Texas Bicycling News Digest April 8th 2017

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2017 Hallsburg Elementary School Bicycle Safety Event Wrap-up

by Renee Van Treuren | wacobicycleclub.com


Many thanks to everyone who participated in this years Hallsburg bicycle safety event. We reached a new record of inspecting and repairing 166 bikes! Every year proves to have a few surprises. There are always bikes with no working brakes, shiftless drive trains, missing reflectors, and loose kick stands. This was the first time we had a bike with 22 holes in a tube, a bike so muddy you could not see what color it was, a bike with wasp nests on it, and one with brakes pads upside down. Our crew did a fantastic job and was greatly appreciated by parents, students, Hallsburg staff and …

Leaving Montgomery, wounded vets finish 500-mile statewide bike ride

By Jay R. Jordan | www.yourconroenews.com


MONTGOMERY – Close to 100 wounded veterans biked from Montgomery to Houston on Saturday in the final leg of a 500-mile therapeutic ride across the state.
The veterans and other bicyclists, including wounded first responders, were riding in the Texas for UnitedHealthcare Texas Challenge, a ride that began in San Antonio and concluded at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston. The wounded heroes were in Montgomery overnight after …

https://www.instagram.com/p/BSoaAYrl3sA/

2017 Dragonslayer – Goodwater Loop of Lake Georgetown

by Desert Nomad | www.bikemojo.com

The event is on for October 7th with a rain day of October 14th. Riders have the option of riding one (26-ish miles, a Dragon’s-Egg), two (53-ish miles, a Baby Dragon ), or three laps (80-ish miles, a Dragonslayer). The event starts at sunrise that day with 4:30:00 cut offs for each lap in order to continue to next lap.
Good News!
– Hammer Nutrition has gotten wind of this event and …

Southern Tier At The Speed of Bicycle

By Gary Rapp | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 34 Kountze TX to Merryville LA
Saturday April 8, 2017, 65 miles (105 km) – Total so far: 1,958 miles (3,151 km) …

Southern Tier – San Diego to St Augustine March 2017

By Charles Falsetto | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 36 Texas D19: Navasota to Punkin
Saturday April 8, 2017, 58 miles (93 km) – Total so far: 1,762 miles (2,836 km)
2173′ V, 5:38:57, 10.2 AvgMph
Another tough day in the saddle, sick, W and rough road made the 58 miles to Punkin not much fun. Most of my road friends rode an extra 20 miles to Shepherd but I just didn’t have the energy or will power to go any further. I had a headache almost all day but I think my cold is getting better.
Staying at a nice CG in Punpkin, made it in time for a pot luck dinner and all I had to …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

https://twitter.com/GWCChuck/status/850858072054657025

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Wind, Love Bugs, and Wildflowers Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

I decided to not ride the Liberty Freedom Ride this morning and opted to watch the final stage of the Vuelta Ciclista al Pais Vasco (Tour of the Basque Country) instead. After the race ended I got ready and rode the “SR242 – FM1314” route for 46.62 miles. This a couple of miles more than the Liberty Freedom route I would’ve rode. I started at 11:14 with great weather: clear sky, 80 degrees, strong wind from the south. The wind propelled me all the way to SH 242 but making the left turn onto SH 242 the wind was now coming from my left and not as helpful.

At FM 1485 I stopped for a minute at the gas station for a rest and to drink some water before battling the wind from there to FM 1314. Thankfully the trees on the south side of SH 242 blocked some of the wind until the turn at FM 1314. On FM 1314 I discovered the road was now four lanes from SH 242 to the concrete road began about a mile east. Previously this was one lane each way with a center turn lane. Fortunately the shoulder was about 3 feet wide not counting the orange construction barrels along the side. The barrels were leaning away from the road so I had enough clearance to stay out of the main traffic lane. The wind was more of a headwind while riding SE on FM 1314. I could see the wildflowers blooming and took these pictures.

The bluebonnets are missing along this road. They are more evident on US59 near Splendora.

I stopped at the new Exxon station at FM 1314 and Gene Campbell Road for a rest break. I ate two trail mix bars and refilled my water bottle. As I was getting ready to leave I saw my church’s education director come out of the store. Lisa was on the way back from Conroe and stopped for a Subway sandwich. We chatted before I got on the bike to leave. I also spoke with a man as he came out of the store. He encouraged me to stay active and said he was 67 years old and planned on staying active to enjoy life. I agreed with him.

