The weather is great so get out on your bike either for fitness or to enjoy the fall like temps. If you do not know how fix a flat, both Social Cycling Austin and Mellow Johnny’s are holding free flat fix classes. If social riding is more your thing, check out the Cow Parade ride on Monday. If doing good is what you need, note the return of the Lend Your Legs tandem rides at the Texas School for the Blind. Regardless, get out and ride!

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, September 8

Driveway Crit Series
5 PM, The Driveway, 8400 Delwau Lane
NEW SCHEDULE FOR FALL! Weekly Thursday night road racing through October that takes place on the closed car-free driving course at the Driveway. Races include 5PM = Women 3/4 and Jrs races, 5:30PM = the “B” race (Cat 3/4/5). Kids Lap at 6:15PM. 6:20PM = the “A” race (P1/2/3/4). There is no Cat 4/5 for the fall. Races registration $20 for Men, $15 for Women, & $10 for Juniors/College Students. Full season passes and discount punch cards available. USA Cycling annual or one day license and helmet required. One days for sale at race.

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 article on bike polo for more info.

Thursday Night Social Ride
7:30 PM, Festival Beach (north side of Lady Bird Lake just east of I-35)
Now winner of two 2010 Best of Austin Awards! “This week in Social Cycling:The Thursday Night Social Ride goes to Barbarella & Flat Fixing Lesson 101/ Social Cycling Austin is hosting a flat fixing lesson at 7pm before this week’s Social Ride at the meet up spot. Katy Brimm will be teaching the basics of changing or patching a flat. Ozone Bike Dept. will be providing a limited supply of patch kits for those who attend. Then we’ll head out for a bike ride like last Thursday and the Thursday before ending up at everyone’s favorite Thursday night dance spot Barbarella, Barbarella!” Meet up at 7:30, ride at 8:00. Read our article on the weekly ride.

Saturday, September 10

Wurst Tri Ever 2011
7:30 AM, Landa Park Pool, Landa Park Dr, New Braunfels, TX
Swim: The swim will be a 150 meter snake style swim in the beautiful clear spring fed pool, short run and then a 250 meter swim in the Olympic pool. The start will be a time trial start with an athlete leaving every 5 – 10 seconds off of the Slide. Bike: The 14 mile bike course is an out and back rides through beautiful hill country roads. Be aware that the roads are open to traffic – use caution and stay to the right. You must follow all regular traffic laws. Run: The 3mile run is 1 loop run along the Golf Course and through an adjacent neighborhood on Pavement.

Mellow Johnny’s Scout-A-Ride: 2011 Mamma Jamma Training Ride
NEW TIME: 7:30 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: 2011 Mamma Jamma Training Ride. This week’s ride will only offer one option: a pedal up Shoal Creek Blvd and back. This 20-mile route will wander through beautiful, bike friendly neighborhoods along established bike routes and neighborhood streets. Like we said, its “no-drop,” meaning you will not be left alone out on the course. Yes, there are a few hills. We do live in Austin! The routes are designed to help riders navigate the city bike routes and other safe bike commuting options. Come by at 7:00 for coffee. Helmets required. If driving to the shop, please park in the street.Contact:Stephanie at Stephanie@mellowjohnnys.com.

Ride Like A Girl Ride hosted by Austin Ridge Riders
9 AM, Reveille Peak Ranch, 105 CR 114 Burnet, TX
The RIDE LIKE A GIRL program consists of a series of rides for beginner through all levels of mountain bikers from May through September.

Coed Hands-on Flat Fix Clinic
12:00 PM, The Basement of Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop, 400 Nueces St
Join every Saturday from 12-1pm in the basement for a hands-on flat fix clinic. A member of Mellow Johnny’s staff will lead the class in all major aspects of puncture repair and tire maintenance. This class will be fantastic for new bike buyers as well the seasoned rider who has a flat tire collecting dust in the garage. No RSVP necessary.

Sunday, September 11

Austin’s 29th Annual Moonlight Cruze Bike Ride
2 AM, Lamar Blvd Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge
The Granddaddy of all Austin social rides (Austin Moonlight Cruze) takes place. Expect a late night ride on a great route at a decent pace with a gigantic group of people (even by TNSR standards, it’s a seriously huge ride, 6 times bigger). This NOT a Social Cycling Austin ride. It is a great, longtime Austin tradition that I urge everyone to check out. Expect costumes, unusual bikes and unusual people. There is no real leader, just a ton of people who have ridden the ride before and know the route. The ride starts after the bars let out on Saturday Night and goes till sunrise or whenever you decide to drop off.

AFWC Ladies Ride
7:30 AM, Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop, 400 Nueces St.
Join the women of the Austin Flyers Women’s Cycling Club every Sunday for an intermediate, ladies-only ride. This friendly, 2.5-3 hour ride averages 15-16 mph, with routes varying each week. It is a great opportunity for women looking to continue their fitness, learn new routes and meet new riding partners. Beginner women are encouraged to check out the Saturday Scout-a-Route ride for a shorter, more casual route.

