Houston Bicycle Club Rides
HBC Pattison Ride    Sunday 1/15/2012
Distances: 32(A), 43(B), 49(A), 55(C) miles
Training ride ( ride hard! ). No hills, but smooth road, mostly paved shoulder, stores at Monaville and Hempstead.  Good food  at Hard Times BBQ after the ride.

Bellville #1 Ride    Sunday 1/15/2012
Distances: 29(C), 49(C), 54(C) miles
Climb the hills around Industry and New Ulm, return via Cat Spring. Seven Bridges is an alternate paved scenic route. Eat at pizza house in shopping center on TX-36, 1 mi south of courthouse. Or better, yet, eat at the BAKERY!! Great sandwiches – even better desserts!

Sealy West Ride Saturday 1/21/2012
Distances: 32(A), 43(B), 48(B), 60(C) miles
Ride rolling pasture land to Bernardo, and Cat Springs. Long route visits New Ulm. Stores in Bernardo and New Ulm.

Fort Worth Bicycling Association Club Rides
Arlington to Mansfield or Alvarado and Back, Arlington TX (details)
Sun, January 15, 2012 9:00 am

The Rusty Chain Gang Ramble, Fort Worth TX (details)
Tue, January 17, 2012 9:00 am

Lone Star Cyclists Rides
Palo Pinto Co Courthouse
Pace: Easy & Touring
Date: Saturday, January 14, 2012 – 9:00am
Location: Palo Pinto Co Courthouse, 520 Oak Str Palo Pinto, TX
28 & 45

Stovall Park
Pace: Touring
Date: Saturday, January 21, 2012 – 8:30am
Location: Stovall Park, 2800 W Sublett Rd, Arlington
40ish & 55ish miles

San Antonio Wheelmen Rides
Upcoming Rides and Events:
Saturday, January 14:  Boerne Ride
Sunday, January 15:  Woman Hollering Creek Ride
Saturday, January 21:  Big Joshua Creek Ride
Sunday, January 22:  Urban Breakfast Ride
Sunday, January 22:  Elmendorf Ride

Being Fit Prolongs Lives
Dr. Gabe Mirkin’s Fitness and Health E-Zine
January 8, 2012
Men who were physically fit in their 40s and continued to exercise regularly ten years later are 30 percent less likely to die and 44 percent less likely to die from heart attacks than men who do not exercise (Circulation, December 2, 2011;124:2483-2490). Fit men who lost their fitness increased their risk for premature death. Other factors that increased risk for dying were higher blood pressure, fasting blood sugar or cholesterol.

The number of calories the average person burns when he or she sits is called a MET. When you exercise, you burn more calories than you do at rest. Doctors can measure fitness levels by asking a person to run as fast as he can on a treadmill. The faster a person runs, the more calories he burns. If you exercise intensely enough to burn twice as many calories as you do at rest, you are exercising at 2 METS. You use 0.9 METS when you sleep and 18 METS running a…

Riding safely in 2012 with more fun and less injuries by Susan Reeves
by Susan Reeves            Biking in Dallas

Most of you know her as Extreme Susan, for those who don’t we’ll call her Susan Reeves.  She is one of the kindest people you will meet on two wheels, she’s a hoot too!  Susan and I have been discussing some of the recent bike crashes and two in particular were a wake up call for some of us.  One escaped serious injury but his helmet split into two pieces, and the other has an array of broken bones and lacerations yet she’s slowly recuperating.  This subject hits home for Susan, as you’ll read below, so I asked her to write something on the topic. When I asked her to meet me so I could take…