Texas Bicycling News Digest May 9th 2019

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TOUR DU ROUGE: BICYCLISTS STOP IN MORGAN CITY ON 540-MILE RIDE FOR CHARITY

BY ZACHARY FITZGERALD |www.stmarynow.com

Kathy Hefele and her husband, Dave Hefele, finish the fourth day of the Tour du Rouge. The 540-mile bicycle ride from Houston to New Orleans made a stop Wednesday at Clarion Inn in Morgan City. (The Daily Review/Zachary Fitzgerald)

More than 40 bicyclists stopped in Morgan City Wednesday while on an over 500-mile trek to raise money for an organization benefiting people with intellectual disabilities.

Tour du Rouge is a six-day bicycle ride from Houston to New Orleans covering about 540 miles, roughly 90 miles per day, and raising money for Arc chapters along the route.

Bicyclists arrived Wednesday afternoon at Clarion Inn in Morgan City for their fourth overnight stay after battling rain and …

YOU ARE NOT ALONE

Victoria Atterberry | starlocalmedia.com

Coppell joins memorial ride to honor fallen officers

You are not alone. This is the message hundreds of Texas police officers shared with the families who lost loved ones in the line of duty during the Texas Police Officers Memorial Ride.

The officers recently biked from San Antonio to Austin to honor their fellow officers. The two-day, 150-mile journey ended at the state capitol, where participants attended the Texas Peace Officers candlelight vigil ceremony. …

Long Beach, CA to St. Augustine, FL via the southern tier

By Tony Olague | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Sanderson to Comstock TX Wednesday May 8, 2019, 88 miles (142 km) – Total so far: 830 miles (1,336 km) I’ve read and was cautioned by other cyclist that ridden the southern tier of the lack of services between Sanderson and Comstock. Loaded up with extra water and food I started out. There was no exaggeration when it’s said there is a lack of services between these towns. In Langtry, on the highway 90, there was a small convenience store with a few cold drinks and snacks. There was a tail wind today that cooled me down a bit. The tail wind was such a relief for me. It was mainly a downhill ride with some rolling hills in between. According to my Garmin I started at elevation at 2657 ft and ended at 1675 ft. The first place I stopped at in …

Comstock to Del Rio TX Thursday May 9, 2019, 30 miles (48 km) – Total so far: 860 miles (1,384 km) When I started riding this morning it was foggy and overcast. I even felt a few raindrops. It was a quick ride into Del Rio. Before I knew it, I was rolling into town. I decided to stay and extra day here because of the rainy weather predicted and because I’m a little tired. …

Some Downsides of the Car-Free Lifestyle

A DUDE ABIKES | adudeabikes.com

n my fourth annual post about living without a car, 14 Years Not a Slave to Cars, I talked about the obvious benefits of riding a bike and not having a car. Of course there’s helping the environment, getting exercise, and getting to write blog posts that are read and celebrated by 10’s of people around the world. But there are downsides, too. Let’s talk about it! …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

https://twitter.com/stateofbicycle/status/1126583680997130240

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Flood Debris, Arm Sleeves, Fallen Power Line Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Until around 11:30 AM today I wasn’t sure I would ride today but the overcast sky thinned a little and sun came through. Reminding myself of the rule to not ride because of somebody predicting rain while the conditions do not agree I got ready to ride and set out at 11:58 AM on the “Kingwood-Community Drive-Valley Ranch” route. I chose this route for being a little shorter in case the weather changed and I could get back home maybe before the rain arrived.

I am happy to say the rain didn’t materialize and after riding 25.3 miles I finished biking at 1:52 PM with the sky still overcast but some brightness coming through.

Weather during the bike ride: start 82 (87% humidity), overcast, wind SE 6 mph. Finish 87 (77% humidity), overcast, wind calm. I tried something new with my biking kit: shorts and a short sleeve jersey but I added a pair of bcg arm sleeves for sun protection. I bought two pair last evening at Academy Sports + Outdoors in New Caney at Valley Ranch. Thanks to a gift card I can try these out without any cost. The pair I wore today were blue with a black stripes. I was wary thinking they would make my arms hot but that didn’t happen even with 87 degrees. The zinc oxide sunscreen wasn’t working and was too messy so the arm sleeves look like a good solution so far.

With the light breeze I was able to build up my average speed to 14.2 mph on the return to Kingwood. My legs felt good with the power needed.

At the beginning of the ride through the Elm Grove Village in Kingwood when I turned onto Creek Shadows Drive several homes had piles of damaged and soaked debris from Tuesday’s flooding at the curb. This street is not too far from a drainage bayou to the north that must have came over it’s bank. Its so sad that these homes came through Hurricane Harvey without getting wet and then get water.

Near the end of the ride as I rode by Bear Branch Elementary school Tree Lane was blocked by an Humble ISD Police cruiser and trucks from the Harris County Flood Control District. I asked one of the officers want happened and he said a tree fell across power lines along a drainage bayou and they were working to get the tree off the lines. About 400 homes were without electricity but the school had electricity. I rode around the problem on the sidewalk and went on to finish the bike ride.

Rain is still in the forecast for later today (Thursday), Friday and Saturday. But if my rule applies I will bike.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

Strava Year Progressions YTD Bike Ride Miles

2107 which lead 2019 until recently now is trailing 2016, 2018 and 2019. 2016 is 38 miles behind 2017, 2017 120 miles behind 2019, and 2018 just 10 miles back from 2019.

