Texas Bicycling News Digest October 18th 2017

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Abilene police give woman new bicycle after she loses 2 to theft

Will Jensen | www.ktxs.com


ABILENE, Texas – Thanks to police, an Abilene woman has a new bicycle after someone recently stole two other bikes from her.
For the past month, Candace Oliver has had to walk 45 minutes to the bus station to get to work, then it’s another long walk home. It used to be a 20-minute bike ride until someone stole her bike from the bus station, even though she had it chained.
“I can’t lie, my …

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30 Degree Temperature Swing Bike Ride

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Out biking again today along the “Atascocita – Huffman – Walden” route for a total of 32.2 miles. This puts with 210 miles of reaching 6,800 miles YTD by the end of October.

I probably over dressed for the bike ride wearing a long sleeve jersey and a short sleeve one (with shorts). With 48 degrees outside when I got up this morning I thought it would be hard for the temperature to get into the 70’s by the time I started riding. But I was wrong. The ride started at 11:39 AM and it was 76 degrees, almost 30 degrees warmer. The clear blue sky is hanging around though the forecast clouds will move back over the next couple of days. The wind was barely moving at 5 mph. When I finished the ride at 2:06 PM it was 81 degrees with 51% humidity. The rest of the week will have highs in the 80’s.

The ride went as usual without any surprises or events catching my eye. I stopped at the Huffman Chevron just long enough to refill my water bottle and then back on the bike for the 11+ miles to the finish.

No bike ride on Thursday but back on Friday if the potential rain lets me.

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Texas Bicycling News Digest October 17th 2017

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6th grader on bike struck by driver near far West Side middle school

By Caleb Downs | www.mysanantonio.com


A driver hit a 6th-grade student on a bicycle Tuesday morning near the child’s school on the far West Side of San Antonio, officials said.
The driver crashed into the 11-year-old around 8:30 a.m. at Cavern Hill and Shaenfield Road near Wallace B. Jefferson Middle School, where the victim is enrolled. …

Bike Patrol Improves Communications, Fosters Relationships

Adrienne Zimmer | www.officer.com

Patrolling on two wheels makes police more approachable, increases their interaction with the public and strengthens police-community relations.

… The present-day benefits of bike patrol are notable. According to IPMBA Instructor David Millican of the Denton Police Department (Texas), one of the founding members for IPMBA more than 25 years ago, bike policing increases an officer’s access and maneuverability within his/her patrol area, promotes faster response times in heavily congested areas, gives officers the ability to ride into and through buildings, move in and around large crowds, almost eliminates foot pursuits and gives a better approach from unexpected areas. “It also increases officers’ awareness of the surroundings and enables them to better hear, see and smell than if they were in a squad car,” he says. Other present-day benefits are cost efficiency, environmental benefits and versatility. …

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Chupacabras 100k : Mountain Bike Racing in Mexico

Paul Fontenot | www.paulfontenot.com


My first international mountain bike race and of all the races I have done, I was most nervous about signing up for Chupacabras 100k. Was it the 100k distance off road with 4,500 ft elevation gain or facing the conditions of being far out in the chihuahuan desert? Perhaps it was also that it would involve leaving the safety of the U.S. during a travel advisory to Juarez, having to cross the infamous border via bicycle, or that my Spanish was a little rusty. Every part of the registration process was in Spanish, or rather google-translated english, so …

Big Data Sheds Light On Where Cyclists Go

By Paul Flahive | tpr.org


The sun is setting as more then a dozen tiny bike headlights blink on. A group of cyclists head towards downtown on their weekly Monday night social ride.
Rick Turnbill glides through traffic with a smile on his face, cheering on his fellow cyclists. He says he rides 120 miles a week and though he lives in Boerne more than half his miles are accrued in San Antonio. …

Heat map shows Houston’s favorite biking and running spots

By Fernando Ramirez | www.chron.com


Houston may not be known as a biking city, but it still has plenty of areas where riders thrive.
Strava, a running and cycling GPS app, collected data from users to create a nifty heat map showing America’s most popular biking and running spots.
When examining Houston, it’s clear the Bayou City is a little bare bones when it comes to cycling infrastructure, especially compared with Austin, whose urban center is more heavily navigated by cyclists. …

Captains Blog – 10/17/2017 – Tour de Gruene

by Sameer Gokhale | cycling.powweb.com


Its been 10 days since 1500 of my closest friends and I participated in the epic Bike MS ride. I’m still recovering from the euphoria that I got when I completed 161 miles over the 2 days. Kudos to everyone that participated in the ride and also raised funds for an important cause. This year, the team tent was bigger and better than the previous years. The new bike stands were perfect and a great addition this year. The dinner on Saturday was tasty and whoever choose the beer, hit the mark with the wide variety on offer. I could …

Sharma touts bike helmet safety at Santa Fe

By Matt Smith | www.cleburnetimesreview.com


One hundred Santa Fe Elementary School students received bicycle helmets gratis on Friday morning courtesy of the Texas Medical Association and the Johnson County Medical Society, both of which donated 50 helmets each.
Cleburne Pediatrician Ranbir K. Sharma, president of JCMS, also gave students a talk on the importance of wearing safety helmets and their proper use.
Manya Sharma, a third-grade teacher at …

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Thermal Jersey Out of the Closet Bike Ride

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I couldn’t avoid the long sleeve thermal jersey on today’s ride along with a short sleeve jersey over top. When I got up this morning the temperature was 47 and I was doubting if it would get near the forecast of 80 by the time I needed to leave on the bike ride. I got ready and rolled out at 11:37 under a great clear blue sky, 70 degrees (humidity a low 50%) and a much better wind than yesterday from the north at 7 mph. I settled on the “New Caney – Tavola – Valley Ranch” route wanting to go at least 30+ miles. I achieved that by biking 34.6 miles. This puts me 241 miles from 6,800 miles YTD I want by the end of the month.

Before I left on the bike ride I went out to the garage to air up the tires on the Stradalli Red Pro 14. While I unscrewing the valve stem cap on the front wheel the valve stem unscrewed instead. The Presta valve stem is a tiny little thing and my smallest adjustable wrench is too big but I managed to insert the valve stem and tighten it. Good thing This didn’t happen on the road because I don’t carry a wrench.

The ride went smoothly but I could feel the chill when riding north which put my chest in the shade where the wind hit enhancing the wind chill. The thermal jersey and short sleeve jersey handled it but during the warm up stage I felt the chill.

Biking back from Tavola the tailwind helped me and wasn’t as chilly as the ride north. I made good time and improved my overall average to 14.7 mph. Once I arrived back in Kingwood it dropped down with all of the stops. The sidewalk/greenbelt construction continues so I rode the alternate route. I finished the ride at 2:07Pm and it warmed up to 75 degrees.

Good thing I didn’t ride this route yesterday. About the time I would’ve got back to Kingwood there was a police action involving a motorcycle ending with the person being shot. My route would’ve been about 200 yards from the scene.

Hopefully the weather warms up for tomorrow’s bike ride.

Strava Ride Summary (click on the image to go to Strava.com)

Strava Bicycle Ride Summary

Strava Segment Efforts

Strava Segment Efforts