Here’s is the week that was in cycling via the abridged version of Austin on Two Wheel’s Twitter feed.

This gives those not on Twitter or who missed our Tweets a chance to check out interesting bike related articles, photos, and videos from the week that might not warrant a full post on our site. If you want more up to the minute info, you can follow us on Twitter by adding us to your following list here or by adding “austinon2wheels.”

1. Woot! RT @sfcriticalmass Sea Change: Feds Deem Pedestrians, Cyclists and Motorists Equals http://bit.ly/axwVGH
2. Friday Film Fun: The very unfunny comments of ESPN’s Tony Kornheiser http://tiny.cc/oc45n
3. RT @ShammieNKoozie Reg is open! Who will be the first to register for the first ever Shammies ‘N Koozies Ride & Float? http://bit.ly/9sD9a1
4. Bummer. Phil Wood died. I think I’ll rebuild my hub in his memory. http://tiny.cc/17aKI
5. APD putting more bike cops on local trails http://tiny.cc/hWfxV via @KXAN
6. This @ShammieNKoozie ride on Jun 10 looks like some serious fun. http://shammiesnkoozies.com
7. RT @Red_Licorice A little over a week and only 65 entries (as of 9:30 am Thurs) left for Champion’s Tri! http://tl.gd/hv2mh
8. Assoc of Ped & Bike Professionals want to hear from women on getting more women cycling. Take the survey: http://tiny.cc/gqNVV Continue reading →

Just when you think we are making progress towards all getting along on the streets, radio boneheads like ESPN’s Washington DC host Tony Kornheiser make stupid “jokes” like this to run down cyclists who get in your way:

Within hours of this broadcast, Lance Armstrong created a Twitter storm that resulted in a big mea culpa from Kornheiser. The sports shock jock had already been suspended in this past for off color remarks about a female colleague and was rumored to be on the chopping block over this until he invited Armstrong on his show to apologize.

Let’s hope this is a waning trend and stay safe out there.

In all of my training, I emphasize quality over quantity. The ingredients needed for speed are the same that are needed to build endurance.  As a reminder, I previously wrote:

“if the fastest that you can ride on a flat road for 1 hour is 20 miles per hour, then every distance you do that is longer than one hour will be a proportion of that speed.  Therefore, the ability to go fast necessarily erodes the longer the distance.  If you worked on raising that speed to 23 miles per hour, then you would be slightly faster at all distances longer than 1 hour.  In other words, at every given intensity, you have a capacity to do work. That means that as your capacity to do work increases at high intensities, your relative ability at lower intensities also increases.”

I also talk about specificity of training for your event:  “Focus on specificity throughout your program.  You should always have an eye towards the course you will be riding.”

If you need to be specific in your training, but you also need to develop speed, how do you reconcile the two when it comes to training to race for a minimum of 5 hours?

For the ultra-racer, the importance of spending long hours in the saddle becomes more than just about  physical training, but a matter of logistics and psychology.  The following items are just a few issues addressed by long rides: Continue reading →

Whether you have a SXSW badge or not, there’s plenty to do on two wheels this week in Austin. Tonight the Driveway Crits series returns with closed course road racing every Thursday from now until October 21. On Saturday, the Austin Cycling Association is sponsoring a SXSW themed scavanger hunt and pizza shop The Pie Guys is hosting a free music show with GoldSprints and prizes.

Here’s a quick run down of recommended events for the coming week from our comprehensive calendar of all cycling events. Thanks to Jason at ATXBS for letting us know about some events we couldn’t find elsewhere. As always, if there is an event you know about that’s not on our calendar contact us, and we’ll add your event on and possibly add it to the weekly round up.

Thursday, March 18

Thursday Night Bike Polo
5:30 PM, Eastwoods Park, 3001 Harris Park Ave
The Austin Bike Polo Club’s weekday match. All bikes and skill levels are welcome and spare mallets and balls are available if you don’t have any. Check out our recent article on bike polo for more info.

PURE Austin Fitness Driveway Crit Series
5 PM, The Driveway, 8400 Delwau Lane
Weekly Thursday night road racing through October that takes place on the closed car-free driving course at the Driveway. Races include Cat 3/4 women’s and juniors race at 5:00, Cat 4/5 at 6:10, Cat 3/4 at 5:30, Pro/Cat 1/2/3 at 6:45 to choose from  Races registration $20. Full and 1/2 season passes available. USA Cycling annual or one day license required. One days for sale at race.

