Texas Bicycling News Digest February 16th 2018

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Bike share at UT Tyler?

Chandler Gibson | www.patriottalon.com

Imagine being late to class. For certain people, this might hit close to home. Maybe this was you, today, in fact. You didn’t mean to get stuck into an 8 a.m., but such is life.

It’s 7:55, you’re throwing yourself out of bed, grabbing your phone and running down the stairs towards your building because Calculus waits for no one. …

Dallas is right to wait to regulate bike share

Tom Giovanetti | www.dallasnews.com

So how’s that bike-sharing thing working out for you?

Right now, the Dallas bike-sharing experiment more than anything else resembles a fiasco. We teach our children to not throw trash on the ground, and we get fined if we’re caught littering in the city of Dallas, but most trash is biodegradable or at least eventually blows to Fort Worth. The litter of bikes, on the other hand, doesn’t seem …

Night Ride McAllister(Mountain­­ Bike)

Wednesday, Feb 28, 2018, 6:15 PM

6 Bikers & Hikers Went

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Leon Creek — Intermediate Speed (Mountain Bike)

Saturday, Mar 3, 2018, 9:30 AM

6 Bikers & Hikers Went

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Austin Police officers get new bike gear

Jay Wallis | www.kvue.com


Police officers riding bicycles in downtown Austin now have new and improved riding gear thanks to a donation from an Austin company.

Parlsey Energy, Inc. provided funds for the Austin Police Department to invest in new bicycle helmets and other protective gear to equip 50 officers.

This new gear includes a full-face helmet that protects the jaw and also goes farther down the neck to help …

Bikers from across the country coming to Huntsville for Prison City Gravel Challenge

By Tom Waddill | www.roysecityheraldbanner.com


Runners from all over the country came to Huntsville State Park for the popular Rocky Raccoon runs the last two weekends. This weekend, people are coming here to ride bikes.

That’s right, folks from as far away as Washington state are headed to Huntsville for the first Prison City Gravel Challenge, which will take place Sunday in the Sam Houston National Forest.

One hundred riders have preregistered for the race, which offers two distances — a 33-mile route and a 60-mile route. There will be 50 riders in each category.

“There will be two separate mass starts for each respective distance,” Prison City Gravel Challenge organizer Venny Alub said. “For beginners or someone new to gravel riding, think of it as a …

Can Austin’s Bike-Sharing Go Dockless Without the Entire City Losing Its Mind?

CALEB PRITCHARD | austin.towers.net


Earlier this month, a former mayor of San Luis Obispo, California, wrote a letter to the editor of that town’s newspaper in which he felt it perfectly acceptable and cool to describe a proposed bikeway as a “gigantic urban rape.”

“Yes, rape!” Ken Schwartz wrote before graciously elaborating, “No other word would be proper. The rape will not be performed by a male penis, but by thousands of inanimate bicycles guided by individuals who will have absolutely no understanding of that precious tranquility they will be destroying in their mindless focus of getting from point ‘A’ to point ‘B’ with the least possible inconvenience to themselves.” …

City Council May Approve Bell St. Bid That’s $5.5 Million Over Budget

By Yantis Green | sanangelolive.com


SAN ANGELO, TX — San Angelo City Council members Tuesday may approve the sole bid to reconstruct Bell St. that could be as much as $5.5 million over budget.

According to the city’s website, Reece Albert was the lone bidder for the reconstruction project that will replace the road surface and water and sewer lines from Rio Concho Drive to the Old Ballinger Highway. The bid was opened Jan. 30. …

… This design is for reconstruction of College Hills from loop 306 to Ave N. It will include reconstruction of culvert banks at the two Red Arroyo crossings, an evaluation and possible design of underground drainage conveyance in College Hills, sidewalk/pedestrian conveyance, bike lane access, water and …

Officers arrest man doing doughnuts in roadway, attempting to run down cyclist

By AUSTIN KING | lufkindailynews.com

Lufkin Police arrested a man after officers saw him in a vehicle spinning in circles in the roadway and attempting to chase down a bicyclist.

