Texas Bicycling News Digest October 26th 2017

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Why This 71-Year-Old Man Living With Cancer Is Cycling Across America

by Leigh Weingus | www.mindbodygreen.com


Seventy-one-year-old Chuck Wakefield was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2003. Since then the Grapevine, Texas, resident has had a bone-marrow transplant, climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, and is now cycling from Los Angeles, California, to Fairfield, Connecticut. That’s 3,400 miles, if anyone’s counting.
Beyond his general love of exercise and how thankful he feels every day for his capable body, Chuck’s ride across the United States has a very clear purpose: to raise …

A Voter’s Guide to the Bond Package

By Matt Goodman and Alex Macon | www.dmagazine.com


For years, you’ve likely dodged potholes and felt the pavement of the city streets deteriorating under your vehicle’s wheels. Perhaps you’ve thought it would be nice if you could ride your bike from the Design District out to the Trinity River Levee Trail by cycling along the edges of the southern end of Turtle Creek, without ever having to fight the traffic of Irving Boulevard. Maybe you’ve considered it archaic that our traffic signals seem completely out of touch with what’s happening on the street itself. Or, maybe you’re just tired of your neighborhood flooding when it rains.
On Nov. 7, voters will take to the …

9 AM start: Tour de Southern Walnut Creek Trail

Tuesday, Oct 31, 2017, 9:00 AM

Govalle Park
5200 Bolm Rd. Austin, TX

3 Austin Cyclists Went

We’re riding out at 9 AM!A moderate C-pace ride (roughly 11 to 14 mph) on The Southern Walnut Creek Trail from the trailhead at Govalle Park to the Abrupt End and return. Round trip is about 20 miles. The trail is paved for the entire distance, with a 1/2 mile hill on the outbound. We’ll regroup at the top of the hill on the outbound and at the Ab…

Check out this Meetup →

LAB Releases 2017 Bicycle Friendly State Ranking

www.roadbikerider.com

The League of American Bicyclists has released its latest ranking of states according to how “bicycle-friendly” they are.
According to the League, the Bicycle Friendly State ranking provides a ranking for all 50 states based on four public data sources and a Bicycle Friendly State survey that is answered by each state’s Department of Transportation and/or a statewide bicycle advocacy organization.
The League of American Bicyclists has released its latest ranking of states according to how “bicycle-friendly” they are. …

This weekend’s rides: Tour de Cure! San Marcos Tour!

by Thomas | steinerranchcycling.com

This weekend we have another disturbance in our regular rides with the Tour de Cure on Saturday in San Marcos. On Sunday we will continue with the San Marcos fun and do our ride there instead of our usual Red Horn route.
Derrick has secured a beautiful house for us to use this weekend on the San Marcos river! Those doing the Tour de Cure can come out Friday and stay the night so it is easy to get to the start. Those wanting to ride with us Sunday morning can come out on Saturday and …

Bike-ped projects for Elm Avenue, South Waco get $3.3 million in state, federal support

By J.B. SMITH | www.wacotrib.com


Elm Avenue will get a $3.8 million makeover that includes new sidewalks, lighting, landscaping and bike lanes, city officials learned Thursday.
The Texas Transportation Commission approved $2.8 million in federal and state transportation money for the project, which is seen as crucial to the fledgling revitalization of East Waco’s faded main street. The downtown Tax Increment Financing Zone board has already pledged $956,200 to the project. …

Casting Call for Houston, Texas Web Series ‘Bike’ – PAID

by Shawn Hunter | www.shortfilmtexas.com

Production Title: (working title Bike)
Independent/Student/Studio: Studio
Production Type: Web Series
Production Location: Houston
Production Start Date: 11/12/2017
Production Wrap Date: 11/25/2017
Production Schedule: 14 days
Synopsis: Call for a Caucasian actress 21-30 years old for a leading role about a woman experiencing an existential crisis.
Character Breakdowns:
Woman – strong, tenacious, rebellious …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

https://twitter.com/GWCChuck/status/923736048336822273

Getting Close to YTD Goal Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

It was easy riding going north on the “New Caney – Gene Campbell Road” route. The temperature warmed to 77 at the 11:38 AM start, clear sky and a stiff south wind at 12 mph with 22 mph gusts. My goal was to ride at 34 miles and I actually biked 38.3 miles. This puts me with 50 miles of reaching 6,800 YTD miles by the end of October.

I backed off of the thermal long sleeve jersey since it was warmer settling on a long sleeve jersey and a short sleeve one over top. It was about right even after I warmed up. Sometimes when I rode in the shade a hint of coolness made me appreciate the long sleeves but I probably could’ve toughed it out if I just wore a short sleeve jersey.

The wind was not a problem until I made the left turn onto FM 1314 from Gene Campbell Blvd. From that point on I rode into the wind. This helped my overall average watts but capped my average speed at 15.1 mph. At one point my average watts showed 103 but dropped down to 96 by the end of the bike ride.

No rest stop today since I was not too tired and had enough water to reach the finish. When I got there at 2:23 PM the temperature was 82 and humidity was 44%, still low for Houston. I did stop in Oakhurst long enough to take these pictures.

Friday biking looks questionable with a cool front moving through during the morning.

