Texas Bicycling News Digest April 30th 2018

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Highly anticipated new trail linking Buffalo Bayou Park and White Oak Bayou now open to Houstonians

By Steven Devadanam | houston.culturemap.com


Outdoor enthusiasts, active inner loopers, and Houstonians can rejoice, as the highly anticipated hike-and-bike trail connection between White Oak Bayou Greenway and Buffalo Bayou trails is now complete. …

Video: Dockless bike companies to comply with City of Austin

www.kvue.com

Those dockless scooters you’ve probably seen around Austin are gone. The companies behind them are keeping them off the streets … at least for now.

Video: Bicyclist dies in hospital days after hit by car in Gulfgate

By Samantha Ketterer | www.chron.com

A bicyclist who was critically injured in a crash in the Gulfgate area last week died in the hospital on Sunday, Houston police said.

The 63-year-old man’s death is the fourth time this month that a bicyclist has been hit and killed by a vehicle in the Houston area.

The man was heading south on Buford when a woman struck him in the 6300 block of Griggs around 8:50 p.m. on April 25. Police said that the man failed to yield the right of way to the driver. …

Hawgs, Dogs and Bad Roads

By Yantis Green | sanangelolive.com

SAN ANGELO, TX — No, it’s not an episode of the TV show “Sons of Anarchy;” it’s the San Angelo City Council on Tuesday taking a walk on the wild side including acting on issues involving Harley-Davidson police motorcycles, stray dogs and street infrastructure. …

… And council members will consider approving an amended funding plan for the Chadbourne Street Pedestrian Corridor Project. The city originally applied for TxDOT funding for the project which would have included improvements to Chadbourne St. from 6th Street to the Concho River. That funding was not authorized, so city staff are presenting an alternative method of funding. The project will include new sidewalks, ADA accessibility, adding a bicycle lane and installing landscaping and lighting. …

Waggin’ Trail Bike Ride is this Saturday, May 5th — Don’t miss it….

Warren | www.waggintrailbikeride.com

As I watch the weather forecast for this coming Saturday, May 5th, I see it is not the best weather forecast. However, over the last week or so, the forecast has changed quite a bit (Thunder storms forecasted, then rain in the AM, then cloudy, and the current forecast calls for a 30% chance of rain with a possible thunderstorm. …

National Bike Month: How to celebrate this May

By Lydia Culp | www.foxnews.com


Since May of 1956, The League of American Bicyclists has sponsored National Bike Month “to showcase the many benefits of bicycling—and encourage more folks to give biking a try.” It’s also a great way to meet other cycling enthusiasts, be environmentally friendly, avoid commuting traffic and save money on gas. …

Video: UTEP partners with TxDot for Bicycle Safety Month

By: Alejandra Briones | www.ktsm.com

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) – UTEP, El Paso Children’s Hospital and TxDOT are joining forces to make sure bike riders are safe. This is the third time they’ve hosted the event and it’s just in time for Bicycle Safety Month. …

self-inflicted exile within discarded greatness

by jay goodrich | www.bikemag.com


It’s possible that I’ve been in the sun too long because the dead octopus on the desert floor just moved.

We’re riding a dusty loop of singletrack inside Lajitas Resort, an upscale golf community deep in West Texas close to the Big Bend of the Rio Grande and Mexico. It’s the kind of tucked-away resort that has its own air strip and shooting range, but also thousands of acres of vast, desert landscape where the local bike club has scratched out 30 miles of meandering loops. The trails are skinny, white veins in the …

Organization seeks community input on regional walking, biking plan

By Faith Harper | tylerpaper.com


The city of Tyler is looking for community input as it creates a transportation plan for pedestrians and bicyclists to get around the East Texas region.

