Spring Break and SXSW start this weekend that there’s a crazy amount of stuff going on. Luckily, the weather should be beautiful. Finish out the ACA Traffic 101 mini clinics on Saturday morning and join in the massive SXSW BikeHugger Mobile Social with currently over 1800 RSVPs.

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, March 11

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 recent article on bike polo for more info.

Social Cycling ATX Rider Leader training
6:30 PM, The Scoot Inn, 1308 E. 4th St. (Corner of 4th and Navasota)
Ever wanted to help out on the popular Social Cycling ATX Thursday Night Social Ride or other social rides? Show up for a brief training and join in on the ride later.

Driveway Crit Series Kickoff Party
7 PM, Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop, 400 Nueces St
Come celebrate the return of the weekly Driveway Crit Race series with Holland Racing and the crew. We will have beer, food, and…roller races! Show your friends how good you look when you rock it on the bike.

Thursday Night Social Ride
7:30 PM, The Scoot Inn, 1308 E. 4th St. (Corner of 4th and Navasota)
A ride from the Facebook group Social Cycling ATX. that has gotten so big it had to abandon the Pfluger Bridge start location. Meet  at 7:30 p.m. leave at 8 p.m. Details on this week’s ride: “It’s THE DENIM RIDE. I want to see stitched denim, bedazzled denim, jorts, denim jackets, denim loin cloths or even just your plain old everyday Canadian Tuxedo. We’re going to ride around and show off our style, then end up at the Red 7 for the usual refreshements. There are even bands outside if you’re into that thing. But inside we’ll be having a few contests for our riders with PRIZES provided by OZONE BIKE DEPARTMENT. Our denim contests include: Short jorts contest… for the ladies and gentlemen, Best Camel Toe, Best Moose Knuckle (guys, no cheating)” Read our recent article on the popular weekly ride.

Friday, March 12

Austin Ciclovia Brainstorm Session
11:30, Austin City Hall
Please join Council Member Sheryl Cole and Council Member Chris Riley for a community brainstorm session for an Austin Ciclovia! Ciclovia events are held around the world. Not races, these events encourage public health and community building by providing an opportunity for people of all ages and abilities to ride a bike, jog, skate, or walk on our city streets in a safe, motor free environment.

Traffic Skills 101 sponsored by Austin Cycling Association
5 PM, REI Downtown, 601 N Lamar Blvd
Do you want to ride your bike but are afraid of traffic? Or are you an experienced cyclist who would like to learn how to get more courtesy and respect from motorists? If your answer to any of these questions is “yes”, you should take Traffic Skills 101, the League of American Bicyclist’s (LAB) street cycling course for adults. Traffic Skills 101 will help you ride safely and effectively – to work, to the store, around your neighborhood, or around the state. Traffic Skills 101 is taught by LAB-certified instructors, and the curriculum covers everything from bike selection to simple maintenance to fixing a flat, to strategies for riding a bike safely and confidently. It is taught to very small classes (generally 5 to 10 students), in two sessions: 4 hours on a Friday evening and 5 hours on a Saturday morning. Registration is required.

Saturday, March 13

3rd Annual Be Kind To Cyclist Ride
8 AM, Pure Austin, 907 W 5th St
Let’s all be kind to cyclists and celebrate with this free ride. Distances will be 20 and 40 miles.

Traffic Skills 101 Mini Clinics: Bike Handling and Enjoyment
8:30 AM, Mellow Johnny’s, 400 Nueces St
If you’ve ever wanted to brush up on your bike safety but cannot swing the time for the full Traffic 101 classes offered by the Austin Cycling Association, here’s your chance to pick and choose the portions you need help with in bit sized amounts. The last in a series of 5 mini-clinics enjoyed over our morning coffee, today’s topics include: Bike Handling Skills such as Starting/Stopping, Shifting and Scanning along with Hazard Avoidance Maneuvers. ACA will be offering Traffic Skills 101 Mini Clinics starting this week through March in easy to schedule one hour segments. Each class is $10 or $5 if you are already an ACA member. This week is Traffic Skills 101 Mini Clinics:Bike Handling and Enjoyment with optional hosted ride Scout-A-Route Ride.

Mellow Johnny’s Scout-A-Ride Ride Hill of a Ride
9:30 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 is Ride Hill of a Ride – a special hill climbing edition. We’ll see some of Austin’s best training hills near downtown and improve your technique at the same time. Expect to climb so treat your bike to a tune-up before ride day if it’s not shifting smoothly. Today’s 8:30 am mini-clinic covers Handling Skills including Shifting. $5 ACA members / $10 non-members. Check the clinic listing for more details.These rides are meant for exploring so bring your questions and leave your heart rate monitor at home. Come by at 9:00 for coffee. Ride organizer: Eileen Schaubert at eileen@mellowjohnnys.com or 512-426-4851.

