Texas Bicycling News Digest April 17th 2016
BP MS 150 ends a day early but still raises more than $12 Million
By KEYE TV
keyetv.com
The BP MS 150 wrapped up Saturday night after a 100 mile ride from Houston.
Day two of the annual BP MS 150 bike ride from Houston to Austin was cancelled because of the rain.
This year’s ride ended La Grange instead of Austin.
The 2016 ride raised more than $12 Million
Thousands participate to fuel research at the BP MS 150
KTRK TV
abc13.com
HOUSTON (KTRK) — Weather may have cut the ride short, but it didn’t dampen the spirits thousands of cyclists and 3,500 volunteers in the BP MS 150. This year, because of the threat of bad weather, the ride was Saturday from Houston to La Grange. …
An Austin Apartment High-Rise Without A Parking Garage? It Might Become Reality
By Tony Cantu
patch.com
It’s an in-your-face way of encouraging more people to ditch their cars in congestion-ridden city, and it’s crazy enough to work.
How do you encourage people to take public transportation or bicycle to work instead of driving their cars and adding to congestion. You build them a luxury apartment complex that has no parking area, that’s how. …
Austin Bicycling Advocates Seek $150M From City Coffers To Build Safer Paths
By Tony Cantu
patch.com
If the level of bicyclists meets advocates’ goal, some 20,000 vehicles would be eliminated from downtown traffic each day.
The Urban Transportation Commission is seeking $150 million from the City of Austin to develop its Bicycle Master Plan aimed at making the roadways safer for bicyclists. …
Stone Fort Bike Ride kicks off first cycle
By NICOLE BRADFORD
dailysentinel.com
The clouds overhead looked threatening Saturday morning, but it didn’t rain after all on first-ever Stone Fort Bike Ride, which left the County Expo Center at 8:30 p.m.
Group Riding Skills (GRS)
www.planobicycle.org
Want to be more confident riding in groups? Want to ride more safely in groups? Want to help others ride better in groups? Then take this Group Riding Skills clinic and you will learn to dodge obstacles, ride in close proximity to other riders, make emergency stops, and communicate with other riders. There is no pre-work to do as part of this clinic. The clinic has a short classroom portion, but the majority of your time will be spent learning and practicing riding skills. A short group ride will follow to hone your new skills. This is a fun, practical, and informative clinic.
Next class: Sunday, April 24 …
A Tour Across Texas and Oklahoma to Kansas
By David Duncan
www.crazyguyonabike.com
Traveling across Texas to join OK Freewheel 2016: Camping out along the route
Our trek north across Texas is scheduled to coincide with OK Freewheel 2016 (http://okfreewheel.com/). We will leave the Stough Farm just east of Marion, TX on Friday morning, June 10th, arriving in Madill, OK a week later on June 18th. Mark will head back home to Marion while Dave will join the organized ride that ends on June 25th in Caney, KS.
Last year we both carried way too much stuff in tailers and panniers all the way from Bulverde, TX to Hollis, OK. This year we are in for a treat: Mark’s wife, Melissa, is joining us as far as Madill, OK and will be towing a travel trailer with their Ford F-250. She’ll carry all our gear and Mark will sleep in comfort. …
Our Route Across Two States: This year’s route includes portions of past journeys
Since we head generally north from the San Antonio area each year, we anxiously await the OK Freewheel route announcement. The starting town for Freewheel determines which side of the DFW Metroplex we swing around. After 7 years, we’ve learned a lot about which roads are smoother, less traveled, and not quite as steep. We also have to take camping locations into consideration. Texas is a big place, and the further you travel west of I-35, the more widely spaced the daily destinations become. Here’s the rundown of this year’s route across the Republic of Texas:
Day 1 – Mark’s farm just east of Marion, TX to Lockhart State Park.
Lockhart State Park has been our first night’s stop every year except for last year, but we’ve always started from the Garden Ridge, TX area. This year we will start our adventure a little closer to our destination. Most of the route is identical to previous years once we connect with FM 20 where it intersects FM 2623. To get to that intersection, we use portions of the Dave’s Ride routes that begin and end at McQueeny Baptist Church. Dave’s Ride occurs each year in July and is named after the churches former pastor who was killed while riding his bike about 11 years ago.
Day 2 – Lockhart State Park to Elgin, TX.
This route was to be identical to the route we …
2nd Annual Lampasas Hillacious Bike Tour: A great new ride that may become an annual tradition!
Luis and I were approached at the Easter Hill Country Tour as well as at the LBJ 100 to ride this tour up in Lampasas, Texas, so we took them up on their offer and are really glad we did! The ride was held on April 9th.
The hills were certainly plentiful, but no worse than any we climbed on the prevous two organized rides.
We left my house in Bulverde at 5:30 a.m., arriving in Lampasas at 7:30. We had received an email advising where to turn off US 281 in town and to look for volunteers wearing orange vests. After only a few blocks after we turned, we noticed a group of about a dozen kids wearing orange vests getting instructions from a guy that looked familiar in front of the old post office. The guy was the ride director we had met 2 weeks earlier in Kerrville. We asked where we should park and he said, “right here”. So, we parked in front of the old post office and unloaded our bike and trike.
After being on the road for 2 hours, we both were in need of a restroom, so I asked the volunteer kid on the …
Upcoming Rides
Maverick Chain Gang
maverickchaingang.org
May 7, 2016
Scottsville – out and back – 21.7 miles
Meet at: Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 4700 Victory Dr, Marshall, TX
– 9:00 a.m.
May 14, 2016
Elysian Fields – out and back – 32.5 miles
Meet at: Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 4700 Victory Dr, Marshall, TX
– 9:00 a.m.
Texas Bicycling from Twitter
9 years ago I raced @joemartinstage finally I will be back to race it this year, last time I raced it I was racing against @lawsoncraddock
— Jesus (@SrCampy) April 18, 2016
#mountain #mudding 15 miles before #dark #nobody us out #awesome #spooky pic.twitter.com/DhBJSCsr9f
— Denise Blalock (@BlondeBeautyDD) April 18, 2016
TRAFFIC JAM~VeloVlog #19: https://t.co/WsDXmqDsG8 via @YouTube
— Preston Glace (@pgglace) April 17, 2016
Former United Longhorn Doing Good In The Cycling World. https://t.co/dsf9jDR7J4
— Laredo SPORTS WIRE NEWS (@swsportsWire) April 17, 2016
https://twitter.com/FtWMntBikers/status/721831204090040321
Congrats to Amy Manuel for winning La Vuelta d Acadiana stage race. #WeAreRBM thanks @RichBikeMart & @CrestCars pic.twitter.com/VjIN2cDk5h
— Frisco Cycling Club (@friscocycling) April 17, 2016
https://twitter.com/txbikeracing/status/721784863334932480
From yesterday's ride with @thebikemasters pic.twitter.com/lZcvwbOjtA
— Daniel Cruz (@DCRUZ547) April 17, 2016
Day 17: â¤ï¸ #30DaysOfBiking pic.twitter.com/t4J1tCQahJ
— Edgar Gaucin 🚲 (@edgargaucin) April 17, 2016
New Rider Clinic is rescheduled for Saturday the 23rd.
— Alkek Velodrome (@AlkekVelodrome) April 17, 2016
Owing to imminent course flooding, the chief ref has decided to cancel today's race. Email the race director for further info.
— MSU Cycling Team (@MSUCyclingTeam) April 17, 2016
https://twitter.com/GWCChuck/status/72166338492042035211
New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar
New Event Take no Prisoners – College Station, TX https://t.co/fJpLKqVVBH
Brazos Valley Cyclists
Smokin’ fast, h… https://t.co/zSS1GCFRp3— Rick Ankrum (@texbiker) April 18, 2016