Texas Bicycling News September 21st 2022

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City Council passes bike lane ordinance

By Renee Umsted | lakewood.advocatemag.com

Bike lane painted along Richmond Avenue near Skillman Street. Photo by Renee Umsted.

The Dallas City Council passed a bike lane ordinance this month.

It makes it illegal to stop, stand or park a vehicle in a designated bike lane. Anyone who violates the ordinance is subject to a fine up to $200.

“Passage of this ordinance today will make our bike lanes safer and help us encourage more connectivity throughout the city,” District 1 City Council member Chad West said at the Sept. 14 meeting.

Previously, stopping, standing or parking a vehicle was …

103 bicyclists have died on Harris County roads since 2017. Here’s where they happened.

Ryan Nickerson, Brendon Derr | www.houstonchronicle.com

A bicyclist rides in a bike lane on Austin Street downtown on Saturday, Sept. 17, 2022 in Houston.Karen Warren/Staff photographer

More than 100 bicyclists have died on Harris County roads over the past five years, according to data from the Texas Department of Transportation.

A Chronicle analysis of TxDOT roadway crash data found that 103 bicyclists have died on Harris County roads since 2017. Aside from a slight dip in 2018, the annual total has risen each year.

The data reviewed by the Chronicle comes from vehicle-related crash reports involving a bicyclist. It includes fatalities that occurred within 30 days due to injuries sustained from a crash.

Below, you can see a map of where each bicycle fatality has occurred in Harris County since 2017. …

What’s Growing On? Bike Tour: Birds on Buffalo Bayou

www.houstononthecheap.com

This event is a bicycle tour in Buffalo Bayou Park with a focus on the environment. In conjunction with Houston’s Bird Week, BBP’s conservation team will highlight birdwatching, including the bat colony at Waugh Drive and the egrets, hawks, and herons that live along Houston’s famed river. No bike? No problem! Simply provide information during registration and Houston BCycle will be providing bicycles you can borrow.

Our top pick for Things to do in Houston this week for families!

When: Friday, September 23, 2022, 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Where: The Water Works, 105 Sabine Street, Houston, TX 77007 How Much: $10

Shop faces claim after customer suffered injuries when bike fell apart

By Marian Johns | setexasrecord.com

HOUSTON — A bicycle shop in Houston is facing a negligence claim after a customer’s bike allegedly came apart and caused her to suffer serious injuries.

Maureen Parker filed a complaint Sept. 12 in Harris County District Court against Bike Barn LP alleging negligence, liability and violation of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act.

Parker alleges in her complaint that she ordered a bike product from the internet and hired Bike Barn to assemble the bike. She claims that on Jan. 16, 2021, the bike came apart while she was riding it which caused her to fall and break her elbow. Parker alleges Bike Barn failed to train or supervise their employee and failed to have safety policies and procedures in place.

She also alleges Bike Barn failed to properly assemble the bike and …

Travis County suspends Thomas Springs Road bicycle safety project

By Katy McAfee | communityimpact.com

Travis County commissioners voted unanimously Sept. 20 to suspend the bicycle safety project along Thomas Springs Road in Southwest Austin.

The decision to suspend the project saves Travis County nearly $7 million.

The project—which was approved by voters in 2017—would have added 6-foot bike lanes on either side of the 1.5-mile road and widened vehicle lanes from 10 to 12 feet. Additionally, construction would have adjusted the road’s center line to improve sight distance, incorporated drainage improvements, enhanced storm water quality, repaved Thomas Springs Road and improved the turn lane design at Hwy. 71.

Though the project was pitched as an effort to increase safety for drivers, bicyclists and …

Thursday Night Social Ride – September 22st 2022 from socialcyclingaustin

Saturday Morning Caffeine Cruise – September 24th 2022 from socialcyclingaustin

Fort Worth Cyclocross begins the Tuesday Night Series September 27 at Panther Island Pavillion from dfwbike

Local cyclist returns from national conference

By Alex Egan | www.kbtx.com

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – A College Station bicyclist is back home after attending a fundraising celebration event for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Kathy Langlotz has been participating in bike rides to support the work of Bike MS for nearly two decades.

This past year she raised more than $12,000 and was invited to attend a conference in Greenville, South Carolina to hear presentations from MS researchers, network with other Bike MS members, and take part in a ride.

