Plenty of Company on July’s First Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

I wanted to start the bike ride before 9 AM but I just couldn’t get out the door and push the start button on my Elemnt until 9:02 AM. The route of choice was “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” and this time not one drop of rain fell on me. I looked forward with the earlier start to seeing other cyclists along the route and that happened with over 20 crossing my path. All but two were going the opposite direction with one passing me while we were riding east over Lake Houston on FM 1960. He was younger taller and faster than me. Later while I was on Woodbridge Drive the other cyclist caught, said hello and turned left onto the street just before I finished the ride at 11:34 am. He rode a white Cannondale. I wanted to take some pictures but the sightings seemed to come when I didn’t have time to get my phone out.

In order to improve my chances of seeing other cyclists I rode faster than usual at the start but this made me slower during the last 8 miles or so as I used my energy reserve and the average speed started to go down. The temperature was a little lower ranging from 84 to 90 which I appreciated but it didn’t reduce my perspiration. I need to wear wrist bands to hold the sweat back some from my gloves. The wind was from the south at 10 mph and it felt nice when I made a short stop at the Huffman Chevron for water and ice.

The goal for July is 800 miles and with today’s ride kicking off the month I only have 767 miles to go. The week is going well with 217.5 miles.

I will catch up with stage 1 of the TdF on the DVR now.

More great riding weather tomorrow. I need to decide on whether to bike before or after church.

Link to RideWithGPS.com

Strava ride summary

Strava Ride Summary

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Texas Bicycling News June 30th 2017

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Bike maker on ‘Shark Tank’ gives back to kids with cancer

Jason Wheeler | www.wfaa.com

DALLAS – A Dallas bike maker who struck it big on Shark Tank is now trying to give away more of his creations to children battling cancer.
At a Dallas bike-making business called Villy Custom, Villy is short for Deville, the Bullmastiff who serves as the company mascot.
The enormous canine oversees a warehouse where there are enough different colored bike parts that owner Fleetwood Hicks says he could put together billions of bikes without any of …

Cyclist maimed in random shooting gets $15K in donations

By Alyssa Goard | kxan.com

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The cyclist attacked on East Riverside Drive by a random passenger shooting out of a car received a large donation Thursday from Austin community members. These community members — most of whom had never met 42-year-old Alonso Solis before — came together to offer him care and financial support as he faces medical costs that seemed …

Bid on Circle Drive Road/Bike Safety Improvements in Austin

www.texasbids.net

Prebid: 07/12/17 10:30 AM
Solicitation Title: Circle Drive Road/Bike Safety Improvements
Owner Solic Number: Q1706-011-LP Status: design Report: 7882506
Country : United States State: TX County: Travis Location: Austin
Scope: The Consultant shall provide professional engineering services to produce a preliminary schematic alternatives layout, preliminary and final Plans, Specifications, and Estimates (PS&E) documents for the Safety Improvements.
Notes: An optional pre-proposal conference will be held for this project …

Bullick Hollow Road/Bike Safety Improvements in Austin

www.texasbids.net

Prebid: 07/12/17 10:00 AM
Solicitation Title: Request for Qualification – Bullick Hollow Road/Bike Safety Improvements
Owner Solic Number: Q1706-003-LP Status: design Report: 7882499
Country : United States State: TX County: Travis Location: Austin
Scope: Professional engineering services for the road/bike safety improvements. The Consultant shall provide professional engineering services to produce a preliminary schematic alternatives layout, preliminary and final Plans, Specifications, and Estimates (“PS&E”) documents for the Project.
Notes: An optional pre-proposal conference will be held for this project …

Stars and Stripes Ride to La Mesa (start at RIO PLAZA)

Tuesday, Jul 4, 2017, 7:15 AM

Across from Rio Plaza
Park across from strip center at 6205 Upper Valley Rd (just north of Artcraft) El Paso, TX

4 Cyclists Went

GROUP RIDE• Meets:   Rio Plaza at Artcraft and Upper Valley• Time:  7:15am, Roll Out 7:30 am• Pace: 17-20 mph avg• Ride:  Hwy 28 N to LaMesa and back.  Total approx 38 miles• Return by same route• Ride Leader:  Sue[masked]

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This weekend’s rides: Far West! Red Horn!

by Thomas | steinerranchcycling.com

Saturday we will go sweat our butts off on a route including Far West! The route is about 59 miles and should finish with a tailwind. You can find it here: https://www.strava.com/routes/4352501. After the ride we meet up at Lakeside for some discounted burgers and beer!
Sunday is our usual Coffee Shop ride to Red Horn. It is 50 miles and is at an endurance pace typically finishing around a 17mph average speed overall. While we make great efforts to …

Safe Passing Billboard Campaign with Houston Police Department

BikeHouston | bikehouston.org


BikeHouston partnered with HPD and Clear Channel Outdoors for Houston’s first 3-feet safe passing billboards! This education campaign is intended to educate drivers about the bicycle ordinance, and cyclists to inform them of their rights. We are going to have 20 billboards around the city of Houston with the lovely faces and bicycles of our fellow supporters. What …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

June Ends with Wet and Windy Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

My legs gave out at 23.5 miles into the bike ride on the “New Caney – Tavola – Valley Ranch” route today and thankfully the Stripes station was there to help me recover. The 17 mph south wind was the cause of the leg fatigue. Biking north to Tavola that wind helped me but I knew I would pay the price when I turned to the south. Looking to my right while riding to Tavola I saw a dark cloud that seemed to be tracking my progress. I felt some drizzle but nothing serious. Loop 494 was damp north north of FM 1485 warning me of the possibility of getting rained on again. The rain stayed away but as I rode east on Roman Forest Blvd. to Tavola the roads were very wet. My washed Stradalli was going to get dirty again. The loop I use in Tavola was wet all the back to Roman Forest Blvd. and for a short distance heading back to US59 but once I got on dry pavement no more drizzles or wet roads. But the dirty work had been done.3