Texas Bicycling News Digest October 25th 2017

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Family raises funds for Bush School in son’s honor

By Rachel Bowerman | www.thebatt.com

Branisa patriarch bikes across America, creates memorial fellowship in support of students committed to service

In memory of his late son Ryan, Michael Branisa traveled across the country by bike to raise funds for the Michael Ryan Branisa Endowed Fellowship, a fund overseen by the Bush School of Government.
Following the passing of their eldest son Ryan in 2010, the Branisa family sought to support a cause he was passionate about. Inspired by Ryan’s admiration of President George H. W. Bush, they decided to start a fellowship fund in Ryan’s name at the Bush School to support those students.
Susan Branisa said President Bush’s legacy of leadership convinced her that …

How this bike event is pedaling economic benefits to Dallas

By Korri Kezar | www.bizjournals.com


Greg Bibb, a sports investor and president and CEO of the Dallas Wings basketball team, is bringing more athletics and money to North Texas with the inaugural Dallas Bike Ride.
The event, to be held Nov. 4, is a 20-mile ride through the city, beginning and ending at Dallas City Hall. The route will take riders through Dallas streets closed for the event.
Dallas Bike Ride is the …

Dallas Bike Ride promises scenic car-free route

By Rita Cook | www.greensourcedfw.org


A new bike riding event aims to celebrate and encourage bike riding in Big D, while benefiting some good causes.
The inaugural Dallas Bike Ride, hosted by Capital Sports Ventures along with Dallas Sports Commission, Visit Dallas, Uptown Dallas Inc., and Downtown Dallas Inc., Dallas Bike Ride, launches Nov. 4 at 9:30 a.m. at Dallas City Hall Plaza. Nonprofit beneficiaries include Incarnation House and BikeTexas.
“Dallas has so much potential to …

The Texas gulf coast can be pretty too

by persiansown | www.reddit.com

In San Antonio cars are king

David Wenske | www.paisano-online.com

Public transit in San Antonio is humiliating. Virtually every major city in the US outperforms San Antonio in terms of accessibility and volatility of alternative transportation methods, such as buses, trains and reliable bike infrastructure.
In San Antonio, a five-mile bus ride could take you over an hour, and congested roads can make buses arrive at unreliable times.
As a San Antonio native, I have seen the consequences of lacking a reliable public transit system, and it’s about time San Antonio takes this problem seriously.
I am a cyclist; I take my bike to and from school each day. I wouldn’t trade riding my bike for …

Intermediate trail ride in North Houston 35-38 miles @ 14 mph

Saturday, Oct 28, 2017, 8:30 AM

Dennis Johnston Park
709 Riley Fuzzel Rd Spring, TX

1 cyclists Went

Hello Folks-It’s Robb.   This will be faster paced and longer distance than I normally ride.  It is a good training ride for anyone taking part in the distance charity event next week.  We will be starting at Dennis Johnston and do a complete loop of the trail (with a little extra distance added in). Total distance will be 35-38 miles.  Afterwards,…

Check out this Meetup →

Daryl & Bob’s trail ride

planobob | www.planobicycle.org

It’s time for Daryl and Bob’s trail ride #5. Join us on Sunday Oct 29 for a trip to Cedar Hill State Park. We will meet at Coit & Spring Creek at the north end of the usual parking lot, and plan to depart at 8:00 AM. We can hang several bikes over Daryl’s tail gate; first come, first served! If we get more bikes and riders than we can fit, we can see if there are other car pool options for the ride down. Alternatively, you can meet us there about …

Wonderland Trail Race @ Muleshoe Bend Presented by CHUMBA USA

MoustacheRide | www.bikemojo.com

Hi there,
we wanted to invite you to a fun race event we are putting on with Spectrum Trail Racing and Karbach Brewing next weekend on the Nov. 5th.
WONDERLAND TRAIL RACE
@ MULESHOE BEND: SPICEWOOD, TX
PRESENTED BY CHUMBA USA
https://www.bikereg.com/Confirmed/36394
We’ve routed a super fun course at Muleshoe Bend, this is a unique opportunity to race on a trail we don’t normally get to enjoy this way!
Thanks for reading through this, please send this out to anyone you think might enjoy the race, we hope to make this a great long term event that area riders will love and highschool/middle school racers can use for off season practice!
Included:
Race entry fee includes park entry, parking, insurance, food, drinks, festivities and, …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

https://twitter.com/GWCChuck/status/923273130038218753

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

October Chill Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

October is going out with some chilly weather making my rides a lot different from July. This morning it was 42 degrees when I made it to the kitchen at 7:15 AM. It took awhile after the sun came up for it to start moving up.  By the time I started the bike ride at 11:58 AM (temperature delay) it was 70. With the chill the humidity is super low (for Houston anyway) with 34% at the start and 29% when I finished at 2:33 PM (temperature was 75). The clear blue sky made up for the brisk feel and the wind from the west at 13 mph added to the coolness. I pulled out another long sleeve thermal jersey and topped it with a short sleeve one. No leg warmers yet so just shorts.

Selecting the “Atascocita South – Walden – Huffman” route I biked 34.9 miles putting me only 88 miles away from my YTD 6,800 mile goal by the end of the month. The next two days should be okay weather wise for biking but Saturday and Sunday forecast is for temperatures at or below my 60 degree threshold for not biking.

The route today took a little longer time because of traffic at Kings Park Way and FM 1960. For some reason traffic was backed up and it took 4 or 5 traffic light cycles to get across FM 1960. Once I got through no more delays.

On Fairlake Drive as I rode by the church two other cyclists were riding towards the street from their parked car. I said hello and they responded. They followed me from there to FM 2100 where I turned left and they went straight.

No rest stop today. I wasn’t hot and my water bottle had enough left to get back home.