Cyclist Rally To Be Held At City Hall
www.myfoxaustin.com
After a cyclist is severely injured and another killed within a matter of days, the cycling community is rallying for change.

The man behind the group Please Be Kind to Cyclists wants stiffer penalties against drivers, who strike and kill people on bikes. He wants drivers to face the same punishment as if it were a DWI crash.

On Saturday afternoon, a 55-year-old man was killed, when he was struck by a driver off Highway 360 and…

Bike In Book Swap @ Twin Oaks Branch
library.austintexas.gov
Join us for the third annual Bike In Book Swap on Saturday, May 5 from 12 noon – 3 p.m. at Twin Oaks Branch to kick off Bike Month! We will have free bike tune-ups, courtesy of Bicycle Sports Shop, bicycle maintenance classes courtesy of The Yellow Bike Project (with free patch kits and tire levers for everyone who attends), a pannier-making class, bicycle registration with APD, a Kid’s Kup Bike Rodeo put on…

Lantana man gears up for MS bike ride
Written by John English           www.crosstimbersgazette.com
The 25th Annual Bike MS: Sam’s Club Ride from Frisco to Texas Motor Speedway will kick off this Saturday and Lantana resident Mark Lozano will be front and center for the event.

Lozano, who is a member of Team Dangerous Curves, will ride for more than 150 miles in the two day event on May 5 & 6 that supports multiple sclerosis research and said the way he came about participating in the event was through his new cycling buddies. …

Mark Eller called me at the Texbiker.net contact number and left a message about the following update on Big Bend National Park. The release addresses 5 errors circulating in various media. The April 30th Texbiker bicycling blog and news update included the information about Big Bend NP.

Recent Attacks on Big Bend National Park Trail Project Contain Numerous Errors
Contact Mark Eller        IMBA Communications Director        303-545-9011 ext.115
Since 2005, IMBA and the National Parks Service (NPS) have maintained a partnership agreement designed to enhance and expand opportunities for mountain biking in national parks. Under that agreement, IMBA and local mountain bikes groups near Big Bend National Park (TX) have advocated for the addition of a shared-use trail near the park’s visitor center. Recently, the trail design was completed and construction began, with the goal of providing a great user experience on Lone Mountain.

In April, the group Our Texas Wild issued an alert speaking out against the trail at Big Bend. Unfortunately, that alert offered several inaccurate statements about the nature of the trail. Making matters worse, several media outlets and the watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) have repeated much of the flawed analysis offered by the Our Texas Wild alert. …

4 out of 5 of Bike Sharers Don’t Wear Helmets
Study also finds that about half of cyclists overall skip the headgear
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
(Newser) – Bicycle-sharing programs are catching on around the country, which is good if you care about the environment, and bad if you care about people’s skulls. A new study from Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center found that about half of all cyclists and more than 80% of bike-share riders specifically don’t bother with helmets, USA Today reports.

Researchers kept watch on 43 rental kiosks in Washington, DC, and Boston, keeping tabs on more than 3,000 riders. “Head injury accounts for about a third of all bicycle injuries and about…

Adopt A Highway: Community Service Day
Hill Country Bicycle Touring Club
Start:     June 23, 2012 8:00 am
End:     June 23, 2012 10:00 pm
Venue:     Government Canyon State Natural Area
Address:     Helotes, TX  78023
Saturday, June 23rd: Meet at 8:00 a.m. at the entrance to Government Canyon State Natural Area on Galm Road.  Bring your family and friends for our litter pickup along two miles of Galm Road.  Remember to wear long pants, sturdy shoes and your yellow volunteer HCBTC T-shirt.  If you don’t have one, show up anyway & we’ll get one for you. Bring gloves, sun block & insect repellent. Safety vest’s, trash bags, coffee, water & a light refreshment will be provided to you  Our club decided several years ago that we…

San Antonio Wheelmen
Upcoming Rides and Events:

The Pedaler Newsletter May 2012
San Antonio Wheelmen
May is National Bike Month, which is an opportunity to celebrate the unique power of the bicycle and the many reasons we ride. Whether you ride to preserve your health and the environment or to simply get to your destination, get involved in Bike Month and help us get more people in our community out riding!  As part of National Bike Month, the League of American Bicyclists, which is the national sponsor of Bike Month, has…

Hammerfest 2012
by John Bartle            Violet Crown Sports Association
There are three things money can’t buy – true love, homegrown tomatoes and good form – to quote Old Haney (adapted from Guy Clark) and I was the beneficiary of the latter, thanks to working less, riding more and visiting Fort Davis prior to the race to reconnoiter the climbs.