“Part of what this past weekend, the …

Update: Missing bicycle found, returned to local WWII veteran

Author: Sandy Rojas | www.myfoxzone.com

After 97-year-old David Silvas’ bicycle was stolen from the front of a San Angelo restaurant, offers to replace the bike started flooding in.

SAN ANGELO, Texas — UPDATE: On Wednesday night, San Angelo community members noticed a man with what appeared to be Silvas’ bike.

They approached the man and asked for the bike back, but he wanted $50 in exchange. Eventually, the bike was returned to Silvas, who can continue to use his new ride. …

Texas Biking from Twitter

Don’t Start With Weather And I Didn’t

Texbiker.net Posted on by

I was listening to Mike Rowe’s The Way I Heard It podcast yesterday and they mentioned a famous author who said you should never start a story with the weather. So I won’t do that. Before today’s bike ride I had an appointment with my dentist which went smoothly and I was back home in time to start today’s bike ride at 9:27 AM. Since it is Wednesday I rode my Lynskey Helix bike and I decided to ride my New Caney – Roman Forest Blvd. – Valley Ranch route. This includes many streets and roads from other routes, this is just a different combination. Loop 494 has construction at FM 1485 in New Caney and I avoided that area. During 2022 I’ve biked this route 6 times averaging 32 to 33 miles per ride and today I rode 33.96 miles. The longest ride was 34.49 miles on May 25th. I’m getting close to my 720 mile goal for the month lacking just 5 miles. For the week I’m up to 110 miles. A 200+ mile week looks possible.

9-21-2022 YTD Bike Rides Summary New Caney-Roman Forest Blvd-Valley Ranch
9-21-2022 YTD Bike Rides Summary New Caney-Roman Forest Blvd-Valley Ranch

Today was the first time riding the Lynskey Helix on this route. The previous rides have been on my Cervelo Caledonia.

I saw Ronnie Clark as we passed each other on Briar Berry Lane (in the video). Other “casual” cyclists were out riding too.

Now for the weather. As you can see in the video, the sky was blue with a few scattered clouds. The wind was light allowing me to pedal hard and get some speed. I built my overall average speed up to 14.5 mph on the way back to Kingwood and held it for several miles. Humidity was a decent 56% when I finished at 12:10 PM with the temperature at 90. According to Space City Weather the next six days will be hot and dry, temperatures could reach 100 in some places. Weather summary for the ride: start 81 (humidity 81%, dew point 74), mostly clear, wind N 5 mph; finish 90 (humidity 56%, dew point 73), mostly clear, wind NE 6 mph. Starting later Monday a front might arrive lowering the daytime temperature.

I’m including my cadence data from the ride because it intrigues me. Out of a total moving time of 2:23:41 I pedaled 1:50:41 with 7745 crank revolutions. Pedaling can be so automatic that I don’t think about how much I do.

9-21-2022 Stravini Ride Cadence Detail Data
9-21-2022 Stravini Ride Cadence Detail Data

I made a point to to shift from the 35×13 gears to 35×15 gears for stops. I missed a couple which made starting to move hard. The AXS.SRAM ride report shows 27 RD changes. I used the 35×13 gears 1:37:24 (24.7 miles) and the 35×15 gears 41:22 (5.2 miles).

9-21-2022 Strava Ride Data Summary New Caney-Roman Forest Blvd-Valley Ranch
9-21-2022 Strava Ride Data Summary New Caney-Roman Forest Blvd-Valley Ranch

Texas Bicycling News September 20th 2022

Texbiker.net Posted on by

First Annual Kids Bicycle Cruise a Huge Success

freestonecountytimesonline.com

Kids showed off their wheels during the first ever Kids Bicycle Cruise held Friday, September 9, 2022 on the Square in downtown Fairfield, Texas. …

Cyclists ride more than 200 miles to honor Air Force’s 75th birthday

By Andrew C. Patterson | www.af.mil

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO, Texas (AFNS) — The Air Force Cycling Team hosted the inaugural Memorial to Memorial bicycle ride Sept. 15-18 from the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, to the Air Force Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.

