Texas Bicycling News Digest August 11th 2017

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For the Cyclist: Tackling North Texas’ Hotter’N Hell Hundred

By James Martin | texashillcountry.com


Unsurprisingly, the sport of cycling in Texas, as with other sports, is extreme and requires true grit. Cycling in Texas takes riders all over the state and immerses them into some harsh environments. Texas’s famous race, the Hotter’N Hell Hundred, takes cyclist through grueling, dry terrain around the Wichita Falls area of North Texas. Though not as long as the …

Little Devoted to Houston Bike Plan in $495 Million Bond Package

By Meagan Flynn | www.houstonpress.com

Houston cyclists had something to celebrate back in March, when City Council voted to adopt the Houston Bike Plan. It marked the first time in more than two decades that the city planned to comprehensively upgrade its crumbling biking infrastructure, which was last fully revamped in the early 1990s. The lanes had become full of potholes and debris. The stripes were only barely visible on some …

Monthly Women’s Ride

Bicycles Plus | www.facebook.com

Bid on Community Park Hike & Bike Trail in Princeton

www.texasbids.net

Prebid: 08/31/17 10:00 AM Prebid Mandatory: yes
Solicitation Title: Community Park Hike & Bike Trail
Status: bidding
Report: 7973174
Country : United States State: TX County: Collin Location: Princeton
Scope: Construction of approx. 4,137 LF of 8′ wide reinforced concrete trail in community park, 786 Cy of excavation, 33096 SF of Furnish and Install 6″ Reinforced Concrete Trail, 767 CY of Prepare 6″ of Subgrade, 62 LF of Furnish and Install 15″ Reinforced Concrete Pipe, 4 ea of Furnish and Install Single-Barrel Sloped Headwall for 15″Reinforced Concrete Pipe, see attached file.
Notes: Written question deadline: 09/07/17 by 5:00 PM. A mandatory …

Bid on City of Boerne Trail System Expansion Project in Boerne

www.texasbids.net

UPDATED City of Boerne Trail System Expansion Project
Prebid: 08/01/17 2:00 PM
Solicitation Title: UPDATED City of Boerne Trail System Expansion Project
Owner Solic Number: 0915-11-033 Status: bidding Report: 7938371
Country : United States State: TX County: Kendall Location: Boerne
Est. Low Value: $2,500,000 Est. High Value: $2,500,000
Set Aside Types: MBE/DBE (Minority / Disadvantaged)
Scope: Trail system expansion project. Work includes approx 1,839 CY roadway excavation; 22,975 SY soil retention blankets; 363 LF of 24″ drill shaft;903 SF retaining wall; 8 LF of 8′ x 3′ concrete box culvert; 102 LF of RC pipe (arch); 1 EA adjusting manholes; 8,523 SY of 5″ concrete sidewalk; 500 LF of 1″ PVC conduit; 50 LF of 2″ PVC conduit; see …

Mansfield Trail Connection to City Spine Trail project

www.texasbids.net

Along the Trinity River, a biking trail comes dangerously close to sliding into the water

Robert Wilonsky | www.dallasnews.com

At the moment, the Trinity Skyline Trail is the most significant amenity that runs along the Trinity River near downtown Dallas. And a piece of that trail looks like it’s in danger of sliding into the river.
City officials said Friday they’re aware of the erosion imperiling the trail beneath the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. Repairs, in fact, are scheduled to …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

https://twitter.com/GWCChuck/status/896115182992150528

https://twitter.com/GWCChuck/status/896073482177355776

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

New Bike Shop Encounter on Eagle Springs – Walden – Huffman Bicycle Ride

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The last time I rode the “Eagle Springs – Walden – Huffman” route was June 11th, 2016. The route is good but has bad memories for me so it doesn’t come on my route plans very often. The bad memory is from September 3rd, 2013, when a car pulled out in front of me at Atascocita High School and I slammed into the back part of the car. I was off the bike for a couple of weeks but the worst part is the teenage girl driver left the scene and the Humble ISD Police did not charge her with that. I had to track down the driver and insurance.

