Texas Bicycling News Digest July 10th 2018

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Riding Along The Rio Grande

By shary koenig | www.crazyguyonabike.com

End of The Tour: Summing Up

Sunday May 20, 2018, 600 miles (966 km) – Total so far: 1,640 miles (2,639 km)

Neal didn’t want us to be too political about our story so I tried to tone it down. I was a little disappointed that we didn’t see more as related to the detention centers and everything related to the wall, but we aren’t investigative reports, just touring cyclists and concerned citizens. We did ask a lot of people for their opinions and we did see a lot of the 18,000 border patrol officers driving around and even spoke to a few. They were friendly and courteous. In the news today there are reports that a few more children have been returned to their parents. There is a …

Video: North Texas cyclist fights through injuries, tragedy en route to first Tour de France

By: FOX4News.com Staff | www.fox4news.com

While the World Cup garners attention around the globe, one McKinney resident is competing in a different event.

Chad Haga, 29, is competing in the 2018 Tour de France as a support rider for Team Sunweb. It’s his first time racing on cycling’s biggest stage.

From the family’s home in Colin County, Delayne Haga, Chad’s mother, takes it all in. …

RIDING FOR A CURE: Texas 4000 returns to Lincoln City

www.thenewsguard.com


More than 60 students from The University of Texas at Austin are pedaling from Austin, Texas, to Anchorage, Alaska, as part of the 15th Anniversary of Texas 4000 for Cancer.

The event is the longest annual charity bike ride in the world.

The team will ride more than 4,000 miles over the course of 70 days beginning June 1, with the …

Shocking footage shows cyclist nearly knocked off bike by motorist in Galveston

By Erica Simon | abc13.com

GALVESTON, Texas (KTRK) — A cyclist in Galveston had a near death experience after a truck was caught on camera inches away from hitting her.

The incident prompted the woman to seek legal counseling and question the island’s “share the road” policies.

“She felt that she was being targeted, of course. And she felt her life flash before your eyes. Even in the video you hear her gasp with how close the pass was,” attorney …

Community news: Central Texas Food Bank welcomes volunteers Saturday

www.mystatesman.com

Family bike ride pedals off July 21

The Night Rider Family Bike Ride will be from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. July 21 at the Rabb House, 151 N. A.W. Grimes Blvd.

Cyclists will be able to ride up to six miles at their own pace, with support along the courses. Glow-in-the-dark bike gear and flashing lights are encouraged. Per state law, bike helmets, a front bicycle light and a rear reflector or bicycle light are required.

The ride costs $10 in advance, $15 on the day of the event.

To register, call 512-218-5540 or visit roundrockrecreation.com.

Attorney tells Dallas to prepare for rental scooter accidents and litigation

Author: Matt Howerton | www.khou.com

DALLAS — As rental scooters begin to share the streets with bikes, cars, and buses in Dallas—one California attorney already handling over a dozen cases involving the two-wheeled transportation says to get ready for accidents to start piling up.

At the end of last month, council members from the City of Dallas passed regulations for bike share companies that many in the city have been clamoring for. …

Banderabike

yosmithy | www.bikemojo.com

I’m not sure how I came across this, but curious if anyone has any experience with this place?

Almost didn’t make it back due to high water crossings. ..

Brian Cho | www.strava.com

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Fire Truck in a Ditch Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

No rain on today’s bike ride. I got a late start at 12:01 pm with the heat having time to get up there. I chose the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route and rode 34.6 miles. Weather during the bike ride: start 90 (61% humidity), partly cloudy, wind calm. Finish 93 (50% humidity), partly cloudy, wind 5 mph. The light breeze didn’t hinder biking in almost any direction. It was nice to see mostly sun while I biked and there was a faint coolness whenever I was in the shade. Maybe this hung around from all of the rain. The reasons for the late start was stage 4 of the TdF and my wife wasn’t feeling well.

As I was exiting Walden on Nehoc Drive I saw some big objects in the distance where the street dead ends. Curious I rode closer and stopped at Camp Lillie Road where a tow truck was parked and the big object in the street was a large heavy duty wrecker. In front of that was an Atascocita Fire Truck with one wheel in the ditch. A couple of photos I took.

Bike Ride Atascocita FD-1

Bike Ride Atascocita FD-2

If I had to guess, the yellow hose on the ground is to empty the water tanks on the fire truck to help the wrecker get the truck out of the ditch. Not sure what the little wrecker was going to do.

After leaving the scene I rode to Huffman and stopped at the Chevron for about 10 minutes to eat some granola bars and drink cold water. The I was back on the Canyon heading to Kingwood. With the light breeze I set a steady pace riding west on FM 1960 and over the lake. Making my way through Atascocita back to W. Lake Houston Parkway the sun felt good instead of the rain from the last two rides. I finished at 2:46 pm.

More good weather tomorrow and maybe I can get out the door earlier if the TdF stage finishes earlier or I might pause it until I get back.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

Texas Bicycling News Digest July 9th 2018

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Houston ranks among 10 most dangerous U.S. cities for cyclists

By Steven Devadanam | houston.culturemap.com


As local cyclists are painfully aware, as lovely as a 10-speed or mountain bike spin on a sunny day can be, the ride can come with serious risks — even fatal. A recently released report confirms that imminent danger, as Houston is listed as the sixth-most dangerous city for cyclists in the nation.

