Advocacy & Safety - Fattest City has bike ride - free beer and tacos

I don't know if this is good or bad.

"Registered participants were treated to free beer, tacos...the event should help the city shake the dubious label of "America's Fattest City" bestowed by Men's Fitness Magazine... Like most Houston commuters, Mary Fordham rarely has time to enjoy the city's historic neighborhoods as she drives through town..."I like to do urban rides, but it's hard to do them without these events because you have to worry about traffic."..."I think this proves there's a lot of bicyclists in the city," said Cheryl Hensley, a board member of the bicycling advocacy group Bike Houston who finished the 40-mile trip. "There's a big need for improving off-road bicycling paths in the city"

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/metropolitan/3093659

Darn, and to think, I skipped this 40 mile ride to do my March century ride.....

Had I known I could have skipped the last 65 miles of my ride and pigged out on tacos and beer, I would have been there..... :rolleyes:

PC

I rode in this ride and it wasnt that bad... would have been nice if there was longer routes to take. I will say that the security and safety was great. I have never seen so many cops directing traffic at an organized ride before. It was a nice warm up for the tour de cypress i did on sunday. The TDH was suppose to be 40 miles and was only 35 and the TDC was suppose to 63 and ended up being 72... either way i got to ride on streets i would usually fear for my life on.... The only people eating those tacos were people who had patience... the lines were so long... the beer was Michelob, who drinks this crap anyway....

Looks like you lost your title. (http://www.accessnorthga.com/news/ap_newfullstory.asp?ID=28341)


The number following the city name is last years ranking for fattest cities:

1. Detroit (last year ranked 3rd)

2. Houston (1)

3. Dallas (9)

4. San Antonio (13)

5. Chicago (2)

6. Fort Worth (16)

7. Philadelphia (4)

8. Arlington, Virginia (not listed last year)

9. Cleveland, Ohio (6)

10. Columbus, Ohio (8)

11. Atlanta (7)

12. Mesa, Arizona (19)

13. Oklahoma City (23)

14. Kansas City (22)

15. Miami (24)

16. Las Vegas (18)

17. Indianapolis (12)

18. Phoenix (14)

19. Tulsa, Oklahoma (not listed last year)

20. Memphis, Tennessee (not listed last year)

21. New York (15)

22. New Orleans (11)

23. Baltimore (20)

24. El Paso, Texas (17)

25. Washington D.C. (same/25)

still, beer after the ride - good for the drive home-? Roads too dangerous - all those beer drinking cyclists?

Sheldon Brown had a good article on charity rides

http://www.sheldonbrown.com/thons.html

*Altough "thons" do get people out on their bikes, and maybe even bring some people into cycling in a serious way, I believe that they send a message that cycling is a painful, unpleasant chore that you should do because it is good for you, or because it benefits some charitable organization. Too many well-meaning people sign up for a long pledge ride without an adequate mileage base, with substandard cycling skills and equipment. These people will "learn" that bicycling is about pain and exhaustion, saddle sores and sunburn, aching knees and stiff necks.

An experience like this can turn a potential cyclist off for life. They may still ride an occasional pledge ride, as a masochistic exercise in self denial, or because of dedication to the cause, or because they are so proud of surviving the ordeal. They will likely never discover the simple joy of going for a nice bike ride and not coming home a physical wreck.*

Baltimore way down the list...we just pleasingly plump......

I didn't make the TDH this year but will definitely be there next year -- especially after hearing about the free beer and tacos. I love charity rides -- in fact, it was entering one that really got me into biking.

Maybe it's my imagination



"There's a big need for improving off-road bicycling paths in the city"


Has any other of you Houston cyclists noticed this trend of trying to get cyclist off roads and on off road trails? Seems I remember The Comical qoating Mayor White saying something like this. Pissed off a bunch of cyclist that voted for him because he is supposedly a cyclist.

[QUOTE=closetbiker]still, beer after the ride - good for the drive home-? Roads too dangerous - all those beer drinking cyclists?

What????? We've got a local drive in establishment (actually 2) here where you can drive on up and the waitress brings the beer in a frosty mug right to your truck (Texas, remember) window. You don't even have to leave the vehicle unless you need to take a leak. It's great! :)

still, beer after the ride - good for the drive home-? Roads too dangerous - all those beer drinking cyclists?


Ok, CB, you and I have clashed before, but I think we've put that behind us. I'd comment on this no matter who posted, so don't take it personal. In SoCal, nearly evert MTB group ride I went on (weekly rides, not charity rides) ended at a Mexican restaurant. If it was Baja Fresh, no beer. But any other restaurant that served alcohol, most riders had a beer or margarita. I don't think anyone ever had a 2nd drink though. Just an observation.

On the other side of the coin, (and globe) when I ride with Aussies, who are known for their love of a good drink, we usually stop for a cuppa, which is either coffee, tea, or hot cocoa. Go figure.