Yesterday the new Barfly mount arrived and after much head scratching I figured out how to select the right mount for the Wahoo Elemnt and how to attach the GoPro type mount to hold the PowerPod power meter. It held the two perfectly during today’s ride. My next challenge is figuring out how to update the firmware for the Wahoo Bluetooth cadence sensor. The Android utility app downloads the firmware file (it says anyway) but fails when it tries to flash the new file to the cadence sensor. I sent an email to Wahoo support but being the weekend I didn’t expect a reply until Monday or later. There was a comment on yesterday’s ride post from Phill Lucas about the PowerPod blinking red status light:
“If the light flashed red a few times and goes dark, the speed sensor is not transmitting data. If the powerpod blinks red constantly, the battery level was low. In this case it kept blinking so it was the battery charge level, but it looks like it worked for the full ride nonetheless. You usually have 90 minutes (oftentimes more) when the light starts flashing.” I charged the PowerPod and the blinking red light went away during today’s bike ride. I will not wait as many rides before charging the next time.

The “love bugs” flew around me while I rode on SH 242 so they are coming out of their hiding places. They aren’t a big problem unless I have my mouth open and they fly in. At the Exxon station I swatted a few away.

With today’s miles I am ahead of schedule to reach April’s 772 mile goal: 229.35 miles so far. I am on schedule to reach my year goal too but not ahead by much: 1817 miles so far. Tomorrow I plan on a shorter bike ride. The weather forecast looks good.

Strava.com link and below is an image using a Google Chrome browser extension that spits out more charts and graphs than I know what to do with. The extension is Stravistix. The Golden Cheetah ride summary is shown on the right. Click on the image to enlarge it.

Strava
Golden Cheetah Ride Summary

Home weather at the start and airport weather at the finish finish. Notice the wind in the right image.

[iframe http://rwgps-embeds.com/trips/13827294/embed 70% 700px]

Texas Bicycling News Digest April 7th 2017

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Driveway #4 2017 – Devin 4th

Chris Tolley | www.youtube.com


Lots of covering movies, tried for the burnnnnner at the end to help out our man on the day but some final corner drama with a tubular explosion held him up. 4th.
Thanks to Stefan for being DOWN TO RIDE.

Veterans Take Part In 6-Day Bike Ride Through Texas

www.kcentv.com

FORT HOOD- More than 70 veterans took part in a 6-day journey from San Antonio to Houston, making a stop on Fort Hood.
The bike ride is put on by Project Hero. It’s a chance to reunite veterans and help victims of PTSD heal. …

Military veterans bike through Central Texas for “Ride 2 Recovery”

By Kathleen Serie | www.kwtx.com


FORT HOOD, Texas (KWTX) Nearly 80 military veterans biked through Fort Hood Thursday morning as part of a six day “Ride 2 Recovery” event across Texas.
The United Healthcare Challenge through the Project Hero organization started Monday in San Antonio.
The final destination is in Houston.
The event is meant to help build support between veterans who are battling PTSD.
Many of the veterans say …

San Angelo’s young guns making noise on cycling circuit

Bill Cullins | www.gosanangelo.com

You could call ’em the Young Guns.
They don’t wear .44 caliber pistols or terrorize the territory like Emilio Estevez and Kiefer Sutherland did in the movie “Young Guns”. But when they roll up to the starting line of a Texas mountain bike race, their competitors know that it’s time to ride fast or get off the trail.
The young guns I’m referring to are San Angelo cyclists Logan Jenkins and Mateo Hernandez, currently two of the hottest young mountain bike …

Southern Tier At The Speed of Bicycle

By Gary Rapp | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 33 Punkin to Kountze TX
Friday April 7, 2017, 73 miles (117 km) – Total so far: 1,893 miles (3,046 km)
The weather was good to us again today. Began to see an increase number of logging trucks on the roads we are riding on. …

Florida Bound

By Charles Brun | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 24: Marathon to Sanderson
Friday April 7, 2017, 56 miles (90 km) – Total so far: 1,392 miles (2,240 km)
Today was rather un-eventful, with the scenery being better than “minus” but not by much. I have come up a my own definition of southwest scenery. When the day has absolutely nothing to look at I give it a “minus” rating. When it has some changes in elevation, some trees, and some vistas I give it an “okay” rating. Finally when there are trees such as conifers or junipers, marked changes in elevation, and interesting towns to stop in and look at then it gets a “positive” rating. So based on this totally arbitrative rating system, today was an “okay minus” day.
I woke up at 6 am knowing that it was still dark and cold outside. I looked at the internet until 7 when I knew I had to get up. Still, I had to bundle up with my down sweater, skull cap, and …

Honeoye Riders Pedal the Southern Tier

By jim kersting | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 38: Goodbye Texas.. we loved you at 10mph
Friday April 7, 2017
We are in Merrysville Louisiana just across the western Louisiana line. We are camped , yes for real, we are camped in our tents on the grass, green grass as a matter of fact. We are at a cycle list only camp ground on the Merryville museum and historical society property. We have very clean bathrooms and showers picnic tables a lot of electrical outlets to charge our equipment and the pavilion if the weather got nasty which it is not going to do. The local couple volunteer to run the museum actually came over and opened it up so we had a great tour.
Our ride today and all future days are flat and consequently not …

Southern Tier – San Diego to St Augustine March 2017

By Charles Falsetto | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 35 Texas D18: La Grange to Navasota
Friday April 7, 2017, 66 miles (106 km) – Total so far: 1,704 miles (2,742 km)
2578′ V, 6:25, 11 AvgMph
Very late start today for many reasons, cold, bathrooms locked, cook screwed up my breakfast twice, and not feeling well. Camped along the Colorado river was nice but very damp. I bought some cold & flu medicine that seemed to work well last night, but still pretty miserable in the saddle. Still managed to ride 66 trouble free miles. Met up with Sue again and her group along the route and rode toward Navasota together.
As I pulled in to Navasota Ian and Jenine were waving me over to the …

This weekend’s rides: Dam Loop with Mt. Bonnell! Red Horn!

by Thomas | steinerranchcycling.com

Saturday looks like an awesome day for our fast pace ride! Let’s do a clockwise Dam Loop including Mesa, Mt. Bonnell, the pedestrian bridge by Austin High School, and Cuernavaca! It is about 57 miles (sorry, I don’t have a route map). After the ride we meet up at Lakeside for some discounted …

‘Ride 2 Recovery’

By Brooke Bednarz | www.kxxv.com

Video

CENTRAL TEXAS (KXXV) – Seventy-eight veterans made their way riding bicycles from Fort Hood all the way to Waco Thursday.
The men and women are on the fourth day of their six-day challenge, and they said it’s been a long, but therapeutic journey.
“I was in Desert Storm and I got PTSD from the people that I lost there,” Douglas Hubbard, a Fort Hood U.S. Army veteran, said.
From war to his battle with PTSD, Hubbard has been searching for …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

https://twitter.com/mikethreadgould/status/850355123150667776

https://twitter.com/BBQ44/status/850399142610432000

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

First Love Bug Spotting Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

I bicycled the “May Park Community Center – Huffman” route today for a total of 40.27 miles boosting my April miles to 181.73 towards my 772 mile goal for April. The bike ride began at 11:56 and finished at 3:11. The weather was very nice though I would prefer the temperature to be a few degrees higher. I wore a long sleeve jersey (non-thermal) in case the 6 mph south breeze was chilly and to avoid sunscreen on my arms. It was a wise choice. At times the wind was chilly which would not be comfortable in a short sleeve jersey.

At the start of the bike ride I noticed the PowerPod was not sending watts information to my Wahoo Elemnt. I pressed the PowerPod start button again, watts starting showing on the Elemnt but the PowerPod status button blinked red. I don’t know what this means so I pressed the PowerPod start button again during the ride but the status light continued to blink red. Maybe it needs to be charge? I sent an email to Velocomp requesting help.

The bike ride went smoothly except for the PowerPod issue. As I rode east of Huffman on I saw a Jeep with what looked like “love bug” remains smashed on the windshield and later when I took a short rest stop at the Huffman Chevron a few “love bugs” landed on my bike. I guess I will see more as the month progresses.

Tomorrow is The Liberty Freedom Ride in Liberty, TX. I rode last year but there was a section of the route (County Road 2099) with many dog chases and I have been going back and forth on whether to ride this year. The weather looks great for biking tomorrow so no matter where I ride it will be nice.

Link to today’s bike ride at Strava.com and RideWithGPS.com.

Ride summary

Strava Extended Statistics