I Bike Richardson | Bike Friendly Richardson

December 14, 2012 • 12:33 am 1

I Bike Richardson – Kay Loving

It’s time for another installment of the I Bike Richardson series, where we put a face on Richardson cyclists. We’d like to introduce Kay Loving. She took the time to answer a few questions about biking. Enjoy:

Name:
Kay Loving

How long have you been riding?
Couple of years now.

How often do you ride?
As often as possible.

What’s your favorite route?
We like riding White Rock and the trails across Campbell to the golf course.

Why do you cycle?
We ride to keep in shape as much as possible and to train for the MS150. We also ride with our kids. Our 10 year old rode the Wildride 40 mile route with us this year. And yes he finished. Our 5 year old rode 10 miles this past weekend at White Rock with us…and no whining at all…lol

What is your perspective on riding – in general or in Richardson?
A great way to stay in shape with my bad back, I am limited on physical activities, but riding works out for me. We get quality family time and fun all in one shot.

Tell us about your bikes.
I ride a TREK road bike, my partner has a Specialized road bike, our 10 year old has a FUJI Ace.

We want to thank Kay, for sharing her perspective on Richardson cyling.

We’d also like to extend an invitation to any cyclist who lives and/or rides in Richardson to share their story as well. You can either answer the questions (above) or send in a story – along with some pics to bikefriendlyrichardson(at)gmail.com.

Filed under: I Bike Richardson, I Bike Richardson, Kay Loving, Local Bike Riders

December 7, 2012 • 6:47 pm 3

I Bike Richardson – Sarah Townsend (with Richard, Eleanor, and Gabriel)

It’s time for another installment of the I Bike Richardson series, where we put a face on Richardson cyclists. We’d like to introduce Sarah Townsend. She took the time to answer a few questions about biking. Enjoy:

Name:
Sarah Townsend (with Richard, Eleanor, and Gabriel)

How long have you been riding?
We’ve always cycled casually, but I would say we started developing our current habits within the last year. We added the cargo bike to our family last summer, which really opened up our options since we always have two little kids and all their kid stuff to haul.

How often do you ride?
We ride about 5 days a week: to preschool, ballet class, the store, the park, friends’ and neighbors’ houses, restaurants. Basically anywhere in about the 3 mile or less range without a good reason to take a car. Our bike will haul 400lbs plus the rider, so there’ rarely a good reason to take a car. Except rush hour. I really don’t like rush hour.

Oh! And we recently went on a “bike date” to the new Studio Movie Grill on Spring Valley. We looked awesome and had a great time.

What’s your favorite route?
I have a soft spot for our route to Eleanor’s preschool, because it’s the first real car-replacement route we picked up. We take Dumont west (yikes! we’ll be so glad when it’s repaved!), then catch a bit of trail, back into the neighborhoods to end up at Hillcrest and Arapho.

Last week we explored a lot of new trails (new to us) and were pretty blown away! We traveled from Richardson Heights down to the Barnes and Noble at Preston/Royal, mostly via the trail system. It was a terrific ride except for some awkwardness at Forest, but I think we know how to handle it better next time. The fall colors were gorgeous and it gave us a whole new perspective on a part of Dallas we’ve driven around countless times.

Why do you cycle?
I cycle (in order):
1. For my happiness
2. For my kids’ happiness
4. For community
5. For the planet
6. For my wallet

What is your perspective on riding – in general or in Richardson?
I love that people wave at us. When was the last time someone waved at you in a car?

I love that we have become more connected to our immediate community and have made new friends.

I love being out of the car.

I love the interesting conversations we have with people, ranging from “that’s so awesome! Where can I get a bike like that!” to some version of “that’s really weird and definitely not safe. Why would you do that?”

I love that my daughter thought it was reasonable to suggest that we take our bike to make a trip to IKEA. (In Frisco. For furniture. She’s ambitious.)

Tell us about your bikes.
We currently have 5 bikes. In order of importance:

1. The Yuba. Love love love this bike. It really opened up a whole world to us after we tried pulling the kids in a trailer and my son completely lost it and disassembled his helmet. It takes us everywhere and in a pinch can carry our entire family. It’s bright orange and built like a tank, and carries one kid on the front and one kid on the back. You may have seen us around town and thought to yourself “what the heck?!”