It was a pretty good ride, for their first try. They could have had a lot of experienced help from the Lone Star MS Society, which puts on the biggest charity bike ride in North America, but did not call them in until very late. The organizers were stunned but the turn-out, which was far larger than they had even hoped for, so they ran out of everything.

I rode as a ride marshal, and with several friends, including one of the head ride marshals for the MS Society, and had a blast. Never got to run so many red lights with the police watching in my life. We missed our turn after stopping to help a guy with a mechanical catch a SAG. A cop car pulled up along side of us to tell us. He then u-turned, hit the lights & siren, and we drafted him back to the turn! My friend's 9 year old was on the back of the tandem, and I told him this would be something to remember!

And at least it was light beer and chicken tacos.

It was a fun ride. My wife and I did it just to get the chance to ride in the city. We live in Cypress so it was a nice change of pace from deserted country roads. I heard that they had 1300 preregistered riders and another 1000 showed up the day of the event. It was interesting riding in the River Oaks area (multi milliion $ homes) and then into the poorer areas east of downtown. There were so many kids in the poorer areas outside cheering everybody on. They seemed to be enjoying it as much as we were.

I see the possibility of this ride to become huge over the next few years. They will need to do a better job of traffic enforcement. This year they did a pretty good job of getting us around and through lights but I could not believe that we were taking up as many lanes as we did. On Holcombe all three lanes were filled with bikes and cars were sandwiched in and getting pretty frustrated. It seemed as if some cyclist thought that they had a closed course.

The route also took us along some of the worst bike lanes I had ever seen. The bike lane was maybe 3' wide with trash and gravel extending out past the bike lane into the regular traffic lanes. No wonder no one uses them.

I doubt that this will be a ride we do every year because there are so many choices this time of year but I am sure we will do it again.

Ok, CB, you and I have clashed before, but I think we've put that behind us. I'd comment on this no matter who posted, so don't take it personal.

Hey, we just disagreed one one subject, and no couples' perfect, right?

Even Raiyn and I have agreed at least 4 times. We have the same problem as you and I.

free beer and Taco's? Isn't that ow these people became fat to start with? This doesn't make any sense, I mean if they want people to lose weight they why serve beer and taco's? Forget about riding to lose weight if after they are finished riding they will just put it back on anyway.

One reason I ride is so that I can eat more tacos!

Also, why do any of you even think that chicken tacos are a poor nutritional choice? They have whole grain, protein, fiber, veggies, not so much saturated fat. All in all, a good choice, I'd say.

I don't drink, so I don't know a lot about beer, but a lot of people here say it's better post-exercize than gatorade!

Houston's lucky to have a pro-cycling city gov't.

9. Cleveland, Ohio (6)

Wohoo!...We're number 9!!...We're number 9!!!!

IN YOUR FACE COLUMBUS!!!!

Houston's title as "Fattest City" is something a magazine made up. A fiction. I've been to Flint, Michigan, where the majority of adults are fat. Really, really fat. Houston will never be in Flint's league.

Houston adults tend to fall into two groups: folks who obsess about fitness and being slim. And, folks who know where the nearest buffet is located.

The "obsessed" folks are amazing. I have ridden my bike past "24 Hour Fitness" at midnight, and the place is packed. And, when I ride my bike at 5 a.m. in the summer, I am dodging joggers constantly. Thousands of runners will turn up on the Memorial Park jogging trails before dawn.

People's weight in Houston seems to reflect income. When I ride through River Oaks, and look at the ten million dollar homes, the joggers are very slim, too slim, whether they are young or old. When I ride through the working-class east side neighborhoods, most forty year old men are very large, and sometimes their wives are larger.

And, this divide extends to kids. In wealthy areas, I see slender eight year old boys and girls out on the soccer fields, wearing their expensive "official" uniform. On the east side, I see eight year olds so heavy that they are wheezing as they waddle into McDonalds.

I try to compromise between the two extremes. I ride my bike to the buffet, allowing me to be both semi-fit, and semi-plump.

When asked about his after workout eating regimen, Arnold Schwartzenneger used to say that he drank a pitcher of beer and ate a whole chicken. On another occasion he is quoted as saying "milk is for babies. Real men drink beer."

Heck, if it's good for the oak......good enough for puny ole me!

Wohoo!...We're number 9!!...We're number 9!!!!

IN YOUR FACE COLUMBUS!!!!

LOL !

anybody who's against Free Beer and Tacos is un-American.

Any taco-haters better step outside now, 'cause I'ma kick your ass.

El Cabron

anybody who's against Free Beer and Tacos is un-American.

Any taco-haters better step outside now, 'cause I'ma kick your ass.

El Cabron

Taco's OK, beer and driving, I don't know

Taco's OK, beer and driving, I don't know

cool, bro.

Nice bass avatar, by the way.

El Cabron

Nice bass avatar, by the way.

Those were the days.

Has it been almost 30 years?