Lost license plate leads to suspect in traffic death
Houston Chronicle
A suspected drunk driver was arrested in a fatal hit-and-run collision after authorities found the license plate that fell from the van that hit a bicyclist in northwest Harris County late Monday night. Jerad Thomas is charged with driving while intoxicated and failing to stop and render aid in the collision that occurred in the 10500 block of Jones Road near Fallbrook about 11:10 p.m., according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. The man took deputies to his…

Major Cities Highlight Biking and Walking as Key Mobility Strategies
Alliance for Biking & Walking: People Powered Blog
imageThis week, more than 11,000 researchers, engineers, advocates and government officials are gathered here in Washington, DC, for the annual Transportation Research Board meeting. Glancing through the 328-page program this weekend, I had to admit that much of the content looked like a foreign language: I can’t say I’m familiar with the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide or well-versed on Inland Waterway Infrastructure. But being at the conference, I’ve discovered there’s a lot of buzz around biking and walking — even in the sessions that don’t have active transportation in the title. …

Trail bridge over Barton Creek closed for repairs
By Pam LeBlanc            Fit City

Heads up, trail users.

The bike and pedestrian bridge over Barton Creek, on the south side of the hike and bike trail around Lady Bird Lake, is closed between 7:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. until Feb. 6 for repairs.

This morning, workers were removing the heavy wooden timbers that pave the bridge, which spans the creek just west of Lamar Boulevard. (I love the sound those boards make when I pedal over them!)…

U.S. states and cities ranked for biking, walking habits
By Jeannine Stein, Los Angeles Times / For the Booster Shots blog
Alaska has the highest number of bicycle and pedestrian commuters and Alabama has the lowest, according to a new report on bicycling and walking in the U.S.

The Bicycling and Walking in the United States: 2012 Benchmarking Report, released by the Alliance for Biking & Walking, provides a look at commuting by cycling and walking in the U.S., how safe those commutes are, and where transportation funding is going — or not going — to promote these alternative means of local travel.

The report ranked states and cities on bicycling and walking levels (how many people commute by bike or foot) as well as fatality rates. Boston had the highest level of such commutes, and Fort Worth, Texas, the…

Wilmington, New York to Host Leadville Mountain Bike Qualifier
By AlpineZone News
Wilmington/Whiteface 100 Returns June 17
WILMINGTON, N.Y. —- For mountain bikers who like high elevation racing on the most rugged of terrain, the Leadville Trail 100 is the holy grail. As one of the most well-known mountain bike races, getting into the Leadville Trail 100 has always been difficult. …

…Other LT 100 Qualifiers include the Austin 100, in April 21, in Austin, Texas; the Barn Burner 104, June 2, in Flagstaff, Ariz.; the Leadville Silver Rush 50, July 14, in Leadville, Colo.; the Tahoe Trail 100, July 22, in Lake Tahoe, Calif..; and the Alpine Odyssey 100. This race is slated for Sept. 15 and will serve as the first qualifier for the 2013 Leadville Trail 100.

B-Cycle heads to Houston, TX
By Peter Suciu, in Detroit, MI         by BikeRadar.com
The fourth largest city in the US is working toward a bike-friendly designation

It is often said that in Texas they do things big, and when it comes to bike sharing the state’s biggest city—which now ranks as fourth largest in the country—will take it on in a big way. Last month the Houston City Council approved new green initiatives that include a bike sharing program run by B-Cycle.

This US$105,000 bike-sharing project includes three solar-powered bike kiosks in the city’s downtown, and depending on ridership would expand further out from…

To cycle in Texas State Cemetery, just follow bike etiquette
Ken Herman, Commentary            www.statesman.com

It’s taken six months to get an answer, but we finally have Attorney General Greg Abbott’s official opinion on whether the Texas State Cemetery Committee can ban bicycles from the historic East Austin final resting place of Texans famous and otherwise.

The answer, issued last month, is a firm, unequivocal maybe, all papered up with legalese, footnotes and a reminder that “words and phrases shall be read in context and construed according to the…

Get a load of that head tube!
by Chris Mathews            www.planobicycle.org

This has to be one of the largest legitimate road bikes you will ever see.  The bike builder in the picture on the left is posing in front of his Paris, France bike shop in 1974. He would need a step ladder to mount this baby! Did you know that the bike is owned (and ridden) by an ex-pro basketball player who resides in Plano, Texas? Yep, all 6 feet 9 inches of him.  I have been trying…