BikeTexas Board Member Butch Willingham Passes Away Suddenly
by Jack Sanford            BikeTexas.org

It is with sadness that we report that our friend, colleague and BikeTexas Board Member George “Butch” Willingham, 68, passed away peacefully in his sleep on June 3, 2012, while in Islamabad, Pakistan, on a mission trip with the Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas.

BikeTexas staff attended a memorial service and celebration of Butch’s life on June 18, 2012 in Center, TX, where Butch was laid to rest. It was moving to hear of the testimonials of many friends of his…

Summer TT#7 – July 26, 2012
by tonkster        Brazos Valley Mountain Bike Association
Name     Time
Collin Clark     0:46:04
Boone Fylnn     0:35:05
John Flynn     0:37:44
JP Rheault     0:40:49
Greg Swoboda     0:45:47
James Munnerlyn     0:46:18
Jonathan Lidbury     0:53:39
David Gilman     0:53:49
Patrick Farnsworth     0:47:54

Things to do this weekend, by road, by air and on horseback
By Janet Van Vleet            www.reporternews.com
For anyone who won’t let temperatures hovering at or above the triple-digit mark deter them from taking part in outdoor activities this week, have we got some events for you.

Nearly 30 years ago the Abilene Bicycling Club held the first Tour de Gap bicycle race. The annual ride always falls on the fourth Saturday of July, usually a week or so after the completion of that granddaddy of all bicycle races, the…

Army vets trade tours of duty for a Tour de Texas
By Bill Cullins            www.gosanangelo.com
SAN ANGELO, Texas — Two Army veterans from the San Angelo area are training for a big cycling ride.

Knickerbocker resident Roy Aguero and San Angelo’s Robert Balli will ride across the state from Anthony in Far West Texas to the Louisiana border at the Burr Ferry Bridge on the Sabine River.

Their planned journey has a lot in common with a bicycle ride that members of the Army’s 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps did back in 1897 (gosanangelo.com/news/2012/jan/06/early-regiment-got-in-gear-with-trek/).

The 920-mile bike ride they plan to start on Oct. 1 will take them through…

Hill Country Bicycling Touring Club Rides
August 5, 2012 7:00 am
Blue Star –Mission Ride to I-37
Blue Star Brewing, 1414 S. Alamo St., San Antonio
August 11, 2012 7:30 am
Stinson Field Mission Parkway Ride
Stinson Municipal Airport, 8535 Mission Road, San Antonio
August 12, 2012 8:00 am
Lone Oak Ride
Lone Oak Cafe, 12237 hwy 87 east, Adkins
August 18, 2012 8:00 am
Rudy’s Ride
Rudy’s Barbecue, 10623 Westover Hills Blvd, San Antonio
August 19, 2012 8:00 am
Toyota Applewhite Ride
Bill Miller BBQ, 7081 Rockport Rd, San Antonio

2012 SCCCC Track Championships
amct.tamu.edu        Texas A&M Cycling

My first collegiate race with the maroon and white was filled with sunshine, rain, pools of blood, and golf balls, AKA a great race weekend
3 years later, its that time again. The Aggie cycling team will be hosting the 2012 SCCCC Track Championships at the Alkek Velodrome in Houston, Texas. I encourage everyone who reads this to come watch the fun. There…

Ask The Readers: Why Do You Love Mountain Biking?
by Shawn McAfee            Texas Mountain Bike Trails
Here’s 16 reasons I love mountain biking.
1. If a zombie apocalypse happens and freeways are backed up, mountain biking gives me a way to survive.
2. Mountain biking helps me lose weight, while having a great time.
3. I get to meet awesome people and ride with…

Today I received an email from Don Bynum. Since it is not posted on his blog I am including the complete email text with his permission.

As the month winds down and the World Famous Tour de Longneques (July 28, 2012 edition) approaches there is still fun to be had even in the typical July Texas heat.  Yesterday a group of Hillybikers met at the parking lot near the HEB in Kingsland and did the 22.3 mile ride ou RR2900 to River Oaks Drive then north to Slab road, then west out Slab to TX71.  As we were catching our breath at the TX71 turnaround a couple of young guys on prostate crushers road up (also coming out Slab Rd. ).  They were on their way from St Augustine, FL to San Diego and had so far averaged about 100 miles per day.  They live in Phoenix and had flown to Florida and had made it to Llano County in about a little over a week!  Turns out that they had been taking a break, cooling off in the Llano River at The Slab when we had gone zipping across it on our way out.  They had loaded up and set out to see if they could catch us and get some info on Llano and places to stay and eat (that was their goal for yesterday).  Doug, Richard and I had been resting for some time when first Gil (on his Catrike Expedition), then John and Jay on John’s tandem rolled in with the two travelers about 50 yards behind and closing on them.  They seemed a little surprised to learn that the group of cyclists they had tried to chase down had only one member below 65 in it.

