The HERD, The Fence. Zwift’s Watopia Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop

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Sometimes I appreciate a fence on a Zwift ride, it helps keep the group together and the flyers get out in front and rarely come back. Today the fence required adjusting my speed and power to stay behind it or get back behind after riding beyond it. I wanted to at least match the distance from my last ride on the Watopia Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop and I feared my engagement with the fence might get in the way. I rode with The Herd on the Thursday Social ride using that route for 60 minutes. I last rode it on January 1, 2021 riding 15.50 miles. I’m not sure if that was a group ride or not. Today I rode 15.24 miles. The elevation gain was just as close: 594 feet today versus 557 feet. Around 251 Zwifters were at the start line.

I wimped out on riding the Three Little Sisters route again. Maybe Saturday’s ride.

The Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop is 11.8 miles long. No lead-in after exiting the starting pen onto a mostly flat 5.66 mile long section that took us to the start of the only significant climb. The climb was 2.36 miles long climbing from 32 feet to 213 feet. My average speed was 8.1 mph but I could’ve rode faster because I slowed to stay around the fence. After riding over the peak the descent was 1.75 miles long and I averaged 32 mph. At the bottom the road flattened to the 11.8 mile point where the lap ended after 1.86 miles. We continued on and time ran out before we returned to the climb.

2-2-2023 SportTracks Zwift Ride Overview Watopia Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop
2-2-2023 SportTracks Zwift Ride Overview Watopia Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop

The results from Zwift and ZwiftPower.com.

Results from Zwift
Results from Zwift
2-2-2023 Zwiftpower Results Herd Watopia Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop
2-2-2023 Zwiftpower Results Herd Watopia Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop
2-2-2023 Strava Zwift Ride Summary The Herd Watopia Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop
2-2-2023 Strava Zwift Ride Summary The Herd Watopia Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop

Texas Bicycling Action – February 1, 2023

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Houston city council facing costly decision on bike lanes in Third Ward

By Briana Conner | abc13.com

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Houston’s city council members will make a big decision about a construction project in Third Ward on Wednesday. It’s designed to improve drainage and safety in the area, but people who live there said they never signed on to this.

The project involving the county, the city, and Texas Southern University has already started on Blodgett. It takes a four-lane road down to two, with the addition of bike lanes on both sides. The county is footing most of the bill for construction. Precinct 1 has agreed to consider pausing construction to redesign the project, but that would come at an $8 million to $9 million cost for the city.

"We’ll deal with …

CCC gravel : never not riding Fort Bend County, Texas

Katya @Cool Cat Cycles | strava.com

Sooo stoked we had a good crew out tonight despite the frigid temps

Texas Biking from Twitter

Some Sand And Humps. ZHCC Group Ride – Fine And Sandy Route

Texbiker.net Posted on by

During the night the Watopia Three Little Sisters route popped in my mind and I thought I would ride it today. But after looking at the route profile I wanted a little less climbing. Looking at the upcoming events I saw the ZHCC Sandy & Dandy ride starting at 12:30 and chose it. The ride used the Makuri Islands Fine and Sandy route for 60 minutes. My only previous ride on this route was December 18, 2022, going 19.94 miles in 1:24:41, 3 laps. I didn’t think of that when I anticipated riding 3 laps in 60 minutes today. I rode 14.58 miles today, just over 2 laps. I climbed 600 feet. One lap was 6.6 miles with a .1 mile lead-in before lap 1. ZHCC chose the Zwift gravel bike for everyone. I wouldn’t call this route a gravel one but there were several sections of sand as you can see in the video. 34 or 35 Zwifters rode in the group.

Climbing wasn’t the big item on the route but it began not long after the lead-in up a short hill and down to ride .42 miles to the first real climb circling around to get up on the bridge over the road just rode. It seemed longer than .45 mile and gaining about 65 feet. I slowed to single digit speed. Over the peak the descent lasted .41 miles and then back up a hill to a flat top then down again with rolling terrain back for another ride up to the wooden bridge and over the road. This time the downhill and rolling roads took a different direction for 2.01 miles. At that point the ride went up hill for .47 of a mile topping out at 83 feet. From there the ride went over roads from early in the ride. The SportTracks image below shows the route profile better than Strava. There were two sprints: Boardwalk and Tidepool. The blue section in the middle of the profile shows the lap breakdown.

from ZwiftInsider.com route profile map forMakuri Islands Fine and Sandy

Strava results: PR on Fine and Sandy (25:45), PR on Mech Isle Climb CW (3:16), and 2nd fastest time on Fine and Sandy (27:01).

2-1-2023 Strava Zwift ZHCC Ride Summary Makuri Islands Fine and Sandy
2-1-2023 Strava Zwift ZHCC Ride Summary Makuri Islands Fine and Sandy

Texas Bicycling Action – January 31, 2023

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3 improvements to Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail planned for 2023

By Katy McAfee | communityimpact.com

The Trail Conservancy will work on three restoration projects along the Ann and Roy Butler Hike-and-Bike Trail in 2023.

In the spring, the conservancy will begin construction on the Rainey Street trailhead, a project meant to encourage playing in nature, said Andy Austin, Trail Conservancy board chair-elect.

Schematics for the trailhead include secret paths, a grass maze, a sand pit, stepping stones and boulders.

The conservancy will also begin gathering permits in 2023 for the Holly Project, a site located west of the decommissioned Holly Power Plant at Festival Beach in the East Cesar Chavez Street and Holly neighborhoods. The project will realign the trail and restore native plants and a wetland habitat along the shore. The project will …

Advocates raise safety concerns after 3 deadly crashes involving bicycles, scooters in January 2023

ByBriana Conner | abc13.com

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Even though 2023 just started, it’s already shaping up to be a deadly year on the road for riders. In Harris County, two people on bikes and one person on an electric scooter have been killed in crashes so far. The two most recent incidents involve drivers who police said took off.

The first deadly crash of the year involving a cyclist happened in East Downtown on Jan. 9. Houston police said a speeding motorcycle driver collided with a man on a bicycle on Palmer Street near McKinney Street, killing them both.

Investigators said the motorcycle driver was going very fast, too fast for city streets, when he slammed into the man on the bicycle. …

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