The study comes courtesy of Your Local Security, which has ranked the Safest U.S. Cities for Cyclists. To determine the safest and least safe US cities for bikers, the organization gathered metrics and data from Census.gov, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, People for Bikes, and The League of American Bicyclists to find the …

Upcoming Rides

Chasing Watts | chasingwatts.com

Tuesday Society Cycle Works Evening Ride (3 Loops)
Tuesday, July 10, 2018 @ 6:30 PM

Tues Night Smackdown
Tuesday, July 10, 2018 @ 6:00 PM

Handlebar Cyclery TNW
Tuesday, July 10, 2018 @ 6:00 PM

Lite Bike
Tuesday, July 10, 2018 @ 7:05 PM

Sugar Land Wednesday Night Worlds (WNW)
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 @ 6:00 PM

McIntyre’s Sprint Zone Wednesday
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 @ 6:20 PM

West Bike Scene @ Sun & Ski Memorial Mall
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 @ 7:00 PM

Memorial Park Crit Series
Wednesday, July 11, 2018 @ 5:00 PM

Nite Bike
Thursday, July 12, 2018 @ 7:05 PM

Thursday Society Cycle Works Evening Ride (3 Loops)
Thursday, July 12, 2018 @ 6:30 PM

Catalina Ride
Thursday, July 12, 2018 @ 5:30 AM

Thurs Night Smackdown
Thursday, July 12, 2018 @ 6:00 PM

Road Group Ride: Pearland Cycling Club
Saturday, July 14, 2018 @ 7:30 AM

Blue Agave Cycling Ride @ Society Cycle Works
Saturday, July 14, 2018 @ 7:30 AM

Cool Cat 45 Miler
Saturday, July 14, 2018 @ 7:00 AM

Sugar Cycles Sat Shop Ride
Saturday, July 14, 2018 @ 7:30 AM

Green way ride with Omar

Jose Alfredo Uzeta | www.strava.com

House tunes & The Veloway. It’s been a minute …

Raul E. | www.strava.com

Council to vote on hike, bike path project

www.mrt.com


City officials will move toward making bicycling in the downtown area a little easier.

Before the Midland City Council on its agenda Tuesday is the execution of an agreement between the city and the Texas Department of Transportation for downtown pedestrian and bicycle enhancements.

The project is one of 46 across the state that will receive TxDOT funding through the Transportation Alternatives Set-Aside program. The Department of Transportation will fund 80 percent of the proposed $627,038 project cost. That means the …

More blame, more delays as hike-and-bike side of Dallas’ newest Calatrava bridge remains closed

Robert Wilonsky | www.dallasnews.com

Pedestrians and pedalists should be using the Margaret McDermott Bridge by now, as “mid-2017” — the originally announced opening date — has morphed into mid-2018. But now it’s not clear when that side of the bridge over the Trinity River will open.

In January it was revealed there has been a long-running multi-agency dispute over the hike-and-bike portion of the $115 million bridge, where a …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Hey Google Selfies, Biking in the Rain Again!

Texbiker.net Posted on by

The bike ride started off dry but the last three miles was in light rain. I can’t seem to break this weather but the forecast for Tuesday promises more dry than wet. Leaving home at 11:09 am I looked at my phone and there was a weather notification that showers would be in the area at 1:30 pm. I don’t put much stock in those notifications because they seem to wrong more than they are right. But just in case I changed my route from biking to Roman Forest (about 40 miles long) to “Kingwood – SH 242 – Kingwood” which today was 35.22 miles.

Maybe watching stage 3 of the TdF to the finish today wasn’t a good idea if I wanted to not get wet on my ride. The TTT was good to watch though.

At the start the weather wasn’t overly hot but the overcast sky hinted that might come soon. Weather during the bike ride: start 81 (90% humidity), overcast, wind calm. Finish 83 (88% humidity), thunderstorm/light rain, wind SW 13 mph.

All was well on the way to SH 242 as I set a good pace with the light wind not causing any issues. Making the left turn onto SH 242 I rode far enough to get a peak of the Grand Texas waterpark progress. The opening has been delayed and I saw some construction equipment still in place so not sure when this will open.

With a u-turn I rode back to SpeedSportz Drive to loop back to I-69/US59 for the ride south. For a change the wind wasn’t waiting for me and as I went south I continued to improve my overall average speed. This route makes a loop through Valley Ranch and back to I-69/US59 via the Azalea District. While I made my way back to the freeway I remembered I could use the phrase “Hey Google, take a selfie” and stopped before reaching the freeway. The first selfie snapped before I got ready. I noticed the screen counted down from 3 before taking the photo and I was more prepared for the second one. Like many selfies I need a longer arm.

Bike Ride Selfie Valley Ranch

At this point the sky looked friendly as you can see in the photo. My plan was to ride south on the service road to the first entrance into Oakhurst (used to be Auburn Trail) to add a couple of miles to the ride but as I crossed FM 1314 the sky to the south looked dark and threatening rain. I passed that entrance and stayed on the service road all the way to Kingwood Drive. As I approached that u-turn I could feel the wind pick up and the temperature drop a few degrees which usually signals rain is in the area. The dark clouds hung over Kingwood and I hoped I got home before the rain caught me. I was okay until Stonehollow Drive when the light rain started. A couple of times it stopped but then started again and stayed with me all the way to the finish. As I rolled to a stop at the garage door and got the big the rain drops grew and by the time I got the door open it was raining. The time: 1:38 pm. The notification on my phone missed it by 8 minutes. Next time I will give that more authority.

After riding in the rain yesterday I didn’t think to wipe the Canyon off but today I held a wash cloth in the rain to get it wet and wiped the Canyon off.

Not sure about biking on Tuesday but the weather is supposed to be drier.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary