New Belgium’s Clips Beer and Film Tour

WHAT: New Belgium’s Clips Beer and Film Tour – Austin
WHEN: Thursday, September 26, 2013, 7 p.m.
WHERE: Republic Square Park, 400 W. Guadalupe St, Austin, 78701
COST:
Admission: free
3 oz. sample: $1.25
12 oz. beer: $5.00

DETAILS:
New Belgium Brewing, maker of Fat Tire Amber Ale and a wide variety of award-winning beers, is once again taking its beer-toting, film-traveling, nonprofit-benefiting show on the road and is coming to Austin!

Clips is a national beer and film festival where guests can try beers from New Belgium’s Lips of Faith series, along with some popular classics, and screen short films made by New Belgium fans.

New Belgium selects approximately 20 films each season. All chosen entries for the 2013 season will receive a custom gift from New Belgium and screenings along the entire tour. Approximately 16,400 attendees attended the Clips beer and film festival last year alone.

This year, the chosen films include mastering the technique of dice rolling; the quest for the ultimate full moon shot; a duel to be the hippest hipster; and homebrewing in a small New York City apartment.

For the latest information on Clips, visit http://bit.ly/NBBClipsAustin.

Houston Tour de Cure 2013 in Katy, TX

The Houston Tour de Cure invites you to join their ride on Saturday, September 21, 2013 starting at AutoNation Nissan Katy – Katy, Kingsland Boulevard, Katy, TX

We were lucky enough to be granted an interview with Leslie Mantaring, Associate Director of American Diabetes Association to ask some questions about their upcoming ride.

1. Why join the Ride?

“I RIDE FOR MY MOM WHO HAS DIABETES.”
“I RIDE FOR MY DAD WHO DIED FROM DIABETES.”
“I RIDE IN HONOR OF A FRIEND THAT LIVES EACH DAY WITH THIS DAUNTING DISEASE.”
“I RIDE FOR MY SON WHO HAS TYPE 1 DIABETES.”
“I RIDE FOR MYSELF!”
“I RIDE TO SUPPORT A WORTHY CAUSE!”
“I RIDE FOR THOSE WITH TYPE 2 DIABETES.”

Every person has reasons and desires for wanting to be a part of the ride as you can see from above. Many people will participate in the Tour de Cure for the competition and the challenge of pushing themselves in a cycling event. But when it comes down to it, when you join this ride you have the satisfaction of knowing that every dollar we raise brings us that much closer to stopping this disease that affects over 26 million Americans.

2. How long has the event been around?
This will be the fifth year of the Houston Tour de Cure.

3. What was the motivation behind starting the tour and who benefits from it?
The motivation to start the tour was of course to help raise funds to stop the fight for diabetes with a fun and exciting event. Our Red Ridersare the reason we ride. The Red Riders are part of a community that inspires us to ride and raise money to Stop Diabetes.

4. How have they been able to utilize the funds in the past?
The funds raised through Tour de Cure are used for research, advocacy and education for diabetes.

5. Can we get a TCX or GPX file included for download? Over 63% of folks say they are more up to attend a ride for which they have information about the routes for their on-bike device.
Not available

6. Do you have a map of the start facility showing registration point, parking, all toilets, water/snacks, start line?
The below link should have some info with maps of the start site:
http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR/TourdeCure/A6SET-SoutheastTexasArea?pg=informational&fr_id=8654&type=fr_informational&sid=15080

7. Logistically, can you give us an idea how many volunteers, finances, and planning it takes to put on this event?
Logistically speaking it takes the hard work of hundreds of volunteers to put on such an amazing event. It terms of finances we have numerous amounts of generous sponsors that assist us with making everything happen. We are planning this event year round to make it the success that it is.

8. What was the most rewarding experience throughout the years hosting this event?
The most rewarding experience is hearing the participants’ positive comments on how they had a great experience at the event and can’t wait for next year’s event. The other rewarding experience would be to see the crowd of Red Riders, who are people living with diabetes, lined up at the start line ready to start the race.

9. What is the average number of participants per year? How many riders do you assist during the average race?
This year we are expecting 2,400 riders to participate. We assist ALL riders and support them through our 10 different rest stops and SAG vehicles.

10. What was the most unforgettable experience or worst accident you had in this event?
The most unforgettable is getting to load up everything after the event is over.

