Texas Biking March 5th 2020

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Humble ISD uses BMX to teach STEM to fourth graders

By Savannah Mehrtens | www.chron.com

Humble ISD fourth grade teachers offered a Track Modeling Program for the first time this year, created by the USA BMX Foundation to help fourth graders learn STEM skills and how to work as a group. Humble ISD partnered with the Houston Sports Authority and North Houston BMX to bring the program to the district.

Spring into March with these weekend outdoor events

By Brittany Sodic | kdhnews.com

… Fort Hood Adventure Programs, 4930 Clear Creek Road, is hosting a Mountain Bike Dana Peak Park trip from 6 to 7:30 p.m. March 12. Participants will meet at the recreation equipment check out center and depart to the park together; transportation will be provided. Once at the park, staff will fit each individual with a helmet and mountain bike and ride the trails. Pre-registration is required; call 254-317-5350 to register. …

Destinations: Spider Mountain Bike Park, Texas

By Zach White | reviews.mtbr.com

This all-season bike park in the Lone Star State is a great winter getaway

Quickly approaching its first anniversary this April, Spider Mountain Bike Park is the first year-round, lift-accessed bike park in North America. Located about an hour’s drive northwest of Austin, Texas, the humble little hill only has a claimed 350-vert of elevation, and currently just offers a handful of trails to choose from. That said, they’ve done an excellent job with what the Texas Hill Country has given them to work with, as most top-to-bottom trail options traverse enough between …

Jumping games with the boys

Jim Storey | www.strava.com

Texas Biking from Twitter

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Kingwood – FM 1485 – Kingwood Sans Bike Computer

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Biking without a bike computer requires adjustments. I substituted two apps on my phone (Wahoo and Ride With GPS) but gave up the ability to glance down to see various information as the bike ride progressed. One purpose for today’s bike ride was to get familiar to using the apps. I started the ride around 12:30 PM and I thought I started the ride recording on each app but around the 5 mile point in Woodridge Forest I stopped to check and found the apps not recording. Thus today’s mileage as recorded does not include those 5 miles.

Weather during the bike ride: start 68 (53% humidity, 50.6 dew point), a few clouds, wind N 13 mph gusts 22 mph. Finish 73 (42% humidity, 48.7 dew point), a few clouds, wind N 21 mph. The stiff north winds made getting to FM 1485 tough reminding me of the rides in Harlingen last week. I dressed for the wind chill: shorts, leg warmers, long sleeve thermal jersey, wind jacket, and half finger gloves.

Loop 494 over Caney Creek is closed due to the bridge buckling due to some support pads washed out. I stopped and talked to one of the TexDOT workers at the bridge. He said the bridge engineer just left and will now review potential solutions. Not sure how long the bridge will be closed. This bridge has been used for many years, at least back to the 1906’s when it was on US59 before the freeway came around.

Guessing when to take video clips before the GoPro auto-shutoff was tricky without a clock. I did video several other cyclists in the early part of the bike ride in Kingwood. I shift gears as I reached places where I usually shifted them. I didn’t realize how much I use the computer to control or time things during a ride. My replacement computer is on order and may arrive early next week. Saturday when I ride the Gator Ride in Baytown I will use the phone apps. Friday (tomorrow) I will practice using the apps again hopefully starting them at the beginning.

Link to my SportTracks activity page.

Texas Biking News March 4th 2020

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Cross Country Spring 2020

By Paul Mattison | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Arrey NM to ElPaso TX: Flaaaaaaat Monday March 2, 2020, 108 miles (174 km) – Total so far: 816 miles (1,313 km) Not a whole lot to say about the ride into ElPaso today. Very, very flat riding with a pretty strong crosswind that wanted to blow me into traffic all day. Stopped a few times to take pictures of the Rio Grande but there wasn’t much water to see anywhere… The only other obvious scenery was …

ElPaso to Esperanza Tx: A little bit of everything Tuesday March 3, 2020, 68 miles (109 km) – Total so far: 884 miles (1,423 km) Wind, rain (lots and lots), urban, suburban, and a few dogs too. A little bit of everything today! Waited for rush hour traffic to subside a bit today before I set off, so it coincided with the forecasted rainy weather to begin. Got out of downtown before it started to get wet.

The first couple miles outside of the city included some …

Esperanza Tx to Fort Davis Tx: This isn’t the Texas I expected Wednesday March 4, 2020, 100 miles (161 km) – Total so far: 984 miles (1,584 km) 40 degrees and rain is not how I always pictured Texas, but what do I know? For the second day in a row, it was windy, rainy and cold. Decided to break from the ACA map and stay on I-10 (and frontage roads) instead of going South. Made good time until the wind had enough of helping me out and …

My Bike Ride Across America

Brendan Leonard | www.outsideonline.com

This is the tenth year of my blog at Semi-Rad.com, and since I started it, I’ve been fortunate to get to go on some pretty wonderful adventures. Throughout 2020, I’ll be writing about 12 of my favorites, one per month. This is the second in the series.

As we looked over our menus, we began to sense that the Waffle House staff was nearing a complete meltdown. It was evening, day 39 of our 49-day bicycle ride across America, March 15, 2010. Tony and I had pushed our bikes and trailers into a hotel room a block away, showered, and walked to the nearest restaurant, which was a Waffle House. We were tired and ready to eat. Almost six weeks into our trip, our bodies had basically turned into machines that pedaled fully …

… On day 20, we adjusted our route to take a less hilly path, avoiding the Davis Mountains in West Texas and heading to the town of Marfa on U.S. Route 90. My memory of the day is the flattest, straightest road I’ve ever ridden on, with a few barely noticeable adjustments to the left, a slight uphill grade the entire way, and wide-open ranchland along …

Tyler Bicycle Club talk about “Beauty and the Beast race” for St Patrick’s day

www.easttexasmatters.com

Tyler Bicycle Club of Tyler is gearing up for their ” “Beauty and the Beast race” for St Patrick’s day. If you would like to sign up head on over to their website.

BikeHouston’s Spoke & Word: March Newsletter

BikeHouston.org

Upcoming Events and Volunteer Opportunities

Light of the Phoenix Ride – March 18 BikeHouston Offices

DIY Bike Repair Clinic – March 23 Houston Bicycle Company (404 1/2 Westheimer Rd)

Bicycle Friendly Driver Course – March 24 Houston Police Department (13097 Nitida St)

Riding With Confidence Class – March 28 City of Mont Belvieu (12450 Eagle Pointe Dr Mont Belvieu, TX)

Sights & Sounds Festival – April 4 Stude Park (1031 Stude)

Vehicle hits Woodway student biking to school

www.fox44news.com

The principal of Woodgate Intermediate School says one of his students went to the hospital Wednesday morning after a vehicle hit the boy as he rode his bike to school.

We do not know the extent of the boy’s injuries at this time, or if the driver of the vehicle will face any criminal charges.

This is the email Principal Wes Kanawyer sent out to parents: …

March 2020 Executive Director’s Report

By Clark Martinson | bikehouston.org

Northbound Waugh Bike Lane Abruptly Stops at W. Gray Street

In this report, I’d like to focus on some of the nitty-gritty of our day-to-day work. Specifically, I will be responding to a member’s email about the intersection at W. Gray Street and Waugh.

If you travel by car or by bike on Waugh from Montrose to the Heights you noticed the changes made this month at the W. Gray intersection. A BikeHouston member sent us the following:

“I commute to work every day on my bike and really enjoy how bikeable Houston really is. I recently moved though and have been figuring out the best routes to take (Heights to the Med Center). I’ve found that Waugh is typically the best road to take …

Texas Biking from Twitter

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

ZHCC SUB 2.0 Gravel Rash – Jungle Circuit

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After driving back home yesterday from several days of bike rides in Harlingen the weather kept me inside today Zwifting. The sky darkened as the 12:55 PM start time approached and rain fell while I pedaled. I thought I allowed enough time to get everything ready but as the start time counted down the group rode away as I jumped off the Blue Norcross AL bike to start streaming on Twitch.TV/Texbiker. By the time I got back on the bike the group was out of sight.

The ride gear consisted of a full suspension mountain bike which I am not sure why a hard tail wouldn’t have been better. The road was dusty but no single track or gnarly surface. The gearing didn’t help me catch up but I don’t think I could’ve at the speed some of the 133 Zwifters were going. I watched the map in the upper right corner and wondered how I got in front of a bunch of bikers before realizing they were going to lap me.

Jungle Circuit included two hills in the hour of the event but not too steep topping out at 8%, I think. Compared to the wind I biked in at Harlingen the climbs weren’t too bad but I went up slowly.

Thursday the weather forecast calls for clearing and a high around 70 degrees. I plan on biking outdoors but I won’t have my Wahoo Elemnt computer. The battery is nearing the end of its life and I sent it back to Wahoo to get a discount on a new computer. In the meantime I will use my phone and probably the RideWithGPS app or maybe Strava.

Link to my SportTracks activity page.