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PowerPod Profiles Implemented Bike Ride

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Not sure if I can comprehend three days in a row with the temperature in the upper 70’s or higher. Unfortunately I didn’t get to ride yesterday (Thursday) but instead I spent time with my wife. Today I got on the Stradalli Red Pro 14 and headed out on the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route for a 34.84 mile bike ride. I left at 11:27 am and it looked like the sun might hang around but as the ride progressed the clouds rolled in and the sky turned overcast. It was 80 degrees (73% humidity) and the wind was light though my legs might argue with it only being 5 mph from the west.

After exchanging emails with the PowerPod support person I think I found my problem. The PowerPod supports up to 4 profiles. Within each profile it lists the specific speed and cadence sensor id numbers. When I changed bikes with only one profile the wireless id’s were different on each bike which caused the PowerPod think I had new wireless sensors and would update the profile. I created a second profile with the sensor id’s for the Stradalli and verified the wireless id’s in the Blue Norcross profile. Now once the bike sensors connect to the PowerPod it will select the corresponding profile and the wireless sensors should connect. On today’s ride I had to do the 1 to 100 countup setup because the profile for the Stradalli was new but once that was complete the PowerPod communicated with the Elemnt computer. The test will be the next bike ride, hopefully on Saturday, weather permitting. Maybe I got this figured out.

Two other cyclists passed me riding west on Old Atascocita Road west of FM 2100 while rode to the east. I waved and they waved back. Later when I rode west over Lake Houston I passed a casual cyclist riding a MTB going the same direction. Biking across Lake Houston was hard with the wind in my face.

It was good to be back on the road in weather warm enough I didn’t have to dress so heavily. I thought biking over Lake Houston might be chilly with the wind cooling over the water so I wore a long sleeve jersey topped with short sleeve one with shorts. It wasn’t that chilly over the water but I was okay with the choice.

I finished the bike ride at 2:02 pm. The temperature dipped to 78 (75% humidity) by then. A mild cool front is supposed to arrive sometime between this evening and Saturday morning. Not sure how this will affect my bike ride.

Link to Strava ride summary

SportTracks Ride Summary

Bike Ride Summary

Texas Bicycling News Digest February 15th 2018

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Grant gives College Station Fire Department bike medic program boost

By Rebecca Fiedler | www.theeagle.com


The College Station Fire Department’s bike medic program has been growing since its trial run started in 2016, and now it will have the chance to continue to expand thanks to a grant from Firehouse Subs’ nonprofit organization.

In 2016, the CSFD began testing the efficiency of using two paramedics on bicycles at pedestrian-heavy locations such as …

VBikes are taking over Denton

by Jacqueline Guerrero | www.ntdaily.com


Rent-a-bicycle services have been dominating the city of Dallas and now they’re making their way to Denton and the UNT campus with VBikes. Over 30 bikes are in the area and more are on their way.

VBikes started after owner and founder David Shan saw the popularity of bicycles in China while working with Massimo Motor Sports and decided to bring the same idea to Dallas in December 2016, said Thomas Elliot, VBikes Denton manager.

The name “VBikes” comes from the design of the bikes — bars and handles in the shape of a letter “V.” …

Bicyclist found lying injured in Southeast Austin yard was likely hit by car, police say

Katie Hall | www.statesman.com

A bicyclist who died last month was likely struck by a hit-and-run driver, Austin police said Thursday.

Leonel Hernandez, 58, was found around 10:40 a.m. Jan. 29, lying in a yard in the 4800 block of Teri Road in Southeast Austin. He had “significant trauma to his head,” Austin police said in a statement.

Witnesses reported seeing him dragging a damaged bicycle just before …

Eddie Briscoe, Jr. “Bubba”

www.panews.com


Eddie (Bubba) Briscoe, Jr., age 77, of Port Arthur, Texas passed away February 13, 2018. Eddie was born August 23, 1940 in Port Arthur, Texas to the late Eddie Briscoe, Sr. and Anna Cole Briscoe.

