Texas Bicycling News February 1st 2017

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Tommy Ketterhagen Memorial Ride

by Kat Hunter | texasbikeracing.com


In an article published the day before, Velonews called the 26-mile memorial ride and 1-mile walk planned for 19-year-old Tommy Ketterhagen on Sunday, Jan. 29, a “somber” event. But while the group had the gravity of a funeral procession, a palpable sense of meaning and importance, there was nothing dark or subdued about it. The group more than 550 riders strong, in their bright rainbow of colors, was reminiscent of one of those aerial views of the Tour de France peloton strung out …

Spoke & Word Newsletter February 2017

BikeHouston | BikeHouston.org


“What is BikeHouston doing today to make Houston more bike-friendly tomorrow? We’re working through the final details with the City of Houston to close the deal on the Bike Plan…”

McKinney’s ‘bike boulevards’

by tcs | www.bikeforums.net

McKinney has mapped out some bike routes and signposted them as bike boulevards.
There are claims that the motivation was to get bicyclists off McKinney’s main thoroughfares and onto neighborhood streets. I dunno, maybe, I mean that kind of thing has been going on in Texas since 1971 or so. Or maybe the city council wanted to say they ‘did something’ about, or for, the bicyclists, or maybe the chamber of commerce thought it would look real good when reported in national publications. Okay, but because …

NEW Holman On-street Bikeway

BikeHouston | bikehouston.org


Introducing our newest on-street bikeway: Holman through midtown. In the spirit of remaining positive and celebrating small victories we want to introduce you to the Holman project.
Holman connects under Spur 527 to Hawthorne through Montrose (also crossing Smith). Now we know the section under the spur isn’t what it should be and are working with Tx-DOT on this. We are working with Montrose District on Hawthorne improvements and through other …

Can I bike 200 miles straight? Nutritionist (along with coach and cyclist) says yes!

Pam LeBlanc | fitness.blog.austin360.com


Three experts now assure me I can pedal my bike 200 miles through the Texas Hill Country – a feat that would require starting before dawn and riding well into the night – at the end of March.
I’m still waffling, but taking some steps in case I decide to actually enter the RAAM Texas Challenge. The race, which offers 200- and 400-mile options, starts in Marble Falls and winds its way all the way to Kerrville and back. …

Upcoming Rides

Fort Worth Bicycling Association | www.fwbaclub.org

Stephen’s 50th Birthday Ride!
Sat, February 04, 2017 9:00 AM
8512 FM 920. Weatherford, Tx
Super Bowl Ride
Sun, February 05, 2017 8:30 AM
TRE Station, Richland Hills
Century of the Month
Sat, February 11, 2017 9:00 AM
Bikes Inc – Arlington
Grandview Gravel Goodness
Sun, February 12, 2017 9:00 AM
705 S 5th St, Grandview, TX – Grandview Junior High School
LBJ Grasslands / Ronnie’s Birthday Ride
Sat, February 18, 2017 9:00 AM
400 N Miller St, Decatur, TX
Del Norte
Sun, February 19, 2017 9:00 AM
409 N Pearson St, Godley, TX
River View
Sat, February 25, 2017 9:00 AM
Rio Vista, Tx

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

https://twitter.com/Cyclistlaw/status/826760434082516993

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Winter Legs Wilt on Third Bike Ride in a Row

Texbiker.net Posted on by

My winter legs showed on today’s ride with this being the third day in a row bicycling. Biking along the “New Caney – Gene Campbell Road” route I biked north with the wind until New Caney where I turned to the northwest for a couple of miles. This section wasn’t directly into the wind but I knew when I moved to Gene Campbell Road the headwind would be waiting. Today’s bike ride totaled 35.37 miles. with about 20 miles of headwind. Up to hitting the headwind I managed to get my average speed up to 15.0 mph but in the headwind it slowly went down to 14.4 mph at the end of the ride.

I left home at 11:56 and finished at 2:25. The weather during the bie ride.

The blue sky went away replaced with a partly cloudy sky but the temperature bumped a couple of degrees to 81. The wind that taxed my “winter” legs was from the SW at 10 mph with 20 mph gusts. From the 19 mile point where I was on FM1314 is where my legs started to complain. The occasional 18 wheeler passing me on FM1314 helped to suck the wind away from and I could speed up until the effect wore off.

I probably overdressed today with a long sleeve thermal jersey under a short sleeve jersey causing me to sweat more than I might have with a regular long sleeve jersey. I was expecting of the wind chill to be more than it turned out to be. Since I wasn’t riding near Lake Houston I should have factored that in.

Links to RideWithGPS.com and Strava.com.

My February goal is 345 miles and today’s riding got me 10% of the way there. We will see how February’s weather allows me to bicycle.

