The League of Bicycling Voters is celebrating what on average is the hottest day of the year in Austin with a fun event designed to keep you cool.
Here’s the skinny:
The Hottest Day of The Year Ride
A benefit for the League of Bicycling Voters
Saturday, August 7th, 2010
1:00 -10:00 pm
Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop, 4th & Nueces Streets
The ride is sponsored by Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop, The Peddler Bike Shop, Tart Organic Frozen Yogurt, Easy Street Recumbents, and Shefman Law Group.
Ride Departs 1:30pm Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop, 4th & Nueces Sts.
Water Stop 3:00pm The Peddler Bike Shop, 51st & Duval Sts.
Food Refill 4:30pm Food trailers, S. 1st & Gibson Sts.
Cool Refreshment 5:30pm Tart Organic Frozen Yogurt, W. 2nd & Lavaca Sts.
Free Beer 6:30pm Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop, 4th & Nueces Sts.
Free Swim 9:00pm Barton Springs Pool
More info:
- The average high temperature in Austin for August 7th is 97°F.
Wear sun screen. - Bring water bottles, swimwear, bike tube & pump, cash for food, and money for the benefit of the LOBV.
- Beer, water, riding, and swimming are free.
- We’ll stop at pools, splash pads, and water refill stations along the way.
- Get an update on Austin bicycling advocacy and what our common goals can be. (Presentation at Mellow Johnny’s in the evening)
- There’ll be prizes for the best and worst summer bike fashion.
on Aug 2nd, 2010 at 2:29 pm
I love LOBV, and I see that there will be refreshments. I get it.
But does anyone else see anything wrong with starting a ride at 1:30pm on the hottest day of the year?
on Aug 2nd, 2010 at 2:42 pm
Last time I went on a ride associated with Mellow Johnny’s (the moontower ride), over half of the participants were immediately dropped. The ride was advertised as “easy pace,” so it attracted lots of skill levels. I hope this ride includes ride leaders throughout the pack who know the route.
on Aug 2nd, 2010 at 3:13 pm
I hear you Sandy. On the social rides we did this spring, I considered it a success when we had no one complain of the ride being too fast. We had several folks complain that it was too slow, but I’d much rather go that direction than the other. I’ve found the folks that complain about it being too slow still report having a good time while getting dropped is pretty much never fun for the person getting dropped.
LOBV is not the same as Mellow Johnny’s so I think you’ll probably be OK.
on Aug 2nd, 2010 at 10:29 pm
Elliott’s right that this isn’t a Mellow Johnny’s -specific ride. Since we’re having the free beer social there in the evening, it made sense to start the ride there too. They have shade, A/C, water, other refreshments, and bike mechanics, so that is a good place to start our ride.
For the Hottest Day of The Year Ride this Saturday, we aren’t intending it to be a quick/fast ride and we don’t intend to drop people. We’ll have a caboose ride leader, and I think they’ll handle the caboose much as the social rides handle them.
——
Re: Starting it at the peak of the sun on the hottest day of the year? My inspiration for the ride comes from:
1) My many summers of biking in Austin,
2) My many winters of biking in Minneapolis,
3) Portland’s Worst Day of The Year Ride.
I want people to learn from their fellow Austin bicyclists how they too can make it on a bike all-year-round. The ride is intended to show that we can face the challenges the Austin summer presents to people riding bicycles (e.g. heat and sun), and that there are ways that we can overcome those challenges. If Austinites can overcome these challenges through habits, water/cooling facilities, clothing, and other ‘technologies’, then we can serve as examples for the rest of the country.
However, I understand that some people won’t want to be out on their bike when it’s so hot, so that’s why we’ve spelled out many of the stops. We welcome you to come for as little or as much of the ride as you would like to, and we expect some people to just go on part of the ride.