The M2M ride brought more than 90 cyclists from the Air Force and Space Force together over three days to celebrate the Air Force’s 75th Anniversary. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. CQ Brown Jr., joined the riders on the last day and led a two-by-two formation of cyclists during the final mile to the Air Force Memorial site. …

2023 RACE DATES Texas Interscholastic Mountain Bike League

texasmtb.org

October 6 – October 9 2022 Leader Summit Thunderbird Lodge at Spider Mountain 200 Greenwood Hills Trail, Burnet, Texas

January 28, 2023 @ 2:00 am – January 29, 2023 @ 11:00 am CST 2023 Race #1 – Aloha at Troy

Save the Date for the first race of the 2023 Texas Interscholastic Mt. Bike League season.

February 11, 2023 @ 2:00 am – February 12, 2023 @ 11:00 am CST 2023 Race #2 – Bramble Scramble

Save the Date for the second race of the 2023 Texas Interscholastic Mt. Bike League season.

February 25, 2023 @ 2:00 am – February 26, 2023 @ 11:00 am CST 2023 Race #3 – Wrangle in Warda

Save the Date for the third race of the 2023 Texas Interscholastic Mt. Bike League season.

March 11, 2023 @ 2:00 am – March 12, 2023 @ 12:00 pm CST 2023 Race #4

Save the Date for the fourth race of the 2023 Texas Interscholastic Mt. Bike League season.

March 25, 2023 @ 3:00 am – March 26, 2023 @ 12:00 pm CDT 2023 Race #5

Save the Date for the fifth race of the 2023 Texas Interscholastic Mt. Bike League season.

April 15, 2023 @ 3:00 am – April 16, 2023 @ 12:00 pm CDT 2023 Race #6 – Lonestar Finale

Save the Date for the sixth race of the 2023 Texas Interscholastic Mt. Bike League season.

April 29, 2023 @ 3:00 am – April 30, 2023 @ 12:00 pm CDT 2023 Race Rain Date

In the event that the state championship is rained out, it will be rescheduled to April 29-30.

How to explore a new cycling route 9172022

Veloharmony | www.youtube.com

Prologue: 00:00 Route Map: 00:38 County Road 323: 02:01 FM2 – County Road 320: 05:20 FM2988- HWY 6 Texas: 16:32 Heading East on FM 2988 to Whitehall Texas: 30:07 County Road 302: 49:22

Texas Biking from Twitter

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Who Would Think About Averaging 6.85m/Crank Revolution?

Texbiker.net Posted on by

I managed to start today’s bike ride just before 9 AM hustling out the door and down the driveway pressing the Bolt computer start button at 8:58 AM. Maybe not filling my CamelBak and taking a water bottle made the difference. I was on the route that I ride most often, Atascocita – Walden – Huffman, guessing I would ride 33 to 34 miles but I stretched it to 35.38 miles. I added riding south on FM 2100 to Spanish Cove Drive plus a couple of side streets in Bear Branch Village Kingwood. This was number 25 riding the route this year.

With the Fall Equinox arriving Thursday you would think the weather would be fall like but summer will not let go. Weather during the ride: start 80 ( humidity 84%, dew point 74), mostly clear, wind NE 3 mph; finish 88 (humidity 60%, dew point 73), partly cloudy, wind N 4 mph. I could feel a little fall weather at the start but by the time I finished at 11:43 AM that was gone.

Several cyclists crossed my path today. The first was on Chanay Street at Woodland Hills Drive. At Atascocita Shores Drive and FM 1960 Pete turned left from FM 1960 as I waited for the traffic light to change. I learned his name when he pulled up beside me as I waited and we talked for several minutes. Later at the church on Fairlake Lane three vehicles were in the parking lot with bike racks but their cyclists were out on the road.

The AXS.SRAM.com ride report recorded 15 RD changes but I should’ve mad more. Several times I needed to shift from the 35×13 to 35×15 gears when I approached an intersection but didn’t. That made for slow starts. Gears usage shows 1:41:45 in 35×13 and just 32:54 in the 35×15.

I haven’t looked at the cadence chart in awhile. When I look at it I see how many times I turn the crankset and the power curve from that. I didn’t realize I made 8,313 crank revolutions. Who would think of averaging 6.85 meters per crank revolution. Is that good or not?

9-20-2022 Strava Power Curve and Cadence Charts
9-20-2022 Strava Power Curve and Cadence Charts
9-20-2022 Strava Ride Data Summary Atascocita-Walden-Huffman
9-20-2022 Strava Ride Data Summary Atascocita-Walden-Huffman