Texas Bicycling News Digest April 26th 2016

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Cyclists will rally to support Austin’s bicycle master plan

By KEYE TV

keyetv.com

On Tuesday, cyclist will rally to encourage Austin City Council to move forward on a bond to fund a bicycle master plan.
Bike Austin and their partners have been working to get the plan fully funded.
The bicycle master plan would create more urban trails and build high-priority sidewalks.
The rally will be led by Austinites who have lost ones in traffic crashes, or have been seriously hurt themselves.
More than 100 cyclists are expected to gather at city hall at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday to call on members of the city council to move forward with the plan.

Why riding a clunky Citi Bike was the best way for me to see America

by Jeffrey Tanenhaus

mashable.com

Crossing the continent has long been an American ambition. In the 1840s, covered wagons wobbled west. Train travel peaked in the early 1900s, before motor vehicles and interstates freed us to drive ourselves, faster and straighter with each decade. Convertibles cruised Route 66, crystallizing the glory days of The Great American Road Trip. …

… After a one-day trip-high 63.7 miles from Adrian, Texas — the midpoint of Route 66 — I entered Tucumcari, New Mexico, in the dark. My legs were about to fall off. Neon motel signs were designed to lure weary motorists, and the one for Blue Swallow Motel brought me to tears. …

Let’s Meetup and Ride the Mountain Bike trails of Memorial Park

Monday, May 2, 2016, 6:00 PM

Memorial Park – Soccer/Rugby Pitch Parking lot
6501 Memorial Dr (29.765522, -95.444994) Houston, TX

2 Members Went

Intermediate MTB Ride – Every Monday at Memorial Park. 6pm until Danny gets tired or it gets too dark. (Usually about an hour) Join us every Monday for a fun, moderate pace ride through the Memorial Park Trails. We can do skills training or just play in the dirt.Meet at the parking lot by the Soccer/Rugby field. Bring your helmet and water. Add li…

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9 AM start- Tour de Southern Walnut Creek Trail

Tuesday, May 3, 2016, 9:00 AM

Govalle Park
5200 Bolm Rd. Austin, TX

7 Austin Cyclists Went

Start Time is 9 AM!Weather permitting…A D-pace ride (roughly 11 to 13 mph) on The Southern Walnut Creek Trail from the trailhead at Govalle Park up to the Abrupt End at Lindell Lane just north of Decker Lake.  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 periodical…

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RIDE SCHEDULE – May 2016

Georgetown Cyclopaths

www.cyclopathsoftexas.com

Short Rides Long Rides
Day Date Time Meet at Miles Map Miles Map

Saturday 4/30/2016 8:00 AM Dale’s Essenhaus Restaurant in Walburg 28 miles WA5 41 miles WA9
Sunday 5/1/2016 9:00 AM Berry Springs Park 32 miles B39

Saturday 5/7/2016 8:00 AM Catholic Church in Andice 35 miles A13 48 miles A15
Sunday 5/8/2016 9:00 AM Berry Springs Park 35 miles B45

Saturday 5/14/2016 8:00 AM Liberty Hill Elementary School 33 miles L12 39 miles L11
Sunday 5/15/2016 9:00 AM Berry Springs Park 35 miles B23

Saturday 5/21/2016 8:00 AM Gravel Parking Lot in Weir 28 miles WE12 45 miles WE9
Sunday 5/22/2016 9:00 AM Berry Springs Park 34 miles B48

Saturday 5/28/2016 9:00 AM Berry Springs Park 31 miles B9 40 miles B6
Sunday 5/29/2016 1:30 PM Berry Springs Park 36 miles B56

BMX Worlds team finalized

www.usacycling.org

The final two members of the 2016 UCI BMX World Championships team were named this week, one month ahead of the May 25-29 competition in Medellin, Colombia.
Injury forced Jared Garcia (Victorville, Calif.) to withdraw his name from consideration, which left discretionary picks David Herman (Wheat Ridge, Colo.) and Tanner Sebesta (Austin, Texas/Stay Strong) as the final two men’s selections.
The first four men’s and four women’s selections were made on April 20. …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

https://twitter.com/GWCChuck/status/724944460250005504

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

May Community Center and Huffman Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

The quest continues to hit my April miles goal. The route I chose for today was the “May Park Community Center – Huffman”. the last time I rode it in March it was about 40.5 miles. Today I rode 39.88 miles which puts me at 678 miles for April and the goal is 772 miles. The great biking weather continued somewhat. The mostly cloudy sky and 84 degrees was the great part but the SE 20 mph wind with 26 miles gusts (Houston IAH airport numbers) was the not so great side. The wind was a problem until I got FM2100 and headed to Huffman.

I made it to the Huffman Chevron and took a 30 minute break before heading home. My Edge 520 screen at the Chevron station.

4-26-2016 Huffman Chevron

The weather screenshots.

I started a little later than I planned leaving home at 12:28 and returning at 3:53. This put before and after the school traffic which was good.

Wednesday’ weather forecast: chance of rain has dropped to 57% in the morning decreasing the rest of the day. I might get to bike.

