Matz cycles to National title

BY JIM LEITNER of thonline.com
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By competitive cycling standards, you could consider Deb Matz somewhat of a late bloomer.

The 1978 graduate of Dubuque Senior began competing just two years ago after six years of recreational riding. But over Labor Day Weekend, the Plano, Texas, resident won two gold medals and one silver in her first trip to the U.S. Masters National Track Cycling Championships on the superdrome at Collin College in Frisco, Texas.

“The last two or three years, my focus was the masters national race,” said Matz, who also collected the Best All-Around Award at the meet. “I really learned a lot about myself and about what I can do. I found out I can do much more than I thought, and I found out there’s more to it than what the observer sees.

Ride 2 Recovery: Injured troops bike through Peninsula

By KEVIN HOWE of MontereyHerald.com
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Army Sgt. Angel Herrera was shot in the abdomen with a rocket-propelled grenade in 2008 while serving in Afghanistan. But that hasn’t stopped her from taking part in this year’s 450-mile, San Francisco-to-Los Angeles bike ride.

Herrera, 32, of Corning, was wounded while serving as a truck driver with a combat engineer unit. Now assigned to the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Hood, Texas, she said she got involved in the Ride 2 Recovery Golden State Challenge through a buddy there “who does this all the time.”

Riding recumbent in a three-wheeler, she paused on Del Monte Avenue in Marina to allow her teammates to wrap her aching knees with Ace bandages.

Other Warrior Transition Unit soldiers were among the 200 riders taking part in Ride 2 Recovery, which began Sunday and ends Saturday.

Army Pfc. Ashley Adkins of Columbus, Ohio, and Cpl. K.C. Chea of Seattle took leave from their duties in Schweinfurt, Germany, to come to California for the ride.

“I love to participate,” Adkins said.

“I got injured in Iraq and I couldn’t do anything physical for over a year,” Chea said. “One of our sergeants got us into doing this. My first ride was in Colorado, and I enjoyed it. There’s a lot of camaraderie, and you meet vets from past wars like Vietnam.”

Four former soldiers on the ride, all veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan, came to entertain the troops.

Arlington Thoroughfare Development Plan Tonight

Please join us tonight for a final Public Open House where you will be able to comment on recommended changes to the Thoroughfare Development Plan and talk with the project consultants and City staff. Don’t miss it!

Final Public Open House

September 30th
6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (come and go)
Arlington City Hall
Council Briefing Room, 3rd Floor
101 West Abram Street

SEALs Bike Across America

Source: By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class (SW) Shauntae Hinkle-Lymas, Naval Special Warfare Public Affairs of Navy.mil
Click here to read Full Article

CORONADO, Calif. (NNS) — Six bike riders participating in a Naval Special Warfare (NSW) Foundation charity bike ride received a ceremonial send-off in Coronado, Calif. Sept. 26.

The riders are scheduled to travel more than 3,000 miles to bring awareness to the NSW Foundation, an organization that provides assistance and support to NSW families and the community. Retired Navy SEALs Mike Badger and Rob Rambeck, along with an East-Coast based SEAL, as well as three NSW supporters, Paul Resnick, Ron Watford, and Mary Jemison, met at Coronado City Hall, the starting point of their ride.

“Today’s event is about supporting SEAL families in particular, because they’re so often deployed,” said Coronado mayor Casey Tanaka, whose father was a SEAL. “I’m all too aware of the importance of this group and their work.”

NSW Foundation supports more than 9,000 members in the NSW community. Bill Hahn, special events coordinator for NSW Foundation, says that the ride means not just that more money will be raised to help the NSW community, but will shed light on the kinds of programs and support it provides to families.

“We provide families with, not just financial support but moral support, when their spouses are away we do a lot of different activities for their children,” he said. “(We also) provide tuition assistance for active-duty personnel, as well as their children.”

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axbllOAhmR4]

Visit the official website of SEALs BIKE AMERICA: http://sealsbikeamerica.com/

Glen Rose races will test cyclists’ endurance

Source: BY MATTHEW REAGAN of StarTelegram.com
Click here to read Original Article

It takes a rare breed of athlete to endure hundreds of miles spent on a bike for hours on end, testing your limits for 48 consecutive hours, only stopping for food and water and maybe to catch a power nap. Some may call it daring. Some call it abnormal and others call it just plain absurd.