Thursday Night Social Ride
7:30 PM, The Scoot Inn, 1308 E. 4th St. (Corner of 4th and Navasota)
A ride from the Facebook group Social Cycling ATX. that has gotten so big it had to abandon the Pfluger Bridge start location. Meet  at 7:30 p.m. leave at 8 p.m. Details on this week’s ride: “A nice cruise around the East side. We are going to stop at an artshow held by Stagira Gallery where they will be providing us with a free keg and some killer art to check out. Then on to more riding with our final stop at Fast Folks Cyclery. There will be GOLDSPRINTS provided by local cycling apparel company, Psychlist: Subversive Cycling, BEER by New Belgium and some tunes to shake your booty at.” Read our recent article on the popular weekly ride.

Saturday, March 20

Spokes ‘n Spurs Ride for the Ranch
8:30 AM, Spirit Reins Ranch, 2055 County Road 284, Liberty Hill, TX
Spokes ‘n Spurs is a great Hill Country ride benefiting Spirit Reins!   Riders will start at the entrance to the ranch and enjoy a great route with beautiful views, gently rolling hills and the wildlife of the Texas Hill Country. All ages and skill levels welcome.   Course distances include 62.5, 44, 28, 14 miles & a 6 mile family ride.  Full SAG, Rest Stop and Mechanical support will be provided.  We will also have nurses at most rest stops, Motorcycle Special Events Team and BP MS150 ride marshals patrolling the route.

Mellow Johnny’s Scout-A-Ride Rollingwood & Vine
9:30 AM, Mellow Johnny’s, 400 Nueces St
Saturday mornings spent exploring City of Austin bike routes finding new neighborhoods and ways to get around on your bike.  This week’s theme is Rollingwood & Vine. WToday’s ride is a more challenging route than usual with the hills of Rollingwood and an option to ride a short section of Loop 360 with it’s wide shoulders but faster traffic. The mileage is low at 14 miles but requires some experience. These rides are meant for exploring so bring your questions and leave your heart rate monitor at home. Come by at 9:00 for coffee. Ride organizer: Eileen Schaubert at eileen@mellowjohnnys.com or 512-426-4851.

Pablove Ride for Life
10 AM, Mellow Johnny’s, 400 Nueces St

Join in on March 20th for a special event in conjunction with Mellow Johnny’s and Dangerbird Records to benefit THE PABLOVE FOUNDATION, a charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with cancer. We will start the day off with a bike ride around Austin with Pablove and Dangerbird founder Jeff Castelaz. Then that evening we’ll celebrate in the spirit of The Pablove Foundation at Mellow Johnny’s from 8:00pm-midnight amidst a mind-blowing lineup of bands presented by Dangerbird. Both a 30-mile and 60-mile bike ride will be offered to participants. Registration is $25 and include a Pablove water bottle and cycling cap.

AXCA Bicycle Scavenger Hunt
1:30 PM, Peddler Bike Shop, 51st and Duval
Austin Cycling Association will hold AXCA Bicycle Scavenger Hunt on Saturday March 20th at 2 pm. Meet at the Peddler Bike Shop, 51st and Duval, between 1:30 and 2 for your “Prey List.” Bring a digital camera or Polaroid, and a bag or rack and then cruise out around town to find objects and sights associated with SXSW. There is a $5 suggested donation which goes to support ACA’s Rides Program but everyone is welcome to participate at any donation level. Likely scavenger hunt prey will include but are by no means limited to  pictures of and with bands, musicians and tour buses as well as a list of swag booty. Points are awarded based on difficulty and style and there will be trophy for the winner. The aforementioned trophy will be hand crafted by members of ACA’s Elite Game Ride Squad and will most likely be a bit awkward to carry home on your bike. The hunt ends at 5 and the trophy will be awarded to the winner as soon as the votes are tallied. All ACA rides observe the rules of the road and require helmets.

We Bike This City fixed gear AND single speed alleycat race
2 PM, Fast Folks, 2513 East 6th St
Fixed gear shop Fast Folks is hosting this free alleycat race open to fixed and single speed bikes.

Pie Guys Pizza Unofficial SXSW Show with Gold Sprints
7 PM, GoldSprints at 10:45 PM, Pie Guys Pizza, 2222 Rio Grande St
Pie Guys Pizza is teaming up with Fast Folks to provide this free music show with Gold Sprints, short side by side trainer races tracked on a big screen, at 10:45 PM. Win great prizes!

Continue reading →

SXSW is in full swing, and Bicycle Sport Shop is doing its part to encourage people to participate in the fest on two wheels. They are doing a bike valet service this week at the following times and are needing volunteer help:

Thursday 4pm – 7pm
2 people

Thursday 7pm – 10:30pm
3 people

Saturday 2pm – 6pm
3 people

Saturday 6pm to 11pm
4 people

UPDATE: All of these bike valets will be at the Auditorium Shores free SXSW concerts.

Volunteers will receive a BSS t-shirt and $25 gift certificate. If you are interested, please contact Chris Carter at chris_c@bicyclesportshop.com.

Commuter and utility bike company Civia has issued a voluntary recall of the carbon fork equipped on all their Hyland bikes.

A few weeks ago we became aware that our carbon fork does not meet our expectation for product safety.  We have seen a couple forks begin to crack around the steerer tube and one had the steerer tube separate entirely from the fork legs.  Thankfully, the rider was not seriously injured when the separation occurred.

We’ve conducted 3rd party testing and have concluded that the problem we’re seeing is the fork was designed to be stiff so that under braking, the legs would not wander around creating a noodly fork feel.  An unanticipated by-product of this leg stiffness is that the fork legs aren’t moving at all during regular braking and in turn, all of the braking force is passed up to the crown.  These forces are over time will lead to potential failure. Continue reading →

Though some may of thought there was a bike summit going on here in Austin, the tenth annual National Bike Summit was held this last weekend in DC. Here’s an overview from StreetsFilm.

Also, if you are attending SXSW Interactive, there will be a session today at 11 AM called Change the World, Lives, with Bikes featuring DL Byron from BikeHugger and Doug Ulman from LiveStrong.

This core conversation will talk about how cycling, the bike, and social media are changing the world and lives. You’ll learn about Livestrong’s community and Bike Hugger’s blog, events like the Mobile Social, and the millions who follow Lance Armstrong on Twitter. It’s a discussion of bike and pop culture and socializing the good with these Interweb tools.

On Saturday, SXSW was in full swing, and Seattle based BikeHugger hosted their fourth SXSW Mobile Social. This year’s was huge with over 1000 two wheelers, but luckily BikeHugger brought in the pros at SocialCyclingATX who regularly handle 100s of cyclists on Austin’s streets without major conflict with cars.  Their able ride leaders shepherded us through downtown and east Austin without a hitch.

The ride was fun and the cold beer served up by Mellow Johnny’s at the end appreciated, but I’d ask next year’s Mobile Social to please, please have a police escort. Stopping the group at every stop sign and light really messed with the rhythm of the ride and meant we were blocking the streets longer for those using the road to go somewhere else. (My favorite part of the ride was the impromptu police blockade created by a very cool APD motorbike officer at an especially short stop light allowing the majority of the group to ride through the light unimpeded. The whole ride gave out a huge cheer. The anti-Critical Mass, critical mass indeed.)

This week the European Pro racing season kicked off in earnest with Paris-Nice, the Race for the Sun. With the race, comes the return of the play by play commentary of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwin and all their unique metaphors. Like anyone who watches coverage provided by this duo regularly, I’ve often had their voices in my head on tough rides or when I’m climbing or riding particularly fast around town.

This week’s short puts that common occurrence to film and portrays a Portland commuter “resplendent” in the maillot jaune with delusions of grandeur. This is very well done and be sure to watch to the end where he gets podiumed at work. Enjoy.

Spring Break and SXSW start this weekend that there’s a crazy amount of stuff going on. Luckily, the weather should be beautiful. Finish out the ACA Traffic 101 mini clinics on Saturday morning and join in the massive SXSW BikeHugger Mobile Social with currently over 1800 RSVPs.

Here’s a quick run down of recommended events for the coming week from our comprehensive calendar of all cycling events. Thanks to Jason at ATXBS for letting us know about some events we couldn’t find elsewhere. As always, if there is an event you know about that’s not on our calendar contact us, and we’ll add your event on and possibly add it to the weekly round up.

Thursday, March 11

Thursday Night Bike Polo
5:30 PM, Eastwoods Park, 3001 Harris Park Ave
The Austin Bike Polo Club’s weekday match. All bikes and skill levels are welcome and spare mallets and balls are available if you don’t have any. Check out our recent article on bike polo for more info.

Social Cycling ATX Rider Leader training
6:30 PM, The Scoot Inn, 1308 E. 4th St. (Corner of 4th and Navasota)
Ever wanted to help out on the popular Social Cycling ATX Thursday Night Social Ride or other social rides? Show up for a brief training and join in on the ride later.

Driveway Crit Series Kickoff Party
7 PM, Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop, 400 Nueces St
Come celebrate the return of the weekly Driveway Crit Race series with Holland Racing and the crew. We will have beer, food, and…roller races! Show your friends how good you look when you rock it on the bike.

Thursday Night Social Ride
7:30 PM, The Scoot Inn, 1308 E. 4th St. (Corner of 4th and Navasota)
A ride from the Facebook group Social Cycling ATX. that has gotten so big it had to abandon the Pfluger Bridge start location. Meet  at 7:30 p.m. leave at 8 p.m. Details on this week’s ride: “It’s THE DENIM RIDE. I want to see stitched denim, bedazzled denim, jorts, denim jackets, denim loin cloths or even just your plain old everyday Canadian Tuxedo. We’re going to ride around and show off our style, then end up at the Red 7 for the usual refreshements. There are even bands outside if you’re into that thing. But inside we’ll be having a few contests for our riders with PRIZES provided by OZONE BIKE DEPARTMENT. Our denim contests include: Short jorts contest… for the ladies and gentlemen, Best Camel Toe, Best Moose Knuckle (guys, no cheating)” Read our recent article on the popular weekly ride.

Friday, March 12

Austin Ciclovia Brainstorm Session
11:30, Austin City Hall
Please join Council Member Sheryl Cole and Council Member Chris Riley for a community brainstorm session for an Austin Ciclovia! Ciclovia events are held around the world. Not races, these events encourage public health and community building by providing an opportunity for people of all ages and abilities to ride a bike, jog, skate, or walk on our city streets in a safe, motor free environment.

Traffic Skills 101 sponsored by Austin Cycling Association
5 PM, REI Downtown, 601 N Lamar Blvd
Do you want to ride your bike but are afraid of traffic? Or are you an experienced cyclist who would like to learn how to get more courtesy and respect from motorists? If your answer to any of these questions is “yes”, you should take Traffic Skills 101, the League of American Bicyclist’s (LAB) street cycling course for adults. Traffic Skills 101 will help you ride safely and effectively – to work, to the store, around your neighborhood, or around the state. Traffic Skills 101 is taught by LAB-certified instructors, and the curriculum covers everything from bike selection to simple maintenance to fixing a flat, to strategies for riding a bike safely and confidently. It is taught to very small classes (generally 5 to 10 students), in two sessions: 4 hours on a Friday evening and 5 hours on a Saturday morning. Registration is required.

Saturday, March 13

3rd Annual Be Kind To Cyclist Ride
8 AM, Pure Austin, 907 W 5th St
Let’s all be kind to cyclists and celebrate with this free ride. Distances will be 20 and 40 miles.

Traffic Skills 101 Mini Clinics: Bike Handling and Enjoyment
8:30 AM, Mellow Johnny’s, 400 Nueces St
If you’ve ever wanted to brush up on your bike safety but cannot swing the time for the full Traffic 101 classes offered by the Austin Cycling Association, here’s your chance to pick and choose the portions you need help with in bit sized amounts. The last in a series of 5 mini-clinics enjoyed over our morning coffee, today’s topics include: Bike Handling Skills such as Starting/Stopping, Shifting and Scanning along with Hazard Avoidance Maneuvers. ACA will be offering Traffic Skills 101 Mini Clinics starting this week through March in easy to schedule one hour segments. Each class is $10 or $5 if you are already an ACA member. This week is Traffic Skills 101 Mini Clinics:Bike Handling and Enjoyment with optional hosted ride Scout-A-Route Ride.

Mellow Johnny’s Scout-A-Ride Ride Hill of a Ride
9:30 AM, Mellow Johnny’s, 400 Nueces St
Saturday mornings spent exploring City of Austin bike routes finding new neighborhoods and ways to get around on your bike.  This week’s theme is Ride Hill of a Ride – a special hill climbing edition. We’ll see some of Austin’s best training hills near downtown and improve your technique at the same time. Expect to climb so treat your bike to a tune-up before ride day if it’s not shifting smoothly. Today’s 8:30 am mini-clinic covers Handling Skills including Shifting. $5 ACA members / $10 non-members. Check the clinic listing for more details.These rides are meant for exploring so bring your questions and leave your heart rate monitor at home. Come by at 9:00 for coffee. Ride organizer: Eileen Schaubert at eileen@mellowjohnnys.com or 512-426-4851.

Texas Dance Hall Cycling Tour
10 AM, Sengelmann Dance Hall,  531 N Main St, Schulenburg, TX
Sugar Cycles, presents the first annual Texas Dance Hall Ride, that will take place on Saturday, March 13 2010. Multiple ride options 15, 20, 32, 42 and 65 miles. All distances start in front of Sengelmann’s Dance Hall on Main Street. Riders of all ages and capabilities will be able tour the famous Painted Churches. The riders will also get to experience two of Texas’ historic dance halls, both over one hundred years old.

BikeHugger SXSW Mobile Social
2 PM, Brush Square Park, 4th & Neches St
Seattle based cycling blog Bike Hugger will be hosting another social ride at SXSW this year. Start at Brush Square Park and end up at Mellow Johnny’s at 400 Nueces for the After Party with lots of free stuff. You must get a wrist band at the ride start or have a SXSW badge to get into the afterparty. Ride guides provided by Social Cycling ATX. Continue reading →