Texas Bicycling News for February 2, 2024

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Wichita Falls again earns bronze bike-friendly community designation

Staff Report Times Record News | www.timesrecordnews.com

Wichita Falls has again been recognized as a Bronze Medal Bicycle Friendly Community by the League of American Bicyclists.

The city is one of 480 communities across the nation to be ranked, according to a press release. Wichita Falls has again won designation as a bicycle friendly community

“The Bicycle Friendly Community designation is a reflection of local leaders’ ongoing work to build better places to bike,” according to the release.

Wichita Falls was first awarded the Bronze Medal status in 2019.

"The City has and will continue …

City awarded bronze medal for being bicycle friendly

By Abigail Jones | www.newschannel6now.com

WICHITA FALLS, Texas (KAUZ) – The City of Wichita Falls was awarded a bronze medal for being a bicycle friendly community by the League of American Bicyclists.

Wichita Falls is one of 480 communities ranked by the LAB.

Chris Horgen, City Public Information Officer said this ranking reflects local leaders’ efforts towards building better places to bike.

Wichita Falls was awarded this same bronze medal in 2019. …

Apache Corp. will sponsor Tour de Houston 2024

Jay R. Jordan | www.axios.com

This year’s Tour de Houston will be sponsored once again by Apache Corp.

Catch up fast: The Houston-based energy company, a longtime sponsor of the event, did not originally pledge to sponsor the 2024 iteration of the annual fundraising ride.

The Mayor's Office of Special Events announced Wednesday that it was canceling the event over lack of funds, but within hours, Mayor John Whitmire — who was unaware the ride had been canceled — pledged to find a sponsor and ensure that the ride went on.

Driving the news: Whitmire and representatives from Apache met Thursday and created a plan to bring the ride back to the Bayou City.

The mayor was personally involved in the talks, spokesperson Mary Benton tells Axios. ...

MTB At Brushy Creek Peddlers Pass, 1/4 Notch and Picnic plus NBD x2 Mountain Bikes and Progression.

Just Me MTB | www.youtube.com

Picking up where we left off, showing Dave and his new Ebike more of the Brushy Creek lines. As for me, I am waiting on a dropper for my Stance. Not fun or easy to quick release and quick unrelease for every little up in 1/4 Notch…Also didnt have tool to tighten down the hex which caused my elevated seat to slowly drop, but the down hill was fun. Also a Progression Day, with a drop session I’ve been eyeing but kinda afraid to do, till now 🙂

Road cash: $34.5 million earmarked for New Braunfels transportation projects

By Ricardo Delgado | www.expressnews.com

A regional planning agency has awarded $34.5 million in funding for transportation-related projects in fast-growing New Braunfels

The money is coming from the Alamo Area Metropolitan Planning Organization, the agency responsible for transportation planning for the entire region.

The agency, which is commonly known as AAMPO, awarded $12.3 million to the city of New Braunfels for four projects proposed by city leaders. It also awarded $22.2 million to the Texas Department of Transportation for two New Braunfels-area projects planned by the state agency.

The city of New Braunfels’ projects include $6.8 million for pedestrian and bicycle improvements to Gruene, a national historic district in north New Braunfels. …

First race of 2024 and it was TOUGH one (El Paso Puzzler)

SYD and MACKY | www.youtube.com

Today, we’re heading to El Paso, Texas to kick off our season with a very unique race – the El Paso Puzzler 50 Miler. We love this race – not only is it almost entirely singletrack, it’s difficult singletrack. Between the rocks, cliff edges and generally hostile plant life, you need to be focused for all 50 miles or risk serious injury (or at the very least some yucca scratches). …

Solid Start In February. New Route. Strava PR. Shifting Problem.

Texbiker.net Posted on by

After missing my road mile goal for January it is encouraging that I’ve biked outdoors 5 days in a row including the first 2 days of February. Maybe February weather will be cooperative for more outside rides and reaching my 445 mile goal. I came up with a different route for today’s bike ride, Community Drive – Sorters Road – Forest Cove. No new streets just a different combination and direction on streets I ride. This route is a subset of Community Drive – Cumberland – Forest Cove. It was windy during today’s ride (more than yesterday). And my legs needed recovery time from almost 40 miles yesterday so I wanted to ride a shorter route. The bike ride didn’t turn out to be much shorter at 33.75 miles. Another reason was to check out the new location for Kingwood Bicycle on Hamblen Road. On the way back home I rode the San Jacinto Bayou Greenway to Marina Drive and then went to Hamblen Road. Riding around the center I didn’t see a sign for Kingwood Bicycle leading me to believe they aren’t there yet. I saw a comment on Strava a few days ago about the new location.

Because of the different street combination when I got to the Strava segment in elm Grove Village I was in the 35×15 gears and powered to 2nd fastest time on Kris Spraggins Memorial Route (2:16). This was mostly into the wind which surprised me a little.

The ride started at 11:06 AM with partly cloudy skies and a SE 12 mph wind. The 70 degrees let me wear a light long sleeve jersey under a wind jacket. For a number of miles this was comfortable but the clouds and wind increased making it feel cooler. Thankfully the last 4+ miles had a tailwind to help get to the 1:46 PM finish time.

During the ride the left shift lever wasn’t moving the rear cassette to a larger gear but would shift to a smaller gear. Sometimes I thought I was using the 1-9 gears but actually was in the 1-10 gears. No wonder it felt harder to pedal. The right shift lever seems to work fine. I will see if I can find the problem.

2-2-2024 Strava Ride Summary Community Drive-Sorters Road-Forest Cove
2-2-2024 Strava Ride Summary Community Drive-Sorters Road-Forest Cove

Texas Bicycling News for February 1, 2024

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Tour de Houston was canceled — and then revived

Jay R. Jordan | www.axios.com

The City of Houston unexpectedly canceled — and then quickly revived — this year’s Tour de Houston, an annual fundraising bike ride that showcases the city’s historic neighborhoods.

Catch up quick: The ride is typically planned for late March or early April, and cycling enthusiasts consider it a warmup event for the Texas MS 150, an annual charity ride from Houston to Austin.

Tour de Houston riders can choose to go 20, 40 or 60 miles.

Driving the news: The Mayor’s Office of Special Events on Wednesday afternoon sent an email to people who were interested in the 2024 ride saying this year’s event was canceled due to lack of funding.

Yes, but: Mayor John Whitmire, who was not aware of the cancellation before the email went out, on Wednesday night pledged to bring the event back in 2024.

The intrigue: Apache Corp., a Houston-based energy company, has been a Tour de Houston title sponsor for years but declined to return as a sponsor in 2024, according to Susan Christian, director of the Mayor’s Office of Special Events. …

2024 Tour de Houston will go on as scheduled despite loss of major sponsor

By Ronnie Marley | www.fox26houston.com

HOUSTON – Houston Mayor John Whitmire has announced that the 2024 Tour de Houston will go on as scheduled, according to a release.

Officials said the Mayor’s Office of Special Events announced the cancellation due to the loss of major sponsor. …

DS Mountain Biking Team Training

www.drippingspringsranchpark.com

Outdoor Trails

Event Date: Thursday, February 8, 2024 – 4:45pm to 6:30pm

Dripping Springs Mountain Biking Team Training

When: Tuesday and Thursday Evenings Where: DSRP Trails

The Dripping Springs Mountain Bike Team’s mission is to promote mountain bike skills, fun, development, excellence, teamwork, etiquette, and respect for the family, community and the outdoors. The team races in the National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) league for Texas.

Upcoming Rides

San Antonio Wheelmen | www.sawheelmen.com

Schertz-La Vernia Ride Saturday, February 3, 2024 9:00 AM 12:00 PM

Ray Corbett Junior High 12000 Ray Corbett Drive Schertz, TX, 78154 United States (map)

Ghost Track Crossing Ride Sunday, February 4, 2024 9:00 AM 12:00 PM

China Grove Ride Saturday, February 10, 2024 9:00 AM 12:00 PM

CRSA Thursday Nighter. San Antonio, Texas

Anthony Evans | strava.com

Evening Ride Houston, Texas

Mark Bolden | strava.com

HBC Gravel Grind Fort Bend County, Texas

Flavio Teures | strava.com

Team Camp, Day 1 Blanco, Texas

Lupe Ontiveros | strava.com

Southern Tier El Paso to New Orleans

By Cortney O. | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 20: San Antonio to camp spot near Wimberly,: Navigating out of the city and discovering a beautiful camp in the hill country Wednesday January 31, 2024, 52 miles (84 km) – Total so far: 667 miles (1,073 km) We headed out of San Antonio with the anticipation of it taking awhile. Navigating in and out of cities always takes forever.

Google maps took us by the zoo and put us on a path that end up a dead end and we had to drag our bikes down a staircase. And then we rode through Alamo Heights. Beautiful neighborhood. Then it took almost two hours to eventually get out of city with the road work, stoplights, and nonstop traffic. We did get to go on a nice bikeway for a bit called Salado Greenway. Very peaceful.

We went through the charming …

Co-worker testifies Blankenship told her ‘I killed a kid, I killed a kid, I killed a kid’

By Tommy Witherspoon | www.kwtx.com

WACO, Texas (KWTX) – A flustered, red-faced Tammy Blankenship, with her hands trembling, told a Midway school district co-worker that she “killed a kid” the day after Baylor University student David Grotberg was killed by a hit-and-run driver in October 2016, the woman testified Thursday.

Blankenship, a former Midway school administrator, is on trial in Waco’s 54th State District Court on manslaughter and failure to stop and render aid charges in the death of Grotberg, a Baylor sophomore from Minnesota who was riding a bicycle with his girlfriend about 10 p.m. when he was struck and killed on Franklin Avenue.

In second-day testimony, Hannah Ashley, a …

Longest Ride So Far This Year: Kingwood to Ramsey Road – Huffman

Texbiker.net Posted on by

I wanted to start February’s bike rides better than I did in January. I chose the Kingwood to Ramsey Road – Huffman route riding south and east. This would end up being the longest ride so far this year at 39.45 miles. I didn’t check to see the last time I rode the route until I finished and saw it was October 7th, 2023. Wheels down and rolling at 11:45 AM on my Canyon Endurace CF 7 bike. It was into a SE or S wind all the way to Ramsey Road. The wind wasn’t too strong but the wind chill kept reminding me the temperature was not as high as I prefer. At Ramsey Road road construction meant no traffic going north so I didn’t ride to the first bridge before turning around. The ride back to Kingwood was more wind neutral though I did enjoy a tailwind riding north on FM 2100. The main benefit was the wind chill reduction. The sun couldn’t break through the clouds holding the temperature around 70 when I finished at 2:40 PM. My road mile goal is 445 for February and I made a nice ride towards that number.

2-1-2024 Strava Ride Summary Kingwood to Ramsey Road-Huffman
2-1-2024 Strava Ride Summary Kingwood to Ramsey Road-Huffman