Texas Dance Hall Cycling Tour
10 AM, Sengelmann Dance Hall,  531 N Main St, Schulenburg, TX
Sugar Cycles, presents the first annual Texas Dance Hall Ride, that will take place on Saturday, March 13 2010. Multiple ride options 15, 20, 32, 42 and 65 miles. All distances start in front of Sengelmann’s Dance Hall on Main Street. Riders of all ages and capabilities will be able tour the famous Painted Churches. The riders will also get to experience two of Texas’ historic dance halls, both over one hundred years old.

BikeHugger SXSW Mobile Social
2 PM, Brush Square Park, 4th & Neches St
Seattle based cycling blog Bike Hugger will be hosting another social ride at SXSW this year. Start at Brush Square Park and end up at Mellow Johnny’s at 400 Nueces for the After Party with lots of free stuff. You must get a wrist band at the ride start or have a SXSW badge to get into the afterparty. Ride guides provided by Social Cycling ATX. Continue reading →

The national film tour of Bike Porn 3: Cyclebound had its Austin stop moved from the Dobie Theater to 11 PM, tonight at Coldtowne Theater, 4803-B Airport Blvd. (next to I Luv Video). $8 or $6 for Austin Film Society Members, seniors and students.

Today, Google launched a bike route mapping option to their popular Google maps resource, and Austin was included in the cities with this option in its initial roll out. Google has been on the forefront of adding alternative transportation to their mapping programs with walking and transit options available in the last few years in addition to driving directions. The mapping identifies bike only paths, streets with bike facilities, and other recommended bike friendly streets and also importantly takes topography into account with suggestions that attempt to avoid steep hills.

They have done this project in conjunction with the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy and have a “Report a Problem” tool to allow you to suggest changes when the route Google produces need changing. Based on listserv and forum discussions going on today, there are already several Austin specific changes that will need to be made including most obviously the inclusion of the Hike & Bike Mopac bridge and the Shoal Creek trail system.

This week is the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC, a meeting of all the major bicycle advocacy organizations to push for more resources for bikes as a valid form of transportation. At the summit, the Bikes Belong Coalition has rolled out their new People for Bikes initiative with a goal of getting the signed support of 1 million of the estimated 50 million American who ride bikes. This campaign is their attempt at a show of force in how large and diverse the cycling community is.

At the most basic level, those wanting to support cycling resources can sign the People for Bikes pledge here which says:

I am for bikes. I’m for long rides and short rides. I’m for commuting to work, weekend rides, racing, riding to school, or just a quick spin around the block. I believe that no matter how I ride, biking makes me happy and is great for my health, my community and the environment we all share. That is why I am pledging my name in support of a better future for bicycling—one that is safe and fun for everyone. By uniting my voice with a million others, I believe that we can make our world a better place to ride.

There are also other great organizing tools and ways to spread the word to friends, family, and co-workers.

Bike Month is less than 60 days away, and the newly created Austin Bike Poster Show is looking for artists to submit their take on promoting cycling and celebrating Austin bike culture. The show will select 25 posters to be part of the show which will run May 6- June 5 at Frame Corner at 5601 Adams Avenue, located north central Austin off of Burnet Rd. A panel of local judges will select a winning poster from the finalists which will be used by the City of Austin’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Program to promote cycling in Austin.

Those interested in submitting artwork should design an 18×24 poster that promotes cycling for transportation in Austin and submit it to Tom Linehan at atxbikepostershow@gmail.com by April 30, 2010. There is no cost to submit your work, but selected finalists will be asked to supply 30 copies of their submission for display and sale at the show. Artists will be compensated for poster sales and part of the proceeds will go toward Lamar Middle School’s Safe Routes to School program.

Tweed Rides have gotten a lot of press lately, but for us Texans, denim and boots are more our style. Social Cycling ATX has picked up on this and is making this week’s Thursday Night Social Ride themed as a Denim Ride.

I want to see stitched denim, bedazzled denim, jorts, denim jackets, denim loin cloths or even just your plain old everyday Canadian Tuxedo. We’re going to ride around and show off our style, then end up at the Red 7 for the usual refreshements. There are even bands outside if you’re into that thing. But inside we’ll be having a few contests for our riders with PRIZES provided by OZONE BIKE DEPARTMENT.

Our denim contests include:
Short jorts contest… for the ladies and gentlemen
Best Camel Toe
Best Moose Knuckle (guys, no cheating)

So dust off that jean jacket, pull out those dungarees, and track down that denim cowboy hat so you can join in the blues on Thursday.