The Tyler Area Metropolitan Planning Organization — a regional group that makes transportation plans for cities in the greater Tyler area — is looking for input on …

Monday letters: Risky cycling, pipeline benefits

www.houstonchronicle.com

Risky cycling

Regarding “Dump truck strikes, kills cyclist near Rice” (Page A7, Wednesday), a lot has been published recently about the safety of bicycling in Houston. Tragically there were two more deaths just this past week. And unfortunately Houston does not have a robust cycling infrastructure. Yes, motorists have an obligation to observe traffic laws and provide room for cyclists. …

CDBG/Lake Jackson Pedestrian Mobility Improvements Circle Way Trail and Pedestrian Bridge

www.texasbids.net

Owner Solic Number: 18-06-0374, B-17-UC-48-0005, 14.218
Status: bidding Report: 8610485
Country : United States State: TX County: Brazoria Location: Lake Jackson
Scope: Work consists of approx 1,700 LF of decomposed granite trail; installation of an 8 ft wide decomposed granite trail including subgrade preparation, concrete borders, drainage pipes; and installation of 2,500-lb prefabricated pedestrian bridge and abutments.
Notes: This solicitation has some or all federal funding, additional …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

April Wildflowers, Wind Wrap Up Bike Ride

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Starting off the sun made it through some of the clouds but as the ride progressed the clouds blocked out the sun dropping the temperature from 82 to 80 while the wind went from 14 mph to 17 mph. All of this happened while I rode the “New Caney – Gene Campbell Road” route as the final bike ride of April. The weather during the bike ride: start 82 (60% humidity), overcast, wind SE 14 mph. Finish 80 (65% humidity), overcast, wind SE 17 mph.

Wheels rolled at 11:41 am with me wearing shorts and a short sleeve jersey. A few times during the ride as the wind kicked up I wondered if I should’ve worn a long sleeve jersey but I made it.

For the final ride of the month I went 38.68 miles boosting April to 764.72 miles, 164.72 miles over my goal.

After making my way out of Kingwood, Woodridge Forest and across Loop 494 I headed north to New Caney. The stiff wind helped me set a good pace. Traffic was light. Riding through the green traffic light at FM 1485 I rode to make the u-turn under I-69/US59 by Caney Creek. Biking up the incline I stopped and took these photos. (Click the image to enlarge it)

Wildflowers are still blooming but the types are changing.

Back on the bike I struggled some to go up the incline to the service road battling the strong headwind. On the service road the right turn onto FM 1485 put the wind at my left rear quarter again helping me. This lasted until I went past Gene Campbell road and made u-turn back. Riding on Gene Campbell Road the wind wasn’t a problem except when I went on the “U” section that shows me leaving the main road. The headwind made it tough to get back to Gene Campbell Road.

I knew once I reached FM 1314 the wind would be in my face all the way to Old Sorters Road. I took this screen shot of the ride performance before making the left turn onto FM 1314.

Bike Ride FM1314 at G Campbell Rd

This is from the Wahoo Fitness Live Track link for the ride. The street detail does not show the roads very well. From this point my average speed dropped as the wind took its toll.

Old Sorters Road provided some relief from the wind as it headed to the SW and there were lots of trees to block it. Briar Tree and Oakhurst were not so helpful letting the wind get to me. Back on the I-69/US59 south service road north of Kingwood Drive I bicycled under the freeway and began weaving my way through Kings Manor and Kingwood to finish the ride at 2:30 pm.

I asked my wife to take a few photos with the Canyon Endurace CF SLX and me wearing my Texbiker.net jersey since I didn’t have any.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

Bike Ride Summary

SportTracks April Bike Rides Summary

April Rides Summary

Texas Bicycling News Digest April 29th 2018

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Bike rodeo to teach basic bike safety

By ALEXIS AGUIRRE | www.valleymorningstar.com


SAN BENITO — Are you up to date on state bicycle laws?
The Harlingen-San Benito Metropolitan Planning Organization is teaming up with the San Benito Police Department to provide information on bike safety and host the first-ever family bike ride.

Erik Bikes Across America (Southern Tier)

By Erik Soballe | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Sanderson to Seminole Canyon State Park: Wheee

Tuesday April 24, 2018, 79 miles (127 km) – Total so far: 1,307 miles (2,104 km)
Today was cold, overcast, and threatened to rain all day. I wore a raincoat the entire ride. That being said, I had a 30+ MPH tailwind the …

Seminole Canyon State Park to Bracketville: Finally, civilization

Wednesday April 25, 2018, 75 miles (121 km) – Total so far: 1,382 miles (2,224 km)
Today, I biked all the way to Bracketville. The ride had a convenient stop in Del Rio in the middle. The temperature was much higher, and I had a slight head wind.