Today's Ride Summary

Texas Bicycling News January 31st 2017

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Bicyclist hurt in HPD collision near downtown

By Dale Lezon | www.chron.com


A HPD checks the bicycle after a collusion between the bicycle and a HPD cruiser at the crosswalk of Houston Avenue and Lubbock Street at around 7 a.m.on Tuesday, January 31, in Houston. The cyclist, who suffered minor injuries and was conscious, was transported to St. Joseph Hospital, HPD Vehicular Crimes Division Ltn. Megan Howard said. ( Yi-Chin Lee/ Houston Chronicle) …

Buescher Trails

by kerryp | www.bikemojo.com

Buescher mountain bike trails have re-opened (partially). Its probably not worth the drive out here from any distance since there is only about 6 miles of trails total open, but if you happen to be in the area and want to put some wheels down, the trails could sure use it. Since they have been closed a couple years in spots they have grass and small debris over the trail. It won’t take long to wear it …

Over the Texas Hills to Pete’s House

by John Koonz | www.bikeovernights.org

Most of this trip is on quiet county roads of Texas, but food, water, and accommodations can be found along the way. During wildflower season, it is incredibly beautiful. …

The Racing Post – February 2017 Edition

theracingpost.us

Houston Installs Its First Bike Box

By Jay Blazek Crossle | tex.streetsblog.org


Houston has been in a rush to install upgrades for all the visitors expected at this weekend’s Super Bowl, but they may get to enjoy something Houston has been building up to for a long time that is finally on the ground. Houston has installed its second green bike lane, and its first bike box on Holman Street in …

Freebies during Super Bowl LI include bike rentals and bike valet downtown

By Heather Leighton | www.chron.com


There are loads of free events going on around town in celebration of Houston hosting the Super Bowl, but traveling to those said events proves to be difficult if you’re getting there by car.
Yes, you could take an Uber, but there are likely surge prices, plus some of you have deleted your account after this weekend’s debacle with Donald Trump’s immigration ban. …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

https://twitter.com/bicyclesplus/status/826543595511545862

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Great Weather for Last January Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Another gorgeous bike ride day and I was out there enjoying it on the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route. There was so much blue sky it was hard to take it all in. I start bicycling at 11:48 with a quick spin on the green belt trail to get to Elm Grove Village and then Sherwood Trails Village in Kingwood on the way south to exit Kingwood along W. Lake Houston Parkway. The weather during the ride.

Home Weather at the start
Home weather at the finish
Airport Weather at the finish

The 8 mph south wind had a chill in it making me glad that I wore a long sleeve thermal jersey under the short sleeve one. Regular bike shorts was just right thanks to the sun. My new Bellwether shorts are about 1/2″ shorter in leg length than my older shorts so I need to work on the sun tan to cover the white band below the shorts.

While I rode east over Lake Houston on FM1960 a red SUV passed me with rear bike rack and a sharp looking black and red bike. I wondered if I might see the SUV and bike later at the church south of FM1960 on Fairlake Drive. That turned out to be the case as I rode by the parking lot the red SUV and another SUV were there. The black/red bike was off the rack and the rider looked to be a woman. I waved and they rider waved back. The other SUV also had a bike on the ground but the rider was not looking my direction. After I rode by I thought about turning back to visit with them but didn’t. Some bikers park at the church and ride from there. I guess they do not like riding across Lake Houston although the road has a nice wide shoulder. Today TXDot was cleaning the shoulder on the west bound side as I rode east. Hopefully they glean the east bound shoulder too.

Continuing on Fairlake Drive to Old Atascocita Road east I could see some flashing lights at the FM2100 intersection. Approaching the intersection the flashing lights were from a work truck for a company that works on electric lines. The sign on the east side of FM2100 said “road closed” with orange cones on both sides blocking the road as well as the truck parked there. This was probably going to cause a problem for the bikers back at the church since they usually ride east on Old Atascocita Road to Ramsey Road. When I crossed FM2100 there were red flashing lights about a mile further east and the road looked like it was blocked. I wasn’t able to see what the problem was. Sometimes I ride that route and if that was my plan today I would have rode south on FM2100 to Stroker Road and back north on Ramsey Road.

I thought by the time I got back to Fairlake Drive I might see the red SUV leaving but that didn’t happen. I did see the Amtrak train pass through Huffman while waited for the traffic light to change at FM2100 and FM1960. It was moving a little slower than usual. When I rode across the tracks a few minutes earlier I saw another train’s bright light east of the crossing. I couldn’t see if it was on the siding waiting for the Amtrak train to pass or if the Amtrak train would move to the siding to allow the other train to pass.

No rest stop at the Huffman Chevron with the temperature not so hot and my water bottle still about 2/3’s full. This positioned me to ride back into Kingwood ahead of the school traffic. I crossed Kingwood Drive around 2:00 PM though the traffic was heavy. I waited a couple of minutes until two motorists all owed me to cross while they waited for the traffic to move. I finished the ride at 2:08.

With this being the last ride for January I need to recap and compare January 2017 with previous January’s.

Year Miles/month # of Rides Total Biking Time Avg. Speed Mph Avg. Ride Miles
2017 412.59 12 28:06 14.7 34.38
2016 337.91 11 24:53 13.6 30.72
2015 141.03 5 10:09 13.9 28.21
2014 328.34 12 22:34 14.5 27.36

Today’s ride summary. Links to RideWithGPS.com and Strava.com.

Today's Ride Summary