No jersey decision today, short sleeve jersey all the way. The route for today followed “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” to the south and east. I rolled out at 11:11 AM under a blue sky (weather station called it “fair”), the wind was calm and the temperature was a pleasant 82 with 65% humidity. The ride totaled 32.8 miles moving the week’s total to 139 miles, October to 322 miles and YTD to 6405 miles. I need 395 miles to reach my goal by the end of the month. When I finished at 1:40 PM it was 88 degrees.
No need to detour around sidewalk/greenbelt construction on this route. I noticed more piles of flood debris disappeared along the ride. Workers have moved into place in some houses. Kingwood High School shows activity too.
During yesterday’s ride I heard the chain starting to squeak so after the ride I waxed the chain. During today’s ride it was very quiet.
I looked up The Heroes Ride website and found out the start time moved up to 8 AM so it is good I checked or I would’ve arrived about when they started. I will need to get up earlier than usual.
A brief stop at the Huffman Chevron to refill my water bottle and then I was on my way.
The replacement Power Pod power meter works much better than the previous unit so far. No glitches and the data looks real. Strava calculated my FTP to be 219 so I adjusted this on the Elemnt screen. My average power has been 80 to 90 watts and maximum is usually just below 400 watts. I did not have the Power Pod for an organized ride this year so it will be interesting to see the numbers for The Heroes Ride on Saturday.
More great weather on Friday which means more biking. If I could choose my perfect biking weather today is it.
Last week, The Leader’s Institute, LLC, a Texas charity team building company filed a federal trademark lawsuit against the Together We Rise Corporation, a California corporation. According to court documents in the lawsuit, styled The Leader’s Institute, Inc. v. Together We Rise – U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas, Case No. 3:17-cv-02604-N, The Leader’s Institute, LLC (TLI) alleges that Together We Rise Corporation’s (TWR) use of the phrase “Build-A-Bike†in conjunction with team building activities constitutes trademark infringement, unfair competition, and unjust enrichment.
The Leader’s Institute ® has offered the Build-A-Bike ® bicycle building team activity since 2005, and the company owner, Doug Staneart applied for and received a Federal Trademark for the name in 2006. The Build-A-Bike ® team activity is a workshop where corporate teams work together to build bicycles for underprivileged kids in their local …
ARR – East Williamson Creek Trail Building
Saturday, Oct 14, 2017, 9:00 AM
Location details are available to members only.
6 Mountain Bikers Went
Help the Austin Ridge Riders build the newest natural surface hike and bike trail in Austin. We will be clearing the trail tread through the East Williamson Creek Greenbelt. Note that the meeting location is on a residential street with limited parking.Meet and park on Creek Bend Drive near 4907 Creek Bend. If you are late, go to the the short dea…
We’re riding out at 9 AM!A moderate C-pace ride (roughly 11 to 14 mph) on The Southern Walnut Creek Trail from the trailhead at Govalle Park to the Abrupt End and return. Round trip is about 20 miles. The trail is paved for the entire distance, with a 1/2 mile hill on the outbound. We’ll regroup at the top of the hill on the outbound and at the Ab…
Beginning Sunday, area residents can visit several Highland Village eateries and have a portion of their sales go to benefit the city’s Fallen Officers Fund.
Highland Village Restaurant Week is a week-long restaurant promotion ending with the 10th Annual Fallen Officers Bike Race and 5K on Oct. 21. Participating restaurants will give a percentage of sales during specific timeframes.
Here is the list of participating restaurants in Highland Village. You …
Decisions, decisions! Do I wear the thermal long sleeve jersey or the short sleeve, long sleeve jersey combination? The reason I had to make this decision? The temperature as I got ready to ride at 11:21 AM was 72 which with the wind would be chilly if I only wore a short sleeve jersey. Thinking it would warm up while I was biking I chose the short/long sleeve jersey combination. I am a temperature wimp making this an important decision.
Riding to the north into the 7 mph wind emphasized the wind chill even with a nice blue sky and lots of sun. I was following the “New Caney – Tavola – Valley Ranch” route and fighting the wind I stayed in a lower gear than I normally choose: 34 x 14 instead of the 34 x 13. This allowed me to keep the cadence in the 90 rpm range and not use so much energy. Once I made the turn around back to the south I switched to the 34 x 13 combination.
This time when I rode through the southern edge of Tavola I stopped and took some pictures.
They were working on the landscape and some utilities with the St. Augustine grass sodded just around the sidewalk. Next trip I will photograph the street landscaping.
Leaving Tavola I rode south along I-69/US59 to Valley Ranch Parkway enjoying the nice tailwind. This helped me improve my overall average speed to 14.9 mph until I made it back to US59 near Kingwood Drive.
As I rode back to Kingwood I had a plan to get around the greenbelt trail replacement work along Kingwood Drive. On my previous ride in that area I forgot about a trail and bridge that was south of Kingwood Drive so today I took that course. I had to search for the trail access since I didn’t remember which street it was on. It turned out to near the Kingwood Pines Hospital. Once I found it the trail took me to the bridge but there was a nasty curve with 4 or 5″ drop in the concrete sections just before riding onto the bridge. If I had a problem making the turn and handling the drop down the hill down to the drainage bayou was waiting for me but I slowed down and navigated through. From there it was clear and clean to the finish on Kingwood streets. I will probably need to take this path for the next week until the work is finished.
