What A Tailwind, What A Headwind Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

A late start (1:22) on today’s bike ride but the weather was still fantastic like yesterday. The bike ride followed the “New Caney – Tavola – Valley Ranch” route enjoying the nice tailwind all the way to Tavola. The return trip was not so friendly. I thought my legs were just tired from riding four days in a row but when I got home and checked the weather I found out the wind was gusting to 20 mph and steady from the southeast 7 mph. No wonder the legs had trouble turning the cranks! The 33.90 mile long ride was challenging with the wind. I should’ve ate more before leaving to have energy reserves.

I am moving closer to my mileage goal for March with only 200.9 miles to go, 66% of the way there.

No donkeys or free ice cream cones on today’s ride, just the normal stuff.

Links to RideWithGPS.com and Strava.com metrics and maps.

Home weather and the start and airport weather at the end of the bike ride.

SportTracks Ride Summary (click on the image to enlarge it)

ride summary

Texas Bicycling News March 20th 2017

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Task Order Contract for Bicycle Projects

www.texasbids.net

Bid Date & Time: 04/11/17 2:00 PM Prebid: 03/23/17 10:00 AM
Solicitation Title: Task Order Contract for Bicycle Projects
Owner Solic Number: 23-01538
Status: bidding Report: 7651044
Country : United States State: TX County: Bexar Location: San Antonio
Scope: Task Order Contract for Bicycle Projects.
Notes: A non-mandatory Pre-bid meeting will be held on Thursday, March 23, 2017, at 10:00 a.m. in the 9th floor conference room of the Municipal Plaza Building, 114 W. Commerce, San Antonio, Texas 78205.
This project has a “prevailing wage” requirement.
Plans: From Owner. See attached file.
Owner Type: Public …

Southern Tier – San Diego to St Augustine March 2017

By Charles Falsetto | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 17: Las Cruces NM to San Elizario TX
Monday March 20, 2017, 71 miles (114 km) – Total so far: 931 miles (1,498 km)
640′ V, 5:36:31, AvgMph 12.7
Fairly easy day getting to El Paso Texas and navigating through the city. W was favorable today and I had cool temp this morning warming to 95 this afternoon. The afternoon heat was mitigated by consuming an abundance of ice cold water and an afternoon ice cream, followed by a very large single can of Bud Light upon arrival at my host home. A cold shower also felt great, not that I had a choice of water temperature.
Staying with another Warm Shower host tonight in San Elizario. This is a unique rural property with …

Honeoye Riders Pedal the Southern Tier

By jim kersting | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 20: Fort Hancock to Van Horn TX 75 miles
Monday March 20, 2017
We left Fort Hancock at 5 AM and rode 90 minutes in total darkness and 30 in pre-dawn. We heard all kinds of birds, peppers, and who knows what it was that spooked us. An owl flew across my light. We had little traffic. But the next phase was riding on I 10 and then 40 miles on the frontage road and the last 10 miles back on I 10. Big …

Southern Tier 2017

By Alan Young | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 23: Austin – Johnson City
Monday March 20, 2017, 55 miles (88 km) – Total so far: 1,392 miles (2,241 km)
Eugene did a good job of making us feel at home,we said our farewells and set off on the next phase of our journey.
Picking up the official route at the Colorado river,and into the neighbourhood of Rollingwood,where a guy shouts from his car he,ll buy us coffee at Starbucks. Lucky for us it was easy to find,upon entering ,Jeremy introduced himself whilst we took him up on a breakfast sandwich and coffee on the house.
That was very generous of him which set us up for a day in the …

Southern Tier At The Speed of Bicycle

By Gary Rapp | www.crazyguyonabike.com

DAY 17 El Paso to Fort Hancock TX
Monday March 20, 2017

Captains Blog – 3/20/2017 – Weekday rides

by Sameer Gokhale | cycling.powweb.com

Weekday Rides
Now that we have got our hour of sunshine back, we will be starting our weekday rides this week.
Our new board member, Michael Benedetto will be leading the ride. We will be starting at the Valero Trailhead at I-10 and 1604 on Wednesday March 22, 2017.
Details –
Ride name: Leon Creek Greenway
Address of starting location: Valero Trailhead at I-10 & 1604
Date: Thursday, 3/22/2017
Time (wheels down): 5:40 p.m. (meet at 5:30)
Description of ride: Weekly Trail Ride – we will be starting at the Valero Trailhead and follow the trail to Grissom Road, and possibly continue on until we get to Loop 410.
Length: ~20 miles
Ride leader: Michael Benedetto
Sweep: Peter Ray …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/844002376801574912

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Free Ice Cream Cone and Donkeys Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

First day of spring rolled in with fantastic weather and the offer of a free Dairy Queen ice cream cone. I forgot about the cone offer when I selected the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman Extended” route but as I neared the DQ on E. Lake Houston Parkway (23 mile point in the bike ride) I rode in and got a free ice cream cone. I needed the break and the sugar to help me finish the ride. The ride totaled 33.63 miles, not a real long ride, but the 9 mph SW wind and 18 mph gusts took a toll on my pedaling energy. Standing in the shade at Dairy Queen I cooled down and my legs recovered somewhat. Other people came to the DQ for free cones too while I was eating mine. I believe they do this each year on the first day of spring. Where I grew up the Dairy Queens (2 in my city) closed for the winter and opened around then.