Strava Year Progressions YTD Bike Ride Miles

Texas Bicycling News Digest May 8th 2019

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Project to bring sidewalks and bike lanes to south Waco set for this summer

By: Estephany Escobar | www.kxxv.com

WACO, TX — The City of Waco plans to add sidewalks, bike lanes and pave some streets in South Waco this summer.

The project aims to encourage pedestrian and bicycle traffic to and from community services, school events and church services.

As part of the $1 million project, the city will add sidewalks along Gurley Lane from 12th Street to 27th Street. They will meet American with …

‘The pros mix with the Joes’: Why Central Texas cyclists like gravel grinding

By Pam LeBlanc | www.austin360.com

Back in April, a crowd of eager bicyclists tapped their toes as patiently as they could while waiting for a line of rain-spewing, charcoal-colored clouds to pass over a small Texas town.

A hundred or so of them packed into a metal barn, where organizers of the Castell Gravel Grind had set up race headquarters. Others huddled inside vehicles or moved into a community church across the lane as lightning flashed, thunder cracked and raindrops fell. …

Houston Grand Crit • May 5 2019

www.road-results.com

Categories » Junior 10-14 » Junior 15-18 » Men Cat 3 » Men Cat 4/5 » Men Master 35+ Cat 4/5 » Men Master 40+ Cat 1/2/3/4 » Men P/1/2 » Women Cat 3/4/5 » Women P/1/2/3

Reflections from my Houston to Austin ride from bikehouston

Public offers input on proposed Regional Mobility Authority for Brazos County

By CAITLIN CLARK | www.theeagle.com

Following a successful review by the Texas Department of Transportation, Brazos County’s petition to form a Regional Mobility Authority took another step forward Tuesday with a public hearing held to gather the community’s input. …

… Initial project The county is required to identify an initial project to pursue as part of the RMA petition process. The proposed initial project focuses on a 1.2-mile section of University Drive adjacent to the Texas A&M University campus from Wellborn Road to Texas Avenue.

The project would include about a half-mile depressed section from Wellborn Road to just east of College Avenue that would be capped with a surface built for bicycles and pedestrians. According to Tuesday’s presentation, the objective of the project would be to improve safety and mobility by eliminating conflicts between cyclists, pedestrians and vehicles. …

New Nonprofit Hopes to Save Lives of Cyclists

By Lena Blietz| spectrumlocalnews.com

SAN ANTONIO — Many locals are nervous about biking on San Antonio’s roads, especially after the recent deaths of two prominent cyclists.

Live to Ride hopes to keep cyclists safe Will teach drivers, cyclists how to share the road 200 cyclists took part in nonprofit launch “Our biggest fears are DWI, DUI and distracted driving. Those are the biggest challenges bike riders have right now,” said Jeff Moore, the president of SATX Social Ride. …

Wednesday with Cyclones

Eduardo Salas (Cyclones) | www.strava.com

Solo bayou ride

Alison Carey | www.strava.com

Southern Walnut Creek Trail: East Austin’s Green Wonderland for Bicylists

A DUDE ABIKES | adudeabikes.com

I rode the upper half of this trail again, and realized that although familiarity breeds contempt, I’ve never grown weary or bored of this trail. Maybe it’s because there are no cars, so one can relax and enjoy the ride. It could be the variety of sights from thick, evergreen trees to the distant skyline of downtown Austin. There’s occasional deer, rabbit, or armadillo (all of which I saw), not to mention birds, frogs, bugs and more. It’s also used by people walking, running, on rollerblades or even …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

https://twitter.com/SundayStreetHTX/status/1126130482607992832

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

The Day After The Sky Fell Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

The sky opened up after I got home from yesterday’s bike ride. While I got soaked that was only the beginning. By the time the rain slowed down our street flooded twice and my home weather station recorded 10.9″ of rain. Fortunately no water in our house. Traffic came to a stop in the area as the water flooded streets, businesses, and homes. By midnight traffic started to return to normal.

Starting today’s bike ride at 11:10 AM I expected to see signs of the deluge but surprisingly the evidence was not as wide spread as last Friday’s storm. The forecast said the rain could happen again so I kept a wary eye on the sky as I rode along the “Atascocita – Walden – E. Lake Houston Parkway” route. The overcast sky looked threatening at times as dark clouds moved around but no rain.

Weather during the ride: start 78 (88% humidity), overcast, wind S 8 mph. Finish 82 (82% humidity), overcast, wind S 14 mph gusts 21 mph. With the somewhat cooler temperature I wore a long sleeve jersey, shorts and a short sleeve jersey. By the time I finished at 1:24 PM that attire was warmer than necessary so I sweat a lot.

The short rides for the last two days is slowing my reaching my May goal but I am still ahead at this point with 217.48 miles, almost 33% of the way to the goal and 23 riding days left.

The stiff wind that arrived while I was riding didn’t seem that strong but when it became a tailwind I noticed how helpful it was on the ride north back into Kingwood. My legs had the power to pedal into the wind but I started the ride at a slower pace as I looked for storm damage. I changed the route around the 4 mile to 6 mile section to avoid some fallen trees and limbs along Kingwood Drive.

Thurday’s weather calls for more rain but if there is an opening like today I will get on the Canyon for a ride. After today’s ride I washed the Canyon which I couldn’t do after yesterday’s ride.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

Strava Year Progressions YTD Bike Ride Miles

Strava Year Progressions YTD Bike Ride Miles