Into The Headwind, Was I Prepared?

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A full plate of bike races watched before I left on today’s bike ride. I watched the women’s and men’s Scheldeprijs in Belgium followed by stage 3 of the Itzulia Basque Country in Spain thanks to GCN+. I was concerned about the potential change in the weather with a front arriving around noon with strong winds. Nevertheless I rolled away at 11:02 AM on the Cervelo Caledonia. I chose the “Community Drive – Valley Ranch – Gene Campbell Blvd” route with a section riding into the wind on FM 1314 to the NW.

With the temperature possible to go down some I dressed for that rather than the temperature at home. I wore shorts, a long sleeve jersey, and a short sleeve jersey. As I rode through Woodridge Forest on the way to US59 the wind was increasing and the temperature may have dropped a couple of degrees. But the sun started to push away the clouds. That helped the temperature hold steady for the ride. I over dressed but a little extra sweat didn’t hurt me.

As I put my shoes on I got a notice of a software update for the Bolt computer. I agreed to the installation and finished getting dressed. Later around Community Drive I saw the heart rate was not showing on the Bolt computer. I tried to get it connected but failed. After I finished the ride at 2:09 PM I powered off the Bolt and started it again, tried connecting the Tickr Fit monitor and it worked. Just to be safe I repeated that and it worked again. I don’t know what caused the problem but maybe powering off and back on helped. Tomorrow’s ride will test it again.

The N wind was the strongest as I rode on NW on FM 1314 slowing me to 12 mph at times. The trees blunted the wind some and it was great to make the u-turn at Gene Campbell Blvd. The ride back to the SE sped up with the nice tailwind. I made up time. Weather conditions: start 78 (humidity 79%, dew point 71), mostly cloudy, wind W 6 mph; finish 79 (humidity 48%, dew point 58), fair, wind N 18 mph gusts 28 mph.

This was the second time biking this route in 2022. The distances were almost identical, today’s riding time 2 minutes faster as was the average speed. From the AXS.SRAM.com activity report : 29 RD shifts, 1:41:24 in the 35×15 gears, 1:02:50 in the 35×13 gearing.

4-6-2022 YTD Bike Rides Summary Today's Route
4-6-2022 YTD Bike Rides Summary Today’s Route
4-6-2022 Strava Community Dr-Valley Ranch-Gene Campbell Blvd Data Summary
4-6-2022 Strava Community Dr-Valley Ranch-Gene Campbell Blvd Data Summary

Texas Biking News April 5th 2022

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Letters to the Editor — Biking in Dallas, helping Ukraine, Flying Tigers, toxic waste sites

By Letters to the Editor | www.dallasnews.com

Readers suggest lifting parking minimums to help cyclists in Dallas; suggest ways to help Ukraine; reflect on the Flying Tigers; and urge that more be done to eliminate toxic waste sites.

Trails alone don’t help cyclists

Re: “Dallas’ bike momentum is rolling — The pandemic got us on wheels, but this city needs more off-road trails,” March 26 Editorials.

This editorial misses the mark. It notes Dallas ranks “140 out of 200 cities when considering factors like bike lanes, share of workers who bike to work, access to bike shops and clubs, air quality and weather.” The editorial then proceeds to mostly ignore these factors and talk instead about trails.

Broadly, there are two types of cyclists in Dallas, leisure and commuter. Leisure cyclists consist of two subgroups — recreational and fitness buffs. Families might ride from their home to a trail, circle around, then come home again. Fitness enthusiasts may park a car, take a bike off a roof rack, blast away some carbs, then …

CW with Jezebel’s new shoes

Kevin Highfield | strava.com

Morning Ride

Cés Francisco | strava.com

Something different

Gilbert Cantu | strava.com

Tarmac, single track, gravel

Slimbo Slice | strava.com

Breaking in the new trails on the Levo Sugar Land, Texas

Kevin Miller | strava.com

I-20 Arlington/Grand Prairie Corridor Study

Texas Department of Transportation | www.txdot.gov

The TxDOT Fort Worth District is conducting a corridor study of I-20 from US 287 in Tarrant County to east of South Carrier Parkway in Dallas County. In the Dallas/Fort Worth area, I-20 was constructed in the 1970s as a four to eight-lane, divided, controlled access highway. It serves as a freight and hazardous cargo route with a mix of residential, industrial, and commercial land uses along the corridor.

Since its construction, the corridor has experienced extensive growth and development. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Tarrant County was ranked as the fifth fastest growing county in the United States between 2010 and 2019, and Dallas County ranked eighth. This extensive growth and increase in congestion are the catalysts for the need to evaluate the existing corridor and adjacent transportation network. …

… Proposed Improvements

The I-20 Arlington/Grand Prairie Corridor Study will evaluate potentially adding capacity to the interstate through additional mainlanes and express lanes. Additional proposed improvements within the study limits include continuous frontage roads with bicycle and pedestrian accommodations; ramping improvements with auxiliary lanes; and reconstruction of interchanges and intersections. The study will also identify potential interim breakout projects. …

Rolling Terrain Hll Work 422022

Veloharmony | www.youtube.com

Narrated group ride cycling with tips for improving your cycling. Prologue: 00:00 Route Map: 00:20 Keeping the rhythm on 149 Rolling Hills: 01:45 Southbound on Springbranch Road: 35:15 Wrapping up the ride on Honea Egypt Road: 52:59

Saturday Morning Caffeine Cruise – April 9th 2022 from BikingATX

Thursday Night Social Ride – April 7th 2022 from BikingATX

Sunday Yoga Ride – April 10th 2022 from socialcyclingaustin

Video: Cyclist community react accidents in their community

By Lisely Garza | www.kgns.tv

LAREDO, Tex. (KGNS) – Laredo Cycling Club reacts to March cycling accidents.

Fernando Baldazo is part of the Laredo Cycling Club. he has been competitively cycling since the early 90?s.

“I try to do between 75 hundred to 10 thousand miles a year. So that might average about 20 to 28 miles a day,” said Fernando Baldazo.

The recent cycling accidents have sent a shockwave to him and the cycling community. “As soon as the weather got better people started riding more and it’s the first time that I see so many accidents in one month since I have been riding. There is usually two or three a year,” said Baldazo. This year so far— Laredo police department has received 51 calls relating to cyclist on the road – in 2021 they received 192.

KGNS reported five of these cycling accidents and one fatal cycling accident in March. Baldazo says he tries to keep himself safe when doing the sport, he loves.

“The safest place I would …

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New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Road Construction News On Atascocita – Walden – Huffman Bike Ride

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A dental appointment and then watched stage 2 of the Itzulia Basque Country before today’s bike ride. Maybe it will hit 90 degrees later today for the first time in 2022. I chose the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route heading south and east. A modest 8 mph headwind awaited me as I began the ride at 10:56 AM on the Cervelo Caledonia bike. I would pass through the road construction at FM 1960 and Atascocita Shores Drive to see how it is progressing. Riding on Fairlake Lane I hoped the damage done by the dump trucks had not worsened. You can see what I found in the video.

Weather conditions: start 78 (humidity 88%, dew point 74), overcast, wind S 8 mph; finish 84 (humidity 67%, dew point 72), overcast, wind SW 6 mph. I wore a summer like kit of shorts, short sleeve jersey and arm sleeves with the warm weather and prospect of 90 degrees. I finished at 1:33 PM and it did not reach 90 by then.

This was the sixth time biking today’s route in 2022. I think this is the most rode route so far.Today was about average. Looking at the AXS.SRAM.com activity report for the ride there were 33 RD changes (1 mis-shift when I tapped the left paddle instead of the right one). Of the total ride time of 2:35:31 I spent 1:14:04 in the 35×15 gears mostly into the wind and 59:25 in the 35×13 gears, probably when the wind was light or a tailwind.

4-52022 YTD Bike Rides Summary Atascocita-Walden-Huffman
4-52022 YTD Bike Rides Summary Atascocita-Walden-Huffman
4-5-2022 Strava Atascocita-Walden-Huffman Data Summary
4-5-2022 Strava Atascocita-Walden-Huffman Data Summary

Texas Biking News April 4th 2022

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Video: Palestine celebration wraps up with Dogwood Omnium

Author: José Alonzo | www.cbs19.com

The Dogwood Trails Celebration came to an end Sunday with the Dogwood Omnium, a competitive race tied to the USA Cycling organization.

ELKHART, Texas — The sunshine was beaming as it lit every turn for cyclists competing in the Dogwood Omnium in Palestine.

The Dogwood Trails Celebration came to an end Sunday with the Dogwood Omnium, a competitive race tied to the USA Cycling organization.

"We’ve got a lot of talent in this race," Chaun Harper, a spectator, said. "It’s NASCAR on a bike."

This year’s Dogwood Omnium was a race that attracted cyclists from all over the country.

"It was tough out there, pretty hard course for like climbing, and it was pretty hot," Donoven …

East Dallas Delays Complete Street Project

By Diana Ionescu | www.planetizen.com

A controversial traffic calming and safety overhaul of some East Dallas streets won’t be completed until 2025, but will include improved crosswalks and signals.

A complete streets project in East Dallas has been delayed, writes Will Maddox, with a new completion date of 2025. "The street diet was initiated in 2017 by residents who wanted to provide more intermodal transportation through East Dallas and follows modifications made to Greenville Avenue and Henderson Avenue. Complete streets are part of the city’s plan to eliminate traffic deaths by 2030." The project’s cost will go up by $2.3 million, but is "fully funded through the bond and city budgets."

"There is a silver lining in the delays," writes Maddox. "The roadway part of the complete street will be done in 2024, and the corridor is getting new signals and lighting to improve safety and visibility throughout. The new signals and crosswalks include better accessibility for the physically impaired, added turn signals, and infrastructure for Dallas’ Smart City Initiative, a multipronged approach to leveraging technology to make the city more efficient."

The bike lanes included in the project have received strong pushback from …

Alkek Velodrome Newsletter!

Stuart Gardner Program Director | shoutout.wix.com

Upcoming Events TNR Feat. Elite Scratch Race Championships 6:45pm 5th April TNR Madison/Team Night 6:45pm 12th April Atomic TT Series #2 8:30am Sat 16th April Intro to Track Cycling #3 11am Sun 17th April TNR Feat. Jr/Masters Scratch Race Champs 6:45pm 19th April TNR Sprint Night 6:45pm 26th April

Tuesday Night Racing TNR #4 (Tomorrow) features our Elite Scratch Race Championships! Racing will run as a normal bunch racing night with the exception of the last 2 races of the night. All riders from the A & B races will compete there final race in the Scratch Championship together, the nightly omnium results will be separated for A &B. RoY points will be awarded for both the omnium and championship race. Riders who participate in the junior and C races can enter the championship race also with …

The votes are in: Saint Arnold has the best bike racks in all of H-Town

Jay R. Jordan | www.chron.com

Only 30 votes split the brewery and the Menil Collection in Monday’s Bike Parking Madness final.

When it comes to locking up your bike in Houston, the options are typically few and far between.

In a city dominated by parking lots, having something, anything, to which riders can affix their set of wheels is a godsend. For businesses and other places that do have bike racks, they’re sometimes not up to snuff—so the bike safety advocates at BikeHouston set out to see which did, in fact, have the best bike racks in town.

Over the course of the last few weeks, coinciding with NCAA’s March …

Upcoming Rides

Chasing Watts | chasingwatts.com

Cycling Addicks Tuesday Tuesday, April 5, 2022 @ 6:30 PM

HBC Tuesday Night Worlds Tuesday, April 5, 2022 @ 6:00 PM

Shop Ride | Pearland Bicycles Tuesday, April 5, 2022 @ 6:00 PM

MCC 101 – Shell to McKeever Tuesday, April 5, 2022 @ 6:30 AM

Justice League Tuesday Night Ride Tuesday, April 5, 2022 @ 7:00 PM

The Boot Ride Wednesday, April 6, 2022 @ 6:30 PM

CCC Gravel Levee Wednesday, April 6, 2022 @ 6:30 PM

HTX Brew HaHa Ride Thursday, April 7, 2022 @ 6:30 PM

Pushin Watts – Thursday 20PC Ride Thursday, April 7, 2022 @ 6:00 PM

R3 – Thursday Night Social Thursday, April 7, 2022 @ 5:45 PM

LookProGoSlow Recovery Ride Thursday, April 7, 2022 @ 7:00 PM

HBC Rosati’s Pizza Ride Thursday, April 7, 2022 @ 6:00 PM

Justice League Thursday Power Hour (A/B/C) Thursday, April 7, 2022 @ 6:00 AM

Shop Ride | Pearland Bicycles Thursday, April 7, 2022 @ 6:00 PM

Justice League Friday Power Hour (A/B/C) Friday, April 8, 2022 @ 6:00 AM

44- miles (counterclockwise) Saturday, April 9, 2022 @ 8:00 AM

Pedal for a Purpose – Supporting Boys and Girls Country of Houston Saturday, April 9, 2022 @ 7:30 AM

RACE READY REPAIR -48 Saturday, April 9, 2022 @ 8:00 AM

HBC Saturday Social Ride Saturday, April 9, 2022 @ 7:30 AM

Cycling Addicks Saturday 70 Saturday, April 9, 2022 @ 7:00 AM

Justice League Saturday Ride (A,B,C pace) Saturday, April 9, 2022 @ 6:30 AM

Trek Bikes Atascocita Shop Ride Saturday, April 9, 2022 @ 7:30 AM

Active Passion Sunday Roll Sunday, April 10, 2022 @ 8:00 AM

Trek Bikes Katy Sunday 32 Sunday, April 10, 2022 @ 7:30 AM

SUN MS150 Training Sunday, April 10, 2022 @ 4:30 PM

Justice League Monday Power Hour (A/B/C) Monday, April 11, 2022 @ 6:00 AM

Coast to Coast via the Southern Tier – Spring 2022

By Fletch Dobbs | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 26 – Marfa to Marathon

Monday April 4, 2022, 59 miles (95 km) – Total so far: 1,071 miles (1,724 km) Miles and miles of Texas. 59 or so from Marfa to Marathon. Scenery hasn’t seemed to change much since Mew Mexico.

Texas Hill Country Loop 2022

By Tom Camp | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 8: Downtown Austin to Leander: Back in the Hills

Monday April 4, 2022, 36 miles (58 km) – Total so far: 273 miles (439 km) We waited until 9AM to start to make sure that we weren’t competing with Monday morning rush hour traffic. When we originally planned to do this ride, I was very skeptical about this particular section. How in the world could this be safe???? We found out. Austin has done some great things to make sure that cyclists are not treated in the same manner as armadillos. There are bike lanes all over the place and if there is a road crossing with a traffic light, cyclists have their own green light. It would have been very confusing if we did not have the route loaded into our GPS; if that were the case, we may have meandered around the city all day and ended up back at the Super 8 Motel. But follow the route we did, with only one missed turn which was quickly rectified.

The maps and GPX files supplied by Adventure Cycling do start in Austin. In fact, when we got to that exact point, my GPS said the route has ended. We know our cars are still back in Llano where we started, so we went a few feet forward and loaded up the route again. Success; we were on our way again.

The last few days we were wondering where …

Woman Tours Southern Tier

By Shelly Nevard | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 25: Sanderson, Tx to Del Rio, Tx

Sunday April 3, 2022, 52 miles (84 km) – Total so far: 1,440 miles (2,318 km) We had breakfast at sunrise (7:30) made by Emily of Coffee, eggs, steel cut oats and fixings and fruit. Got off to an early start and it was warm enough to start with just a windbreaker. We went through Sanderson alledgedly the cactus Capital of Texas. The route continued on rt. 90 and had more traffic than usual. We shared part of the route with Timberland tours and Coast to coast and we kept passing and being passed by their riders who outnumbered us. Marge and I were moving along steadily to the first SAG stop at 20 miles. I shed my windbreaker and continued on. We passed typical dessert terrain and crossed several canyons. At times it seemed a little greener and sometimes it was the same brown. Around mile 30 it started to get windy and the headwind of 15-20 mph slowed me …

Day 26: Del Rio, TX to Bracketville, TX

Monday April 4, 2022, 33 miles (53 km) – Total so far: 1,473 miles (2,371 km) Since todays ride was short we were allowed to sleep in for a later start. Of course since I was close to the breakfast room the smell of coffee got me up at 6 AM. I found Diane D in the breakfast room already followed shortly by Diane B and then Alison, three of the riders you might think would need some sleep. We said goodby to Ann who is leaving for a few days but she left her bike so she will be back. I left at 10AM with Linda and Sue and Nancy. It was slightly overcast with a headwind but much lighter than yesterday. I even felt a …

Southern Tier (Eastern Half) – 2022

By TexasSalsa | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 2 Silsbee to Merryville: Welcome to Louisiana

Monday April 4, 2022, 55 miles (89 km) – Total so far: 145 miles (233 km) Didn’t get much sleep last night due to the highway noise. Up at 6 am and on the rode by 8 am. Tom made a great breakfast with scrambled eggs and orange juice. I could get used to this! Rode 55 miles to the Merryville Historical Society Museum. I called ahead and reserved the cabin. They also have a separate building with bathrooms and showers. There is a large covered pavilion and lots of picnic tables. Both Dan and Dustin (whom I met yesterday) are both planning to stay here. I saw Dan on the road today and we chatted for a while. Got to Merryville at noon and had lunch at Stu’s Restaurant. We each had …

Texas Biking from Twitter

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar