So I keep hearing shit about people meeting at Jackelope before BIKE PORN, maybe riding over as a group. That actually sounds like a damn good idea. With half-price burgers and all the other deals Wednesday night is practically date night at The Jackelope anyway, so bring your special someone (or that really dirty fuckbuddy you know) by around 9ish and bump into throngs of other sexy Austin cyclists. After grubbing and downing a few brews ride on up to BIKE PORN with the crew. Who knows what might happen on the ride to the theater, after all it is going to a fairly filthy event so at the least you know all the riders are of like mind. ;)

Tonight is gonna be fun.

John just got me the latest flyer for this weekend's Drag or Draft Race, and included some more real information on what's going to be going down on Sunday:

Alright, it’s time to lay out the dry details (For the hype check out our Facebook event). You all have been getting on my case, eager to learn more about this shindig, so here’s the deal:

Registration starts at 12:30 at Triangle Park at W. 46th and Triangle Ave. Bring five bucks, talk some shit, and get your game face on. There will be a car available to carry bags and such to the finish for racers who don’t feel like carrying that extra weight.

At 1:30 or so competitors will head out on a group warm-up ride to the starting point. Even if you aren’t going for the glory, you can still come hang out. Nikol will be riding down to the finish when the competitors and I leave for the start.

Once the race starts, it’s nothing but head-to-head speed and skill from Howard Ln. to Riverside Dr. You can take any route you want, but the only real choice is between Lamar or Guadalupe once you get to the Triangle. One way is a little longer, while the other will have more cross traffic. The exact finish point will be announced during registration.

We are expecting the race to wrap up around 3:30 and we should be at Uncle Billy’s by 4 for games, kick ass prizes, live music, and lots of beer drinking.

See you there!

Race Catagories: Fixed Gears, Road Bikes, Women, Out Of Towners, First Time Racers.

A car to carry your bags? Woah, this is the first alleycat I've heard of with motorized support! The above information should be all you need to know to get out there and fuck some shit up DRAG RACE style! I'm still crossing my fingers that some CAT WHATEVER roadies show up and annihilate every category of the competition, but that's just because I'm a dick.

I remember hearing about this event a while back, but just got the official information last night. Here's the dirt on the 3rd Annual Be Kind to Cyclists ride:

Come out and celebrate with us our Third Annual, Please BE KIND to Cyclists Day, proclaimed by Mayor Will Winn in 2007. Let us all send a message of awareness to be kind to cyclists; that we can all co-exist and share the same roads. Let’s make 2010 a year where no cyclists will die on the roads of Texas.
There will be live music, breakfast tacos, coffee and drinks for everyone, Please BE KIND to Cyclists t-shirts, plus lots of give a ways and One year Pure Austin membership. Check out our website for more details and best of all, it’s all FREE. Donations accepted.

The ride starts at the oh-so-unfriendly hour of 8am. There's a 20 mile, 40 mile, AND a family (or just hungover) route, so you can take this one at whatever speed you desire. The event is 100% FO' FREE, so bring all your friends if they happen to be up that early and enjoy biking, breakfast tacos, free shirts, and more goodness from the folks behind those fancy bumper stickers. There's even a website with even more information about this program if you're one of those intensely curious types. I'll be sleeping, but y'all have fun!

Keith, you're fucking insane:

Alright everyone. It seems like everybody LOVES a theme ride. Pirates, skeletons, zombies, dance parties, proms... ok, ok I get it. So this Thursday, Social Cycling ATX is putting on it's first theme ride of the year. Everyone get out on their bikes because this week is the THE DENIM RIDE...it's kind of like the ever popular tweed ride... but not really.

WHERE AND WHEN: The Scoot Inn (map:http://tinyurl.com/yk7lqz6). We meet around 7:30 and take off at 8 SHARP-ish.

WHAT: 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)

It's going to be nuts (no pun intended). So you need to be sportin' that denim folks.

HOW: Social Cycling ATX rides AS traffic, not AGAINST it. We stop at all red lights and stay in one lane. We are nice to our fellow riders and all of the other traffic that is sharing the road with us. Helmets are always a good idea, but I will leave that up to you. You are responsible for your own safety on the Thursday Night Social Ride. And please, DRINK RESPONSIBLY. Being drunk and riding can lead to some bad road rash or worse.

WHAT YOU NEED: DENIM, LIGHTS (!!!), a lock, and some tip money for the hard working bartenders that are pouring you free beer at the afterparty. A dollar tip on a free beer is a damn good deal.

Special thanks to my buddy Clif for the killer poster.

The weather is going to be PERFECT, so get your denim on and come ride with us!

Also, we have another new ride leader meeting for those interested in helping lead the ride. Event is listed here: http://tinyurl.com/yfcsrvh

See you and your denim at The Scoot!

-Keith http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1610994666

**this event is sponsored by Social Cycling ATX
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=56122823659

I know all you jorts-wearing hipsters and greaser types shouldn't have a problem coming up with some denim, but I'm gonna have to do some digging for this one. Guess I gotta go hit me up a Savers or something. 7:30pm at The Scoot, and as Keith said if you're interested in being a ride leader on occasion, click this and show up an hour early. BOOM, you indaclub.

So I guess Clarence made a friendly wager about a certain number of facebook fans causing him to wear a helmet for a year. Well, here's the place to become a fan. They're up to almost 100 people and I don't even think the page has been up for a day. From the sound of things he'll wear a helmet for 1 year for EVERY 350 fans, so if this gets over a thousand fans he'll be wearing a helmet through the end of the world. AWESOME.

