Texas Bicycling News Digest April 17th 2018

Texbiker.net Posted on by

‘Hike and Bike’ trail to benefit numerous cities

by Santiago Caicedo | valleycentral.com


When Noé Flores moved to San Juan, he weighed over 400 pounds. Now, he’s lost weight, feels healthier and connects with his kids more often.

“This track is near and dear to my heart,” Flores said.

A now asphalt hike and bike trail, Flores started walking on what was once a makeshift dirt trail that runs along a drainage canal next to PSJA Bears Trail and South Veterans Boulevard in San Juan. …

The Build 50 Challenge And The 50-For-50 Campaign

bikehouston.org


Build 50, that is the challenge BikeHouston has issued our partners: the City of Houston, Harris County, METRO, TxDOT, and management districts over the next 12 months. Build fifty miles of high-comfort on-street bikeways and off-street trails over the next year. Fifty miles to get people on bikes and get them safely to their destinations. Build 50 is an ambitious and challenging goal and BikeHouston will be there every step of the way to provide …

BIKE-LYTE

bikehouston.org


Students at Rice University affiliated with the Liu Idea Lab for Innovation and Entrepreneurship are developing a bicycle safety light, Bike- Lyte, that will alert both cyclists and motorists of each others presence using motion sensors. The bicycle tail light will be different from the types we currently use. These tail lights will be able to detect cars behind or too close to the cyclist and will be able to alert the cyclist via a …

Tres Amigos Challenge

www.bikereg.com

Register for the 2nd Annual Tres Amigos Challenge! Three great rides – one registration.

The organizers of these three central Texas rides are a friendly bunch and we wanted to provide that camaraderie for our riders as well.

Registration for the Tres Amigos entitles you to participate in all three rides with one registration. You’ll receive t-shirts and swag from each ride. And when you complete the (nearly isoceles) triangle through Erath, Hood, and Somervell counties you’ll earn a special long-sleeved t-shirt to wear when you flaunt your bragging rights. When you submit your registration, be sure to select your route length for each ride and t-shirt size.

The Tour de Agua will be held in Dublin on 6/9/17. Ride starts at 8am.

(We’re having a Kickoff Party, too, on Friday evening, 6/8.)

The Blazin’ Saddle 75 will be held in Granbury on 8/4/17. Ride starts at 7:30am.

The Careflite Paluxy Pedal will be held in Glen Rose on 10/6/17. Ride starts at 8:30am.

Pacific to Atlantic

By Matthew McCoy | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Hello Louisiana!: 65 miles

Monday April 16, 2018
Farewell Texas! I cycled from Kountze, TX to Merryville, LA today, which finished my tour of Texas! Astonishingly, I didn’t meet or see any eastbound touring cyclists while in Texas. I thought random chance would have led me to seeing at least a few.
RV Parks have been my main source for camping during my adventure, but there are …

The Southern Tier: San Diego to St. Augustine (and further?)

By Susanne Holste | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 34. Fort Clark Springs to Camp Wood

Monday April 16, 2018, 78 km (48 miles) – Total so far: 2,373 km (1,475 miles)
Today was a beautiful Sunday for cycling. We had said goodbye to Mark from Southern California with whom we had been sharing camp for the last three nights. He headed south of gain time by avoiding the hills. We had a fairly leisurely start and picked up a breakfast burrito at Mamita’s. Most of today’s route was on Ranch Road 334 and it was nice to have a lot less traffic. Just outside of Brackettville was a good-sized solar park, surprising for such a small town. We then met Kevin and Jessy who are …

Day 35. Camp Wood to Vanderpool

Tuesday April 17, 2018, 65 km (40 miles) – Total so far: 2,438 km (1,515 miles)
If you look at the ACA maps for today and tomorrow, the hill profile looks as if nature has gone crazy. Fortunately it’s not as vertical as it seems but the climbs are still steep. Nature is much greener here and the map shows multiple rivers which we didn’t see. We spent an hour at Leaky’s excellent public library to plan the days ahead. Then it was two steep climbs with a well-deserved picnic spot when we got to the top of the second one. At this point I finally got hold of the State Park and …

Day 36. Vanderpool to Kerrville

Wednesday April 18, 2018, 81 km (50 miles) – Total so far: 2,519 km (1,565 miles)
We rolled out of the park and promptly faced the steepest climb of the day. It was short and sweet and then half a day of dipping and climbing followed. It was the prettiest morning so far and riding on a high road with views over the surrounding countryside was nice. We cycled past a couple of hunting ranches and the idea of deer, springbok, and other animals kept for the pleasure of hunters is distressing. The same is done in …

Two Timing Texas Tour

By Richard Hoeg | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 13: Smithville to Nail Creek State Park: An Armadillo … not squished!

