Best Supported Bike Ride 2014 | Bike MS: Sam's Club Round-Up Ride | Best of Dallas® 2020 | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Dallas | Dallas Observer
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Best Supported Bike Ride

Bike MS: Sam's Club Round-Up Ride

Bike MS, previously known as the MS150, is a major annual fundraiser for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and a two-day cycling event in various cities. For DFW's iteration, the Sam's Club Round-Up Ride in May, route options vary from 48 to 163 miles. Because of these varying levels of experience, and because many participants in Bike MS actually have MS, the ride is not only one of the area's most inspiring cycling events, but it's easily the most well-supported. Well-supported in terms of sponsors, sure, but in this case, well-supported in terms of rider relief. Approximately every 10 or 15 miles waits a themed rest stop stocked with cheering folks, snacks, random forms of electrolytes, hydration stations, medical tents, free bike repair and clean shitters. There are even volunteers to stand with riders' bikes while they take advantage of such offerings. Knowing that support is ahead can be what keeps a rider going for another eight miles even when the chip seal road is making his or her hands go numb. And if riders need to stop, well, SAG van drivers are charming and kind. Plus, they too have water and snacks.

Best-Looking Bike Ride

Lancaster Country Ride Rally

When Greater Dallas Bicyclists and the city of Lancaster host the Lancaster Country Ride Rally, they get a major assist from Mother Nature. Just minutes from downtown Dallas, the April ride offers three route lengths (23, 42 and 62 miles), with the longer two guiding participants onto the hills of the Bluebonnet Trail so famous for being the backdrop of many a portrait. The flowers are in full bloom and while some riders are racing for PRs, many will stop and snap a photo in the seas of blue blossoms. It's prime GoPro footage. Some will also pose with (or for, it's hard to say) the livestock along the route — horses, camels, longhorns and alpacas, to name a few. For under $50, it's an affordable quasi-tour of iconic Texas landscapes just outside the urban traffic. A self-powered tour, but a gorgeous one nonetheless.

Best Play-by-Play Guy

Ralph Strangis

If you haven't watched a local broadcast of a Stars game in the last 19 years, you might not be aware of Strangis, which is a shame, because he's amazing. Every game he seems to come up with a memorable and at least partially bonkers phrase. A favorite from last season was "HE'S LIKE SOME KIND OF SPIDER-MONKEY!" in reaction to a particularly impressive Kari Lehtonen save. Strangis is also an actor and a motivational speaker. He is, in short, a much better person than all of us.

Best In-Game Entertainment

The Well Creative Productions

Though they never played a minute or called a single play, Jason Seely and Cash Sirois, with help from Cash's brother Mike, are responsible for some of the most memorable moments of the Dallas Mavericks' 2011 championship run. The two put together a video featuring encouragement from Dallas sports legends including Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Troy Aikman and Nolan Ryan that gave goosebumps to everyone in the American Airlines Center — save perhaps a few Miami Heat players. They're just as good at getting a laugh too, which would explain how so many of their in-game videos end up going viral on YouTube, like the "What Do the Mavs Say?" parody, the Geico commercial parody "Guess What Day It Is?" and "José Can You Say?" in which point guard José Calderon teaches fellow Mavs some Spanish phrases likely to get them thrown out of a game or slapped. That they can get superstars to go along with the goofiness is a testament to their talents. And now that they're working with the Dallas Cowboys, there will be at least one entertaining thing for fans to watch at JerryWorld this season.

Best Of Dallas®

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