2. Maximus. Purple awesomeness with 16″ wheels and Eleanor’s biggest triumph over her parents to date. Eleanor: Mommy, I want a new bike. Me: sure, you can have a new bike when you learn to ride with no training wheels (I’m thinking, haha, she’s 3, I just bought myself atleast 2 years). Eleanor promptly learned to ride without training wheels a week later and off we went to Richardson Bike Mart and came home with Maximus.

3. Nameless yellow bike with 12″ wheels, happily inherited by Gabriel.

4. Hand me down Trek something for Richard when he’s not on Yuba duty

5. Eggplant Townie for me when I’m not on Yuba duty.

We want to thank Sarah, for sharing her perspective on Richardson cyling.

Filed under: I Bike Richardson, I Bike Richardson, Local Bike Riders, Sarah Townsend

June 22, 2012 • 8:06 am 1

I Bike Richardson – Bethel Strong

It’s time for another installment of the I Bike Richardson series, where we put a face on Richardson cyclists. We’d like to introduce Bethel Strong. He took the time to answer a few questions about biking. Enjoy:

Name:
Bethel Strong
takeabike.net

How long have you been riding?
I rode a long time ago. Was running in marathons and half marathons. Had to stop about a year and a half ago due to knee problems. So, I started road cycling again. Loving it more than ever.

How often do you ride?
I do not commute. I’m in Sales so I can’t. I do ride nearly every day. I ride it for errands as much as possible.

What’s your favorite route?
I ride mostly around Forney where I live, but I also like to ride around White Rock Lake.

Why do you cycle?
I ride mostly for the fun and exercise. I try to promote healthy living and exercise. I’m not a big or overweight person, but I try to get people into cycling or any kind of exercise. What ever it may be.

Live by example. I ride in many endurance rides all over. I’m riding in the 2012 Ride the Rockies in June. I ride in the Hotter ‘N Hell 100 in wichita Falls. Tour de Cure rides and te LIVESTRONG ride in Austin.

What is your perspective on riding – in general or in Richardson?
Riding has greatly effected my life. I had a recent visit to the doctor and got for the first time 100% good marks on my entire blood test along with lowering my blood pressure. I have sever asthma and I have always battled it and always will.

Richardson seems to be more bike friendly than other places around.

Tell us about your bikes.
I own 4 bikes.
I ride
Specialized Roubaix Comp, Road Bike
Specialized Allez Sport, Road Bike
Trek PDX Hybrid for fun casual riding
Wife rides a Trek FX 7.1
I will follow up with pictures
@Takeabike (Twitter)
Bethel Strong (FaceBook)

We want to thank Bethel, for sharing his perspective on Richardson cyling.

Filed under: I Bike Richardson, Bethel Strong, I Bike Richardson, Local Bike Riders

May 30, 2012 • 8:17 am 1

I Bike Richardson – Bryan Lindsey

It’s time for another installment of the I Bike Richardson series, where we put a face on Richardson cyclists. We’d like to introduce Bryan Lindsey. He took the time to answer a few questions about biking. Enjoy:

Name:
Bryan Lindsey
literaturewithlindsey.com

How long have you been riding?
I’ve been riding a bike as an adult for the last seven years.

How often do you ride?
My commute is the Holy Trinity of environmental responsibility. I ride my bike to the train station every day, take the train downtown, and then walk to my building. After work, I do it all again in reverse.

What’s your favorite route?
I avoid Campbell on my daily trip to Galatyn Station by skipping through a couple of neighborhoods, and then taking Owens north of the trail toward Lookout Park. From there, I hit the sad excuse for a bike lane on Lookout past the Owens Farm and then into the business parks around Galatyn. That’s not my favorite route; it’s just my most practical commute. For sheer kicks, I could ride the paths around the Galatyn Park nature area all day long.

Why do you cycle?
It started when I needed to get into shape, and my doctor told me to find a kind of exercise that I thought was fun. At the time, the only exercise I remembered enjoying was riding my bike as a kid, so that’s what I went with. I still ride for exercise and fun, but once I learned that it was something that I could do, then it seemed like kind of an ethical responsibility to do it as often as possible. As a matter of fact, that’s also exactly how I became a vegetarian.

What is your perspective on riding – in general or in Richardson?
The presence of all of the race clubs from Planet Spandex and the RBM retail monolith don’t hurt, but cycling in Richardson is great because of advocacy and awareness groups like, say, this one. I commuted by bike from Lower Greenville into Oak Cliff for a couple of years, and the culture of cyclists that has developed in Richardson is friendlier and more laid back than a lot of what I encountered in those neighborhoods. The same is true of the traffic. You can find jerks in cars everywhere, just like you can find jerks on bikes everywhere. Richardson just seems to have fewer of both.

