TEXAS \u00e2\u20ac\u201c December 17, 2009 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c The Plano Bicycle Association (PBA) announced that it will be donating a dozen new kids\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 bicycles of various sizes to needy children in Plano. The PBA is a non profit bicycle club based in Plano, Texas (childhood home of cycling champion -Lance Armstrong). In collaboration with the Douglass Community Center and through the assistance of PBA members…<\/p>\n

Framebuilder Profile: James Flatman of Alchemy Bicycle Company | Austin On Two Wheels<\/strong><\/a>
\nEconomic woes be damned, business is good at Alchemy Bicycle Company these days. Framebuilder James Flatman is weathering the storm fine with a traditional build-anything-you-want full custom approach that has yielded a surprisingly steady customer cue for one of Austin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s newest…<\/p>\n

At the risk of terminal boredom \u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 \u00c2\u00ab Jim’s Bike Blog<\/strong><\/a>
\nby jimsbikeblog<\/p>\n

\"Jim's
\nRiding the shoulder of Interstate 10 between Van Horn and Kent in West Texas. Photo by Mike Ullner. Leaving Austin after two rest days. From left Mary Ellen, Derrik, Jim, Cathy and Erik. Photo by John Diller …<\/p>\n

ChipSeal: It Is Hard To Plan For Traffic Stops<\/strong><\/a>
\nby ChipSeal
\nSo when I was done with the things I had to do in downtown Ennis, I headed out to Waxahachie for an appointment I had there. With a 18 mile trip before me, I figured that an hour and a half would be plenty of time. …<\/p>\n

C y c l e * D a l l a s: Motorists never think…<\/strong><\/a>
\nby PM Summer
\n\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6about where they should position themselves within a lane.<\/p>\n

Most traffic lanes are designed to accommodate a single line of vehicles. Motorists rarely have more than a few feet of lateral movement available to them within that single travel lane. It never occurs to them to consider where in the lane they ought to be laterally, their only concern is that they remain within the lane itself. …<\/p>\n

Family of cyclists killed by drunk driver outraged by sentence<\/strong><\/a>
\nby WFAA
\n“Money talks, justice walks in Dallas, Texas and it just got proven in there,” said Jim Bowers, a father of one of the victims, as he walked out of the …<\/p>\n

FIXED ON BIKES: The Puzzler is right around the corner….<\/strong><\/a>
\nby Chris
\nThe 2010 version of the Puzzler will be more challenging than ever with a large portion of new singletrack being added to the mix.\u00c2\u00a0 Trails are still under construction, so maps and gps tracks won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be available until later in the year.\u00c2\u00a0 The format will be similar but expect an extra steep climb earlier in race as we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re eliminating the loop around the northern end of the mountains and replacing it with a switchback climb up to the ridgeline. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you are setting goals for next year here is one challenge you might want to consider: from RoadBikeRider.com Newsletter Issue No. 423 – 12\/17\/09 The Year-Rounder Challenge & Larry Schwartz Award These are annual programs that begin in January. …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[14],"tags":[1188,660,1192,1189,1191,1187,1193,1190,1186],"class_list":["post-3276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bicycling-news","tag-alchemy-bicycle-company","tag-digest-of-bicycle-blog-posts","tag-drunk-driver","tag-jimsbikeblog","tag-motorists","tag-plano-bike-club","tag-the-puzzler","tag-traffic-stops","tag-ultramarathon-cycling-association"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4tok-QQ","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3276"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3276\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}