Texas Bicycling News Friday – May 10, 2024

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Mepham graduate turned Baylor student to take on cross-country bike ride with fraternity

By Jordan Vallone | www.liherald.com

Not everyone can say they’re planning on driving across the United States in a car — and far less can say they’re making the journey on two wheels, instead of four.

Nicholas Zuzzolo, 21, of Bellmore, is preparing to do just that. A 2021 graduate of Wellington C. Mepham High School in the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District, he will be making a cross-country trip on bike next month, alongside dozens of other young men his age, while taking part in a “Journey of Hope,” through the Ability Experience.

The Ability Experience is a philanthropic initiative of Pi Kappa Phi, the fraternity that Zuzzolo is a member of at Baylor University in Waco, Texas. The philanthropy was founded in 1977, and strives to …

Deadly crash involving bicyclist shuts down southbound 183 in East Austin

Author: John Diaz | www.kvue.com

Officials expect extended delays as they investigate the crash

AUSTIN, Texas — A deadly crash in East Austin has all southbound lanes of US 183 shut down near Highway 290, according to officials.

Austin-Travis County EMS reported the deadly crash just before 4:30 p.m. Friday after a vehicle and bicycle collided. ACTEMS said an adult was pronounced dead at the scene.

Details on the crash are limited, but ACTEMS and Austin police want the public to avoid the area with extended delays expected as they investigate.

Oh No, Not Again! Flat Rear Tire Disruption

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Oh no, not again! My plan to start before 11 AM and ride my Atascocita – Balmoral – W Lake Houston Pkwy – Walden route got interrupted by a flat rear tire on my Canyon Endurace CF 7 bike. As I walked by and squeezed the rear tire it was flat. At least the flat happened at home and not on the road like yesterday. Inspecting the tire I found a tiny piece of wire sticking out opposite the valve. Easier than yesterday’s flat on my Cervelo Caledonia. Pulling the TPU out of the rear tire finding the hole wasn’t easy. It took pumping the tube up and passing the tube near my lips to feel a very small stream of air coming out. I marked the spot with a pen after using sandpaper on the area and placed an adhesive patch over it. With the tube back in the tire I got ready to ride giving the patch time to leak if I missed the hole. Ready to roll about 15 minutes later the tire was rock solid.

5-10-2024 Canyon Endurace REar Tire Flat Culprit-2
5-10-2024 Canyon Endurace Rear Tire Flat Culprit-2
5-10-2024 Canyon Endurace REar Tire Flat Culprit-3
5-10-2024 Canyon Endurace Rear Tire Flat Culprit-3 Paper is 1″ square

Confident the patch would hold i rode away at 11:17 AM heading south. The weather changed from yesterday’s haze and humidity when a front moved through shifting the wind to the NNE. This helped biking south but the return trip required hard pedaling to finish at 2:24 PM. I stopped at the Blue Lagoon in Balmoral for these photos.

5-10-2024 Canyon Endurace Balmoral-2
5-10-2024 Canyon Endurace Balmoral-2
5-10-2024 Canyon Endurace Balmoral-1
5-10-2024 Canyon Endurace Balmoral-1
5-10-2024 Canyon Endurace Balmoral-3
5-10-2024 Canyon Endurace Balmoral-3

I rode 38.19 miles, the most of all the previous 5 previous times since the railroad overpass opened last April. I am now ahead of the 25 miles per day pace to reach May’s goal by 7.7 miles (257.7 versus 250 miles). The week crossed 200 miles with 203.58. Two Strava top results: PR on Timber Forest Crosses 1960 (6:53) and PR on Mont Chemin de Fer (2:03).

5-10-2024 SportTracks Ride History Atascocita-Balmoral-W Lake Houston Pkwy-Walden
5-10-2024 SportTracks Ride History Atascocita-Balmoral-W Lake Houston Pkwy-Walden
5-10-2024 Strava Ride Summary Atascocita-Balmoral-W Lake Houston Pkwy-Walden
5-10-2024 Strava Ride Summary Atascocita-Balmoral-W Lake Houston Pkwy-Walden

Texas Bicycling News Thursday – May 9, 2024

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Cyclists ready to pedal for a cure in third annual ‘Gear Up Against Kids Cancer’

by Eileen Teves | news.uthscsa.edu

WHAT: Cyclists of all levels from across the country will gather in Floresville, Texas for the third annual Gear Up Against Kids Cancer, a bike ride created to bring community awareness to the more than 15,000 children in the United States annually diagnosed with cancer.

The bike ride raises much-needed funds to help researchers develop more effective, less toxic treatments for childhood cancer.

All proceeds from the event stay local and directly support Greehey Children’s Cancer Research Institute, which is part of The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UT Health San Antonio), and its mission to translate today’s research discoveries into tomorrow’s treatments. …

Austin Ghost Bike Project memorializes cyclists killed in crashes

by: Kelsey Thompson | www.kxan.com

AUSTIN (KXAN) — At intersections and roadways across Austin are white bikes—memorials honoring the memory of cyclists killed in traffic crashes. It’s part of the Austin Ghost Bike Project’s ongoing mission to raise public awareness about the number of cyclists killed while the organization advocates for improved safety infrastructure for bikers.

“Our goal, really, is to draw attention to and to start to prevent so many needless deaths, accidents, crashes in our city,” said Rhodney Williams with Austin Ghost Bike Project. …

Village Elementary School principal shares message behind ‘Bike and Roll to School’ Day

www.kvue.com

Introducing the Privateer Invitational Gravel Race, Where the Pointy End Meets the People

Betsy Welch | velo.outsideonline.com

A new event concept in Texas hopes to marry the best of both worlds.

At this point, Kevin Lee has a pretty good 30,000 foot view of gravel.

The Texas race promoter has been putting on events through his company the Spinistry for nearly 15 years. One of those events, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, draws a strong crowd of cyclists every January.

2025 will mark the 15th edition of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, but Lee has something new in the works for the race weekend next year. He’s curious if the concept might address what he sees as a potential impasse in gravel racing — the tension between the pointy end and the people.

“I think we’re kinda at an important phase in where gravel is going in the future,” Lee said. …

Taking The Video Clip Consequences On Atascocita Shores Drive

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The video clip I shouldn’t have stopped to take cost me a flat tire. I was riding on a modified Atascocita – Walden – Huffman route on today’s bike ride. I changed a bunch of streets in Kingwood on the way to Atascocita. On the way back I stopped on Atascocita Shores Drive to take a video clip of a Lake Houston inlet. When I tried to resume the ride the front tire on my Cervelo Caledonia was flat. Turning the tire to look for the cause didn’t help so I walked to Rebawood Drive to find a place away from the traffic on Atascocita Shores Drive. A shady spot at a storm drain under a tree was good. As I was walking there a man on a bicycle rode by and asked how far I still had to go. I told him Kingwood and that I was looking for a quiet place to fix the flat. Later a lady in a green car stopped and asked if I was okay and needed anything. I told her I was good and needed the rain to stay away until I got home.

Removing the TPU tube from the tire I pumped it up to find the leak but it wasn’t obvious. I ran my finger around the inside of the tire searching for the culprit but found nothing. Next I looked at the tire sidewall and found a cut about 10″ from the valve. Returning to the tube I saw a small cut. I guess I ran into something sharp when I stopped to take the video. I rough up the tube, applied an adhesive patch, held it tightly on the tube for a couple of minutes, it looked good. I aired the tube up to check my work and all looked good. Stuffing the tube back in the tire, getting the tire bead back on the rim I pumped up the tire. It held firm and put the wheel back in the fork. While I worked on the flat I heard thunder in the distance and some rain drops hit me and the ground but no more. Dodged that problem. This was the tube I installed on April 29th to fix another flat. Not long enough between flats!!

5-9-2024 Cervelo Caledonia Front Tire Flat 28 miles-1
5-9-2024 Cervelo Caledonia Front Tire Flat 28 miles-1
5-9-2024 Cervelo Caledonia Front Tire Flat 28 miles-2
5-9-2024 Cervelo Caledonia Front Tire Flat 28 miles-2

Prior to the flat the bike ride was going well. The wind was light but the humidity was high. The temperature hung around 84 degrees. I started at 10:59 AM and after the flat tire delay finished at 2:28 PM biking 36.43 miles which is more than this route averages. Changing the streets up made the difference. By the 9th day of the month I should be at 225 miles. Today’s bike ride brought me to 219 miles, 6 short of the 25 miles per day pace needed to reach my 749 mile goal.

After leaving Walden headed back to FM1960 I stopped at Waterhaven and took these photos.

5-9-2024 Cervelo Caledonia Waterhaven-1
5-9-2024 Cervelo Caledonia Waterhaven-1
5-9-2024 Cervelo Caledonia Waterhaven-2
5-9-2024 Cervelo Caledonia Waterhaven-2
5-9-2024 Cervelo Caledonia Waterhaven-3
5-9-2024 Cervelo Caledonia Waterhaven-3
5-9-2024 Strava Ride Summary Atascocita-Walden-Huffman
5-9-2024 Strava Ride Summary Atascocita-Walden-Huffman