Tell us about your bikes.
My daily mount is an early-90′s Schwinn High Plains, held together mostly by stickers and zip ties. She’s not the Prom Queen, but you probably wouldn’t leave the Prom Queen locked up at the train station all day either; that’s between you and CSI SVU. In other news, I also have a six-year-old Marin hard tail mountain bike, though it’s been way too long since I’ve been on the trails.

The Next Generation of Lindsey Cyclists

We want to thank Bryan, for sharing his perspective on Richardson cyling.

Filed under: I Bike Richardson, Bryan Lindsey, I Bike Richardson, Local Bike Riders

May 24, 2012 • 5:18 am 1

I Bike Richardson – Bethany Sauls

It’s time for another installment of the I Bike Richardson series, where we put a face on Richardson cyclists. We’d like to introduce Bethany Sauls. She took the time to answer a few questions about biking. Enjoy:

Name:
Bethany Sauls

How long have you been riding?
I have been riding for 5 years. I got into a car accident back then and realized how scary cars are. When I ride I am alert, aware, appreciative, and more alive than I ever was behind the wheel.

How often do you ride?
I ride everyday. My bike (chi chi) is my transportation. If I need to go somewhere I have to make sure my body wants to go to, haha.

What’s your favorite route?
I just moved here so I’m still figuring that out.

Why do you cycle?
I bicycle because I love it. It’s cheap. It’s keeps oxygen pumping through me. It wakes me up. I can’t hurt anybody with it. Ultimately though, it helps keep me grounded. When your’e surrounded by nature or cars you realize not only how beautiful things are around you but how utterly mortal you are. It’s good to be humbled like that.

What is your perspective on riding – in general or in Richardson?
Drivers still seem a bit uncomfortable with the idea of sharing the road with me but they usually are overly cautious which I can appreciate.

Tell us about your bikes.
I have one. She’s an old ladies schwinn. She whines a lot but is determined just like me. haha.

We want to thank Bethany, for sharing her perspective on Richardson cyling.

Filed under: I Bike Richardson, Bethany Sauls, I Bike Richardson, Local Bike Riders

May 7, 2012 • 5:24 am 1

I Bike Richardson – Warren Casteel

It’s time for another installment of the I Bike Richardson series, where we put a face on Richardson cyclists. We’d like to introduce our friend and BikeDFW advocate Warren Casteel. He took the time to answer a few questions about biking. Enjoy:

Name:
Warren Casteel

How long have you been riding?
I biked as a kid, doing paper routes, etc. It was my primary transportation. Then I biked in college for the first two (2) years out of necessity. Upon turning 40 I decided I needed some exercise. I have been seriously biking for the past 19 years, and dearly love it.

How often do you ride?
I commute — need to do this more. I rarely run to the store, except for the bike shop! I am a weekend warrior also, riding primarily with PBA or DATES, the tandem club.

What’s your favorite route?
My favorite routes are out in the coutry away from the bustle and traffic. Out to Blue Ridge and Celina are good options. Even more, I like riding in the Clarksville area and their 5 day ride in June. I can ride 30 miles with one (1) stop sign and a half dozen very polite cars!

In town I love the trails.

Why do you cycle?
Fun, exercise, social interaction, to establish bicycling as a significant alternative transportation mode, and work with governmental and private entities to make this a reality.

What is your perspective on riding – in general or in Richardson?
Richardson has always been bike freindly, but is now getting more serious about the bicycle as transportation.

Tell us about your bikes.
You don’t want the list! My wife and I own 15 bicycles. Favorite changes depending on where i am going and what I am doing!

We want to thank Warren, for sharing his perspective on Richardson cyling.

Filed under: I Bike Richardson, I Bike Richardson, Local Bike Riders, Warren Casteel

December 27, 2011 • 7:08 am 2

I Bike Richardson – Jonathan Guzman

It’s time for another installment of the I Bike Richardson series, where we put a face on Richardson cyclists. We’d like to introduce, Jonathan Guzman. He took the time to answer a few questions about biking. Enjoy:

Name:
Jonathan Guzman
http://johny-doityourself.blogspot.com/

How long have you been riding?
Since I was a kid, I have always ridden a bike. After high school, I started college, most of my friends drove a car and I put riding a bike on hold for a few years. I became and avid runner instead. I starting getting runner’s knee around 2007, that’s when I picked up my first road bike. I have been hooked since.