Back in December, we shared a video that mentioned how Copenhagen is so focused on making bikes the preferred form of transportation that the lights on one of their major roads is timed to allow cyclists 6 km of travel without having to stop. Rotterdam is installing an even higher tech version called Evergreen that will let cyclists know the right speed to travel to avoid the dreaded red. LEDs embedded in the pavement will run the length of the road at the rate of speed you need to be going to either speed up or slow down to make there during the green. Pretty slick!

This system should be installed by this summer.

UPDATE: The Dropout is now offering a yearly subscription to their magazine for $20. This gets you 6 issues at a $1 off each plus a copy of this great zine delivered to your door.

The Dropout Issue 3 Release Party
Sunday, March 7, 7 PM
Fast Folks Cyclery, 2513 East 6th St
Austin’s very own cycling zine, The Dropout, is putting out it’s third issue and this one is hot, hot, hot with bicycle pin-ups featuring some of Austin’s loveliest ladies. There will be free Lonestars and $5 will get you a copy of this issue while it lasts.

The theft of this rather unique looking bike comes to us from the Austin Texas Bike Polo Social Club. Please keep a look out for this bike and report to the police and the owner below.

My polo bike was stolen last night. It was sitting out on avenue f and 46th st. For those of you who haven’t seen it, as long as the wheel covers are on it, it stands out pretty well. If you happen to see it around town feel free to kick the crap eagle ridding it in the head or at least just call me and let me know. 281-898-8534.

Thanks,

Kevin King Beahan

My experience: Yuba sent me a Mundo 21 speed with lots of accessories to test, and I’ve been riding it several times a week for 6 weeks.

Build Quality: 3.5/5

Function: 4.5/5

Style: 2/5

Overall: 4/5

Availability: Yuba is actively looking for an Austin dealer but for now you must order online at the Yuba site. A stripped down 6 speed version is available at $850 in green or orange and a nicely equipped 21 speed at $1100 in blue, orange or black. One size fits most. Like the Xtracycle, Yuba also sells other accessories including bags and child seats through their online store.

Summary:

Along with the Xtracycle and Kona Ute, the Yuba Mundo offers riders a full on cargo bike with a long tail as a legitimate automobile replacement for carrying kids, groceries and just about anything else you can stand to pedal. While the finish and build quality is a little rough around the edges, the Mundo gives you a well functioning cargo bike and a best in class hauling capacity at an astonishing $850 entry level for the bare bones 6 speed version and $1100 for a very nicely equipped 21 speed version.

Build quality and Style

Yuba sent me an orange (they call it Carrot) 21 speed bike with several accessories including pannier bags and a child seat. It arrived dealer ready which meant I had to do final brake and shifter installation as well as install of the wheels, seat, and handlebars. The Mundo also has a large side runner tube for a foot and bag rest that was separate and hand no installation instructions. Keep this in mind if you order online. If you are not confident of your ability to do a final build up, you’ll need to budget a little bit more and pay your local bike shop to get it ready for you.

The frame itself is extremely beefy but had sloppy, industrial welds at the joint. These do appear plenty strong, and  for the price point of this bike you are not getting master framebuilder elegance. There were some other rough edges in the bike including a fork that was out of alignment but not enough to be an issue. Also, the wheels were quite out of true and the many bolt bosses on the frame has to be re-tapped. Again, these are issues your local bike shop can address, but a sign of the lack of attention to detail that you are going to get with something mass produced at this price. The standard Mundo comes equipped with V-brakes but also has dropouts that allow disc brakes. The rear dropouts are vertical and designed with an external derailleur system in mind.

The actual equipment spec’ing of this bike is quite good. Unlike the Madsen, Yuba had the rider in mind, and swept back bars and a saddle designed for an upright seated position provides a very comfortable natural position. They’ve been paying attention to good utility bike rider geometry. The brakes and shifter groups are nothing to write home about but of a good quality for the utility purpose. The pedals are huge Victor VP-565 pedals with a nice grippy platform, my favorite component on the bike. While I’m a fan of the double footed kickstand (available as an add on), Yuba has provided the best single foot kickstand I’ve used to date. It is very larger and long providing a sturdy, stable resting point. Finally, little things like full on fenders and a bell showed the designers were thinking of the real world use of transportation cycling when pulling this together.

The only glaring omission on accessories were lights. I know it is popular to let the consumer choose lights as a way to keep the price point down, but this is a serious transportation bike and should come with the ability to ride after dark out of the box.

The overall style of the bike tends toward the industrial mountain bike look. This is not my cup of tea, but the orange paint job looks really good, and I got lots of compliments on how good the bike and it’s matching bags looked.

Function and ride Continue reading →