But don’t mention those words to a group the cycling world refers to as randonneurs.

It is what they love. Starting today, you can find nearly 300 of these racers testing their stamina on a 26.5-mile course beginning and ending at Glen Rose City Park in the Texas Time Trials.

The three-day event includes five races ranging from a 500-mile race to a 24-hour time trial to a one-lap sprint.

Riders from all over the country and the world, including ones from Germany, Austria and France, will go it alone or as a tandem and try and find a pace they can settle into. But the race isn’t just for veterans of endurance cycling.

“On the same course, at the same time, we also have many cyclists riding their first race ever,” race coordinator Dan Driscoll said.

The races kicks off at 6 p.m. today with the Tejas 500, which is a qualifier for June’s Race Across America, a 3,000-mile race from California to Maryland.

Cyclist Run Over And Killed In Houston

By David Solano of 39online.com
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HOUSTON – Just how safe are the roads for cyclists in Houston? Not very. According to a League Certified Instructor at Bicycle World of Houston, the Bayou City was the No. 1 least bicycle friendly city in the nation. The League of American Bicyclists have changed that ranking by adding more trails and routes for cyclists.

But riding through town is still unsafe. On Saturday, The Harris County Sheriff’s office responded to a fatal crash involving an 18-wheeler and cyclist in Northwest Houston. On Sunday, 39 News was at the scene to learn more about what happened as well as the dangers of pedaling through Houston.

What happened to a bicyclist in the 14100 block of Stuebner Airline Road on Saturday is affecting the cycling community across Houston.

“We take that very, very personal,” Tom Tirado, a League Certified Instructor through the League of American Bicyclists, said at Bicycle World of Houston.

The Harris County Sheriff’s office said a cyclist was found dead around 2 a.m. on Saturday. According to investigators, he was knocked off his bike and run over. The name of the victim has not been released.

Arlington Thoroughfare Development Plan Update – Final Open House!

HELP SHAPE THE FUTURE OF ARLINGTON’S ROADWAY SYSTEM!

The year-long Thoroughfare Development Plan Update project is nearing completion and we want your thoughts on the final draft recommendations!  Please join us for a final Public Open House where you will be able to comment on recommended changes to the Thoroughfare Development Plan and talk with the project consultants and City staff.  Please see the attached flyer for additional details or visit www.arlingtontx.gov/TDP to learn more about the project.

Final Public Open House

September 30th
6:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (come and go)
Arlington City Hall
Council Briefing Room, 3rd Floor
101 West Abram Street

Please help us spread the word by passing this information on to your fellow Arlington residents.  We hope to see you on September 30th!

Local woman sets world record again

FRISCO, TEXAS – Rita Kacala of Caledonia has again distinguished herself as one of the fastest women in the world on a bike.

Kacala, 55, set an unofficial world record with her time of 39.856 seconds in the 55-59 women’s 500-meter cycling event at the USA Cycling Masters Track National Championships on Sunday in Frisco, Texas.

“It’s fun to break the women’s record,” said Kacala, who races for RPM/Hayes Brake. “Someone else will break it next, maybe me again.”

The world record, which is expected to become official in two to four weeks after drug tests results, comes on the heels of Kacala’s first national championship last year when she set a world record in the 50-54 women’s 500-meter event with her time of 39.357 seconds. She said that still stands.

Source: journaltimes.com
Click here to read the Full Article by CHRISTINE WON

Fight Texas Bike Bans!

BikeTexas.org has posted an online petition against bike bans in Texas:

Today, August 25, 2010, BikeTexas is posting an online petition against bike bans. Please take a moment to sign it and support Texas cyclists’ right to ride.

Many Texas cyclists are aware that the City Council of Bartonville, a small rural community just south of Denton, amended a city ordinance this past June to restrict the number of cyclists passing through their incorporated area.  Bartonville is a popular riding area for many DFW-area cyclists and clubs, and this ban will affect them greatly.

We are asking Texas cyclists to support the rights of cyclists to the road by signing the “No Bike Bans!” petition and encouraging family and friends, whether cyclists or not, to sign as well. This petition will also be available at the BikeTexas Hotter’N Hell booth this coming weekend.

Please take a moment to sign the petition as Cyclist has rights and fair share of roads.

Read the Full Article here from BikeTexas.org