Kingwood Streets Bike Ride

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Late start on today’s bike ride at 2:27 pm. The delay came from my new Canyon Endurance CF SLX bike arriving around 11:15 am and the assembly of it. Two items are still in transit so I couldn’t take it on the ride; water bottle cage and outfront mount for the Elemnt computer. Hopefully they arrive by this time next week or sooner. I will write a post after this one with pictures of the unboxing and assembling.

The plan for today’s bike ride was to get closer to my February mileage goal so that Tuesday and Wednesday I can exceed the goal and try to recover the miles I missed meeting in January; 88 miles. I got close, riding 23.4 miles today, leaving 3.2 miles to hit my February goal of 345 miles. Tuesday and Wednesday rides (weather willing) could make a large dent in the January shortage.

Yesterday (Sunday) it rained most of the day so no biking. Today the early fog slowly lifted but it took a few hours for the temperature to get to 71 degrees when I start riding. The sky was mostly cloudy with a little sun breaking through sometimes. Wind from the east at 7 mph wasn’t too much of an issue unlike the last two bike rides. Humidity was 63% to 67%, not too muggy.

To combat the chill (for me anyway) I wore shorts, thermal long sleeve jersey and a short sleeve jersey. At times when riding into the wind I thought I should’ve put a long sleeve jersey over the thermal one but after I warmed up it wasn’t as noticeable. The forecast shows Tuesday and Wednesday temperatures close to 80, much better for biking. It was 70 degrees when I finished at 4:20 pm.

No PowerPod information for the ride because I removed the mount which wasn’t positioned correctly. When the Elemnt mount arrives for the Canyon Endurance I will move the mount from the Stradalli to the Blue Norcross AL bike. I plan on selling the Stradalli Red Pro 14 bike.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

Bike Ride Summary

Link to Strava bike ride summary

 

Texas Bicycling News Digest February 25th 2018

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PBMPO advances idea of bicycling corridor

By Trevor Hawes | www.mrt.com


The Permian Basin Metropolitan Planning Organization has taken the idea of a bicycling corridor between Midland and Odessa a bit further after voting Tuesday to approve funding for a feasibility study.

The public policy board voted 4-0 to approve an amendment to the Unified Planning Work Program for fiscal year 2018 to include a multiuse trail corridor study. In total, $42,000 will be used to determine the feasibility of a path between the cities exclusively for cycling and pedestrian use. …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

Texas Bicycling News Digest February 24th 2018

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Mixed feelings as bike-sharing comes to Arlington

ByMathew Shaw | arlingtonvoice.com


A wave of yellow occupies Downtown Arlington and various other areas around the city.

The color represents how Arlington has become another city experimenting with bike-sharing, a system of regularly available yellow bicycles stationed throughout the city for public use for a certain time and price. …

Statistics from Dallas bike share company Ofo are up, up, and away

By Teresa Gubbins | dallas.culturemap.com


Bike-sharing continues to climb, according to figures released by Ofo, one of the handful of bike-share companies that has set up shop in Dallas.

Ofo began service in Dallas in early November, and its users have ridden more than 100,000 miles.

In December, the number of trips increased by more than 50 percent and January was better yet, with nearly 75 percent growth, even during the cold snap. …

Suspect on bike reportedly steals vehicle to transport stolen items

BY DEBORAH MCKEON | www.tdtnews.com

BELTON — A suspect who rode a bicycle reportedly stole a woman’s 2003 Explorer to transport items he stole from her home back to his apartment, an affidavit said.

Daniel Elias Dickerson, 20, of Belton, was indicted Wednesday for theft of property more than $2,500 but less than $30,000.

A woman living in the 700 block of West Avenue C in Belton reported …

Amarillo Public meetings for the week of Feb. 25, 2018

amarillo.com

Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Advisory Committee: 11 a.m., Room 203, Simms Municipal Building, 808 S. Buchanan St. The Committee’s agenda calls for review of the FHWA Road Diet presentation; discussion and recommendations regarding speed control safety measures in the Mrs. MD Oliver-Eakle of Plemons subdivision; a staff presentation on capital expenditures, specifically concerning the Parks & Recreation Department and the Pitcher Pump Ranch property at Helium and S.W. Ninth Ave.; and a staff presentation on opportunities to include pedestrian and bicycle information on the City of Amarillo website.

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

Head Down, Pedal Hard Bike Ride

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I looked out the kitchen window as I ate a snack before leaving on today’s bike ride and heard the wind blowing in the trees and bushes. I knew the ride would be hard. I chose the “Stroker Road – Huffman” route for miles and because it would be the first time this year. I biked 41.32 miles, the longest ride this year replacing the ride on Monday. This put me within 27 miles of my February goal of 345 miles.

Out the door at 11:36 am the wind was all that I figured. I checked the weather on my phone and saw south wind at 16 mph with 30 mph gusts. The weather for the ride: start 77 (humidity 80%), wind S 16 mph gusts 30 mph. Finish 80 (71% humidity), wind S 9 mph gusts 21 mph, overcast.

I battled the wind all the way to turning north onto FM 2100 from Stroker Road. At the church on Fairlake Drive south of FM 1960 another cyclist was start his ride from the parking lot. I lead him to FM 2100 where we stopped to cross. I was ahead of him for a short time and as he pulled beside me to pass he told me the wind was tough and I said it was a killer. At the time we rode east with the wind from our right and I held onto the handlebars to keep the bike straight. As he rode away from me I dreaded the right turn onto Ramsey Road where the wind would be very strong riding into it. Another cyclist rode west on Old Atascocita and I waved as we passed in opposite directions.

Once I was on Ramsey Road I put my head down, shifted to the 36 x 14 gearing and watched the speed go from 17 – 18 mph to 9 and 10 mph with some time lower than that. Slowly making my way south to Peters Road when I got close to the intersection a group of 5 or 6 cyclist sped around the turn and one shouted “How did I like the headwind?”. I waved and faintly said I did not like it. They were by me in a few seconds with the tailwind helping them while the headwind side was stomping on me.

Finally getting to Stroker Road I turned right and the wind let up some since it was from my left. It wasn’t as bad as Ramsey Road and I made decent time to FM 2100. I kind of rest while riding on Stroker Road but riding on FM 2100 was much better with the strong tailwind helping me get to Huffman.

After all of the hard pedaling I stopped at the Huffman Chevron for a 10 minute rest. When I went inside for a Greensheet the lady behind the counter said they have been missing me and wondered if I was okay. We chatted about the lousy weather so far this year. She said she saw me ride by yesterday and figured I didn’t need to stop. I told her today’s ride was longer and the wind much harder. I went outside sitting on the Greensheet paper to eat a fig bar and drink some water. Resting my legs I hoped would make the rest of the ride not so hard.

I headed west on FM 1960 and the ride wasn’t to hard until I got to the causeway over Lake Houston. The wind was from my left but it seemed to be as strong as Ramsey Road and my speed dropped to about the same level. Thankfully this lasted only 2 miles and the right turn onto Atascocita Shores Drive meant the tailwind was back. The 8 miles from there to the finish was easier and I finished at 2:57 pm, 3 hours and 21 minutes after the start.

Sunday’s weather looks wet and I will take the day to rest my tired legs from today’s bike ride.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

Bike Ride Summary

Link to Strava Ride Summary