Austin on Two Wheels Cyclocross Skills Session and Practice Race
6:30 PM, Garrison Park, 6001 Manchaca Rd.
The weather is cooling off nicely so let’s hope that sticks for a cyclocross season feel to Austin on Two Wheel’s 3rd Cyclocross Skills & Hot Laps Practice Session this Sunday. This week we are heading back south but not quite so far, this time to Garrison Park. We’ll have practice that includes barrier practice, navigating tight turns, and race start sprints. For newbies, we’ll start with a short clinic on mounting and dismounting the bike. The hot laps course will include a mix of grass, pavement and dirt and will include a steep off camber section and a little sand pit. We’ll meet up at the north end of the park near Garrison pool at 6:15 with skills practice starting at 6:30. A hot laps course riding will begin at 7:00 and run for 30 minutes. For those so inclined, we’ll stop for drinks afterwards. For those so inclined, we’ll stop for drinks afterwards. At the end of Sunday’s practice race, we’ll be raffling off a free men’s and women’s registration for the Dirt Derby season opener on September 27. All are welcome with all bike types welcome. Recommended tires are those designed for off-road or cyclocross that are at least 30 mm wide for 700c size or at least 1.5 wide on 26″/29er.

Monday, September 12

ACA CowParade Bike Tour and Social
6 PM, Whole Foods Lamar, 525 N Lamar Blvd
Art Cows have invaded Austin and we will explore downtown to find as many of these spectacular critters that we can. Our photo tour will start with a meet-up at Whole Foods Market on the outdoor Pavilion level. Grab a light snack while we socialize a bit before rolling out at 6:30 to take some snapshots. We’ll plan to be back by 8:30 for dessert and a mobile upload session to the ACA Facebook page. Lights and helmets are required. Bring a camera and cash for snacks. The ride will be less than 10 miles all at an easy pace suitable for cruiser bikes.

Lend Your Legs: Social Cycling Austin + Texas School for the Blind
6 PM, Texas School for the Blind (campus location here)
School is back in session and so is a weekly ride that we started last Spring. The Lend Your Legs project continues with the Monday Social Ride for the Texas School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (TSBVI). This is a chance to make a kiddo’s week just by riding your bike (something you would more than likely be doing anyway). For those who are new to the group, TSBVI has some tandem bikes for the students’ families to use. On Monday evenings, starting back this next week and going for the next 9 weeks, we are meeting at the school and taking the kids on a social ride. It’s an incredible experience to say the least. This year we are going to have even more kids on the ride so it is very important that we get a bunch of people to sign up as volunteers. It is VERY IMPORTANT that we get everyone to fill out the school’s volunteer forms and email them back to the school NO LATER THAN first thing Monday Morning so that you can captain a bike.

Tuesday, September 13

Austin Bike Chix Beginner Ride
6:30 PM, Northwest District Park, 7000 Ardath St.
There is a new series of bike rides in town for those new to cycling or for those that just need to dust off that bike. Austin Bike Chix will be offering a series of rides to Austin Area adults. The rides will start at Northwest Park on March 22 at 6:30 PM and will continue on Tuesdays for 6 weeks. The series of rides will be more like mini clinics (with topics ranging from chains to hills) to give new riders knowledge about the bike and confidence to be able to do the shorter distances on some of the local charity rides and beginner rides in town. These rides are perfect for those wanting to do ride in the Tour de Cure or are a first time triathlete. We will be riding on the road, all bikes are welcome. All rides are free.

Wednesday, September 14

Leander / Cedar Park Social Ride
Meet up at 7 PM, Ride at 7:30 PM, Robin Bledsoe Park, 601 S. Bagdad Rd, Leander, TX
The Leander / Cedar Park Social Ride is held every Wednesday at 7pm at Robin Bledsoe Park at 601 S. Bagdad Rd. In Leander Tx. We usually roll out around 7:30 – 7:45 sharp and welcome and encourage riders of most skill levels no matter what type of bike you ride. I say most skill levels because we do ride at night along streets and usually only go about 10-14 miles and a fairly slow pace. The routes change up sometimes and there are often themes to the rides, just to keep it fun. Drinking usually ensues but not by everyone. We do occasionally have kids that ride with us and we do try to keep to non busy-ish streets and some sidewalks when the streets are busy. We encourage lights and helmets and obeying the law for the most part. We do ride with traffic not against it. I’m sure its pretty obvious that we have pretty much modeled ourselves after the Thursday Nights Social Ride only in Leander on a different night and a lot smaller.

Restorative Yoga for Cyclists
7:30 PM, Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop, 400 Nueces St
Spend your winter keeping the body warmed and relaxed with Restorative Yoga for Cyclists at Mellow’s Johnny’s. Long miles accompanied by yoga will help you release tension, stay injury-free and set you up for a blazing Spring. Our class is great for non-cyclists, beginners and elite athletes. Join us after a ride, run or long day at work or school. Every Wednesday 7:30-8:30pm (downstairs) Suggested donation of $10 or $5 if you bike ride to class. Mat provided by MJ’s.