Texas Bicycling News Digest May 23rd 2018

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Atlanta Forest Festival will begin May 30

by Neil Abeles | www.texarkanagazette.com


… The festival will emphasize family safety and fun at this reasonable cost, Simmons said.

“You always see plenty of policemen, firemen and other officials at this festival,” Simmons said. “It’s safe. It’s one thing we emphasize. Bring your lawn chair.”

This year’s festival will not have a festival parade on Saturday morning but will feature a recreational bike ride beginning at 9 a.m. Saturday, June 2, from the Atlanta Fairgrounds.

The ride will be called Tour de Atlanta and will consist of miles of loop pedaling through
the piney woods of Northeast Texas.

When finished, all participants will also be given free passes to the festival that evening.

The recreational bike ride is sponsored by the CHRISTUS St. Michael Atlanta Foundation.

CHRISTUS St. Michael Atlanta Foundation Hosts First Tour de Forest Bicycle Ride

www.atlantacitizensjournal.com

CHRISTUS St. Michael Atlanta Foundation will host the first Atlanta Tour de Forest Bicycle Ride on Saturday, June 2, 2018, at the Atlanta Fairgrounds in partnership with the Atlanta Forest Festival. The soon-to-be-annual event is a first for the Foundation and is the first event of its kind for the Atlanta community.
The ride will start and end at the Atlanta Fairgrounds, located at 606 S. Louise St, Atlanta, TX. Day-of-race registration opens at 7:30 a.m., and the ride will start at 9 a.m. Participants can register online at www.bikereg.com/tour-de-forest<http://www.bikereg.com/tour-de-forest>. The early registration fee is $30, and …

Cedar Park and Leander projects included in $400M for Central Texas transportation funding

By Amy Denney and Abby Bora | communityimpact.com


Around $400 million in state and federal funding will be channeled into transportation projects in Central Texas over the next four years.

Some of the projects selected for the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s 2019-22 Transportation Improvement Program include the extension of New Hope Drive in Cedar Park and new sidewalks on S. West Drive in Leander.

CAMPO is the region’s transportation planning agency and is responsible for distributing funding to regional projects, including for improving and building roads, adding pedestrian and bicycle connections, improving transit, and improving safety and operations of roadways. …

Walk amongst the fossils in Dinosaur Valley State Park

By Brittany Sodic | kdhnews.com


… “We have a pretty extensive trail system,” for mountain biking that is used for special event races throughout the year, or for anyone looking for a different experience from hiking, said Molly Hickey, park office manager. …

Bicycle Rodeo

dallas.carpediem.cd

13 June 11:00 – 13:00
Crowley Texas Police Department
617 Bus. FM 1187 W, Crowley, Texas 76036
Bring the kids and join us on June 13th to the library. This event will start after the summer reading program in the library parking lot.

Pedal Points

By Buck D. Elliott | www.fwweekly.com


To every cyclist there is a season to turn! turn! turn! the pedals on bikes that have been hanging in garages through the winter. The reason for the season is the Hotter’N Hell Hundred (HNH) in late August in Wichita Falls. It’s the premier bike rally in Texas for which most local spandex warriors train through the summer, and riders have a plethora of options for training rides. With the cycling season already underway, there are still many opportunities for casual cruisers and century-riders alike.

Every bike rally or tour has certain amenities, especially rest stops with food, hydration, medical care, and even mechanical support. These events also offer support and gear …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Dark Clouds, Wet Streets Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

For about the first mile of today’s ride I thought the weather was blue sky with some clouds but as soon as the streets turned to the south all I could see was dark clouds. I hoped my plan to ride to Huffman would still be viable. A photo at about 1.6 miles into the ride that ended up following the “Atascocita – Walden – E. Lake Houston Parkway” route.

Bike Ride Dark Clouds

By the time I rode to Kingwood Drive I felt some sprinkles and at Town Center Park I took refuge in a covered hall for a couple of minutes to see if the rain would increase or stop. While I was waiting a lady with her dog was doing some training with a dog trainer sniffing boxes after he heard the command “search”. I don’t know what was in the boxes but he smelled something and got a treat when he was successful. I decided the rain wasn’t going to increase and resumed the bike ride heading south.

The streets had damp spots but only a few rain drops fell. The sky lost some of the darker clouds but plenty of gray ones stayed around. South of the river the streets were wet but no rain. I decided to scrap the original route and see how far I could bike before getting into rain. When I got to FM 1960 and Atascocita Shores Drive the sky looked threatening to the east so I shortened the route by riding across Lake Houston to E. Lake Houston Parkway and turning back to the west.

Streets still were wet but no rain as I made my back into Kingwood to finish the bike ride at 1:03 pm after starting at 10:46 am. With the wet streets I had to wash the Canyon to get all of the grit off after the bike ride. That is what makes riding on wet streets so bad. The Canyon needed to be washed anyway though.

Weather during the bike ride: start 87 (64% humidity), mostly cloudy, wind E 8 mph. Finish 77 (77% humidity), mostly cloudy, wind 4 mph. As the ride progressed and the rain was in the area the temperature dropped. After stopping at Town Center with a damp jersey it was chilly starting back up until I got warm again.

