Day 2 of 2021 and the temperature outside was below my 60 degree threshold. No problem, Zwift to the rescue. I looked at upcoming events and found a group I rode with before, The HERD. A Rehab ride in Watopia on the Flat Route Reverse started at 11:10 AM, just right for my Saturday schedule. I had plenty of time to get ready but I have sensor Bluetooth connection problems as the ride began. Normally that means I get left behind but the group start slow and I caught up with them in a couple of minutes. For the rest of the ride I stayed with a group even breaking the group fence a bunch of times, slowing down to rejoin the HERD. I tried to watch the fence but the view only showed it in the distance and not when I crossed through it. The HERD leader said a group of 500 was off the front and have been doing that for the last 13 weeks for some reason. The ride lasted 60 minutes and I rode 17.44 miles, the longest ride of the new year.
This is my look for the ride. During the ride I wore a HERD jersey.
The course included flat and short hilly sections with some nice downhills. I haven’t rode this route before as far as I know. When I registered it showed 509 riders and once the ride started 827 were listed at the bottom of the nearby list. At the 2 sprint finished I came in around 643rd place. It felt good to be able to power to the front and confront the fence for a change rather than be left in the dust.
It was a day for medals according to Strava.
If those were real I’m not sure I would be standing holding all of them.
The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) is announcing an upcoming Transportation Alternatives (TA) call for projects for bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure! Through this competitive call for projects, TxDOT intends to identify projects for available nonurban TA funds and future anticipated TA funds for nonurban and small urban communities.
Who can apply?
–Texas communities with populations of 5,000 or less are eligible to apply for TxDOT’s nonurban TA funds
–Texas communities with populations between 5,001 and 200,000 are eligible to apply for TxDOT’s small urban TA funds
–Projects must be located outside of a Transportation Management Area (TMA), defined as a Census Urbanized Area with population of 200,000 or greater
What types of projects are eligible?
–Sidewalks, bikeways, shared use paths, traffic calming measures, and other safety improvements for non-motorized travel
When are applications due? …
Volunteers will be added to the front gate list and have their land use and camping fees waived.
Camping – there will be plenty of space to put up a tent in the camping area if you would like to camp out. There is a shower facility that volunteers will have access to.
Parking – Park at the volunteer shed or in the general parking areas. If you are camping, you can drive in and park next to your campsite.
Food for volunteers. Saturday Breakfast – TBD. Saturday Lunch – individually wrapped sandwhiches and snacks will be provided. Saturday Post-race meal – we will most likely have individual wrapped food delivered.
Again, thanks for volunteering. Proceeds from this event help to fund various programs that STORM organizes. It is also an opportunity to host mountain bikers from around the state and showcase Flat Rock Ranch.
6,666.66 miles: That’s how far I bicycled in 2020. Add in about 611 miles of walking, and that’s 7,278 miles I traveled on my own power. (By the way, almost 4 miles were swimming, which I started right before, you know, IT.) By IT of course I mean the novel coronavirus pandemic, aka COVID-19, which might quite possibly be the work of Satan, if he exists (I’m not a believer). But …
A Longview bike shop started 2021 hosting its annual Resolution Run and Ride Friday morning.
“It’s a good way to start off the year,†Co-Owner of Woolley G’s Bike & Fitness Gary Ford said. “People like to make New Year’s resolutions and those kinds of things, so we coined it the Resolution Run.â€
Ford, 41, said about 30 runners woke up early to start their year.
“It was a little less than years past,†Ford said. “We’ve had upwards of 50 or 60 runners in …
The weather turned cool after the rain moved through New Year’s Eve. This put me inside to ride after watching the University of Cincinnati lose a close game to the Georgia Bulldogs. I needed the ride to get me past the lose. I still am wearing the New year’s Top Hat helmet.
Searching the Watopia routes I selected the Serpentine 8 because of the 12.0 distance and relative climbing. I forgot there was a 4+ mile lead in to the course and stopped at 14.91 miles. The sidebar showed over 4,200 other people on the courses connected to this one.
My goals for January include 150 miles on Zwift and 300 road miles. A good start towards the Zwift goal. Next week the weather should warm up enough to get some road miles.
Lots of silver medals on the Strava segments. 7 to be exact. Since this is the second time on this course the records to compare with are not very many but I will take each medal I get. Looking at the power data in Golden Cheetah the ride watts were below my average but I sweated so I consider it a good workout. Average heart rate was 140.