How often do you ride?
I ride my bike every week. I have different disciplines of riding that keep me in shape even though I don’t commute by bicycle regularly. My rides consist of long road rides into the countryside or off road adventures by mountain bike. On a given week I average around 50 miles on my bicycle.

What’s your favorite route?
The best riding is around DFW airport and the surrounding cities, because it is real easy to route safe rides in that area. I also enjoy the stretch of roads in Sunnyvale from highway 30 to highway 80. White Rock Lake trail is a great route to get in shape and the trail around the lake itself is beautiful. Here are some links of some of the rides that I have done.

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/61060190
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/60952180

Why do you cycle?
I ride for the fun and the exercise, but I don’t undermine the more profound impact cycling has had on me and other people. Texas has the top 10 most obese cities in the United States. Not surprisingly the bicycle infrastructure system is in it’s infancy. I think people who adopt this lifestyle of being regular cyclists are standing up against the stigmas and stereotypes others might have about people in Texas. If enough people start riding and demanding more respect for their rights as cyclists, Dallas would be more like Berlin or Amsterdam if given a chance.

What is your perspective on riding – in general or in Richardson?
Cycling renews the spirit. It reduces stress levels and improves circulation. It is a great tool for people who have depression issues and bouts with obesity. It is an overall health improver.

Richardson has something other cities as a whole in DFW have yet to adopt. They have a bicycle system of trails and bikeways through residential and business areas, not just through parks. This makes it more useful for commuting my bicycle as well as for recreation. Richardson has not been shy about bicycle lane development and transit oriented development. I think that impacts the cities’ image in a positive way.

Tell us about your bikes.
Too many for one person. I won’t say the number because it’s a little embarrassing. I have classic old bikes and new bikes. Mountain bikes and road bikes. My favorite bike is still the first road bike that got me back into cycling. Even though I have nicer bikes I continue to log thousands of miles on this bike. It’s a 2007 Raleigh Sport road bike.

We want to thank Jonathan, for sharing his perspective on Richardson cyling.

Filed under: I Bike Richardson, I Bike Richardson, Jonathan Guzman, Local Bike Riders

November 30, 2011 • 6:42 am 2

I Bike Richardson – Mike Freiberger

It’s time for another installment of the I Bike Richardson series, where we put a face on Richardson cyclists. We’d like to introduce, Mike Freiberger. He took the time to answer a few questions about biking. Enjoy:

Name:
Mike Freiberger
dorba.org: commie-forum

How long have you been riding?
I moved to Allen in 2003 and wanted to bicycle commute to the Richardson office, but never could find a route I was comfortable riding. In Spring 2007, I talked to a coworker (thanks Bob M!) here at the Verizon Richardson campus, and we sorted out a route for my bicycle commute. Since January 2008, I’ve logged over 12,000 miles bicycle commuting, most of them riding Allen/Plano/Richardson and back. Before that, I was a mountain bicyclist and commuter during my college days, and still enjoy mountain bike riding Erwin Park and Rowlett Creek Preserve.

How often do you ride?
I commute to work 3-5 times a week and telecommute the other days. On nice Sundays, my family and I commute to Mass. Cycle errands include all sorts of grocery, donuts, sporting activities, and parks trips. If I can ride there, I do, however sometimes the wife is not so enthusiastic. In those cases, I don’t push it because I love her, and I want her to be happy (and don’t want to be a buzz kill for when she truly does like commuting by bicycle). Sometimes a car is the best tool for a trip, and that includes when it helps to not provoke a family issue. As mentioned earlier, I like to get out and mountain bike when I can.

What’s your favorite route?
Sherrill Park and Lookout Drive are awesome because of the low motor vehicle traffic, yet bikes can go directly East/West with no problems all the way from US75 to Garland! And that new Spring Creek Nature Preserve trail is a best-of-class kind of facility. I expect that kind of thing in Boulder, CO, or Portland, OR. Richardson hit a home-run with that thing. And when Plano connects their trail system to it, LOOK OUT.

Why do you cycle?
I cycle for all of the reasons and one more: I’m a jerk when I don’t ride. I need the outlet, or those around me suffer.

What is your perspective on riding – in general or in Richardson?

I like the way the world looks from my bicycle, thus being on it makes life better.