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Texas Bicycling News April 25th 2016

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Austin bike race series draws more female cyclists to the track

by Pam LeBlanc

www.mystatesman.com


Kim Ciolli buzzes around the track at Driveway Austin, tucked in an all-female pack of cyclists 36 strong.
They surge and flow like a high-speed school of fish, notching lap after lap on the twisty course at an average speed of about 25 miles per hour.
When the race ends, Ciolli stands at the top of the podium, alongside two other women from the all-female team she created, RCM Hit Squad presented by Crush Fitness. …

Pro bike mechanics association announces charter board of directors

www.bicycleretailer.com

AUSTIN, Texas (BRAIN) — The Professional Bicycle Mechanics Association is getting off the ground with its first board of directors, elected during a conference call last week.
The association has named five board executives and confirmed an additional four members-at-large.
James Stanfill, of Austin’s Bicycle Sport Shop, was unanimously chosen to serve as the association’s first …

Giant Bicycles offers Bicycle Blue Book trade-in program to its dealers

www.bicycleretailer.com

SAN JOSE, Calif. (BRAIN) — Giant Bicycle is working with Bicycle Blue Book, encouraging its dealers to use the company’s used bike trade-in program to drive new bike sales.
Bicycle Blue Book’s Authorized Trade-In Program gives consumers an estimate of their used bike’s value, from the company’s website. The consumers then bring bikes to a participating store to confirm the value and get a store credit for the trade-in. The store then ships the bike to Bicycle Blue Book and receives reimbursement for the store credit value, minus shipping. Bicycle Blue Book has arranged special shipping rates and will supply shipping materials and labels. …

Ride Report: The Old Stone Fort Ride

By Steven Amen

www.wheelbrothers.com


It’s not everyday that there’s a charity ride within riding distance of where I live, in Nacogdoches. Usually the closest ones are Freeze Your Fanny in Longview or The Purgatory in Lufkin, both are still a 30ish minute drive away, but I was fortunate to have the Nacogdoches’ Rotary Club hold this one within 10 minutes of me.
After getting up and ready, I left my house and warmed my legs up with the spin to the Civic Center. The morning sky was grey and a little wind came from east to west, so we would be fighting the wind on the way out and a tailwind on the way back, which I find preferable. Since …

Afternoon showers not a downer for those enjoying Sunday Streets

By Mónica Rojas

www.houstonchronicle.com


What started as a game of hopscotch ended as puddle jumping as familiar rains returned to Houston during the Cigna Sunday Streets event in the Museum District.
“It’s rain or shine,” said LaSonja Monroe-Polk, Cigna spokesperson. “We had a good two hours of really good participation of people coming out in the community before the rain set in. It was good to get the community out, especially with the hard weekend we had last week.” …

Texas Bike Trails in April – Continued

bike-52.com


Last weekend I posted a bunch of photos from the great trails in Texas – if you like mountain biking, the spring in and around Austin, Texas is a great time to experience nature from the bike seat… You get to see great colors, may be even encounter some wild life on the trails. …

The Best Way to Promote City Riding? Bike Racks

By Elly Blue

www.bicycling.com


Sure, there are a lot of ways to help grow the bicycle movement and make life on two wheels even better. But few have a greater, more immediate impact than…wait for it… Parking.
Providing bicycle parking is one of those magically simple actions that have a disproportionately huge impact. On a micro scale, any small business owner can, for a couple hundred bucks or less, provide a …

Jo’s Koffee Shop Ride

Saturday, Apr 30, 2016, 8:00 AM

Bicycle Sport Shop
517 S Lamar Blvd Austin, TX

1 Austin Cyclists Went

Time to ramp up to get ready for the Shiner G.A.S.P. on May 7th, so this one is a bit longer than the usual ride I lead on Saturdays. It is a very flat route, with total climb of only 1,925ft over the entire route. We will roll out at 8am and see what happens. Remember your water bottles and the rule is no helmet, no ride. The turnaround in San Mar…

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Texas Bicycling from Twitter

Rain Drops Leave and I Bike to Splendora

Texbiker.net Posted on by

The ride didn’t get off to a good start. Moments after I left the driveway (12:08) I felt a rain drop. There weren’t many but for the first 1/2 mile every few feet I got hit by a rain drop. I could see some blue sky to the north where I was riding to so I kept riding hoping the rain would disappear. It did and I was happy. In the quest to reach my April mileage goal I chose the “Splendora – Valley Ranch – Oakhurst” route. The last I rode this route earlier in April it was over 40 miles and today it totaled 40.87 miles. This boosted my monthly total to 639 miles and the goal is 772.

Getting to Splendora went easily thanks to the SE 8 mph wind but the return to home after heading south in Splendora was tough. My legs were slow and not as full of energy as yesterday. Riding into the wind I slowed down and my average speed slowly fell too. I stopped at the New Caney Chevron for a quick water bottle refill and got back on the bike. Looking at the time I figured I would ride thorugh the Briar Tree schools’ traffic if I stopped at the Stripes station at FM1314. With the water bottle topped off in New Caney I decided to ride past the schools and take a break at the Oakhurst Community Pool. There is a park with benches in the shade. My Edge 520 when I got there.

4-25-2016 Oakhurst Pool

I enjoyed the shade and ate some snacks to give my legs time to recover for the last 8+ miles to home. The only other times I stopped at the pool was when I had a flat several years ago and another time when I got caught in the rain. The traffic noise was much lower than at Stripes. I stayed there long enough for the Kings Manor school traffic to clear out before leaving. The weather while I was at the pool.

I got back home at 3:33.

Tomorrow the weather looks favorable for more biking but Wednesday looks very wet. My mileage quest may get washed out on Wednesday.

The RidewithGPS and Strava maps are live. Click on them to see more information.

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