On the way back toward Kingsland, Gil came alongside and suggested that we run the low waterbridge across the slab while he ran his GoPro camera to capture a video.    Of course when a Catriker says “lets run…”  they are suggesting winding the pedals up and seeing just how fast the machines can be made to go.  So as we came near The Slab, I set up to Gil’s left and we were starting to build speed before the final descent when a car overtook us and I had to move forward and over to give it safe passage.  Once the car had passed we began to light up the boilers and accelerate.  Gil is stil getting back in shape after a 6 month hiatus for some serious spinal surgery (which finally moved him to a Catrike), so I pulled ahead, but with the larger rear wheel and resulting higher top gear, of his new Expedition he stayed pretty close!

The video can be seen at http://youtu.be/cL2W_tACAfE complete with startled folks who were wandering along on the bridge on foot as we zipped past at about 33 mph according to my gps data.  As the speed limit may be somewhat lower, I am hoping that Sheriff Blackburn, if he sees this evidence, will only give me a warning ticket for speeding so that he and I can each fram the evidence for display in our respective environments.  Besides Judge Jones was right behind me going very nearly the same speed.

The 22.3 mile ride has brought my montly total to 287 miles and the year total to 1,794 miles burning approximately 17,688 calories for the month and 121K for the year-to-date.

Tomorrow (July 28) is the next Tour de Longneques, departing from the Castell General Store in Castell, Texas (18 miles west of Llano on FM 152) at 8am sharp to ride to the square in Llano then back to Castell for a post-ride healing soak in the rapids of the Llano River, some brisket and some Lone Star Longnecks.  Anyone is welcome to join us for this easy 36 mile ride and even easier post ride “knees-up”.  We will have a couple of SAG trucks driving the route as the temps will be toasty.

DAY 56: #Rockies riders will be in route to Nugget City.

— Texas 4000 (@Texas4000) July 27, 2012

Gear List (so far) for my overnight bicycle tour to San Marcos, TX http://t.co/guHn46a9

— Justin Moore (@bikegeek) July 28, 2012

DAY 56: #Sierra route biking towards Quesnel.

— Texas 4000 (@Texas4000) July 27, 2012

Check out our newest event! The Pure Austin Fitness Gear Grinder, a chip timed Gran Fondo distance challenge… http://t.co/gmCM7hgX

— HOLLAND RACING (@HOLLANDRACERS) July 27, 2012

Dave McLaughlin at DCM Photography takes some damn good pictures. Check 'em out in this week's Kenny Hill… http://t.co/zHGmOKj7

— Driveway Series (@DrivewaySeries) July 27, 2012

I posted 8 photos on Facebook in the album "PURE Podium Pics 7/26" http://t.co/Y6bNFhu0

— Driveway Series (@DrivewaySeries) July 27, 2012

July is Nationals Podium Month for Alkek racers. We must be doing something right around here…

— Alkek Velodrome (@AlkekVelodrome) July 27, 2012

A flow-chart can make everything better. New blog post: Will Your State Fully Fund Bicycling and Walking? http://t.co/agaqQR7S

— League of American Bicyclists (@BikeLeague) July 27, 2012

New rubber on the bike. Back to the Maxxis Crossmarks. http://t.co/Gpr6RObY

— Texas MTB Trails (@TexasMTBtrails) July 27, 2012

Packing my Arkel bags, prepping my CoMotion Americano bicycle for this weekend's S240 to San Marcos, TX – http://t.co/dZkxkaQm

— Justin Moore (@bikegeek) July 27, 2012

News Update: BikeTexas Board Member Butch Willingham Passes Away Suddenly http://t.co/uUHcBoTs

— BikeTexas (@BikeTexas) July 27, 2012

Lots of great rides this weekend!

A Wheelbrother favorite Tour de Goatneck in Cleburne, then there are Tour de… http://t.co/zynzlprj

— WheelBrothers (@WheelBrothers) July 27, 2012

Staging venue secured. We are on for our next evening gravel grinder 9/30 out of Gainesville. 6pm start time… http://t.co/cXyFthv5

— The Spinistry (@Spinistry) July 27, 2012

Jim Hicks album from The Driveway Bike Race Series Thu 7/26: http://t.co/TB7MJFXD

— CyclingATX (@CyclingATX) July 27, 2012

Just installed my new bike rack on my Felt Z90. Next will be the panniers and training rides w/ cargo in preparation for #CycleAcrossTexas

— Jim Cycle Across TX (@CycleXTexas) July 28, 2012

Riding the @BSS_Austin group ride on the morning. Should be fun! First time for this ride. #needsomegrouprides

— Smooth Thundër (@Green9203) July 28, 2012

New Job Vacancy: Group Cycling Instructor at YMCA of Greater San Antonio in Texas, US http://t.co/jrpBR36l #Texas #job #vacancy

— SerialWork (@serialwork) July 28, 2012