Hopefully the weather gets better by Friday when I plan on riding again.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

Bike Ride Summary

Texas Bicycling News Digest May 22nd 2018

Texbiker.net Posted on by

The Gathering | Freeride 512 Event

RIDESTOKE | www.youtube.com


Freeride512 builds and rides progressive mountain bike trails and features in and around Central Texas. We educate mountain bikers on the disciplines of all-mountain, downhill, and freeride mountain biking and help riders to progress their skills.

Bid on Main & Mill Street Pedestrian, Bicycle and Landscape Improvements in Lewisville

www.texasbids.net

Prebid: 05/29/18 2:00 PM
Solicitation Title: Main & Mill Street Pedestrian, Bicycle and Landscape Improvements
Owner Solic Number: 18-44-I Status: bidding Report: 8661729
Country : United States State: TX County: Denton Location: Lewisville
Scope: Work includes main and mill street pedestrian, bicycle and landscape improvements.
Notes: A pre-bid conference will be held at the Engineering Division at 151 W. Church Street, Lewisville, Texas 75057 in the Community Development Conference Room on the 2 nd floor at 2:00 pm on Tuesday, May 29, 2018. Bidders may post question up to Thursday, June 7, 2018 2:00 pm. This project has a “prevailing wage” requirement.
Plans: From Owner.
Bond: 5% bid bond
Owner Type: Public …

Villager reaches goal of riding her bicycle across the country

BY JOE PEDERSEN | www.thevillagesdailysun.com


One year ago, Villager Pam Echterling barely could sit on a bicycle.

She never learned how.

Today, Echterling can proudly say she has ridden a bike 3,111 miles — from San Diego to St. Augustine as part of the WomanTours Southern Tier 2018.

Echterling’s 58-day odyssey began March 7 with 19 other women, ranging in age from 54 to 68. She was 67 at the time of the ride.

“I was so nervous, I prayed — please let me do this, God. I had no experience with anything like this. I was the only one in the group with no experience,” Echterling said.

But she did it. Echterling completed a goal 10 years in the making. …

… The most trying day came in the form of 119 miles from Sanderson, Texas, to Del Rio, Texas. …

Pace rides into Austin

by SmartCitiesWorld news team | www.smartcitiesworld.net


Pace, the nationwide dockless bike-sharing service for smart cities and colleges, has rolled out in Austin, Texas. It follows the city’s decision to enact “lock-to” requirements for its dockless bike-share and mobility programme.

Pace pioneered lock-to technology and currently claims to be the only dockless bike-share operator in Austin that complies with the city’s new regulations. It developed the technology to help cities mitigate the bike litter, theft, and …

Bike safety serious matter

Joan Melton, Harlingen | www.valleymorningstar.com

I have to say how much I enjoyed the article on the schooling of the children on bicycles, safety and all. Not enough take it seriously, and then they suffer the results. But at least someone is making an effort to teach the young about safety.

And the most important thing they need to be taught is to know that many people in their big dangerous vehicle won’t see them or stop for them and they may be seriously injured or killed.

So the parents need to …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

https://twitter.com/PilaFett/status/998978339166674945

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Small White Disk and Tire Thumping Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Around the 11 mile point on today’s bike ride I ran over something and one of my tires started thumping on each rotation. Quickly stopping I first thought it might the front tire but I looked at the rear tire and starting turning it around. Not too long after that a white round disk appeared stuck to the tire. I pulled it off and the side sticking to the tire had a small nail sticking out. I wondered if the nail made it into the tube but the tire seemed to be firm after the removal and I continued the ride on the “New Caney – Tavola – Valley Ranch” route. I think the disk was one of those that you attach to a chair leg to slide on the floor easier. At the end of the 34.4 mile long bike ride the tire was still firm.

Starting out at 11:21 am the temperature was 84 degrees and the sky mostly cloudy. The weather during the bike ride: start 84 ( 66% humidity), mostly cloudy, wind SE 5 mph. Finish 87 (61% humidity), mostly cloudy, wind SE 6 mph. This is a little cooler than last week. I wore shorts and a short sleeve jersey.

With the light wind biking wasn’t too hard and I rode at a comfortable pace to Tavola. Since I shortened the route a little I added a couple streets in a newer section of Tavola and stopped by the lake and took these photos.

Making my way back to Roman Forest Blvd. I started the return to Kingwood. Biking through Valley Ranch and to FM 1314 I stopped at the Stripes station for ice and water. This left about 11 miles to the finish. Before I finished the bike ride I stopped to vote at the Bear Branch Community Center in Kingwood. There was no line and only two positions to vote on. That didn’t take long and I went on to finish the ride at 1:52 pm.

The temperature could be back in the 90’s for Wednesday and the chance of rain drops to 20%. I plan on biking. May is up to 696.21 miles. I have a shot at getting to 800+ miles for the month for the second time this year.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

Bike Ride Summary