Texas Bicycling News April 6th 2017

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Rio Grande bike lanes endanger both drivers and bikers

By Ryan Young | www.dailytexanonline.com


As I returned to my West Campus apartment at the end of spring break, I noticed something different about Rio Grande Street. The cones that divided the bicycles lanes from the traffic lane had been replaced by concrete islands.
As a regular bicycle commuter, I believe bicycling infrastructure should be safe both for cyclists and for cars. That isn’t the case for the bicycle lanes on Rio Grande — they’re defective by design. These dangerous lanes will only cause needless accidents and injuries to cyclists. And by replacing the cheap and flexible cones with expensive and permanent concrete, the city of Austin just …

Council to begin talks on new bike trail

By: Denise Olivas | www.kvia.com


EL PASO, Texas – Last year, El Paso City Council approved its Comprehensive Bike Plan, which is expected to bring a network of bike infrastructure to the city over the next decade.
During Tuesday’s council meeting, representatives approved to begin talks about one project that could connect Doniphan Drive in the Upper Valley to Downtown.
The project would include a hike and bike trail with …

Special Report: The Bessie’s Creek Endurance ride this weekend!

Wheelbrothers | www.wheelbrothers.com


Ok, I’m not a super distance guy, just ride the Goatneck and Hotter-than-Hell Hundred with the Wheelbrothers most years, so the Bessie’s Creek Endurance thing intrigues me. Started looking for data, and stumbled across this cool thing happening in Brookshire TX. There’s a place called Manna House, which seems to be a place for rehabilitating addicts, homeless, and other fell-through-the-cracks folks. I have a …

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Saturday Ride Schedule

Maverick Chain Gang | maverickchaingang.org

April 15, 2017
Elysian Fields – out and back – 32.5 miles
Meet at: Evangelical Presbyterian Church, 4700 Victory Dr, Marshall, TX – 8:00 a.m.
April 22, 2017
Sabine River – out and back – 22 miles
Meet at: Cypress Valley Church, 4190 W Pinecrest Dr, Marshall, TX – 8:00 a.m.
April 29, 2017
Pirkey Lake – West – 34.7 miles
Meet at: First Baptist Church, 405 W Austin St, Marshall, TX – 8:00 a.m.
May 6, 2017
Caddo Wildlife Refuge – Distance: optional, 15+ miles
Meet at: 15600 Fm 134, Karnack, TX – 8:00 a.m.

Ride 2 Recovery veterans bike into Waco

By KRISTIN HOPPA | www.wacotrib.com


When retired U.S. Army signal support specialist Douglas Hebbard rode into the Doris Miller Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Waco on Thursday, he felt comfort atop his bicycle wheels.
“I was in the army for six and a half years during Desert Storm on a tank battalion with the 1st Infantry Division that spearheaded the attack into Iraq, so that is where my PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) comes from,” Hebbard said. “I lost a lot of …

Abilene marks Texas Avenue off list of roads to repair

By: Lindsey Ragas | www.ktxs.com


ABILENE, Texas – The city of Abilene has worked on a handful of roads as part of the 2015 bond project, and Texas Avenue is the first road to be completed in 2017.
“Today we’re celebrating one of the additional projects that was a part of the 2015 bond election and that was the reconstruction of Texas Avenue,” said Mayor Norm Archibald.
For the last 12 years, Donald Jordan has driven on Texas Avenue and he appreciates that the road is no longer bumpy.
“If you got a good smooth road, it’s good on your car and it’s great,” Jordan said. “I think they …

Southern Tier At The Speed of Bicycle

By Gary Rapp | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 32 Navasota to Punkin TX
Thursday April 6, 2017, 57 miles (92 km) – Total so far: 1,820 miles (2,929 km)
The weather today was perfect for cycli g. CLEAR blue sky, 75 degree with a gentle 2 mph breeze with low humidity.
Found a great little rv park with a nice clubhouse with a big screen tv, pool table and full equipped kitchen. A great $10 per day value included tent site and warmshower. …

Southern Tier – San Diego to St Augustine March 2017

By Charles Falsetto | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 34 Texas D17: Austin to La Grange
Thursday April 6, 2017, 74 miles (119 km) – Total so far: 1,638 miles (2,636 km)
2151′ V, 6:33:15, 11.2 AvgMph
No significant weather issues today.
Departed Austin about 0930 due not feeling well and getting very little sleep. I have a severe sore throat and chest congestion. Actually thought I was getting better but today was somewhat of a disaster and I couldn’t focus. I had to turn around multiple times as I was off course going who knows where. I did run into tandem riders Ian and Jenine as I was backtracking. They convinced me to …

Florida Bound

By Charles Brun | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 23: Marfa to Marathon Texas
Thursday April 6, 2017, 59 miles (95 km) – Total so far: 1,336 miles (2,150 km)
Today was a good day for riding as it was never too hot, as the sky was partly cloudy with high scattered wispy clouds, though I did have my first 3 hours of head winds, but I was able to push them aside mentally and carry on. The road shoulder was wide and smooth.
When I first started to wake up in the morning I reliazed it was pretty cold outside. I stayed in the warm sleeping bag until 7 am as I knew that the sun would not make its debut until 7:38. After quickly dressing I got out of the tent and took a quick look at the stem thermometer: 30 degrees! Yikes there was frost on my front handle bar bag! I got everything sort of packed up and wheeled the bike back the kitchen shelter to use the stove, and …

Honeoye Riders Pedal the Southern Tier

By jim kersting | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 37: Coldspring to Silsbee TX 75 mostly flat and smooth miles
Thursday April 6, 2017
We rolled out of the hill country after 10 miles today, and had a essentialy flat, fairly smooth, and faster roads which was good because we had to cover over 70 miles. It was another perfect weather day. We found a bakery open and I had a giant apple fritter that weighed probably 2 pounds. Jo and Patti stopped at a …

Wounded veterans taking part in 500-mile bicycle ride to arrive in Montgomery

By John S. Marshall | www.yourconroenews.com

About 100 veterans and their supporters will be arriving in Montgomery Friday as part of a 500-mile bicycle ride across a wide swath of Texas in support of wounded veterans.
The veterans and other bicyclists are riding in the Texas for UnitedHealthcare Texas Challenge, a ride that began in San Antonio, headed northeast to Waco, then veered to the southeast, with the final stop in Houston Saturday. They’ll actually conclude the bicycle portion of Friday’s segment around …

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Texas Bicycling News April 5th 2017

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Wanna ride your bike on an F1 track? COTA open Tuesday nights

Kevin Lyttle | racing.blog.statesman.com


Circuit of the Americas is open for business tonight and every Tuesday night for the next 10 weeks for anyone who wants to go biking.
That’s right, you’ll be able to take your thin wheels out on America’s only Formula One track to see what it’s like.
“We realize there are many eager amateurs in town looking for places to ride without being exposed to the daily Austin-area traffic,” said Katja Heim, COTA’s chief operating officer. “We’ve already gotten a lot of …

WTCA Post to Gail Ride

West Texas Cycling Association | www.bikewtca.org

Date: April 15, 2017
Location: Post, TX
Contact: Steve Crowell281-793-4480
Details: RSVP to Steve Crowell. Wheels roll at 9:00am. Out and back from Post to Gail. Road ride. WTCA membership and a signed waiver required. Forms will be available. $5.00 per rider for SAG, water, Gatorade,snacks and floor pumps will be available during the ride and also at Gail. The Gail store will be open Saturday morning. Helmets required. Recommend starting with two full water bottles.

Southern Tier – San Diego to St Augustine March 2017

By Charles Falsetto | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 33 Texas D16: Tourist day and R&R
Wednesday April 5, 2017
Need to kill this sore throat and cold TODAY! Signed up for Ride Austin, like Uber but non profit. Had coffee at …

Southern Tier At The Speed of Bicycle

By Gary Rapp | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 31 Burton to Navasota TX
Wednesday April 5, 2017, 42 miles (68 km) – Total so far: 1,763 miles (2,837 km)

Introducing the New and Improved Safety City of San Angelo

By Sonia Ramirez-Muñoz | sanangelolive.com


SAN ANGELO, TX – The new and improved Safety City of San Angelo welcomes guests to visit its recently remodeled facilities. Made possible through a huge community effort, new buildings have been added, repairs have been made and a fleet of bikes has been added for students to ride when they visit Safety City.
Yesterday morning, Austin Elementary students had the opportunity to tour the facilities during a field trip. During …

Florida Bound

By Charles Brun | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 22: Van Horn to Marfa Texas
Wednesday April 5, 2017, 76 miles (122 km) – Total so far: 1,277 miles (2,055 km)
Today went well all-together, though it was long.
I set the alarm for 6 am so that I could try to get an early start for all the miles I had today. When I was ready to head out from the motel, it occurred to me that it was still somewhat dark. That would be attributable to having entered the Central time zone yesterday. Now the sunrise is 7:45 am but the sunset is 8:31 pm. I way this is all good in that now I know I don’t need to get up so early and will have more hours in the day to ride, get clothes washed out for drying and generally have a more enjoyable time in the evening.
Thankfully the horrible southwest winds left overnight. However when I started out it was only 39 degrees F. I tried to gut it out but had to stop to dig out my fleece gloves as my fingerless riding gloves were just not enough. It really never get all that warm today. I carried extra water and hardly drank half of it. I had on my black leg warmers on all day, as well as my …

Officials to discuss Northern Walnut Creek Trail plans

by Pam LeBlanc | fitness.blog.austin360.com


City officials will hold a meeting next week to discuss the next steps in planning for Phase 2 of the Northern Walnut Creek Trail.
The 1.8-mile section of trail will start in Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park and end near the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality offices at Interstate 35 and Walnut Creek, and connect to the southern end of the …

Honeoye Riders Pedal the Southern Tier

By jim kersting | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 36: Coldspring 70 miles
Wednesday April 5, 2017

Shoplifting suspects hit other North Texas bike shops

By: FOX4News.com Staff | www.fox4news.com


Two shoplifting suspects who used a child as part of their scheme have hit two other bike stores in North Texas.
Last week video at Bicycles Plus in Allen showed the suspects with a child, about 10-years-old, during a robbery that involved $3,600 in high end cycling clothing.
Two other stores now say they were hit by the same thieves on the same day. …

Taking it to the streets

By RICK KELLEY | www.valleymorningstar.com


More is better for 2nd Viva Streets Harlingen

Viva Streets Harlingen was a big success last year, with more than 1,500 attendees and 400 people registering for the 5K run-walk.
So this year the “paved park” concept, which closes some downtown streets, is combining with Library Night Out to be bigger, better and badder.
“During Viva Streets we temporarily close down some streets to automobile traffic so that the community may use them for walking, bicycling, dancing, playing and socializing,” said Alexandria Rocha, transportation planner with …

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Cool Temperature, High Wind Bike Ride

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I try not to start off writing about the weather on the bike ride but today I can’t delay that. Early this morning a cool front pushed through the Houston area dropping the temperature to around 60 degrees. This isn’t too bad for April but it is not is at the very bottom of my comfort zone for a bike ride. By the time I start biking at 11:49 the temperature fluctuated around 67 degrees going up and down a degree or so. I made the decision to not wear leg warmers because the forecast said the high would be around 75 and I didn’t want to over dress. I did choose to wear a thermal jersey but instead of a jersey over top I opted for a cycling windbreaker jacket with lots of vent mesh. This was a good choice and I was comfortable after I warmed up.

Now here is what made the ride challenging: a strong NW wind.

Airport weather finish

The 21 mph wind slowed my cycling to Tavola at Roman Forest Blvd. enough that I stayed in the 34 x 14 gear instead of the 34 x 13 gear I usually use. I don’t think I could’ve pedaled into the wind higher than 12 mph trying to push the higher gear. Once I made the turn back to the south I shifted to the 34 x 13 gear upping my speed. The 29 mph gusts pushed my bike around when I rode out of the wind breaks making me grip the handle bar tightly. I watched the watts on the Elemnt move around as the wind required more effort or a tailwind pushed me along. There were times as I rode south into Tavola that I pedaled and no watts registered because the wind was pushing so much.

Riding south on the I-69/US59 service road the wind wasn’t quite the tailwind I expected but it was easier bicycling than going north. Turning right onto Valley Ranch Parkway the wind hit at full strength and the watts jumped up while the cadence dropped. I changed the route somewhat by biking through the parking lot for the just opened Kroger and other stores. I missed the road to exit the parking lot and looped back to get on the exit street back to Valley Ranch Parkway. The wind was so strong I stood up pedaling to the left turn where the wind was more to my right rear quadrant. From there to the finish of the ride (2:29  PM) the wind was mostly from my back side.

Link to RideWithGPS.com.

Home weather station at the start and finish of the bike ride.

Texas Bicycling News April 4th 2017

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Injured vets biking across Texas stop at Fort Hood Thursday

Stephen Adams | www.kcentv.com


FORT HOOD – More than 150 injured veterans and their supporters will stop at Fort Hood on Thursday morning, as part of their 500-mile Ride 2 Recovery Texas Challenge.
Thursday will mark the fourth of their six-day journey. The …

SA bike share introduces Final Four B-Cycle

Jeremy Baker | www.kens5.com


SAN ANTONIO – Next year the Final Four comes to the Alamo City, and the excitement is already underway. San Antonio Bike Share and the Final Four have partnered up to start promoting next year’s championship.
“We have two specialty painted bikes. They are B-cycle bikes. You will be able to find them around town and they will be out …

Texas Cup — Hammerfest

The Texas Bicycle Racing Association | www.txbra.org


Women Cat 4/5 racers Natalie Caballero, Flora Lang, Cecilia Vichier-Guerre, and Emily Trahan were greeted with snow, sleet, 3700′ of climbing, and temperatures in the upper 30’s, as they passed the Fort Davis Observatory during Sunday’s epic road race.Photo courtesy of Lainey McDaniel.

