2024 Mid-Year Update
Ride Like a Girl Ride Leaders Lucie Hanzlik and Teresa Franzke. June 17, 2024. Maxwell Trail. Photo Credit: Dale Daugherty
We are a little over halfway through 2024! The last few months have been busy for our Marketing and Communications Director and he’s been trying to play catch up. How have y’all been? We know it’s hot - and those obnoxious “devils lice” sticker burrs are still covering our socks after our rides - but that doesn’t mean we are slowing down for the summer. In fact, our Ride Like a Girl program is now in full swing, we recently wrapped up our second Advanced and Intermediate Group Ride, and our next movie night is not to be missed! Let’s get all caught up…
“Anytime” Presented by Shimano
Austin Ridge Riders is stoked to host the Austin premiere of “Anytime”, at Austin Film Society Cinema on Thursday, September 5th at 6:30 PM! Tickets will be $12.50 and a portion of the proceeds go to ARR to help us build and maintain awesome single track and organize fun community events! The lobby has a bar and a concession stand. Please plan to arrive early to get checked in and grab your ARR merch and raffle tickets. We will be announcing more information about this as it becomes available. 100% of merch and raffle sales will go to ARR. Shout out to Board Members Brooks Lawson and Dale Daugherty for getting this event set up, and to Anthill and Shimano for supporting it!
Anytime follows the collective ambitions of fifteen of the world’s best male and female freeride mountain bikers across forests, deserts, cities and high-alpine peaks, as they attempt to define the frontiers of their sport.
Yellow Bike Project Workshop
We asked and you answered; a maintenance workshop is something you would appreciate, so we’ve teamed up with Austin Yellow Bike Project to get that going! The topic covered will be modern mountain bike basics. There is a suggested donation of $50 for this three hour workshop, but pay what you can afford. Space is incredibly limited so you will want to register ASAP!
Photo Credit: Deborah Barak
Yellow Bike is a non-profit community bike shop with grassroots origins. We EMPOWER individuals through life changing transportation, by providing workspace and tools, and cultivating enthusiastic community participation to advance our vision. We EDUCATE people wanting to learn about bicycles and bicycle maintenance. We REVIVE bicycles to get them on the streets of Austin and make them available to all.
Thank you to Jonathan Nolte, Pete Wall, and the volunteer mechanics at YBP!
All Signs Point to Bike Park!
Image Credit: City of Austin
Did you take part in any of the three rounds of community input for Bolm District Park? If so, please pat yourself on the back because your voice is the reason why a BIKE PARK and TRAILS are included in the draft proposal for Bolm District Park. You spoke up, the message was loud and clear: our city is aching for a proper venue on par or perhaps even better than “The Railyard” in Rogers, Arkansas. We may get exactly that.
So what do we do now that we have the City’s ear? We speak up, we rally support, we find funding and sponsorships, and we make it clear what we are looking for in a design. We are not talking about the finer details - a contracting company will come up with that - but rather an overall vision that includes hardscape jumps that are virtually maintenance free. A pro line that would allow sponsored events with well-known athletes. We need to push hard for sound abatement berms and walls to keep the noise from Highway 183 at minimum, and shade structures and water at the roll in.
When is all this going to happen? Well, that is harder to answer. The whole park in general is a long-term, relatively massive development. We need to push the enthusiasm for the bike park and prioritize that for Phase 1 of construction. If we can find funding for the facilities, we could perhaps expedite the process. This is of course unknown territory for us and we will learn more towards the end of the year when the City wraps up the initial concept and begins drafting detailed plans and timelines. We ask that the community stays engaged, keep reaching out with ideas and suggestions, and if you have connections to companies or individuals who may want to help fund a public bike park, send them our way.
Thanks to everyone who responded to our call to speak up. It is working!
Ride Like a Girl
Maxwell Trail, June 18, 2024. Photo Credit: Hannah Floyd
Ride Like a Girl continues to grow and our 2024 season - led by the awesome Lara Bridges - is in full swing. We’ve visited Walnut Creek, Maxwell Trails, and South Austin Trail Network so far. Check out this photo gallery from Maxwell Trails! We are currently seeking ride leaders and sweeps for our South Austin RLAG events, so if that is something you are interested in please contact Lara! You can view the full season schedule here.
2024 Group Ride Schedule
Abel Pardo and Lara Bridges finished up the majority of our group ride schedule for the remainder of 2024! We still have a some advanced level rides and perhaps a clinic to add to the calendar once fall rolls in, but you can now plan ahead! Alternate Sunday rides, Monthly Saturday rides, and the Ride Like a Girl season dates are live on our Meetup group.
A quick word about group rides… Please be sure to RSVP to the Meetup event. Weather in Texas can change trail status overnight and if you RSVP with an accurate email address, you will get a heads up if we need to cancel at the last minute.
ARR Merch!
Pro MTB model and Lakeway City Councilmember Matt Sherman shows off our jersey designed by Rodeo MTB. Photo credit: Alex Murray
Jerseys have been ordered and we should have them in time for our movie night in September! The ARR Jerseys are an inverted design of our blue and white Ride Leader jerseys. These were designed by Rodeo MTB here in Austin! You will be able to purchase online soon for pickup at Sunday morning rides, or in person at some events. Hats are currently in design and we hope to have both Trail Crew and ARR Logo hats for the movie night.
Welcome New Members!
Please help us welcome the following members who joined in May and June:
Carli Davidson, Ned Frost, Pankaj Koppella, Elizabeth Passmore, Victor Perez, Victor Perez, William Rader, Thomas Tomazin, Stacey Ybarra, Radu Dan Almasan, Aycin Aykutalp, Derek Bach, Ryan Becker, Jennifer Bullion, Megan Fitzgerald, Jake Hebert, Basia Orlowska, Riki Shah
Membership helps us build trails and community right here in Austin! You can join for as little as $5 per month or $39 per year. For more information about joining, click here.
Media Roundup
Here’s some photos taken by our members and ride leaders over the last few months!
