Texas Bicycling News – March 3, 2023

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Shift Your Sightseeing

By Pam LeBlanc | texashighways.com

From Marfa to Galveston, e-bike tours around Texas offer some extra power for adventurous self-guided trips

Without barely breaking a sweat, I crest the hill leading to the entrance of Jacob’s Well Natural Area near Wimberley. I wish I could credit my astonishing fitness level, but really, it’s because of the battery-powered bicycle on which I’m perched. An e-bike whisked me up this steep slope, along with a few other hills, during a recent self-guided tour around Wimberley in the Texas Hill Country.

I rented the bike from Wimberley Electric Bike Tours as an experiment. I love to explore small-town Texas on two wheels, but some of my friends prefer touring by car. An e-bike seemed like a good compromise.

Owner Pamela Mitchell met me in a parking lot behind a coffee shop on Ranch-to-Market Road 12, where she handed over a pair of fully …

2023 STCC Swap and Shop

Shawnee Trail Cycling Club | stcycling.com

Are you like the rest of us and over the years have picked up every cycling gadget that’s come along or have a closet full of jerseys that you just had to have but never wore (or only wore once)? And now you have closets full of extra bike gear laying around the house gathering dust? Extra cranks, pedals, wheels? Your "useless" stuff is bound to be someone’s treasure! Turn that unused inventory into cash, or different stuff, at our 2023 STCC Swap & Shop, running alongside the Chili Cookoff. Come enjoy some good eats while you shop. …

BIKE AMBASSADORS: Austin-based company, Woom, hosts Spicewood Bike Train for kids

by Allison Miller | cbsaustin.com

AUSTIN, Texas — On Friday, February 24, Austin-based premium kids bike manufacturer, woom sponsored a Spicewood Bike Train in Austin so Spicewood Elementary School students could enjoy biking to school safely in a group with friends and neighbors.

The idea is to instill a lifelong love of cycling. Woom’s mission is to create products of such exceptional quality that they provide children and their parents with unforgettable experiences. They’re hope is that children who experience these magical moments on their bikes will grow up to be …

Video: Alan Jacobsen riding bicycle across America to raise money for hospital that saved his grandson’s life

By Sydney Lowther | www.fox34.com

Alan will be riding through Lamesa and the South Plains this weekend

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) – Alan Jacobsen is riding his bike from the west coast to the east coast. Alan has been a cyclist for 40 years, but it wasn’t until his grandson Isaac was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at just 8 years old that he was inspired to ride coast to coast.

“It was quite devastating to the family because he’d been a healthy kid up until a few weeks prior to his diagnosis. It happened so suddenly.” Alan said.

Isaac battled leukemia for 16 months at Valley Children’s Hospital, but is now in remission and is receiving small treatments in his home.

Isaac’s battle inspired his grandfather to give back.

“You got to do a …

Good News Friday: March 3, 2023

By Alfonso Rosales | www.kwtx.com

WACO, Texas (KWTX) – Dr. Michael Daley, Regents Professor and chair of the Department of Social Work at Texas A&M University – Central Texas in Killeen received a prestigious national award from the Council on Social Work. Doctor Daley is an author and has several years of experience in the field. …

… This week, Cincinnati Bengals player and Waco ISD graduate, Andrew Billings, visited Provident Heights Elementary school to donate 12 bicycles to students with good attendance! The district says thank you for the wonderful donations and for making the time to visit their students. …

Texas Biking from Twitter

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

This Bike Ride Was Screwed

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I thought the main challenge on today’s bike ride would be the wind. I was very wrong.

It all began as I rolled away at 12:15 PM on my Cervelo Caledonia bike. After looking at a couple of past rides in SportTracks I decided to ride my Community Drive – Valley Ranch – Cumberland route which usually is around 35 miles. Those miles would help me get back on pace to reach my 650 road mile goal for March. I waited to start the ride hoping the wind would go down and the temperature go up. The temperature went a few degrees but the wind increased too. I dressed for the wind with shorts, a long sleeve heavy jersey and a wind jacket.

Checking the weather I saw: start 67 degrees, 43% humidity, dew point 44, fair and breezy, wind NW 21 mph gusts 32 mph. The ride north wand northwest was going to be hard but returning to Kingwood I should have a strong tailwind mostly.

The ride was going as I expected, fighting the wind to Community Drive, some relief going through Valley Ranch, and a strong headwind riding northwest on FM 1314. Until!! I heard this slapping noise from the back tire around 18.5 miles. I stopped quickly and rotated the tire. A large yellow deck screw stuck out of the tire. This could be trouble. I walked from FM 1314 to get away from the noise to a group of buildings, found a 5 gal pail to sit on and looked closer at the damaged tire.

I gathered my tire tools, pump, and patch kit. I got the tire loose and pulled the tube out and looked at the hole. Well actually holes. The screw went through one side and punctured the other side of the tube. I don’t have much success patching those types of holes so I opted to use my spare tube. I got it out of the seat bag, unrolled it and prepared to put it in the tire. Inside the tire I aired the tire up but nothing happened. I tried again, same result. I looked at the spare tube to find the hole but couldn’t find it. I rolled the tube up and pumped it again and found a crease in the rubber letting air out. I patched that and tried again but it wouldn’t hold air for long. Back to the original tube I roughed up the area where the holes were, applied glue and then a patch. Then I did the same for the holes on the other side of the tube. Hoping for good results I pumped up the tube and it held air for a little time and then went soft. By now I had used all of the glue so no more patching attempts. I put the original tube back in the tire, put the wheel back on the Cervelo and started walking back towards Sorters Road and the Circle K store.