The road conditions really started to suffer past Del Rio, chip seal of 3/4″ crusher really really slowed me down, but …

Bracketville to Camp Wood: A short ride turned long

Thursday April 26, 2018, 54 miles (87 km) – Total so far: 1,436 miles (2,311 km)
Oh man, today was a long one. The chip seal got worse, and my ride was much much longer than a 53 miler should have been. Traffic was light, and the weather was nice, but I made < 10 mph the entire ride.

I’ve started to enter the hill country and had a little bit of rolling hills today, so far not too bad.

Camp wood is a …

Camp Wood to Kerrville: Hills * 4 and halfway done

Friday April 27, 2018, 84 miles (136 km) – Total so far: 1,605 miles (2,583 km)
Todays bike ride was taxing. It was long (83 miles), hot (90s), and hilly (5300 ft vertical). The route consisted of 4 – 1000 ft vertical climbs, through switchbacks and mountain roads. It was very scenic and reminded me of La Crosse, WI. It was a ton of hills, but luckily it was short compared to the mountains of the west.

Riding Along The Rio Grande

By shary koenig | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Laredo To Zapata: Smooth Shoulder

Sunday April 29, 2018, 40 miles (64 km) – Total so far: 450 miles (724 km)
Oh happy day! We had smooth shoulders all the way on 83 from Laredo to Zapata. I still got tired because the wind wasn’t behaving but I was ever so appreciative of the excellent road surface. I’m not sure of where the boundaries are for The Valley but today we started seeing field crops and water sprayers. We saw about …

Two Timing Texas Tour

By Richard Hoeg | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 26: Rural Glen Cove to Paluxy: Final Ride!

Sunday April 29, 2018, 16 miles (26 km) – Total so far: 1,028 miles (1,654 km)
Sweet 16! Yup, we only had sixteen miles to ride as we ended our tour this morning. We have over the past ten years of cycle touring over 1,000’s of miles adopted a pattern of easy final days. If possible Molly like to find extreme back roads and savor the final experience. We succeeded immensely today. If we saw one car every 15 minutes, it was a …
http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/pics/docs/00/02/06/89/small/D26_Final_Map.jpg?v=1

https://www.instagram.com/p/BiLbWIgFdmy/

Video: Houston to Austin MS bike ride a personal mission for many

By: Jerry Becker | www.kxan.com


AUSTIN (KXAN) – The BP MS 150 is not your average bike ride. More than 9,000 cyclists from across the county spent two days biking from Houston to Austin.

The ride raises awareness and money for multiple sclerosis.

Participants say it’s a great cause, and for many riders it’s very personal. …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

https://twitter.com/beagleracing/status/990675149476319233

First 200+ Mile Week in April Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Nothing exotic about today’s bike along the “Oakhurst – Valley Ranch” route. After getting home from church I start biking at 12:44 pm. This route is a good for a shorter ride coming in at 27.76 miles today. This puts this week at 245.45 miles and the month at 726.04 miles.

The weather during the bike ride: start 83 (52% humidity), partly cloudy, wind SE 10 mph, gusts 24 mph. Finish 84 (47% humidity), Mostly cloudy, wind SE 17 mph. The wind wasn’t too bad until I made the turn to the east in Valley Ranch from Valley Ranch Parkway headed to I-69/US59. From that point on the headwind required extra effort but I did manage to maintain my average speed at 14.4 mph until I go to Woodridge Forest. The winding streets and stop signs slow the riding.

By the time I finished at 2:43 pm I imagine most of the MS 150 cyclists had made their way to Austin and getting ready for the return to their starting points.

Monday’s forecast calls for cooler (high of 80) and still no rain. I plan to bike and finish out the month.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

ike Ride Summary