Today I rode the route again without incident and it was a good ride for a total of 37.4 miles. The weather was typical Texas August fare with temperatures around 96 and humidity 56%. The partly cloudy sky and light breeze made for a hot and muggy ride but as long as I was moving it wasn’t that bad. With today’s ride I am up to 325 miles for August with 475 miles to go to reach my 800 mile goal. The week totals 149.8 miles.

As I rode north on Atascocita Shores Drive south of FM 1960 I saw a bicyclist in a driveway at Summit Pines Drive. He was putting away a pump and I wasn’t sure if he was riding or not. A few minutes later as I stood at the traffic light at FM 1960 and Atascocita Shores Dr. he pulled beside me. We talked about the rains and weather and asked if I was riding over the lake. He said he was going north to Kingwood where he will be opening a new bike shop in September called Tailwind Bicycles. I asked where in Kingwood and he replied next to Ace Hardware. We parted and I made a note to check it out on the way back in Kingwood. Later I rode into the strip center between Ryan’s Cleaners and the hardware store looking for the shop. Here is what I saw.

Tailwind Bicycles

I rode over to the front door and the young man I met back at the traffic light came out and we chatted about the store as I handed him a Texbiker.net business card. He said he would let me know when the shop will open and other information. They will have rides and other events. I failed to get the young man’s name though.

Back on the ride I stopped at the Huffman Chevron as usual for a rest break and to cool down. I was at the 26.1 mile point at 12:46 pm. I sat in the shade outside enjoying the breeze hoping it would dry up some of the body moisture I was producing. Eating some snack crackers and drinking ice water I felt refreshed and resumed the ride about 25 minutes after arriving.

Since I took a different set of streets through Atascocita on the way to Eagle Springs I stayed on FM 1960 riding west to Pinehurst Trail before turning north to ride back to Kingwood. Earlier when I was riding along Kingwood Drive I encountered the construction workers replacing the greenbelt trail beside the west bound lanes and moved to the closed lane to ride where I could cross and ride to the south. I will need to modify my route for a few days until the construction finishes. Maybe the east bound greenbelt will be finished.

More hot and dry weather for Saturday which means I will be biking.

RideWithGPS.com map and metrics

Strava Bicycle Ride Summary

Texas Bicycling News Digest August 10th 2017

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Sweet ride – Rocky Hill Ranch

GHORBA | www.facebook.com

APD Ticketing Cyclists

by kerryp | www.bikemojo.com

Just saw this on Facebook and thought I would share. Follow the rules.

Bicycle reported stolen from elderly Abilene man

www.bigcountryhomepage.com

ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC) – An elderly Abilene man told police his bicycle was stolen off his porch overnight on Tuesday.
A report filed with the Abilene Police Department states the man, 81, reported an unknown suspect took the bike from his home on the 1900 block of Minter Lane sometime between 8:00 p.m. Tuesday and …

Area bike enthusiast hit the trail, enjoy nature

By Lance Winter | www.star-telegram.com


Josh Porter would tell you a day on a Mountain Bike is better than any day at the office. That being the case Porter, applying a little conventional wisdom, combined the two so he could enjoy both his passion and make a living.
For almost a year, the 35-year-old owner/mechanic of Unspoken Bike Shop, has been …

Video: Bike Community Speaks Out After Hit and Run Turns Deadly

By: Avery Travis | www.everythinglubbock.com

Lubbock Police on Tuesday identified the cyclist who lost his life in a hit and run collision at South Loop 289 and University Avenue, as Joshua Allen Noble. The cycling community spoke out following the accident, saying sometimes driving on busy roads is unavoidable.
“Inside of town, especially on the South side, there are not a lot of places to cross the Loop,” Cam Mencio of Velocity Bike Shop said.
Mencio has been biking around Lubbock for 10 years. He …

Safety to be focus of bike rodeo

www.victoriaadvocate.com

John Wesley United Methodist Church will host a bicycle rodeo from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday.
The rodeo is for children ages 5 to 12 years old. Children should bring their own bicycles.
Participants will have the chance to increase their knowledge of bicycle safety and …