I finished the ride at 1:56 PM with the temperature at 79 degrees and not feeling as chilly. The short/long sleeve jersey combination did good and I even perspired some.
More great weather on tap for Thursday and I plan on biking. Saturday the Heroes Ride in Conroe takes place. I think I will ride and the weather looks great.
Strava Best Segments for today
Strava Ride Summary (click on the image to got to Strava.com)
This weekend, while you are curled on the couch watching a football game, Austin endurance cyclist Andrew Willis will be pedaling 1,000 miles across the West Texas desert.
Fueled by a steady stream of cookies, doughnuts, brownies, fast-food hamburgers, tater tots and Sour Patch Kids candy (because when you cover that kind of distance, who cares what you eat, as long as you eat), Willis will attempt to …
Leakey 2017 (session 1 of 3)
Fri, October 13, 2017 8:00 AM
Frio Pecan Farm, Leakey, TX
Leakey 2017 (session 2 of 3)
Sat, October 14, 2017 8:00 AM
Frio Pecan Farm, Leakey, TX
Leakey 2017 (session 3 of 3)
Sun, October 15, 2017 8:00 AM
Frio Pecan Farm, Leakey, TX
Bicycles Inc. – Century of the Month
Sat, October 21, 2017 8:00 AM
Bicycles Inc. – Arlington
No Wind No Hills
Sun, October 22, 2017 9:00 AM
Sublett and 287, Arlington, Tx
Old Brock Rd Double
Sat, October 28, 2017 9:00 AM
Wright Elementary, Weatherford, Texas
Bicycles Inc. – Century of the Month
Sat, November 11, 2017 8:00 AM
Bicycles Inc. – Arlington
LAREDO, Texas (KGNS) – The city is working on making Laredo a little more biker-friendly with some new bike lanes.
Both Councilman Roberto Balli and Councilwoman Nelly Vielma are looking to add some bike lanes in their district.
Councilman Balli says it’s all part of the master plan that the city adopted.
Certain routes along major roads like Santa Maria will have some …
Owner Solic Number: 0910-16-135 Status: bidding Report: 8112339
Country : United States State: TX County: Smith Location: Smith County
Est. Low Value: $5,114,595 Est. High Value: $5,114,595
Set Aside Types: MBE/DBE (Minority / Disadvantaged)
Scope: Construct hike & bike trail. Excavation, sodding, mulching, landscaping, irrigation, riprap, 279 LF of 18″ class III RC pipe. 365 LF of 24″ class III RC pipe. Concrete sidewalk. Metal beam guard fence. Pavement marking.
Notes: DBE 7%.
Plans: From Owner. See outside link. …
The Texas Department of Public Safety responded to a crash Friday evening involving a 14-year-old on a bike.
RIDE THE CAR-FREE WALNUT CREEK TRAIL
Saturday, Oct 14, 2017, 8:30 AM
Don’s Automotive Repair 1636 S 1st St Austin, TX
3 Austin Cyclists Went
OK, we are going to ride the very mellow car-free Walnut Creek trail. We leave from Don’s Automotive on South First, meet 8:15, WHEELS DOWN 8:30 Five miles to the trail head, trail is about 10-15 miles out. (??) So about 32 miles total. BUT, you can fall in at the Govalle Park parking lot on Bolm Rd. alternatively. Please RSVP with comment posted i…
Red Bull Last Stand 2017 was fantastic. Racing around the Alamo at night is quite the experience, so here’s a little taste of what it felt like. Lots of hype, lots of chaos, lots of fun.
A woman killed midday Saturday while riding her bike when a car struck her and fled has been identified, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
Tai’Sheonna Kennedy was riding northbound around 11:30 a.m. in the 6800 block of the East Sam Houston Parkway in the outside lane of the feeder road, the agency said.
The 21-year-old was …
Well friends, I did it. This past weekend, I rode in my 10th consecutive Bike MS event! This year’s ride was the Valero Ride to the River which goes from San Antonio to New Braunfels in 161 miles over two days. And thanks to many dedicated donors over the years, I’ve raised $20,745 for the National MS Society, $2,335 of that just this year. I am grateful to have so many friends, family, and coworkers who have pitched in over the years, some of you giving generously each and every year. I know that this fundraising is helping to make a difference for people who have …
Everyone who rides with former President George W. Bush in the annual Warrior 100K mountain bike ride has a personal story of overcoming adversity. Warriors and civilians alike train for months for the privilege of challenging the rocky switchback single-track trails on Bush’s Texas ranch. The ride has its own momentum, and each year it is more about the networks that are forming and the obstacles being overcome than the physical challenge of the ride itself.
Out on the trail, the veterans ride in a kind of formation, banding together to assist someone who falls or has difficulty. Self-appointed supervisors, who must have been …
RIDE THE CAR-FREE WALNUT CREEK TRAIL
Saturday, Oct 21, 2017, 8:30 AM
Don’s Automotive Repair 1636 S 1st St Austin, TX
9 Austin Cyclists Went
OK, we are going to ride the very mellow car-free Walnut Creek trail. We leave from Don’s Automotive on South First, meet 8:15, WHEELS DOWN 8:30 Five miles to the trail head, trail is about 10-15 miles out. (??) So about 32 miles total. BUT, you can fall in at the Govalle Park parking lot on Bolm Rd. alternatively. Please RSVP with comment posted i…