Doug even provided us with an "artists" rendering of what the aforementioned scenario might look like:

SEXY!

Some of y'all may remember the city passing a Ciclovia resolution late last year, well NOW they're actually doing the planning for it. This Friday (unfortunately during business hours) there's going to be a Ciclovia Planning Meeting where public input is being sought at the ground level of this project. If you've got some time during the day and want to make your input known, here's what you need to know:

AUSTIN CICLOVIA!

Please join myself 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.

We would like to plan an event with your help and invite you to a meeting:

Ciclovia Planning Meeting
March 12, 2010
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
City Hall

Everyone is invited to learn more about ciclovia events and offer ideas and suggestions for an Austin event later this year. Please RSVP to stephanie.mcdonald@ci.austin.tx.us

Here's a collage of a ciclovia type event from Miami, Florida

To view a short film about Ciclovia in Bogota: http://www.streetfilms.org/ciclovia/

Though the concept of the Ciclovia stems from Bogota, Columbia, many other cities around the world have latched onto the concept, shutting down major streets for several hours to automotive traffic, allowing pedestrians, bicycles and other forms of human-powered transportation free reign to the otherwise car-clogged roadways. It's a pretty badass idea and one I'd love to see implemented in Austin. How it's going to happen is up to y'all, so get to the meeting on Friday and represent!

Damn, it's that time again ALREADY?!? Sorry I didn't get this one up sooner, but the BikeHugger folks are in town this coming week for the SXSW Interactive shit, and with them they bring another Mobile Social Ride! Last year was somewhat chaotic, so this time around they've enlisted the help of the Social Cycling ATX folks to be their ride stweards, and with an RSVP list topping 1,800 attendees, this one is gonna be NUTS! Here are the details:

SXSW 2010

* Event: SXSW 2010
* When: March 13, 2010, 2pm-6pm
* Where: Austin, Texas
* Who: SXSW Attendees, Austin Locals, cyclists
* RSVP now at Upcoming or Facebook

Bike Hugger's Mobile Social is a Texas-sized bike culture event. We'll ride around Austin arriving at Mellow Johnnys for a BBQ and Variety Show.

Directions:

2:00 PM Meet at Brush Square Park, across the street from the Convention Center. If you’re not riding, that’s ok, just show up at Mellow Johnnys around 4 PM when all the MoSo magic goes down.

Important Get your wristband from one of us during the ride. You must have a wristband or SXSW badge to get into the party at Mellow Johnnys.

Schwag-a-thon An hour or so into the party, we’ll start the schwag-a-thon prize giveaway. Get a raffle ticket from one of us to win prizes like Crumpler Bags, Hed Wheels, and a Mobile Internet Device.

Food & Beverages We’ll have a BBQ truck at Mellow Johnny’s with specials and keg beer.

There are lots of places to rent bikes in Austin, check the maps at RidetheCity.com/austin for bike shops.

Remember folks, unlike most of the events on this site the Bike Hugger shit is a SERIOUS CYCLIST event, which means when they publish a 2pm start time they mean it! Be at Brush Square Park (5th and Neches) on time, as we rolled in at the last moment for the 2009 ride and nearly got left! Also, MAKE SURE you get a wristband so you can go to the shit afterward. I don't know if they're doing an after-party like they did last time, but if so I'm sure some locals are going to try to crash it again. With NUDITY. I love Austin.

Seriously, this news is everywhere folks. It was announced at 5am on Google's OFFICIAL blog and then it spread like wildfire to all the news outlets. Here are a couple links that'll fill you in on all the details, as I've been sick the past few days and have a lot of real work to catch up on:

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/03/google-maps-for-bikes/

http://www.austin360.com/recreation/austin-bike-routes-coming-to-google-...

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/bicycling_directions_trails_comes_t...

http://www.pcworld.com/article/191152/bike_directions_added_to_google_ma...

FUCK YEAH Google! Though in recent years they may have become the very thing they originally despised, at least now they've given us a decent system of bike directions and trail maps. Thanks guys!

This is a pretty cool sounding opportunity for all you artists, graphics designers, advertising types or just the folks that are good with the photoshops:

Some local folks are putting together a contest called the Austin Bike Poster Show (click for their blog), and they're soliciting poster art from the Austin cycling community. Here are the details and where to send your submissions:

The Austin Bike Poster Show

Objective of Austin Bike Poster Show is to promote cycling for transportation in Austin * No cost to submit a poster * 25 posters will be selected for the show * Entries for show will be based on creativity, appeal, and strength of message * Show artists must supply 30 copies of their poster for sale at the show (posters will be sold for $25) * Panel of three judges will select the winning poster the week of the event * Winning poster will be given to the City's Bicycle and Pedestrian Program to promote cycling in Austin * 18x24 posters will be on display in May (Bike Month) at the gallery in the Frame Corner - 5601 Adams Avenue, located north central Austin off of Burnet Rd. * Show will kick off May 6th with show opening event and run through June 5th. * Part of the proceeds will go toward Lamar Middle School's Safe Routes to School program * To submit, email gif or jpeg of poster to atxbikepostershow@gmail.com

This doesn't sound too bad, and with proceeds going to benefit one of the local middle school's bike program, it's even got a good cause behind it! Got some wacky poster art brewing in that crazy head of yours? Turn that bitch out and send it to the Austin Bike Poster Show!

The awesome people at Fast Folks Cyclery called a Ladies Ride tonight, meeting at the shop around 8pm. If you're one of them ladies you should get in on this.