Texas Biking News October 27th 2020

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Legends of the fall give a voice to bicycle safety message

Brice Cherry | wacotrib.com

The idea of muscle memory is summed up in one familiar phrase: “It’s like riding a bike, you never forget how.”

Guess what, though? If you fall off said bike, you tend to remember that, too.

Earlier this month, one of my colleagues in the local sports media suffered a bicycle accident he won’t soon forget. Matt Mosley, the (usual) host of the afternoon Matt Mosley Show on ESPN Central Texas radio, was riding his bike near his home in Dallas when he took a nasty tumble that ended up sending him to the hospital and leading to multiple surgeries.

While Mosley’s accident was far more severe, it reminded me of a time another …

‘M’ is for Muenster & Mineral Wells

North Texas Cycling Monthly | soundcloud.com

Ride recaps of Muenster Germanfest and the Crazy Kicker in Mineral Wells and I talk about some of my favorite podcasts

County, TxDOT reach funds contribution agreement

Douglas Clark, Amarillo Globe-News | www.amarillo.com

Potter County has reached an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation to contribute Right of Way funds earmarked for the State Loop 335 project. The Potter County Commissioners’ Court voted to approve the agreement during Monday’s regular session.

"This has been presented to us before, and then they found out it was going to be less than we thought – so we’re very happy about that," Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner said. "This is all part of the continuing Loop." …

… The Loop 335 project’s overarching goal, per TxDOT, is to upgrade the entire loop to a controlled-access freeway type facility consisting of main lanes, ramps, one-way frontage roads with bicycle and pedestrian accommodations and three-level interchanges: I-40 East, I-40 West, I-27 and US 87. …

More bike lanes, sidewalks coming to high-traffic Austin streets as part of 2016 mobility bond

kxan News | www.bizjournals.com

Projects approved as part of the 2016 mobility bond have received environmental clearance from the Texas Department of Transportation and can continue, the city of Austin announced Oct. 27.

In the city’s press release, the city says the South Lamar Boulevard project, from Riverside Drive to U.S. Highway 290, and the Burnet Road project, from U.S. 183 to the MoPac frontage road, can move toward construction as a result of the clearance.

“Environmental clearance is a critical milestone before construction can begin,” said Mike Trimble, the director of Austin’s Corridor Program Office. “We …

Off the road: Try the Purgatory Creek Natural Area in San Marcos on bike or foot

By Pam LeBlanc | www.austin360.com

I’ve been hammering out miles on my road bike for the past few months, riding loops around Northwest Hills, along Shoal Creek, and over that cool bike and pedestrian bridge at Barton Creek.

Lately, though, I’ve grown weary of pedaling the same routes. So when a friend invited me to join him for a spin on trails at the Purgatory Creek Natural Area in San Marcos, I left the skinny tires behind and loaded up my mountain bike.

I sometimes have a hard time finding mountain bike trails that fit my ability level. I’m pretty comfortable on knobby tires — until I’m stopped at the bottom of a hill, looking up a daunting escalator of boulders. I like the downhills better — as long as the stair-steppy rock doesn’t go …

Group Ride Cycling 10242020 MT Pleasant Road South

Veloharmony | www.youtube.com

Prologue: 00:00 Route Map: 00:43 Meeting Team RR at Crust Pizza: 02:07 Warm Up: 04:10 FM 1488 – Open Road Begins: 16:48 The pace quickens as we approach the overpass at FM 149: 31:00 Forest Glen West: 43:13 FM 149 Southbound: 51:20 Approaching Hidden Forest Road : 1:00:42 Visiting South Pine like: 1:11:15 Fishcreek Blvd Speedwork: 1:17:18

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No Leg Warmers, Overcast Sky, Getting Closer to 800 Miles

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Another late start to the bike ride as I waited for the temperature to warm up and watching stage 7 of the Vuelta a Espana. I got the clothes out of the closet as the temperature moved to the upper 60’s. At first I planned on wearing leg warmers but since it was almost 70 I decided not to wear them I did wear shorts (of course), a long sleeve thermal jersey (I could’ve worn a regular long sleeve one), and a wind jacket. Rolling the Canyon Endurace to the end of the driveway I punched the start button on the Bolt computer at 12:38 PM. I chose the “Atascocita – Walden – E. Lake Houston Parkway” route. Finishing the ride at 2:43 PM after biking 27.67 miles the temperature warmed up to the mid 70’s. My week now totals 53.3 miles.

I just read that tomorrow around noon the temperature in Houston may be 50 degrees which means I will not be riding outside. But today it wasn’t that cold. Weather while I biked: start 70 (85% humidity, 65.5 dew point), overcast, wind variable 5 mph; finish 74 (82% humidity, 68.2 dew point), mostly cloudy, wind N 7 mph. While it wasn’t hot I perspired a lot because the humidity and dew points were high. On a previous bike ride after finishing I hung my long sleeve thermal jersey on the bathroom doorknob and later found two puddles of water on the floor from all of the sweat draining out of the jersey. I don’t remember seeing that before.

My ride to an 800 mile month continued. But the weather may get in the way.

10-27-2020 MTD Mileage Goal Status

Bike ride data from the Golden Cheetah software program.

  • 10-27-2020 Golden Cheetah Bike Ride Data-1
  • 10-27-2020 Golden Cheetah Bike Ride Data-2

Strava said this ride was easier than my usual effort but I didn’t think so.

  • 10-27-2020 Strava Bike Ride Summary-1
  • 10-27-2020 Strava Bike Ride Summary-2

Texas Biking Action October 26th 2020

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Officials ask for your help to find teen after bike found near highway over weekend

by SBG San Antonio | news4sanantonio.com

SAN ANTONIO – Officials are searching for a teen after her bike was found near Loop 1604 on the Northwest Side.

Alyssa Michelle Garza, 17, has been missing since Sunday when her bike was found near the highway and Bandera Rd.

Garza is 5’6” and has bleached white hair with blue in it. If you have any information regarding where she may be, you’re asked to contact SAPD.

Terry Hershey Updated Signs from bikehouston

RENDON, TX – MAN INJURED IN BICYCLE CRASH ON FM 2738

lowlawfirm.com

Rendon, TX (October 26, 2020) – One man was left critically injured following a motor vehicle accident in the Rendon area. On October 25, emergency crews were called to the site of a crash on Farm to Market Road 2738.

Reports from authorities show that a man was riding on his bicycle through the 8300 block of Farm to Market Road 2738. As the man proceeded forward, he was struck by a vehicle.

The man suffered …

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Scratchy Noise Gone, Rode Mic Gone, Fall Weather Approaching

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Sunday I took as a rest day of sorts. After church I came home, watched the replay of stage 21 of the Giro d’Italia and highlights of stage 6 of the Vuelta a Espana. Almost bike race overload. Next I worked on my GoPro camera microphone audio testing. Saturday I went to Best Buy and purchased a Rode VideoMicro mic after seeing a number of people using them. I attached it to my Canyon Endurace and went on short rides to test the sound. Making several changes I never could get the audio to a level that it could be heard like the lavaliere mic I used on Saturday’s ride. The problem Saturday was the mic didn’t record or made scratchy noises. Fast forward to today, after searching on Google I found some suggestions on using the Rode mic with my GoPro Hero 7 Black. I tried them but it didn’t help. Back to the lavaliere mic. I cleaned the male plug, twisted in the female socket in the GoPro mic adapter, mounted the mic and got ready to ride. Some photos of the mic setup.

Putting the mic setup to the test I began today’s bike ride at 11:46 AM on my Lynskey R300 bike. Since I reached my goal for October miles I decided a shorter than usual route would be okay. Choosing to ride to the north I biked on my “Kingwood – Community Drive – Valley Ranch” route going 25.63 miles. If you watch the video of today’s bike ride the mic setup came through much better than Saturday with the scratchy noise gone and my voice coming through clearly. Mission accomplished for sound on the video and the Rode mic will go back to Best Buy.

The weather will be changing to more fall like conditions as the week progresses making shorter bike rides more likely. Next week may be time to renew my Zwift subscription with some cold and wet weather possible. For now my goal is to ride enough miles this week to get to 800+ miles for October. After today I up at 743.7 miles. So it looks doable if the weather cooperates. Weather conditions for today’s bike ride: start 76 (84% humidity, 71.3 dew point), overcast, wind SE 12 mph; finish 81 (76% humidity, 72.5 dew point), mostly cloudy, wind SE 16 mph. The humidity made for a muggy ride which I didn’t help because I wore a long sleeve jersey under my short sleeve one. Despite the 16 mph wind I was able to improve my average speed after making the turn back to the south at Community Drive. I point this out various times in the video.

10-26-2020 MTD Mileage Goal Status

50% of the time during the ride my power was in zones 3 through 7 according to Golden Cheetah. 10% was in zones 6 and 7 which is good zones to be in but hard to stay there for long. It will be interesting to see how I do in Zwift.