Eddie retired from Sears and later worked off-shore and in construction. Eddie enjoyed being with his family and friends. He also loved riding his bicycle throughout the city and was often called “the man on the yellow bicycle.” …

Step-Up Ride for Sat., Feb 17th, 8:00 AM Planned Start

jtotaro | www.planobicycle.org

At this writing (Thursday, Feb 15th 11AM) the weather predicted for Saturday for the riding area is not good. Temps will be in the low-40s with very light winds, but there is an 80% or higher chance of rain between 4 AM and 10 AM Saturday morning. We’ll set the planned start for 8:00 AM, assuming the rain doesn’t materialize for our ride area. Check the PBA Facebook page or the Step-Up page on the PBA Ride Forums webpage on Saturday morning for possible cancellations of the ride should the rain come in as now predicted. Any additional delay or cancellation notice will be posted by 6:15 AM Saturday morning if it’s obvious enough to make the call at that time. If you don’t see …

Refuge weighs cycling, geocaching pursuits

www.valleymorningstar.com

HARLINGEN — Bicycles could be back at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge — and virtual geocaching could ride in with them.

Those two activities have been the most talked about among eight refuge uses which are being reviewed as …

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Texas Bicycling News Digest February 14th 2018

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Jalapeño 100 returns Saturday

By TRAVIS M. WHITEHEAD | www.valleymorningstar.com


HARLINGEN — And, they’re off!

Another year has come and gone, and once again the Jalapeno 100 bike ride has arrived to raise money for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Harlingen.

“We are real excited,” said Ana Adame, director of operations at Bicycle World RGV, which is organizing the event for the Boys and Girls Clubs. …

Dallas must invest in dedicated lanes to make bike share work

Rob Curran | www.dallasnews.com

Driving into downtown Dallas lately feels like arriving in Paris at the end of the Tour de France.

There are pelotons of app-operated bicycles kick-standing on almost every street.

The city is falling down with bikes. I went for dinner on a recent Saturday night and almost parked on the last bike in a domino-chain that had spilled over the curb. It’s as if a 1,000-strong gang of …

Border Bike Trip, Day 16: Out in the West Texas Town of El Paso, I Broke My Elbow

By GRANT WISHARD | www.weeklystandard.com


… right next to a curb. Before the journey hits a bump in the road, Grant spends time with a unique Mexican presidential candidate.

We ended up staying in Ciudad Juárez a third night in order to attend a political rally for presidential candidate Maria de Jesus Patricio Martinez, better known as “Marichuy.” The University of Ciudad Juarez hosted the event in a large lecture hall. There was standing room only for the students and press that attended. Local activists kicked us off with an indigenous-style drum line and political rap performance. I couldn’t tell you what any of the lyrics were—none of my translators was on hand at that point—but …

Plano Prepares To Implement Rules For Bike Share Companies

By Andrea Lucia | dfw.cbslocal.com

PLANO (CBSDFW.COM) – Kellye Tallent spends her days trying to make sure LimeBike bicycles near Dallas’ White Rock Lake look like an asset and not like an eyesore.

“Neatly lined up in a row, easily accessible for the consumer, obviously out of the way of the parking lot,” she ticks off the goals, inspecting several bikes positioned near a trail. …

Austin Cycling Meetup

Austin, TX
3,503 Austin Cyclists

Welcome to Austin Cycling Meetup, your friendly neighborhood “low key” recreational cycling group!Austin Cycling Meetup group is not a hard core anything. We’re a little bit …

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Tueday Night Co-ed Ride will ride on Thursday 2/15 from Carpenter Park @6:00 p.m

aurpi | www.planobicycle.org

Tuesday Night Co-ed Ride is on for Thursday February 15th. Temperatures will be awesome. Very optional water stop at the 7-11 on Ohio and College if we need to stop. Please turn into the day care right after the 7-11 for the rest stop instead of turning into the 7-11 so we do not block traffic.

Come ride with us at Carpenter Park at 6 p.m. for a 15.5 to 17 mph for approximately 28 miles. A faster group will be available provided we have enough folks and a ride leader available. The C ride is a no drop ride. The faster group if enough riders, will be a drop ride. If you do drop, please wait for the C group and ride back with them. No D Group will be available. …

Bike Rides & Hikes Meetup

San Antonio, TX
1,685 Bikers & Hikers

This groups activities are: mountain bike rides, road bike rides, and hikes.The bicycling and hikes will be in several parks around San Antonio and sometimes out of town.  We…

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New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar