Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for May 6th
Cyclists to receive bike lanes on Loop 1604 Access Road in San Antonio
BikeTexas.org
During a recent construction project overseen by the Alamo Regional Mobility Authority, wide shoulders were removed from the access road of Loop 1604 between US 281 and Blanco Rd in San Antonio. BikeTexas immediately began to hear from cyclists who previously used these shoulders regularly and now had no way of navigating safely in this area.
At public meetings in February and April, BikeTexas helped coordinate public input from dozens of cyclists. The Alamo RMA has agreed to pursue…
Preparing for Big Cedar
by TCÂ Â Â Â Â Â www.turnincranks.com
In the 2 weeks between Pace Bend and Big Cedar, a lot happened. Not so much when it comes to cycling, but life interruptions that threatened to make me miss the Big Cedar race.
I was really wanting to make Big Cedar, because quite frankly, I’m running out of opportunities to get my 8 races in for the State Series. Big Cedar was supposedly a tight course with some punchy climbs so that would be good for my style of riding.
I hoped for a top 5 finish to help my place in the standings in by both either getting me closer to being able to bump Jeff Jordan, or at…
Fort Worth Cycling Association Interview
www.wheelbrothers.com
1. Who founded the club and how did it come to life?
“With more than 600 members the FWBA is one of the largest bicycling clubs in North Texas. The members are people like you who ride bicycles for recreation, fitness, and sport. The club has riders of all shapes, sizes, and skill levels. All Ages too! What do we do? Recreational bike rides in Fort Worth and the surrounding area. Our members ride bicycles: road bikes, hybrids, mountain bikes, tandems, and recumbents. We offer several types of regularly scheduled rides, so you can choose the ride that best…
Presenting The Erwin Park Summer Series
www.texasmountainbiketrails.com
I’ve been building the anticipation about this for the past 2 weeks and I’m super pumped to finally announce it to the world.
2013 will be the beginning of the Erwin Park Summer Series! See the video below!
More info can be found by visiting the Erwin Park Summer Series page on the site.
Saturday Ride Start Location Change
by sooner1Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â shawneetrailcyclingclub.com
Effective Saturday, May 4th, the Express, CPS and Bridge rides will all start from the Wingspan parking lot. See the map below for an overview of our assigned area.
The 3 Cities Novice will start from this same location, only when leaving from Frisco. Start locations in The Colony and Little Elm will remain unchanged. The company has graciously agreed to let us use this lot, so as we always are – be respectful, no trash…
May is National Bike Month, go out and ride
DAVE GUYER, Guest Columnist         www.wacotrib.com
May is National Bike Month. As an avid cyclist, I invite you to help promote bicycling in our community.
In 1956, the Cycle Trade Association of America announced the first bike month to promote bicycle sales. Today, however, Bicycle Month, Bike Week (May 13 to 17) and Bike to Work Day (May 17) have a much broader focus. These events encourage safe bicycling practices and promote cycling as…
Join in on the annual Real Ale Ride
www.hillcountrycurrent.com
The annual Real Ale Ride, one of Bicycle Sport Shop’s most popular events, rolls through the scenic hills of Blanco on Saturday, May 18, 2013. It’s a ride for cyclists of all levels, with distances of 15, 30, 50, 65 and 85 miles. Routes are fully supported with rest stops that provide water and nutritional snacks for participants along the way, as well as “SAG†vehicles to help cyclists with mechanical issues or those who need help getting back to…
Austin’s Freewheeling Bicycles to close
www.bicycleretailer.com
AUSTIN, TX (BRAIN) — After 42 years serving Austin-area cyclists, retailer Freewheeling Bicycles will close its doors at the end of May.
Freewheeling was founded in a garage apartment in 1971 by Frank B. Cook, who passed away in 1999. The shop quickly outgrew the garage space and moved next door to a former pharmacy where it served the racing community and witnessed the introduction of the mountain bike in the 1980s.
In 1992, Freewheeling expanded again, moving to its current location at 2401 San Gabriel Street in Austin’s West Campus neighborhood, adjacent to the University of Texas. Rents in West Campus have…
Bicycle tour honors fallen police officers
Nick Delgado | Herald correspondent      kdhnews.com
Harker Heights police officer Clyde Hicks spends most of his work time riding his police motorcycle around the city.
But Hicks spent the last few months riding another kind of bike – a bicycle – to prepare for the Police Unity Tour May 9 to 12 in Washington, D.C.
“The Police Unity Tour is a 250-mile bike ride over a three day period,†Hicks said. “It started in 1997 to bring awareness for the fallen officers that lost their lives in the line of duty.â€
The ride also kicks off…
The Matrix Challenge Criterium – Dallas, TX – Bike Race
by BackPack         photography-on-the.net
Figure I’d throw these up here. First race I’ve shot, definitely a good time, and pretty damn challenging grabbing photos of an object coming through a corner at 25+ mph just over a meter away from you with a 50 f/1.2. Most of these guys are racing in the Pro/1/2 categories, probably some of the best active cyclists in Texas.
Anyhow, here are the images (C&C always welcome): …
NCC: Kline rising after Dana Point win; Allar stretching her lead
www.usacycling.org
The USA Cycling National Criterium Calendar (NCC) enjoyed its first multi-event weekend of the season. Riders competed at the Dana Point Grand Prix of Cycling in California on Sunday as well as USA CRITS Speed Week “B” in Georgia and South Carolina from May 3-5.
…Women’s Standings
1. Erica Allar (Tucson, Ariz./CARE4CYCLING powered by Solomon Corp) — 544
2. Laura Van Gilder (Cresco, Pa./Mellow Mushroom Pizza Bakers) — 318
3. Theresa Cliff-Ryan (Cedar Springs, Mich./Fearless Femme p/b Pure Energy) — 265
4. Jennifer Purcell (Austin, Texas/Colavita-Fine Cooking) — 206
5. Christina Gokey-Smith (Denton, Texas/Rouse-Oogie Racing) — 193…
Two Dallas hike-and-bike trails could get multi-million dollar boost this week
By Tom Benning      transportationblog.dallasnews.com
Two Dallas trails — one in north Oak Cliff and the other near White Rock Lake — are among a handful of hike-and-bike projects that could receive major cash infusions this week from the North Central Texas Council of Governments.
The group’s Regional Transportation Council will vote Thursday on a plan to use more than $13 million to boost nearly a dozen biking and pedestrian improvement efforts in North Texas.
The two biggest potential winners are the Coombs Creek Trail Extension and the…
DART hosting Bike to Work ‘Energizer Stations’
By Mark Ball      yourplano.dallasnews.com
May weather is made for cycling in our region and Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) is celebrating cycling and National Bike to Work Day with four Bike Energizer Stations on Friday, May 17.
Cycling enthusiasts and interested persons are invited to join DART, BikeDFW and the cities of Plano, Richardson, Garland and Dallas from 7 to 9:30 a.m. at DART’s Downtown Garland, Akard or Arapaho rail stations, and at the Bluebonnet and Chisholm Trail intersection in Plano, near the Jack Carter Dog Park. The Bike Energizer Stations will have…
Huntsville State Park hosted the High School State Mountain Bike Championship
by James Webster, Texbiker.net Correspondent
Dateline: 05/05/2013 Huntsville, Texas
The Huntsville State Park hosted the High School State Mountain Bike Championship today. The weather and the location was excellent for the event.
The race included a girls division and a boys division. Each with there own starting times 10:am for the girls and 11:30 for the boys Each division had three separate classes Varsity, Junior Varsity and freshman. Each class had there own starting times 5 minutes apart. The girls varsity did two laps and the jv and the freshmen did one lap. The varsity boys did 3 laps.
The event was open to high school students in Texas. A student could register as an independent if your school did not have a team. Student were ranked bases on previous races and how they finished in those races.
Number 204 had the sub 40 minute ride. She is in the slide show.
I road the course the previous day. Although little technical terrain was present roots and sand made for an interesting ride. Most of the 8 plus mile course followed the Chinquapin hacking biking trail and was shared with hikers, horses snakes, ( I saw one on my ride) and, as the race starter said, alligators.
Rules specific insisted no passing on the bridges for real and imminent dander if you go into the swamp.
Some of the bridges were long over 100 feet and they looked new. As myself being new to mountain biking they were intimidating so for the kids I believe the long bridges would offer a challenge.
Race results One girl did a single lap (jv) in under 40 minutes the guys were doing laps in the 32 minute range. The varsity boys were doing 32 minute laps.
It was a great event worthy of effort of all the volunteers and race organizers to to get a standing ovation. I hope to see other high school riders be informed about this opportunity to get exercise, learn about history ( they were near the statue along I-45) and the environment. While having fun and connecting on a different social level than the internet.
Bike To Work Day – Bike Commuter Energizer Stations – MAY 17
by Richard Wezensky         BikeDFW
Austin Bike Buddy
BikeTexas.org
A new website is available to help Austin cyclists get around, but this one doesn’t include the usual bike routes or repair station icons. Instead, Austin Bike Buddy is all about connecting new riders with experienced riders, to make the transition to bike commuting easier.
The website is easy to use, allowing anyone to sign up as a new or experienced bicycle commuter in just a couple of minutes. With an interactive map, users will be able to visually see where other cyclists are starting and ending their trips. The website also makes it easy to…
Open Streets and Bike Share in Texas
Biketexas.org
San Antonio SicloviaTexas is always packed full of exciting events for the whole family to enjoy getting outdoors. In the past few of months, a handful of Texas cities have worked extra-hard to make sure their residents have a chance to get outside and be active!
Open Streets
Brownsville’s CycloBia, Lubbock’s Let’s Play! LBK, San Antonio’s SÃclovÃa, and Fort Worth’s Open Streets have closed off city streets to traffic for a few hours so people could get out…
The Fossil 50!
By Bryan      www.bryanfawley.com
Texas ranks 22nd on list of bike-friendly states
By Pam LeBlanc         Fit City
Texas ranks an underwhelming – but not surprising – 22nd in the League of American Bicyclists’ 2013 list of bicycle friendly states.
That’s an improvement over last year’s 27th place, but still a pretty miserable showing.
At the top of the heap? Washington. North Dakota pulls up the rear.
The League annually ranks all 50 states for bicycle friendliness, based on a questionnaire answered by each state’s bicycle coordinator and verified by…
Mountain Bike Rides and Trails in Austin, Texas
www.mtbproject.com
Flat Creek Crossing Race Loop
Fantastic hill country trail, home to UCI Series race, Mellow Johnny’s Classic near Johnson City, TX…
PBA SPRING CENTURY RIDES ARE CANCELLED!
Plano Bcycle Association
The PBA Spring Century Rides which were scheduled for Saturday, May 11th have been cancelled. The regular Saturday PBA rides will leave from Spring Creek & Coit so plan on joining one of these rides this Saturday.
Big Cedar Race Report
by TCÂ Â Â Â Â Â www.turnincranks.com
Big Cedar is the 9th race in the TMBRA State Series. There is only 1 Spring race left, and then 4 more in the Fall.
I really needed to make Big Cedar, as up to this point I have only made 5 races and need to get 8 quality races for my placement in the state series. Currently I’m sitting in 9th place, but I am still 2 races short for point totals. Even when I do get the number of races I need, it’s still going to be tough, if not impossible, to break into the top 6 in the series.
Big Cedar is known for tight and twisty singletrack, with some of the most climbing in the TMBRA series. It had been reported that the…
TMBRA 2013 Big Cedar Start
by TCÂ Â Â Â Â Â www.turnincranks.com
Tweets
To raise money for the Jericho Road Project, the Rev. Dr. Daniel Kanter is cycling from Texas to Massachusetts. http://t.co/tOKrVtGI7w
— FirstUnitarianChurch (@1stUChurch) May 7, 2013
Fun Monday Social Ride this evening out South East Austin. Be back next Monday, 5/13, 5:45pm from @ATCTriShop pic.twitter.com/QoMJPBkau1
— Stefan Rothe (@stefanrothe) May 7, 2013
https://twitter.com/FtWMntBikers/status/331597816633901057
Looking forward to presenting Bike Touring 101 tomorrow at 6:30pm at @REISanAntonio – more details: http://t.co/GQJ9WMC4Y9
— Justin Moore (@bikegeek) May 7, 2013
This last Saturdays TMBRA race at Big Cedar was awesome. Huge thanks to all the local Dallas volunteers!
— Texas MTB Trails (@TexasMTBtrails) May 6, 2013
This is our finish line every day! The cyclists ride in under the Red Cross arch and then start relaxing!! http://t.co/TPkMyC5tNJ
— Tour du Rouge (@TourduRouge) May 6, 2013
LInch at Apache today. They cook for us every year and we love it!! http://t.co/NUwJsmlPWb
— Tour du Rouge (@TourduRouge) May 6, 2013
Tour de Gruene http://t.co/Ljl844P5hp
— Daniel Cruz (@DCRUZ547) May 6, 2013
Texas Moves Up in Bicycle Friendly States Again http://t.co/cslIUxWGuQ via @sharethis
— BikeTexas (@BikeTexas) May 6, 2013
We had a great time at the Houston Grand Crit this weekend! Thanks to everyone that came out & congrats to our racers http://t.co/slcXvvxAMZ
— Bike Barn (@BikeBarnTX) May 6, 2013
Event: Dallas Bike to Work Day – When: Fri May 17, 2013 Where: Dallas, TX Event Status: confirmed http://t.co/swdEqetZW3
— BikeTexas (@BikeTexas) May 6, 2013
We could use some help this Saturday-Sunday re-distributing bikes. Email nick@fortworthbikesharing.org if interested. pic.twitter.com/SMRPwJh9ex
— Fort Worth Bike Sharing (@fwbikesharing) May 6, 2013