Sure, I suppose if you're going to have a group bike ride called Tour Dallas, you'll need to include some downtown streets. I mean—sniff—if riding downtown under the watchful eye of tour guardians, sag wagons and plenty of traffic-minded cops is your idea of touring Dallas, well good for you, sissy pants. Oh, I am so sorry. Took a couple of moderate rides this weekend, and there's nothing like a combination of spandex shorts, getting dissed by Dallas drivers and having a hard saddle jammed up the hoo-hah to make one feel the need to overcompensate with bravado. In fact, the Tour Dallas, offering 8-, 20- and 30-mile routes, all starting at the American Airlines Center, sounds like a pretty pleasant ride. The longer routes take cyclists through downtown, Swiss Avenue, Lakewood and Turtle Creek—pretty nice places to pedal even without the support of mechanics and snacks provided by tour organizers. The 8-miler is a perfect chance to see downtown with the kiddies. Best of all, the ride supports the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation. It all begins at 8 a.m. Saturday. (Get to the AAC in plenty of time to prepare for the start.) Registration is $25 per rider in advance and $30 on the day of the ride. Visit tourdallas.org/home.html to register.
Sat., April 7, 8 a.m.