11. What can folks do to support you and your mission?
To help support our mission and goals someone can start up a team; whether they are a cyclist or not. Within that team they can nominate a captain that can help with raising funds, awareness and create fun and unique ways to raise up their donations totals.

12. What is your role in this race and to the success of it?
We have a hardworking team of ADA staff who help to put this event together. In addition, have a Tour Committee that give a lot of their time and commitment to this event. They work as hard as we do!

13. Do you ride and if yes, what kind of bicycle do you ride and what is your favorite route in your area? Which are your top 3 favorite MUST DO rides in Texas (besides your own)?
Yes, the routes for Tour are one of my favorites because it has great country scenery and long routes. Lots of cyclists use this for training and riding every Saturday.

14. If you had to come up with a David Letterman style top 10 about the race, what would it read like?
Top 10 Reasons Houston Tour de Cure is the best

10. Fastest growing tour in the country
9. Food, entertainment, and family fun activities after you finish
8. 10 great rest stops along the routes with great SAG support!
7. VIP area and Team Tents for top fundraisers (with massage therapists)
6. Beautiful country scenery
5. 5 different routes to ride!
4. Wonderful volunteers and lots of different companies/organization get involved
3. Fantastic fun for the whole family
2. This is our million dollar fundraising year!!!
1. Red Riders!!!

 

Thanks Leslie for this interview and we hope to catch everyone at the ride!

Click here to view the event details of the Houston Tour de Cure 2013

Lions Biking for Sight in Montgomery, TX

The Lions Biking for Sight invites you to join their ride on October 6, 2013 starting at 22825 Highway 105 West, Montgomery, TX, 77356

We were lucky enough to be granted an interview with Chuck Martin, Ride director of Lions Biking for Sight to ask some questions about their upcoming ride.

 

Why join the Ride?
This ride features hills and is a great training ride for the Valero 2013 Alamo Bike to the River

How long has the event been around?
This will be our 14th year

What was the motivation behind starting the tour and who benefits from it?
We (my wife and I) wanted to start a ride that was “different” from other local rides. We wanted to feature some hills. The Houston Cy-Fair Lions Charities (mainly the Texas Lions Camp and The Lion Eye Bank) benefit from the proceeds of this ride.

How have they been able to utilize the funds in the past?
We have spent 100 % of the funds raised to help local school children with new eye glasses and send kids to the Texas Lions Camp.

Do you hav a map of the start facility showing registration point, parking, all toilets, water/snacks, start line?
The start area is very easy to find. It is the Montgomery High School Athletic Complex. There are signs marking the route to this location.

Logistically, can you give us an idea how many volunteers, finances, and planning it takes to put on this event?
There are approximately 75 volunteers assisting in this ride. Since this is our 14th ride, the planning is minimal. Most of our time is spent buying supplies and getting the signs ready for the course.

What was the most rewarding experience throughout the years hosting this event?
Our most rewarding experience is providing school children with eye glasses, sending kids to Lions Camp, and providing 2 scholarships to Montgomery High School graduating seniors.

What is the average number of participants per year? How many riders do you assist during the average race?
Average number of riders has been around 350 for the last 4 years. We probably SAG approximately 25 to 50 riders each year.

What was the most unforgettable experience or worst accident you had in this event?
In 13years of this ride, we have only had 1 transportable accident. It happened 3 miles into the ride when someone dropped their water bottle in a pace line.

What can folks do to support you and your mission?
The main thing they can do is join a local Lions Club. This will greatly assist that local Lions Club so they can do more for their community. There are 64 clubs in Harris County and the six counties surrounding Harris County. The next best thing they can do is have some fun and join our ride.

What is your role in this race and to the success of it?
I am the ride director. Most of the responsibility falls on me to organize the volunteers and get riders registered.

Do you ride and if yes, what kind of bicycle do you ride and what is your favorite route in your area? Which are your top 3 favorite MUST DO rides in Texas (besides your own)?
Yes, I ride. Not as much as I used to ride. I spend my time riding routes developed by the Northwest Cycling Club. I really enjoy the Blue Bonnet Express, The Katy Flatland Century, and The RAM Challenge.

If you had to come up with a David Letterman style top 10 about the race, what would it read like?

10) You will enjoy the wonderful rest stops
9) There are port-a-potties at every rest stop
8) There are bright smiley faces of Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts at the rest stops
7) We have lots of cookies, bananas, and oranges
6) We have very friendly SAG drivers
5) You get to ride through the Sam Houston National Forest and enjoy all of the wonderful shade
4) You will enjoy wonderful scenery
3) We have indoor rest rooms at the start finish area
2) They will enjoy the hills that are not found in the local rides in the Houston area
1) Their money will be used to purchase eye glasses for needy children, send Handicapped kids to Camp, and reward two seniors with scholarships.

Additional stuff you would like the folks to know about this year’s ride?
For this year, we will only do the 100 mile route if we have 30 registered riders for this route by 9/20/13.

 

Thanks Chuck for this quick interview and we hope to catch everyone at the ride!

Click here to view the ride details of 14th Annual Lions Biking for Sight 2013

Repost => How to Hydrate Properly During the Hotter ‘n Hell Texas Bicycle Ride

Here is a recap from a previous post for some tips on staying hydrated this weekend…

This is one of the hottest summers on record in ‘recent’ Texas history and you need to prepare well for Saturday’s Hotter ‘n Hell bicycle ride. Last year Brad our team Doctor (Okay, so he is a Doctor that happens to be a Wheelbrother) wrote a great guide on how to properly hydrate for the race. I’m republishing it this week since nothing essentially changed – well, except it being HOTTER this year and the start of this years race being at 6am vs. 7:05a.

HydrationBrad please educate us on how to properly hydrate:

There are a lot of prevailing theories on how best to hydrate for an event such as the HH100 so let’s break it down into its simplest terms:

1. It’s all about the day before:  hydrate your brains out 24 hours before the ride.  Use water or electrolyte solution.  If you are not drinking, then your not allowing the individual cells to retain the fluids that it will desperately need.

2. Avoid all caffeine for 24-48 hours prior to the ride.  Remember that caffeine is a mild diuretic (makes you urinate more) and obviously this is the opposite of what we need to be doing.

3. Take a multivitamin the day before and the day of the race.  If you cramp often, consider adding an OTC potassium tablet (8-10 meq should do) the day before and the day of your race.

4. Complex carbs the day before the ride to eat (pasta, rice, pizza).

5. Hydrate during the race.  I have observed that most riders under hydrate.  I plan on stopping at mile 25-30, 50, 70, and 90 miles.  Bring 3 bottles with you and make sure they are gone before you get to the rest stop.  The desire to drinkdecreases as your cardiac output increases so you have to remember to drink.  What’s the best solution?  There is great debate on this one but water vs electrolytes is probably a wash.  During extreme conditions (of which this will be) electrolytes show a 3-4% improvement in performance in elite athletes only (and we ain’t that except for Ron — Cat Racer extraordinaire).  I start out with 2 waters and one Gatorade and after the first stop I switch to 1 water and 2 gatorades.  Why?  Electrolyte solution doesn’t quench your thirst like water does and therefore your more likely to drink.  Also,  you’ll need the calories during a long event like this.

6. Are you urinating?  If the answer is no, then significantly increase the volume.  I want everyone screaming they have to pee at that first rest stop.

7. Pickle juice?  A trendy pick and has some merit but I wouldn’t try it for the first time on ride day.  It may upset your stomach and that is NOT where you want to be.  Also, it tends to turn off the desire to drink more.

8. Kick some ass…

 

Thank you Brad for clearing this up!

Tomorrow, we’ll publish a little guide with tips and tricks that work for some of the Wheelbrothers but which are NOT scientifically proven and should never be interpreted as sound medical advice.

Be also aware to not OVER-hydrate… try to find BALANCE in your approach (more to come on that topic)

 

In the meantime a quick video by Chris Carmichael – Lance Armstrong’s trainer on hydration for cyclists under ‘regular’ conditions:

Hotter ‘N Hell Hundred Cycling Tips from Cadence Cyclery: Riding, Snacks and Staying On-Track

When it comes to cycling, Cadence Cyclery knows whats on your mind. This McKinney, Texas based bicycle store has been selling bikes and cycling accessories since 2011. And now they are sharing their tips and insiders secrets with us at Wheelbrothers.com.

In this short video clip, Chris from Cadence Cyclery goes over some excellent tips for snacking and staying hydrated on rides.

Thank you Chris for sharing these tips with us!

 

 

If you are in McKinney stop by and make sure to say ‘Hi’ to Chris and let them know you saw them on the Wheelbrothers website!

http://www.cadencecyclery.com