My part of Richardson is great to ride because there’s so much bicycle infrastructure around Telecom Corridor. You have Spring Creek Nature Preserve to the North and West, Sherrill Park/Lookout to the East, the DART trail to the South. My coworkers can’t understand why I ride my bicycle to work: I can’t understand with all of the MUPs around here why they don’t! Even if you just ride your bicycle to the Parker Road station and take the Red Line down here, what an amazing improvement to your commute! Just say no to sitting in traffic on US75 (talk about a drug with an awful side-effect!)

Tell us about your bikes.
I own one less bicycle than it would take for me to be divorced. With a family of seven, you can imagine that there might be a bicycle or two in my garage….

We want to thank Mike, for sharing his perspective on Richardson cyling.

Filed under: I Bike Richardson, I Bike Richardson, Local Bike Riders, Mike Freiberger

September 5, 2011 • 6:02 am 7

I Bike Richardson – Stephen Hazelton

It’s time for another installment of the I Bike Richardson series, where we put a face on Richardson cyclists. We’d like to introduce, Stephen Hazelton. He took the time to answer a few questions about biking. Enjoy:

Name:
Stephen Hazelton

How long have you been riding?
Five years. I rode when I was a kid, but hadn’t really done much riding since High School.

How often do you ride?
More or less daily. I’ve been riding Greater Dallas Bicyclists Tuesday-Thursday rides at Poteet High School, ride randonneuring rides on weekends, and just ride my daily route or out to White Rock Lake otherwise.

What’s your favorite route?
The most common route, not necessarily the favorite, is out East Fork Road down through Sunnyvale, continuing on around the airport if desired. On occasion, I’ll take Dallas Bike Route 280 down to White Rock Lake, and on weekends, have been doing randonneuring rides. I’ve done quite a few charity rides in the past, too.

Why do you cycle?
I started off bicycling to lose weight, now I’m trying to lose weight to bicycle better. It’s been loads of fun. The last two years, I’ve been doing randonneuring rides, and having a blast.

What is your perspective on riding – in general or in Richardson?
I’m not in Richardson, I just pass through on occasion, and have been over specifically for some of the rides in the area. But I ride in quite a few areas. I live in Garland, and my daily rides take me into Mesquite, Sunnyvale, or Dallas most commonly. A lot of the randonneuring rides start well out out of the Metroplex. A while back, I was counting up how many Texas counties I had ridden in, and I think it was over 60. I’m too busy riding to advocate riding, if that makes sense, and a lot of the people I ride are pretty similar in that respect.

Tell us about your bikes.
I started on a $100 Academy mountain bike, which both wore out and was stolen after a year. I rode a Worksman cruiser for a couple of years and still have it. Most recently, I’ve been riding a Raleigh Sojourn on the longer distance rides. I’ve also got a cargo tricyle, several unicycles, and a couple of other old bikes. At some point, I’d like to upgrade to something a bit lighter than the Sojourn, but have no immediate plans to do so.

We want to thank Stephen, for sharing his perspective on Richardson cyling.

Filed under: I Bike Richardson, I Bike Richardson, Local Bike Riders, Stephen Hazelton

August 20, 2011 • 9:29 am 1

I Bike Richardson – Jason Sprouse

It’s time for another installment of the I Bike Richardson series, where we put a face on Richardson cyclists. We’d like to introduce, Jason Sprouse. He took the time to answer a few questions about biking. Enjoy:

Name:
Jason Sprouse

Website:
www.y8design.us

How long have you been riding?
I’ve been biking for about two years now.

How often do you ride?
Everyday, for fun and commute.

What’s your favorite route?
I really like being able to jump on the DART rail and going to different trails near the DART service areas. There are so many great trails all over the place, but one of my favorites is definitely Gatalyn Park. I’ve ridden many trails all over Richardson. Another one of my favorite routes is the Cottonwood Trail down throught the High Five corridor and out towards White Rock lake.

Why do you cycle?
I bike for exercise mainly, but it’s fun slowing it down a bit and learning about all the natural ammenities in the DFW area.

What is your perspective on riding – in general or in Richardson?
Richardson has some of the best bike paths in Dallas. There’s really alot of really cool places to see.

Tell us about your bikes.
Trek 7300 and before that I had a Trek 3900.

We want to thank Jason, for sharing his perspective on Richardson cyling.

Filed under: I Bike Richardson, I Bike Richardson, Jason Sprouse, Local Bike Riders