In a bike race you never know what will happen. For the hill climb time trial I was mysteriously rescheduled from going off first of the 60+ field (7 strong) to last – I had riders to chase – and , at 30 second intervals on a low speed course, I just had to look up to see the next target. And I saw all but the first rider off. (Did not catch three). I had been worried about some lung congestion so winning in the time trial was a confidence big boost – and I left all my phlegm at the McDonald…

Rail trail bridge construction to start this summer
by bikedenton
In 2008, citizens asked the city council for a biking & walking bridge over Loop 288.
In 2010, the city council approved initial funding to build the bridge.
Now, in 2012, Denton will build the bridge.

Fort Bend ISD SafeCyclist Training and Community Partners
www.biketexas.org
BikeTexas’ SafeCyclist Certification Training is a Safe Routes to School program that trains elementary school teachers, youth instructors, and law enforcement how to teach bicycle skills and safety as part of a physically active curriculum.

Fort Bend ISD School Wellness Coordinator, Stepanie Kellam requested the training for their teachers as a strategy in their focus to prevent childhood obesity. She is interested in bicycle safety and hopes to provide numerous bicycle rodeos in the Fort Bend Community and has partnered with community leaders…

A&M Consolidated take 1st place at State Championship race!
by msrarkitex            Brazos Valley Mountain Bike Association

Our student racers were amazing this weekend.  Travis and Haaris both moved up about 3 positions!  They dug deep and pushed beyond their ability, that we have seen.  This was the last race of the season and was the State Championship race. …

Bicyclists to gather Thursday for demonstration
By Pam LeBlanc            Fit City
Local cyclists will gather Thursday for a rolling demonstration aimed at making it safer to ride a bicycle in Austin.

Participants in the Austin Pedaling for Safer Roads event will gather at 7 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, then ride to the Capitol.

The demonstration comes on the heels of the death of cyclist Verter Ginestra, who was killed while riding along Loop 360 on April 28, and the hit-and-run incident on April 23 that caused serious injuries to cyclist…

Ride for Officer Hebert
by KIII TV3

Beaumont police joined in the ride with officers from several other police departments in the “Texas Police Memorial Bike Trek”. The officers ride to each community in Texas that lost a peace officer in the line of duty the prior year.

McKinney Velo at the Joe Martin SR – Masters A Field
by Doc            McKinney Velo Club

McKinney Velo ventured to Arkansas last weekend for a national caliber event (the Joe Martin Stage Race) against a national caliber masters field and proved MV can compete with the region’s best. Russ Emerson ‘Fitipaldi’, Jeff ‘Big Ring’ Fene, ‘Smokin’ Joe Howard, the Seabass Brad Price and Steve ‘Oz’ Weber tackled the 3 stage Joe Martin Masters A field and helped Joe land a spot on the 2nd step of the 50+ podium, with a…

Joe Martin Stage 3 2012
by Ken            Texas Racing Life
Well, my bad luck continued today. Today it was bad luck that I could not recover from.  Near halfway through the road race, I suddenly heard a terrible clanging of metal and saw parts fly up around my legs.  Confused, I looked down to see that my rear derailleur was completely gone.  The next sound I heard was the other riders groan around me, feeling sorry for me that my race was done.  They knew how much it would suck to be in my shoes.

I raised my hand like yesterday and came to a stop. The follow car came up and told me to keep riding until the wheel truck got there. Then they saw my derailleur, said “Oh that sucks…..” and kept driving. The wheel truck came up quickly and was much better than yesterday about getting me a quick wheel change. Unfortunately, I didn’t need a wheel.  As he rushed to get back in the truck, I asked if he had a chain tool. If one was available, I could in theory turn my…