Halloween Weekend Is An Epic Time For Cyclists In Houston

This weekend is shaping up to be an epic weekend.  Critical Mass is on Halloween night and that has to be a blast.  The next day we have the HTX Bike Fest and Bayou City Racing Cyclocross at Spotts Park in the Heights.  And Sunday has Sunday Streets

I hate to admit it but I'll be trick-or-treating with the kids and will miss Critical Mass. Thousands of people riding their bikes through Houston while in costume!  Now that they have smoothed out the issues with the police, and the route, I am sure it will be an epic good time.




I am really looking forward to HTX Bike Fest.  It is an all day bike festival at Market Square Park Downtown.  They will have bike vendors with booths and demos.  In particular I am looking forward to seeing the BMX stunts and watching my kids see the BMXers work ramps for the first time.  I'm guessing there will be some blown young minds.

Also on Saturday is a cyclocross race with a total of $1,200 in prize money.

Sunday is the 4th Sunday Streets festival.  Here is a guide to Sunday's festival.

HTX Bike Fest 2014 Commercial

Love this video made to promote the HTX Bike Festival this Saturday November 1st.

Bike Lanes Don't Increase Passing Distance

Bicycling Magazine's blog has an interesting story on a study conducted in the UK showing that bike lanes don't cause motorists to increase their passing distance.  This is something I think many bicyclists feel intuitively.  Often times I feel the only value bike lanes offer is after a crash.  If my bits and pieces are in a dedicated bike lane the driver won't be able to say they couldn't avoid me.  The take away for riders is, even if you are in a bike loan you need to be aware of your surroundings and aware of traffic.