When I got to the Circle K I sent a text message to a friend who lives not too far from there. Waiting for a reply I got a text message from another friend who I don’t hear from often saying she was in the area. I told her about my situation and she offered to come take me home. While she was on the way I got a message from the first friend. I said help was on the way and waited. The friend arrived, I put my bike in the car and went home.

The ride did not go as planned. Maybe the next ride will.

3-3-2023 Strava Bike Ride Summary

Texas Bicycling News – March 2, 2023

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STCC Celebrates Women’s History Month

Shawnee Trail Cycling Club | stcycling.com

During March (and every month),STCC will celebrate the inclusion of the MANY women represented in our membership with both some recognition and events just for you. Thank you for letting us be a part of your cycling life. Without you, there would not be a STCC as inclusive, diverse and unique as it is today.

How about an event just for you? On Sunday, March 12 from 2-4pm, we’re going to have another Women’s Maintenance Clinic +. We know the culture at STCC, if something happens on a ride, every member of that ride will reach out to help with changing flats, minor gear changes and a list of other items that when they occur and you have no help (and that will happen, trust me), you’ll have the …

Driver finds bicycle stuck under car after hit-and-run crash that killed cyclist, Houston police say

abc13.com

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — A suspect in a hit-and-run crash that killed a 62-year-old cyclist was seen still driving with the bicycle still stuck under his car, Houston police said.

The deadly crash happened Wednesday morning in the 10800 block of Foy Street in the Eastex/Jensen area.

The driver of a tan Lincoln Continental was going northbound when he hit the man also traveling on Foy Street, according to police. …

L’Etape du Tour Is Coming Back to America

By Michael Venutolo-Mantovani | www.bicycling.com

The popular fondo is heading to to San Antonio and Las Vegas this spring.

One of the world’s most popular and renowned fondos—L’Etape du Tour—is coming stateside for a pair of events in San Antonio and Las Vegas in April and May.

The Texas iteration will take place on Sunday, April 16 and will include 100-mile, 60-mile, 25-mile, and family and kids ride options, starting in northwest San Antonio before heading out into Texas’s famous hill country on fully and partially closed roads. Riders looking to test their mettle against the best around can sign up to race the 100-mile route, which boasts 5,400 feet of climbing. Meanwhile, the 60-mile route features 3,000 vertical feet, while the 25 will see riders climbing almost 900 feet.

A few weeks later, on May 7, 2023, L’Etape will head to …

Texas Biking from Twitter

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Azalea Blooms, Talking Over Lake Houston, Loose Cleats

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At the traffic light in Huffman as I waited for it to change I ran my tongue over my lips and felt the pollen. Earlier I noticed pollen collecting on my water bottle cap too. While spring isn’t here officially it feels like it. Another sign is the beautiful azalea blooms along today’s bike route. Leaving home at 10:01 AM on my Lynskey Helix bike I chose the Atascocita – Walden – Spanish Cove route. This was my first ride after driving home from Harlingen yesterday. I thought I left the wind back there but it must’ve tagged along.

Weather conditions: start 76 degrees, 84% humidity, dew point 71, overcast, wind E 9 mph; finish 77 degrees, 80% humidity, dew point 70, overcast, wind SE 14 mph.

Riding through Kingwood the wind wasn’t too bad but heading south on West Lake Houston Parkway the places out in the open were windy. Going east over Lake Houston the wind gusts accentuated by traffic passing on my left required a firm grip on the handlebars. A young man on a bike with a gas engine passed me going the opposite direction. I saw a man on a MTB in Kingwood earlier and that was all of the bikers spotted today.

A very unusual thing happened as I rode east over Lake Houston. A car pulled onto the shoulder as I approached from the rear. A man got out waving for me to stop. I pulled over in front of the car and he came over. He wanted to ask about bicycles showing me a picture on his phone. As we talked he told me he lived in Richmond, TX, and wanted to know where he could help learning how to ride and where to see more bicycles. We talked for 5 minutes or more. He thanked me and I gave him a Texbiker business card. He told me he would call me with more questions. I told him I would be glad to answer them.

As I rode back into Kingwood I noticed my right shoe would not come loose from the pedal. I managed to get it out at the traffic light at Kingwood Drive and rode on. Behind the buildings I tried again and this time I couldn’t get it loose so I unclipped my left shoe and stopped. The shoe out with a lot of twisting and when I looked at the cleat a screw was missing and the other ones were loose. I tightened the two screws and finished the ride. At home I had an extra screw, put it in the cleat, adjust the position and tightened the three screws. I checked my left cleat and it was a little loose so I fixed it too. Maybe the chip’n seal roads around Harlingen vibrated the screws?

I finished the ride at 12:53 PM. The mostly tailwind from FM 1960 through Atascocita Shores and Kings River made for easier pedaling. A nice ride to start my March bike rides. My goal is 650 road miles this month. That works out to an average of 21 miles per day. I’m behind already after not riding yesterday. But year to date 2023 is still ahead of years 2011 through 2022.

3-2-2023 Strava Ride Summary Atascocita-Walden-Spanish Cove
3-2-2023 Strava Ride Summary Atascocita-Walden-Spanish Cove