Texas Biking Action December 31st 2020

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PHOTO FEATURE — Strong bicycle riding in Port Arthur

By Stephen Hemelt | www.panews.com

Jocelyn Espinola, 9, and Alex Espinola, 7, showed off their muscles Wednesday afternoon during a bicycle ride in front of the seawall in Port Arthur.

The pleasant weather was nice this week, ahead of what forecasters say will be turbulent action later with widespread showers developing within a …

Mesquite Elementary School Could Get Kindergarten Biking Program

By Evan Anderson | www.nbcdfw.com

What the organization All Kids Bike is trying to do across Texas and the country is Something Good

Kindergarteners at Shands Elementary School in Mesquite may soon be riding bikes in their PE classes with the help from an organization on a mission to teach every child in America how to ride a bike.

What that organization is trying to do across Texas and the country is Something Good.

The organization, All Kids Bike equips schools with …

Video: Texas-shaped bike route takes you through Houston’s newest paths and trails

abc13.com

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Need a fun, family activity to enjoy while practicing safe social distancing? Look no further!

The challenge is on to see who can complete this bike route that outlines the shape of Texas.

Creator Jesse Alston said the idea came to him and his cycling-partner while they were looking for ways to switch-up their everyday workout.

"I thought this would be a way to flex the creative muscle, and tour parts [of Houston] that I’ve might not …

Texas Biking from Twitter

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Zwifting Out Of 2020 On Two Bridges Loop and Volcano Flat After 9,355 Miles

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The weather outside is wet but inside Zwift is dry though I did ride in some virtual rain a short time. What better way to leave 2020 than biking in a virtual world where the virus doesn’t exist. Maybe these two routes would shake 2020 from tailing me into 2021.

Last night I watched a video from Everything Is Photogenic on how to ride multiple routes without leaving Zwift. So today I put what I learned into practice. I combines two routes without closing Zwift between rides. It worked great. I scheduled two Meetups, one for each route. The trick is knowing how much time to allow for the first one before scheduling the second. I rode the Two Bridges Loop first as it was a new course but only 4.4 miles long. I wanted to ride more than that. The second meetup followed the Volcano Flat course. You can only schedule 3 meetups per day. Since I am the meetup organizer the yellow beacon stayed with me.

Another bit of information I learned on the same YouTube channel covered the camera shots, Tip #1 Taking The Perfect Selfie. I use the number keys on my computer keyboard to switch cameras during the livestream but I stopped at shot 9. The 0 key features ways to move the camera around using the arrow keys. The sideways arrows moves the camera angle right on left and the up/down arrows moves the camera angle in those directions. I used that camera a lot in today’s video. Some shots.

The Two Bridges Loop climbs 244 feet over the 4.92 miles I rode today, more than the Volcano Flat’s 127 feet. Volcano Flat went 8.34 miles.

In my usual before Zwift ritual I had trouble getting the sensors to connect through the companion app on my phone. For some reason they will connect and then lose the signal. The cadence sensor would not connect to either my phone or desktop computer. The blue flashing LED didn’t blink so I figured the battery was dead. I removed the sensor and tested the battery confirming it was dead. With the new battery it still took several tries to get connected to my desktop computer.

Earlier in the morning I rearranged my Zwift setup. My Blue Norcross AL bike rests on a Wahoo floor mat which gradually moves around on the carpet getting bunched up on furniture. I thought about taking a piece of 3/8″ plywood from the garage, cutting it to 36″ and putting that under the mat but the plywood is dirty from sitting in the garage for many years. Then I realized I have an extra chair mat that is wide enough but about 24″ too short. I put it under the mat with the front wheel over the portion of the Wahoo mat not on the chair mat. Most of the movement takes place at the trainer end of the mat. I will see how this works.

The two courses weren’t difficult and I rode at a good pace. It seemed my rear wheel rode easier on the smart trainer today and my watts stayed between 110 and 150 most of the time. When I made the mat change I unplugged the trainer and I wonder if that changed the trainer. Below are the Strava ride summaries for Two Bridges Loop and Volcano Flat. The “stay in Zwift” hack doesn’t combine the ride data.

  • 12-31-2020 Strava Zwift Two Bridges Loop Bike Ride Summary-1
  • 12-31-2020 Strava Zwift Two Bridges Loop Bike Ride Summary-2
  • 12-31-2020 Strava Zwift Volcano Flat Bike Ride Summary-1
  • 12-31-2020 Strava Zwift Volcano Flat Bike Ride Summary-2
  • 12-31-2020 Strava Zwift Volcano Flat Bike Ride Summary-3

The final bike ride of 2020 wrapped up the most miles I ever rode in a year. Combining road and Zwift miles I biked 9,355 miles. My goal was 7800 miles, 7000 road miles and 800 Zwift miles. I didn’t reach my Zwift goal by 42 miles. I surpassed each month’s road mile goal except for August when I spent 4 days in the hospital leaving me 55 miles short. Summaries of December and 2020.

  • 12-31-2020 December Bike Rides Summary
  • 12-31-2020-Year-Bike-Ride-Summary-2020-corrected

Texas Biking News December 30th 2020

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Houston Shut Down Its Biggest Biking Event for Pandemic Safety. The Indie Bike Scene Is Less Concerned.