UPDATED Task Order Contract for Bicycle Projects

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Ghost bike memorial put up for beloved Rice scientist Marjorie Corcoran off of Main Street

By Heather Leighton | www.chron.com


In February, Rice scientist Marjorie Corcoran died after being struck by a Metro light rail train on her way to campus.
And now a ghost bike memorial has been set up off of Main Street near Sunset where the accident occurred.
Ghost bikes are bicycles that have been painted white and placed where a cyclist has been killed. They are chained near where the accident happened and are decorated with memorabilia and flowers to honor the late cyclist.
“She was very concerned about what was best for the students – both our undergraduate students and our graduate …

Southern Tier – San Diego to St Augustine March 2017

By Charles Falsetto | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 31 Texas D14: Kerrville to Pedernales Falls State Park
Monday April 3, 2017, 90 miles (145 km) – Total so far: 1,513 miles (2,435 km)
3960′ V, 6:58:37, 13 AvgMph, 90.5 miles
Departed Kerrville around 0800 heading to Johnson City but I ended up at Pedernales Falls SP. Big day in the saddle with favorable W. The ride out of Kerrville was cold due to all the rain yesterday. I again had some steep hills to contend with early in the day. The road surface was very good traveling farm roads through some very scenic pasture and open range country. Met up again with …

Day 32 Texas D15: Pedernales Falls State Park to AUSTIN!!
Tuesday April 4, 2017, 51 miles (82 km) – Total so far: 1,564 miles (2,517 km)
2754′ V, 5:12:01, 9.8 AvgMph
Pedernales Falls SP was about 4 miles and 500′ V off route which had to be ascended first thing this morning, but that was not the end of the climbing today. There were some extreme hills in excess of 15-18% grade plus I missed a turn and ended up off course and on a busy highway. I think it cost me a couple of miles and a butt load of vertical. W was not our friend today making what I thought was short day to Austin challenging and hard work. I tried to line up a warm shower host for my stay but didn’t have any luck but there is always a cheap Motel 6 around. Hotels downtown were very expensive. The motel was …

Honeoye Riders Pedal the Southern Tier

By jim kersting | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 35: LaGrange to Navasota 70 hot hilly hard miles
Tuesday April 4, 2017
Well let’s just say the bear ate of us today. If anyone had a bet that we would camp tonight as we promised you lost once again; we were out on the road for almost 12 hours sweating and swearing as the rolling hills kept coming at us,probably one per mile for the last 40 miles . But we had a fantastic scenery, thick wildflowers along the roadway. In the morning we went through …

Florida Bound

By Charles Brun | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 21: Fort Hancock to Van Horn Texas
Tuesday April 4, 2017, 75 miles (121 km) – Total so far: 1,201 miles (1,933 km)
While today was another high miler, it was all facilitated by the tremendous tail wind that blew me towards the southeast.
As I knew there would be a lot of pavement to traverse I set the alarm for 5:30 am to ensure that I got away 6:45 am when it first started to get light enough to see without running over anything. As I was leaving Fort Hancock,which was hardly awake, I could hear the silly roosters all around me heralding the start of another round of sunrise greetings. It must be built into thier tiny brains, I don’t know.
While I could have just made my way east on Interstate 10, I usually try to minimize my riding time on interstate highways if I can. Whenever I see the shreds of tires from an 18-wheeler cab and trailor I know that I might have been in the trajectory of one of these exploding pieces of rubber. The good news though was that at least in this area there was not a lot of traffic on Interstate 10. I kept on the farm road as …

Bypass trail under 24th at Lamar set to open this month

Pam LeBlanc | fitness.blog.austin360.com


I ride my bike up Lamar Boulevard almost every day, and I’ve been eagerly (and lately, impatiently) watching the slow progress of the trail bypass of 24th Street.
For the past six weeks or so, welders have been assembling railings along the new pathway, which curves gently along the west side of Lamar, routing bicyclists and pedestrians below 24th Street and its whizzing traffic.
Then, a week or so ago, all the railings that had been …

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