Cycling south on the US59 service road the wind was stiff and the right turn onto Valley Ranch Parkway came at the right time to give my legs a breather. Valley Ranch Parkway winds in various directions putting the wind at odds with my movement until the rest stop at Stripes. After filling my water bottle and resting I got back on the Stradalli to battle the wind for the final 11+ miles to the finish somewhat recovered though my speed did not get as high as before. Into the wind and riding through Briar Tree I looked at the power reading on my Elemnt computer and saw stretches of 300 to 370 watts. That is a high range for me unless I am going uphill.

Fortunately I started the ride a few minutes later (11:00 am) than I planned which helped me to avoid the rain and finished at 2:07 pm. The temperature ranged from 92 to 94 which produced lots of perspiration.

Wrapping up June I biked 880 miles, exceeding my 800 mile goal. Year to date I am up to 3665 miles with a goal of 6800 miles. A summary of June biking is below.

Link to RideWithGPS.com

Strava Ride Summary

Strava Ride Summary

June Biking Summary

Texas Bicycling News June 29th 2017

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Cyclists riding 4,000 miles to fight cancer

By David Ashby | idahostatejournal.com


Kristopher Novak said his family has had its share of cancer scares.
When his mother was 55, doctors discovered precancerous polyps while she was undergoing a colonoscopy. His stepfather had a similar incident occur when he was 35 years old. In both cases, doctors quickly removed the polyps.
Later on, his stepfather had to have a large portion of his nose removed after a suspicious-looking mole turned out to be cancerous. His nose was later reconstructed through plastic surgery using skin from his …

Grapeland mourns loss of teen

Pennylynn Webb | www.palestineherald.com


Grapeland mourns the loss of a child today.
After attending the funeral for Grapeland High School Band Director Perry Franks earlier on Wednesday afternoon, Gus Kennon, 16, was struck by an 18-wheeler.
Born Aug. 16, 2000, Kennon was the son of Joshua Kennon and Lorrie Mars, and a student at Grapeland High School, where he was active in the band.
The always-friendly and …

Schertz gets funding for pedestrian routes, bike lanes

By Zeke MacCormack | www.mysanantonio.com

Schertz has received nearly $1.2 million from the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization to help fund construction of bike lanes and new pedestrian routes to improve accessibility and safety for nonmotorized travelers to local parks, public facilities and businesses.
“We are excited for …

8 AM start: Tour de Southern Walnut Creek Trail

Tuesday, Jul 4, 2017, 8:00 AM

Govalle Park
5200 Bolm Rd. Austin, TX

4 Austin Cyclists Went

We’re riding out at 8 AM for summer coolness.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 ou…

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Our View: Cross-country bicycle ride for charity worthy of praise

By Daily Press Editorial Board | www.vvdailypress.com

A San Marino man who has a home in Lucerne Valley is nearly three weeks into his 27-day cross-country bicycle ride to raise money to fight leukemia.
Steve Gilmore left Santa Monica on June 9, made it to Texas 10 days later and now is more than half way to Rye Brook, New York, a 3,000-mile trek.
It hasn’t been an easy trip, as one would expect. But between heat, elevation gains, so-so roads and a sore rear end, …

Sharpening skills at City Park!

Friday, Jun 30, 2017, 6:00 PM

City Park – Emma Long Motorcycle Trails
7548 Oak Shores Dr Austin, TX

8 Mountain Bikers Went

This ride is not suitable for beginners! There is a speed limit to this 5 mile loop, we will be more focused on completing and clearing features rather than going fast. Perfect for those intermediate riders looking to sharpen skills, lots of opportunity here to practice step ups and down ledges! Please click on the link below to see pictures of the…

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Pedestrian and Bicycle Improvements

www.texasbids.net

Owner Solic Number: STP 2017(099)TAPS, 0917-29-129
Status: bidding Report: 7879625
Country : United States State: TX County: Brazos Location: Brazos County
Est. Low Value: $1,899,798 Est. High Value: $1,899,798
Set Aside Types: MBE/DBE (Minority / Disadvantaged)
Scope: Work consists of 418 CY excavation, roadway; 7.050 SY block sodding; 2.823 SY of 6″ conc pav joint reinf; 24 SY of 8″ full depth repair, CPJR; 12 CY of 6″ riprap, conc; 5 LF of 15″ RC pipe, cl III; adjusting manholes (sanitary), 2 EA; adjusting manholes (water valve box), 11 Ea; 30 LF conc curb and gutter, ty I; 2.368 SY of 6″ conc sidewalks; 1.325 SY conc sidewalks, special, ty A. See outside link. …

More Stars-and-Stripes Jerseys Awarded on Second Day of Masters Track Nationals

www.usacycling.org

Rock Hill, S.C. (June 28, 2017) – Competition continued at the Giordana Velodrome in Rock Hill on Wednesday as the 2017 USA Cycling Masters Track National Championships saw more national champions don the Stars-and-Stripes jersey for wins in the individual pursuits, time trials, scratch races, points races, and sprints.
One of those jerseys went to Dana Walton (E. Norriton, Pa./PA Masters p/b Piscitello Law), winner of the women’s 45-49 scratch race. Walton raced to victory over runner-up Catherine Moore (Denton, Texas/Bicycles Plus Racing) and …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

https://twitter.com/bicyclesplus/status/880457742695235584

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