BY LAURA FURR MERICAS | www.texasmonthly.com

It was a crisp Halloween eve in Houston when a swarm of about one thousand bikers wove their flashy and flashing wheels from the East End’s D&W Lounge through the gates and around the paths of three cemeteries north of downtown. Clad in skeleton masks, medical-grade masks, a combination of the two, or no masks at all, the crew was celebrating not only Día de Los Muertos but the return of the East End Bike Ride’s monthly gatherings after an eight-month pandemic-induced hiatus.

“We’re Mexican American and that’s kind of like our anniversary ride,” said Judith Villarreal, who founded the spirited group with her husband in 2013. “We felt like, ‘Well, …

I created a Texas-shaped route within inner Houston: 14.4 Miles from bikehouston

Roar of the crowd: Trail master plan draws mixed, mostly positive reaction

wacotrib.com

The city of Waco is commissioning a citywide trail master plan that aims to put interconnected walking and biking routes within a 10-minute walk of everyone in the city, and the city has also awarded a $294,000 contract to develop a master plan for the entire parks department. That drew a mixed but mostly positive reaction on the Tribune-Herald Facebook page recently.

Carole Fergusson: Amazing! I love cycling in Waco but haven’t recently because it’s dangerous with drivers not knowing what to do. This will not only attract future economic growth, but provide place making opportunities and access to a safe way to exercise and see our town!

Susan Aschim Crawford: Making Waco more walkable would be a great …

2021 Doc and Sue’s Gratitudes Texas XC Mtn. Bike State Championship Series

Texas Mountain Bike Racing Association | www.tmbra.org

Sun & Ski presents Rocky Hill Roundup Rocky Hill Ranch, Smithville, TX Feb 20-21, 2021 Race Flyer

Bent Wheel Bash Buck Creek Trails, Abilene, TX February 27-28, 2021 Race Flyer

22nd annual STORM Hill Country Mountain Bike Challenge Flat Rock Ranch, Comfort, TX March 13-14, 2021 Race Flyer

Cameron Park Blowout Cameron Park, Waco, TX March 20-21, 2021 Race Flyer

Pace Bend Race p/b Chumba Cycles- Pace Bend, Spicewood, TX April 10-11, 2021 Race Flyer

3rd Annual Jurassic Trails p/b Richardson Bike Mart Dinosaur Valley SP, Glen Rose, TX April 24-25, 2021 Race Flyer

Big Ring Challenge presented by GHORBA Double Lake, Coldspring, TX May 1-2, 2021 Race Flyer

The Warda Race Bluff Creek Ranch, Warda, TX May 15-16, 2021 Race Flyer

Video: TxDOT working on projects aimed to improve safety for cyclists, pedestrians

by Alyssa Bethencourt | kfoxtv.com

EL PASO, Texas (KFOX14) — The Texas Department of Transportation says they’re working on new plans aimed to make streets safer for cyclists and people.

“On most of our projects where we’re putting down new roadway, we add a multimodal component. We add a hike and bike trail,” said Jennifer Wright, a spokesperson with TxDOT.

Over the years, TxDOT and the City of El Paso have worked together on several projects related to pedestrian safety, but some cyclists …

Texas Biking from Twitter

Second Time Zwifting The Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Since I already surpassed my road mile goal for December but short on Zwift miles I chose to ride Zwift today. At first I thought about not riding an event but after searching the upcoming events the ZZRC Sub 2.0 Ride (D) on the Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop came up. The start ime was 12:40 PM allowing me about 30 minutes to get ready. I got dressed in my biking outfit. Starting up Zwift on my desktop computer and companion app I had problems getting the sensors to connect using the app again. Fortunately my desktop computer has Bluetooth and is a few feet away from my Wahoo Snap smart trainer which connected to the sensors about 2 minutes before the start time.

Following the suggestion of Monica I revved up to 90+ watts as the starting timer counted to zero. The group moved away quickly and I managed to stay with them for about 8 minutes when climbing slowed me more than the group. There were still some other riders behind but not many. I held on to another Zwifter for awhile until I had to answer a phone call and lost contact with him. From then on I rode alone.

Some screenshots of today’s ride.

The Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop is new and this was my second time riding it. The first time I wasn’t in an event riding to the end of the loop. Today the event ended after an hour meaning some of the loop repeated. Today the distance came in at 15.36 miles in 61 minutes 29 seconds. There were 259 people in the D group of the event and over 9,900 on the course in other activities.

I thought I rode well and according to Strava I achieved 4 gold medals, 13 silver medals, and 3 bronze medals. I don’t think I ever had that many in one ride.

  • 12-30-2020 Strava Zwift Bike Ride Summary-1
  • 12-30-2020 Strava Zwift Bike Ride Summary-2
  • 12-30-2020 Strava Zwift Bike Ride Summary-3

December and 2020 only have one day left. How I stand on my road and Zwift goals for December. Year to date I am at 9,341 miles, an increase of 1,100 miles over my previous highest year, 2019.

12-30-2020 MTD Bike Ride Mileage Goal Status