Last night, I finally made it out to the Thursday Night Urban Ride, a weekly social ride put on by Brooks Goldsmith through the Facebook group Social Cycling ATX. These rides have been going on for a couple months now and have grown to from three folks on the first ride to well over 100 last night.
For those who have done Daniel Sato’s Thursday Night Road Ride (now on hiatus until fall), this ride was a welcome change from the hammerfest. The ride itself is done at a social pace and varies by location each week but always start at the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge on Lady Bird Lake around sunset. This week’s ride was around downtown ending at The Jackalope for free Lone Stars. The ride continued after the watering hole stop to the Barton Springs water hole, but I was starting to turn into a pumpkin after a few Lone Stars and cut the evening short.
Cycle Bum author James Zapata sporting some retro cool shades
It may have been the beautiful weather or the free beer, but the crowd last night was massive reminding me at times of Critical Mass with quite a bit of corking going on at the intersections to allow the large group to get through. The group was a nice mix of fixies, roadies, mountain bikers, and just regular folks on bikes making the ride welcoming to all. There was even a rider who wanted to be a fixie but couldn’t quite commit as she was still sporting a freewheel but no brakes. Watching her go down hill with literally a shoe brake, her shoe touching the rear tire, was quite nerve racking.
The ride was a blast and I got to meet several new cyclists I had never met before. If you are in the vicinity of the Lamar Blvd. Pedestrian Bridge on Thursday nights, join the cycling community for a great social ride.
About:
Urban Night Ride
Thursdays, 7:30 PM, Lamar Blvd Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge
A new ride from the Facebook group Social Cycling ATX. Meet at Pedestrian Bridge at 7:30p.m. leave at 8:00p.m. sharp. Bring your cameras & twitter phones and get some good sunset shots.
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- Roadie Night Ride returns weekly starting next Wednesday ...
- Icy weather causes Social Cycling ATX to cancel Thursday Night Social Ride ...
- March Critical Mass Ride Ends with tickets, arrests ...
- Thursday Night Road Rides on hiatus until Daylight Saving ends ...
on Jun 10th, 2009 at 11:59 am
SHOE BRAKING? What on earth… why just why? So dangerous, I cannot even wrap my head around it.
on Jun 10th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Yes, well it was pretty scary to watch. I wish people realized that you are way more faster on the bike with good brakes.