Even with the fantastic weather I decided to wear a long sleeve jersey under my short sleeve jersey. Most of the ride this was not too hot but when I was working hard riding into the wind my body heat produced some sweat that then evaporated when I turned out of the wind cooling me off quickly and leaving a slight chill.

I am up to 60% of my March mileage goal (351.2 miles out of 586 miles). Year to date I am up to 1258.9 miles.

A few other cyclists were out today along the route. School is back from spring break and the school buses are rolling.

As I crossed the railroad tracks on Old Atascocita Road I glanced to my left and saw several cattle and donkeys. Turning around I rolled my bike to the gate and took these pictures.

I thought I might scare them away but the donkey looking at me moved closer to the gate while one of the cows moved away. I have seen these donkeys other times in another pasture closer to FM 2100. Not sure why the gate is painted purple.

More great weather tomorrow (Tuesday) and I plan on bicycling in it.

Links to RideWithGPS.com and Strava.com metrics and maps.

Home weather at the start and finish followed by the airport weather at the end of the ride.

Start
Finish
airport

SportTracks Ride Summary (click on the image to enlarge it)

Ride summary

Texas Bicycling News March 19th 2017

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Southern Tier 2017

By Alan Young | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 21: Carmine – Austin
Saturday March 18, 2017, 84 miles (136 km) – Total so far: 1,337 miles (2,152 km)
The pie shop on the main 290 highway was our first port of call, couple of pies and a coffee set us up for a major days ride.
The fog took a while to clear as we headed west. Our first bald eagle sighting by a lake took us by surprise. The wind still from the south not as fierce as yesterday. Arriving in Bastrop the heat picking up a chance for a cool drink and food. Drivers patient with the two tourists as we negotiate our way onto Shiloh Road, which took us away from the hoards of Saturday shoppers.
As we topped up our water bottles in a …

Tour de Houston seemed to have more crashes than in past years… want to discuss it?

by ThatGuyinHouston | www.reddit.com

I did the 60 mile route of the Tour de Houston today. There was some fog right after sunrise, but otherwise the weather was nearly ideal. Wind wasn’t bad at all. This was my third Tour de Houston.
I saw the aftermath of no less than 6 “rider-down” crashes, with two of them appearing to be pretty serious. We heard there were some others, too. I myself went down pretty hard when a pair of riders in front of me both fell and I couldn’t even get to my brakes. My bike collided with the guy and I went over the bars and rolled a couple of times. I got up and went back to the guy I flew over, and picked my bike up off of him, and within a minute all three of us determined we were not in need of medical treatment and we all rolled on. I got a little scrape on my left elbow, but it …

It’s not Tour de France but cyclists say Houston’s version is rewarding

I.M. Sixel | www.mysanantonio.com


Sandra Tezino is training for the Boston Marathon next month, so she ran 20 miles on Saturday.
Then she matched that distance Sunday cycling in the Tour de Houston.
The ride, the second time the 49-year-old Tezino has participated in the 12th annual city-sponsored event, was a training opportunity as well as a chance to pedal through some of the more scenic neighborhoods of Houston. The 20-mile course through River Oaks and West University took about 90 minutes, she said, where she hit speeds up to 21 miles an hour.
“It’s a wonderful ride,” said Tezino, who waited at the finish line for her daughter to complete a 44-mile trek.
Tezino was one of about …

Thousands of people participate in Tour de Houston as the city tries to become more bike-friendly

by Nicole Eldridge | cw39.com

HOUSTON — There is no better way to start a Sunday than a morning bike ride for a noteworthy cause.
The city’s 12th annual “Tour de Houston,” presented by the Apache Corporation, kicked off as a part of Mayor Sylvester Turner’s “Wellness Weekend.”
“Thousands of riders are out here; all the proceeds go to Houston Parks for their reforestation program,” Mayor Turner said.
In an effort to become a more bike-friendly city, Houston rallies up cyclers of all ages and …

Honeoye Riders Pedal the Southern Tier

By jim kersting | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 19: Fort Hancock ( 45 miles) ( it took most of the day cuz we love to saunter)
Sunday March 19, 2017
More text to come but the aliens out here in western TX are stealing my cell connections.

2017 Dirt Side Sisters Kick-Off Ride @ Rowlett Creek Preserve

Dirt Side Sisters | www.dirtsidesisters.org


When: 05 Apr 2017 5:30 PM – 8:00 PM
Location: Rowlett Creek Preserve 2525 Castle Rd. Garland, TX 75040
Join us for our first weekly Dirt Side Sisters ride of 2017 at Rowlett Creek Preserve! This is a great trail for beginner to intermediate riders and can offer a little bit of everything! Test your skills on the teeter totter or practice lifting your wheel over log obstacles. We’ll have a “first time rider” group as well as …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

https://twitter.com/AustinBikePed/status/843551455055396865

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar