from kbmt12.com
by Christina Hernandez
“This is a remarkable story of a brave young woman from right here in Southeast Texas.
She just finished with a long bicycle trek, but not just for exercise…to help those suffering from cancer.
It started over two weeks ago in Prince, Utah and ended at Vidor High School with a lap around the track.”
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I ran across this blog that is from Chugach Peaks Photography. The writer is blogging as he rides the southern part of the US. Today’s entry describes his arrival into Texas at El Paso. There are maps and you can catchup on the earlier days.
Link to joescoasttocoast.blogspot.com website
According to the Navasota Examiner:
“Thirty women over the age of 50 have embarked on a 3,135-mile bicycle ride across the United States and are stopping to overnight in Navasota on April 8 - 9. They dipped their rear bike wheels in the Pacific Ocean on March 7 in San Diego and expect to finish their trek in St. Augustine, Florida in early May. They’ll be supported by Woman Tours, Inc. - the only all-women bicycle touring company in the country.”
This doesn’t sound like that big of a deal until you read that they live in Wichita Falls and the soccer game was in Fort Worth.
According to the Wichita Falls Times Record News online:
He didn’t do it to save gas.
He didn’t do it to be earth-friendly green.
He didn’t even do it for an April Fool’s Day gag.
When Rider High School parent Joe Castelli decided to ride his bike Tuesday from Wichita Falls to Fort Worth’s Northwest Independent School District Stadium to attend his daughter, Michelle’s, playoff soccer game against Birdville, he thought the effort might be a kooky way to give the team a boost.
Further down in the article Mr. Castelli talks about the Byer Bicycle Bash. This ride is May 17th. Check the event calendar for more information.
Tonight on my evening ride I had a flat. The tire was mounted on a Shimano rim. Before I left on the ride I almost did two things: change to my Mavic rims with Forte tires and pickup the Pedro tire tool. Not doing this was a mistake. Where I live road trash is a real threat, particularly on bridges where the flat took place.
This is an expensive tire but I have noticed that after the new wears off the likelihood of a flat increases dramatically. The tread area is prone to slicing from road objects. While I was fixing the flat I notice a couple of small slices in the tread. Add in the extreme difficulty removing the tire from this Shimano rim and my frustration level soars. I thought there was a problem with the Shimano rims because the number of flats is three times what I experience with the lighter Mavic rims. I changed the rim strip from the thin plastic type to a cotton one. I was thinking the tubes were being pressed down into the spoke cavity and then puncturing. Obviously in this instance the problem was outside of the tire.
Fixing a flat where traffic is whizzing by with all of the noise is difficult. You can hear the air escaping from the tube to locate where you need to put the patch.
When I got home the Pedro tire tool was added to the seat bag. Next time I think I will switch to the Mavic rims.
What has been your experience with these tires?
The Monday Houston Chronicle features a picture of riders during the 2008 Bluebonnet Express ride on Sunday, March 30th. According to the caption over 2,400 riders participated in the MS150 training ride.
The Katy Ram Challenge began at the Katy Mills Mall outside of the Sun Ski Sport store. Looking over the crowd and noticing numbers during the ride I estimate between 1565 to 1800 riders were on the roads north of Katy. The rest stops were full. The third one was short on sport drink when I got there. Rest stop 5 actually had two flavors of sport drink to choose from. I took the orange. The Vanilla Wafers were a nice switch.
Last year I used this same title and this year’s ride is a repeat. Weather in March can be unpredictable but today the blue sky and north tailwind for the return to downtown made the trip picture perfect. While the route this year is entirely different, going north instead of south, the experience of riding on the Hardy Toll Road without cars was special. It reminded me of years ago when the toll road first opened and the kickoff included a bike ride from the Spring toll plaza to Beltway 8 and back.
Texbiker.net covers the news, events and resources for those interested in Texas bicycling.
My bicycling passion was rekindled in 1979 with a Huffy bicycle from Woolco. From early rides around my neighborhood my enthusiasm grew to tackle my unsupported first century. From there I discovered organized rides all over Texas, races and mountain bikes. Many bikes and miles later the enthusiasm is still there.
Thanks to my wife, Hazel Marie, for her support over the many years, miles and rides.
In 1999 Texbiker.net was born to help my fellow bikers have ready access to all of the information about the Texas bicycling scene.