City officials host ribbon cutting for new bike lanes

McKenzi Morris | www.dailytoreador.com


City of Lubbock officials and community members cut the ribbon for Lubbock’s new bike lanes on Thursday.
The bike lanes, which span from Texas Tech to downtown Lubbock, Mackenzie Park and the Canyon Lake system, cost around $150,000 to complete, Director of Public Works Wood Franklin said, and were a joint effort between City of Lubbock staff members and contractors.
“I see this as a great, positive step forward for …

Tweeners Ride 8/12

davidparker3508 | www.planobicycle.org

Tweeners ride will roll this Saturday, 8/12 departing from the normal place for 42 miles with an average speed of 15-16 mph.
Please meet at the north end of the parking lot at Spring Creek & Coit by 6:45am so we can sign in, have the all important speech and ready to roll at 7:00am.
Please hydrate well on Friday and bring plenty of fluids for the ride as it could be hot with a heat index of high 90’s-100).
Additionally, let’s be a …

DB Rec 8-12-17, 6am/75 miles or 7am/63 miles to Rowlett

Ron_Shome | www.planobicycle.org

This is our first of two rides of 75 miles. Due to the high heat index forecast for this Saturday, we’ll start early at 6am and ride a small 10.7-12 mile circuit and return to the parking lot by about 6:45am. Then at 7am we will pick up those who prefer to start at the standard time and begin our main 63 mile loop to Rowlett (very similar to our ride last Saturday). This 63 mile loop will have a parking lot pass (optional cutoff) 11 miles before the end for those who must end early or are suffering heat exhaustion symptoms.
6am Instructions for 75 miles *** Lights Required *** …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

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New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Waxed Chain, Black Performance Socks Bike Ride

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The rainy weather moved away and the heat moved in. As I got ready to leave this morning looking at my home weather station I saw 99 degrees. That was very warm for 10:50 am so I think it may need to be looked at. When I finished the ride at 2:14 pm the weather station showed 103 degrees while the other home weather station reported 96 degrees. Definitely something is wrong.

I wanted to ride 40+ miles so I chose the “New Caney – Roman Forest – Valley Ranch” route adding a couple of extra streets at the end for a total of 41.4 miles. This boosted the week’s total to 112 miles and the month to 288 miles keeping me schedule to hit my 800 mile goal for the month.

With a partly cloudy sky and light (6 mph SE breeze) biking was good. As long as I moved the heat was not bad with the air keeping me cool. When i stopped at Stripes on FM 1314 a man walking from his pickup truck to the store asked if it was too hot to bike and I replied as long as I was moving it wasn’t too hot. I stopped there 29.2 miles into the ride at 1:00 pm and stayed about 20 minutes while I ate some snack crackers and drank ice water. Sitting in the shade felt good with the light breeze blowing through.

Back on the bike I rode through Briar Tree, Oakhurst and Kings Manor on the way back to Kingwood. I didn’t see any cyclists along the route today.

After yesterday’s ride I waxed the chain on the Stradalli because it was making metallic noises probably from all of the water when I rode in the rain plus washing after the rides. The chain was much quieter today.

For most of the rides this year I wear Gildan cotton socks but with all of the rain I have not been happy with the way the hold moisture as well as when I perspire. I have one pair of Sock Guy socks and they are much drier. Checking the Sock Guy website I saw the price was around $10.99 per pair which is much more than I am use to paying. On the way to Walmart I stopped at Bike Werks to buy some tire levers and look at their socks. All they had were cotton socks, not solving my problem. At Walmart I looked in the sporting goods department but all I found were soccer socks which are too high for me. Moving to the men’s department the sock selection was vast with numerous choices for polyester fabric socks which is what most biking jerseys are made of. I found a package of 12 pair from AND1 named black Performance Quarter Cut Socks Light Weight. The fabric content was exactly what I was looking for: polyester 94%, rubber 4%, and Spandex 2%. These should wick the moisture away and not ball up when they get wet like the cotton socks did. Even better was the price, $9.84 plus tax; 12 pair for less than one pair from the Sock Guy. I tested a pair on today’s bike ride and they were comfortable and kept my feet dry. Hopefully I don’t test them in the rain any time soon.

AND1 Performance Socks

More hot an dry weather on Friday and I plan on biking in it.

RideWithGPS.com map and metrics

Strava Bicycle Ride Summary