Tweed Ride Meeting Point: St. Pete’s

Slap on your tweed and join us at St. Pete’s Dancing Marlin for a quick pint before we roll down to the Grassy Knoll for the Tweet ride meet up.

2:30pm this Sunday at Petes. Cheerio!

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Friday Morning Blowout

Friday, the end of the week. They day we all look forward to most. The day we do the least amount of work and usually, the day of the week that we show up to work recovering from a Thursday night bender.

This Friday was no different. After waking up from to my emergency alarm, I stumbled out of bed into the shower. “What is this taste?” I wondered. Oh ya, it was the reminder that “beer before liquor, never been sicker” actually holds some water. And while I did hold everything down last night, I was feeling the consequences. Snapped into my compression tights and shirt, I pedal out to the train station with the frigid, 42 degree autumn cold hitting my face. Once on the train I promptly fell asleep.

Now I do have an alarm set to wake me up before my stop. It’s set at the exact time the train is supposed to stop at the location BEFORE my stop. Which gives me about 4-5 minutes to clean up any sleep-drool from my chin before the train hits my stop in Richland Hills. Well, it also gives me about 4-5 minutes to fall back asleep. Which is exactly what happened.

Waking up, seeing the train doors start to close at your destination is frightening. An instant panic sets in. Can you pull a super-quick Jackie Chan move, gather your bag, helmet and bike and slip out the door before the train starts moving? The answer is no, no you can’t.  Welcome to Fort Worth, sleepy head!

So, pop quiz hot shot: Downtown is eight miles from Loop 820 (where I work).  You’ve got 20 minutes to be there on time and the next train doesn’t arrive for another 40 minutes. Do you wait for the train? Or do you hop on your two wheels and muster up the gusto to throw down 8 miles in 50 degree weather wearing your work clothes.

Gotta man up.

So I start pedaling, through downtown, through some projects, and over the Trinity with the sun is rising directly in my eyes. I even see another commuter go by – how cool! And Google Maps has me biking down the access road of highway 121 as the fastest route.  And while I wasn’t afraid of the cars on the access road, I didn’t even think about the conditions of the road.

About a mile into my access road foray, everything’s going great until POP! SSSZZZZZZZ… My tire blows out.

Are you freaking serious! Another blown tire! I just  bought new wheels, new tubes, and new tires so this wouldn’t happen! Now what am I going to do? With no spare tube, no patch kit, all in the freezing cold, I start walking. What else can I do? Oh yeah, let’s call Emily (co-worker) – who happens to also be running late to work.

After walking a mile, and giving directions to a distracted Emily, we meet up to put my bike in her trunk. As I put the bike in the trunk, I check the tire to see if I can find the wound that foiled my epic ride to work.

This is what I found.

A rusty old nail that punctured not only my tube, but went straight through my rubber tire as well. After, waking up drunk, sleeping through my train stop, biking in 45 degree weather, blowing a flat and having to walk in the very same weather, I can take away one thing:

I am 100% buying a saddle bag to hold a spare tire and patch kit.

Dig Deep: Bike and Brunch

Fall is in full swing and biking around Deep Ellum is spectacular. The only problem is it can be a little cramped sometimes. Let BFDE work you out.

Enter, Dig Deep. A bike and brunch designed to stretch and workout the legs before football on Sunday. So put on your workout gear, grab your water, and prepare to dig as you and fellow Deep Ellum cyclists speed to, around and back from White Rock Lake. And to top it off, we’ll finish the ride at La Grange for some brunch and mimosas. Scrum-diddley-umptious!

Where: Meet at La Grange
When: Sunday, November 7, 10 AM
What: A ride intended for people who want to bike faster, longer.
Where are we going? Bike to and around White Rock Lake, back in time for brunch at La Grange.
I’m not sure if I’m fast enough to participate: We don’t have spandex, hyper-light, full carbon anything, so no land speed record will be broken.  Just come out and we promise to not leave you behind if you promise to not leave us behind.

Happy Halloween

We hope everyone had a fantastic Halloween. We would love to see your Halloween costumes! Post them on Facebook.com/BikeFriendlyDeepEllum. We had an owl join us on our grocery ride Sunday night.

And BFDE’s own David Brindley and his wife, Becky, on the train. How cute.

Deep Ellum Monthly Taste and Drink

It’s that time of the month again. Wait. No. Gross. Let me rephrase that….

Each month, Deep Ellum Enrichment Project (DEEP) sponsors a monthly taste and happy hour at a different business in Deep Ellum. And it’s THAT time of the month again. Deep Sushi, located off of Main St., Deep Sushi will be our host this evening. From 6-9pm, you can find great drink specials and complimentary foods that will leave you wanting more from the fantastic Deep Sushi. Hope to see you there!

Weekly Grocery Ride!

You need groceries for the first part of the week right?  Well try grabbing a bag and a bike for this trip.  It’s easy!  We will meet at the Travelling Man sculpture across from the Deep Ellum Dart Station and roll up to New Flower Farmers Market at Henderson and Ross.  Don’t be afraid of shopping sans-car, we’ll show you how to do it. Join us every Sunday at 6pm for this casual ride, make a friend or two and maybe even learn a recipe from Becks!

***Update: New Flower will have water and fresh seasonal fruit for us when we arrive each week!  this week apples.***

Our New Friends

Transit Bicycle Company has given us the hookup!  Located a short ride from Deep Ellum over in West Village.                                                                                             Here are the details.

Transit Bicycle Company – 15% off service, 5% off merchandise. To obtain the discount, ride your bike to the store and ask for the Bike Friendly Deep Ellum  discount.

Find Out “Who Done It?”

Mark your calenders and join us for the BFOC’ers next ride.

you are here!

Welcome to grand opening of Bike Friendly Deep Ellum.  “Sister” to the original BFOC in Oak Cliff.  We are aiming for this site to be your Deep Ellum  one stop shop to biking in the area. (except we don’t sell anything).  Group Rides, Events, Local Discounts, and more to come…

Thanks for checking us out!