Monday April 16, 2018, 48 miles (77 km) – Total so far: 549 miles (884 km)
After two days of a North wind, God was kind to us and veered the direction of today’s blow 180 degrees, and we flew before the wind! Given the topography of the land was mostly in our favor, we enjoyed one of those touring days we all dream about. Neither Molly nor I took many photographs, but we did enjoy two “on the fly” route changes. The first change took us to our breakfast quicker when we realized a particular road was …

Day 14: Nail Creek State Park to College Station: Changing Routes on the Fly!

Tuesday April 17, 2018, 49 miles (79 km) – Total so far: 598 miles (962 km)
Nice ride today … farmland, forest, gentle hills and mostly a nice tail wind. We did use …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

https://twitter.com/DPDBikeSgt/status/986007287188869120

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Grass Farms Don’t Slow Wind Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

I probably could have selected an easier route for today’s bike ride with the wind so strong but I stuck with my choice of the “Stroker Road – Huffman” route for a total of 42.64 miles bumping up this week’s mileage to 77.36 miles. The wind was a brute on sections of this route with the toughest on Ramsey Road beside the grass farms. I geared down and my speed did as well staying below 12 mph and dropping below 10 mph at times.

Stopping on Old Atascocita Road before getting to Ramsey Road I took these two pictures. You can’t see it in the photos but the barbed wire fence is moving from the force of the wind and after taking the photos I could barely walk up from the bottom of the ditch to get back on the road.

I wanted to get the cows in the photos to show the farm setting. Unfortunately the plastic bag stuck on the bush shows the city is not too far away. This spot is about 3 miles from the Houston city limit. About a half mile more to the east at the intersection with Ramsey Road I took this photo.

Old Atascocita Road E

When I leaned the Canyon against the pole the wind was so strong the front wheel kept getting turned around the pole. Finally I made a grove in the gravel and broken asphalt to get the wheel to stay put. Again walking back to the road was hard since I was going straight into the wind. Behind me when I took this photo is flat land where a pasture and grass farm land don’t slow down the wind.

I started the bike ride at 11:29 am and finished at 2:59 pm. The weather during the bike ride: start 81 (58% humidity), clear, wind S 17 mph, gusts 22 mph. Finish 84 (42% humidity), clear, wind SW 14 mph, gusts 23 mph. The wind influenced my wardrobe some. I wore shorts, long sleeve jersey and a short sleeve jersey. I was comfortable during the ride but the wind might have been a bit chilly if I only wore a short sleeve jersey. The weatherman calls this wind an “onshore flow” meaning it comes from the Gulf of Mexico which is not very far away.

After battling the wind biking around the grass farms and getting back to FM 2100 the tailwind propelled me quickly back to Huffman where I took a break to rest my legs for the ride on FM 1960 going west. This was at the 31 mile point leaving 11+ miles to the finish. Riding west meant the wind was coming from my left and over the Lake Houston I had the usual buffeting without anything to break the wind except passing traffic which was light. Reaching the west side of the lake I turned right onto Atascocita Shores Drive and began the last 8 miles with mostly a tailwind which my legs really appreciated by then. The last 8 miles were much easier and made good time to Kingwood Drive. Traffic was backed up at the crossing but after a few minutes I was able to get across and finish the bike ride.

Wednesday weather forecast shows a couple of degrees cooler, partly cloudy and hopefully less wind. I plan on biking and this could push the week to over 100 miles.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

Bike Ride Summary

Texas Bicycling News Digest April 16th 2018

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Riding with Trail Features at Walnut Creek – Austin TX

Cobra Kyle | www.youtube.com

Brownsville bike patrol supervisor is ultimate family man

By MARK REAGAN | www.brownsvilleherald.com


Sgt. Fernando Flores spends his working hours supervising the Brownsville Police Department’s prized bike patrol unit, but when he’s not serving the citizens of Brownsville, life is all about his family.

“Well, I’m a family man,” Flores said from his office inside La Plaza at the Multimodal Bus Terminal. …

Border Bike Trip, Day 29: Across from the Smoke and Violence

GRANT WISHARD | www.weeklystandard.com

I spent the night in McAllen, Texas, at the home of a retired couple from Minnesota. Bob Schwartz and Janet Schwaab aren’t bikers, themselves, but they signed up for Warm Showers, a hospitality network for long-distance cyclists, because it seemed like the nice thing to do. Like thousands of other snowbirds in Arizona, Texas, and Florida, Bob and Janet head south every winter. This year has been especially cold, but typically by April everyone from their +55 community has returned home. Which is probably for the best. Between all the dinners, dances, bingo, and booze, Bob and Janet are having …

UPDATE: Houston Wants To Build 50 Miles Of New Bike Lanes

FLORIAN MARTIN | www.houstonpublicmedia.org


The City of Houston plans to add 50 miles of bike lanes over the next year.
Harris County Precinct 1 Commissioner Rodney Ellis and Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner made the announcement on Monday, next to the Lamar Street bike lane close to City Hall. …

50 miles of new bike paths coming to Houston

Author: David Gonzalez | www.khou.com

When the project is all set and done Mayor Turner said 80 percent of Houstonians will be close to some sort of bike infrastructure.

Bicyclists and pedestrians in Houston will soon have better and safer options to get around the sprawling city.

It’s all part of new push by city and county leaders to make Space City a national leader in urban mobility. …

400 miles from SA to Fort Worth: Veterans riding bicycles for good cause

By Max Massey | www.ksat.com

It’s called the UnitedHealthcare Texas Challenge and it benefits Project Hero, a nonprofit that helps veterans and first responders recover from injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. It is meant to be a non-competitive, therapeutic 400 miles.

“A lot of our veterans have gone beyond the treatments at the hospitals and they find this is a …

Dockless bikes promise the future of transportation, but litter the city of Dallas

by Tara Nieuwesteeg | www.nbcnews.com


DALLAS — Colorful fixed-gear bikes litter the city’s streets here.

They’re in Uptown, where 20-somethings sip craft cocktails on breezy outdoor patios, and in White Rock Lake, where moms in yoga pants meet to push strollers. From the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, bikes are visible in the Trinity River below. The bikes are everywhere downtown, leaning against cement planters, outside parking garages and cafes, lined up at Dealey Plaza. …

Pacific to Atlantic

By Matthew McCoy | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Navasota, TX to Punkin, TX: 56 miles

Saturday April 14, 2018
This morning started out soggy from last night’s soaking rain. It never warmed up much although the sun finally broke through at mid afternoon. I had a nice ride today through the Sam Houston National Forest whose trees blocked the wind for me. …

Punkin, TX to Kountze, TX: 72 miles

Sunday April 15, 2018
Today was a dream ride. The route was level with a good road surface and shoulders and little traffic (it is Sunday.). Many of the shoulders were without rumble strips too. And I hate rumble strips. There are plenty of places to buy food and water now, so I’m not carrying much of either. …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Lots of Wildflowers and No Flat Tire Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

No flat on today’s bike ride following the “New Caney – Tavola – Valley Ranch” route. Instead there was warmer weather, less wind and some pretty flowers. I biked 35.31 miles improving April to 333.3 miles headed towards my 600 mile goal. This time I stopped on the I-69/US59 north service road south of Porter and took these two photos (I need to remember to get my finger away from the lens).

I waited for the traffic to pass and stepped a few feet out into the road. I should’ve stopped earlier to get some purple flowers photos as well.

The weather during the bike ride: start 76 (39% humidity), clear, wind S 8 mph. Finish 79 (37% humidity), clear, wind var 5 mph, gusts 17 mph. I started riding at 12:08 pm and finished at 2:39 pm. I dressed lighter than Sunday’s ride. Today I wore shorts, long sleeve jersey, short sleeve jersey and half finger gloves.

With the wind not so strong I managed to get my average speed up to 15.0 mph and hold from Roman Forest Blvd. biking south to Kings Manor where I entered the Kingwood residential area.

The PowerPod was acting up on this ride. It connected to the Elemnt computer but would not show any watts on the Elemnt. I tried several pushes of the “start” button on the PowerPod with no change. The thing that worked was to hold the PowerPod start button for 15 to 20 seconds and then it started sending data but the first burst showed 16,800+ watts which I wish I could produce but no way. Except for that burst the watts look normal from then to the end of the ride. This happens on some rides but not with any predictive cycle.

More warm weather this week until Saturday. I plan on biking Tuesday with 80+ degrees and no rain.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

Bike Ride Summary