Texas Bicycling News May 25th 2022

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Heights residents fight back against plan to narrow 11th Street to one lane

Dug Begley | www.houstonchronicle.com

Mayor Sylvester Turner talks to Eduardo Gonzalez as he speaks with Heights area residents while taking a closer look at 11th Street, after plans to change traffic patterns on the street, including adding a bicycle lane, that drew some alarm from residents Wednesday, May 25, 2022 in Houston. Brett Coomer, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

When Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner assured concerned Heights residents he’d take “a closer look” at plans to reduce 11th Street to one lane in each direction, he likely didn’t expect a sightseeing tour to give him quite the earful.

Wednesday, Turner and a gaggle of city staff took an hour-long tour of 11th where city planners propose taking away a travel lane to improve safety along the street by slowing drivers and adding a separated bike lane in each direction.

Following close by, and often engaging Turner in sometimes contentious …

Thanks for a great spring season

Dave Bellante | www.tmbra.org

Well The Warda Race 2022, presented by Sugar Cycles is in the books! Thanks to all the volunteers/friends who help make this happen. Thanks to Bluff Creek Ranch for letting us come play/race on their great trails! Thanks to Sugar Cycles for all their support! Thanks to all those longhorn cattle who gave up their grazing fields for the weekend. And for those of you who think the race is done once the venue is taken down. Well the fun just continues for a few more days as Dave drives the Sugar Cycle tent back to Sugar land and …

HCRA — THANK YOU to all who hosted, helped, and glad to raise funds! from BikingATX

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Rain Left Before Today’s Bike Ride

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Weather changed during the night with 2.12″ of rain falling before sunrise. That was early enough for the streets to dry off when I started today’s bike ride at 10:38 AM. Back on the Cervelo Caledonia after riding the Lynskey R300 in the rain yesterday. Along with the rain the temperature fell into the 60’s but warmed to the 76 by the time I finished at 1:07 PM. I changed the route as I neared the turning point on the bridge over Caney Creek to “New Caney – Roman Forest Blvd – Valley Ranch” since I felt good and was making decent time into the headwind. This was the 3rd time biking this route in 2022. A summary of those below.

5-25-2022 YTD Bike Rides New Caney - Roman Forest Blvd - Valley Ranch
5-25-2022 YTD Bike Rides New Caney – Roman Forest Blvd – Valley Ranch

The ride covered 34.48 miles improving the month’s total to 575.16 miles leaving 125 miles to reach my 700 mile goal. I altered the route some to avoid the Rock Creek and Northpark Drive area because of the dogs.

Weather conditions: start 69 (humidity88%, dew point 65), overcast, wind NW 7 mph; finish 76 (humidity 71%, dew point 66), mostly cloudy, wind variable 4 mph. With the slightly cooler temperature I wore a long sleeve T-short under a short sleeve jersey.

At the beginning of the ride the bolt computer alerted me that the eTap battery on the RD was getting low but there was enough power left for the ride. According to the AXS.SRAM.com ride report I made 35 RD shifts during the ride. I rode more time in the 35×15 gears but after making the u-turn at Roman Forest Blvd. I rode most of the way back to Kingwood in the 35×13 gears.

It was a good ride with my legs feeling strong enough to tackle the headwind.

5-25-2022 Strava New Caney - Roman Forest Blvd - Valley Ranch Data
5-25-2022 Strava New Caney – Roman Forest Blvd – Valley Ranch Data

Texas Bicycling News May 24th 2022

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How Chris Zahner Turned a White Lie into a Fast-Growing E-Bike Company

By Ben Swanger | www.dmagazine.com

The Zooz Bikes co-founder and his partners are carving out market share in the forecasted $52 billion e-bike industry with a unique, patented design.

Fort Worth-based Zooz Bikes is the first company to give the e-bike market something it had never seen—a motorcycle-style seat on a BMX bike frame. Last year, Zooz fulfilled 1,200 preorders for the first iteration of its $2,600 e-bike. Now, with a patent for its design in hand, Zahner expects to sell another 3,000 to 5,000 in 2022.

And it all started with a disdain for traffic and a little white lie. …

Road to Hotter’N Hell

by Fun Bikin’ Enterprises | www.bikereg.com

Are You Ready for a BAG?

Sometimes you need a Big Awesome Goal to get motivated – and this series fits the bill. The Hotter’N Hell is loaded with challenges – Heat and Wind being the biggest challenges – then they add a few hills in just the right places – and 20+ miles of headwind in the last miles of the 100 mile route. Through the years I have noticed that the people who handle these challenges the best are the people who are out cycling in area rides leading up to the HHH. This little secret motivated me to put together a ride series that would help you get ready for the BIG ride in Wichita Falls.

The Road to Hotter’N Hell is a bundle of 4 small community bike rides that are in the final weeks leading up to the Hotter’N Hell. Each ride in our series features challenging routes and a variety of distances blended with Texas Hospitality. We’ve ridden these rides for decades and know that they are all committed to providing an excellent ride experience. Here’s how it works.

When you register for the RTHH you are …

Ride Bikes Thursday 5/26 – 7:30pm from BikingATX

Dallas scores pitiful ranking on list of bike-friendly cities in the U.S.

By Teresa Gubbins | dallas.culturemap.com

A new survey on bikeability gives Dallas a sad ranking that won’t surprise anyone daring enough to bike around town: In a list of the top 50 cities in the U.S., Dallas scored No. 50, making it the least bike-friendly city in the U.S.

Dallas’ bikeability score was 49 out of a possible 100. Dallas has 80 percent fewer bike commuters than the average city, and only 0.1 percent of Dallas workers commute by bicycle compared to the average city’s 0.5 percent.

The survey also found that Dallas has fewer bike-friendly amenities, with 75 percent fewer bike shops (0.3 per 100,000 people) and 16 percent fewer bike trails (1.4 per 100,000 people) than the average city.

The study was released by Clever, a real estate data company, and analyzed data from the …

Austin rides to top of new list of most bike-friendly cities in the U.S.

By Teresa Gubbins | austin.culturemap.com

A new survey on bikeability ranks Austin No. 16 in a list of the top 50 cities in the U.S.

Austin’s bikeability score was 54 out of a possible 100, which is actually on track with the national average. And 0.7 percent of Austin workers commute by bicycle compared to the average city’s 0.5 percent.

The survey also found that Austin has above-average bike-friendly amenities, with a few more bike shops (1.1 per 100,000 people) than the average city (1.0 per 100,000 people), while we could stand to add more bike trails (currently. reporting 1.4 per 100,000 people, compared to 1.7 per 100,000 people in the national average).

The study was released by Clever, a real estate data company, and analyzed data from the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Transportation, U.S. National Centers for …

Where to move for cycling / is it really safe? from bikehouston

Maintain cycling speed 5212022

Veloharmony | www.youtube.com

Prologue: 00:00 Route Map: 00:35 Warming up with the group before Fishcreek: 01:46 Paul & I Solo up front while the group waits for stragglers: 20:39 The Group rejoins Paul & I before the Overpass: 29:42 Approaching Capitol Hill Road before lifting the pace on the incline: 33:25 Keeping the pace on Rabon Chapel Road to South Pine Blvd: 36:45

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Trash Bag Bike Ride In Rain

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As I made the bed up this morning I asked the Google Assistant what the weather forecast was for today. She said rain but I believed that applied to other people and places.

I paused stage 16 of the Giro d’Italia until the final 21.6 km to resume after my bike ride. I checked the weather radar and saw a big glob of rain to the southwest. I figured it would take several hours to move to Kingwood. Getting ready I rolled the Lynskey R300 out the back door. My plan was to ride my “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route but I was slightly pessimistic on that. Punching the Bolt computer start button at 9:58 AM I set off. Before leaving I aired the Lynksey’s tires up to 80 psi because they didn’t pass the squeeze test.

As I rode through Kingwood making my way to W. Lake Houston Parkway the sky looked threatening but I attributed that to my sunglasses. Crossing the San Jacinto River the sky darkened to the east and the south but I thought I could ride to FM 1960 and turn back if it got closer. Thunder popped a few times, once seemed right over top of me. Lately I turned left off W. Lake Houston Parkway onto side streets but today I stayed on W. Lake Houston Parkway to Upper lake Drive heading to the Atascocita Hike & Bike Trail. As I rode on the trail I decided that was as far south to ride because the sky looked dark and wet. Good plan but as I approached Pinehurst Trail Drive riding back to Kingwood the rain caught me. I thought about places to get out of the rain and the closest one was a gazebo at the park on Kings Way Parkway. I tried to ride fast to get there as the rain soaked me. The wind picked up chilling me but I made it to the gazebo. The wind blew rain under the gazebo but not enough to make me wetter. Waiting for the rain to slow down I remembered seeing people wearing trash bags for rain coats. A trash can was not too far away and when the rain slowed and the wind slowed I got the trash bag. Fortunately no trash was inside and only a little water. Back under the gazebo I poked holes for my head and arms. Putting the bag on I got on the Lynskey and started riding. My arms got wet but my torso started warming up with the bag blocking the wind. I was tempted to stop when a place came up to get out of the rain but I was already wet and that would delay getting back home which I did at 12:05 PM. As I write this the rain stopped and the blob has moved to the NE.

The route changed to “Kingwood to FM 1960” and 21.18 miles.

Maybe tomorrow I can make a bigger contribution towards reaching my 700 mile goal for the month. I need 160 miles.

5-24-2022 Strava Kingwood to FM 1960 Data Summary
5-24-2022 Strava Kingwood to FM 1960 Data Summary