Oh technology! Today I battled it on two fronts. First my Acer Chromebook updated to Chrome OS 49 and my Bluetooth mouse quit working. I figured that would be the end of my technology problems. No, my Garmin Edge 520 decided to give me fits. It has been acting up lately but today was the worst. I rode the “FM1960 to FM686 – Back” route and wanted to be sure to record the ride since it was a longer one. Since I have been having issues with the 520 I installed the RideWithGPS app on my phone as a backup. It is a good thing I did. I got ready and rolled out the driveway at 12:31. This was about the only good part of the start. Before I rode 1/2 a mile the 520 said the phone was disconnected. This happened several times and when I got to the Town Center Park I decided to do a factory reset to see if this would fix the problem. It took many minutes to enter my information back into the 520 after the reset. I resumed the ride and got 1.75 miles further and the 520 froze. I couldn’t turn it off so I had to look at the frozen screen until I could find a place to stop and turn it off.
If the technology wasn’t working at least the weather was perfect: 84 degrees, clear blue sky and a light breeze from the south. Other than the aggravation I had a good ride on the second ride on this route this year. I ended up riding 42.36 miles. There were a couple of things to overcome though. first the greenbelt trail was closed east of Kingwood High School and I had to lift my bike over the railing to get off the bridge. Next along FM1960 before the Liberty County line workers were trimming tree on the side of the road and I had to make my way around them. Traffic was normal and I didn’t have any other problems. I was reminded that fully inflated tires running on chip’n seal is rough riding. The almost 1 mile section after I crossed the county line was jarring on both trips over it. It was interesting riding without a computer to tell me the time and distance but I guessed when to change hand positions.
After turning back to the west at FM686 and the Dayton Food & Fuel store I stopped there for a quick water bottle refill. The longer rest stop was the Huffman chevron about 6 miles from FM686. I got there a little after 3 pm, got some Powerade and sat under the canopy but in the sun. I checked the RideWithGPS app on my phone to be sure it was recording the ride, it was, and ate two trail mix bars. The weather screen shots while I was there.
Finishing the snack and Powerade I was back on the rode by about 3:30 for the last 11+ miles to home. The hardest part of the 11 miles was riding over Lake Houston. That 7 mph breeze felt a lot stronger out over the lake without any wind break. Once I was off the bridge and among the houses the rest of the way home was smooth. I got home at 4:20.
While I was biking I thought to call Garmin when I got home. I did and spoke with a man in Customer Service. We went over my problems and he asked some questions. It boiled down to hime sending me a replacement head unit and for me to return the one giving me all of the problems. I hope this fixes the Edge 520. Otherwise I will need to find another solution.
April miles bumped up to 153 heading towards my 772 mile goal for April. Four riding days out of 5 days and I am about 1/5 of the way to my goal.
Saturday, April 16 at 8:00 AM in CDT
Red Horn Coffee House and Brewing Co.
13010 W Parmer Ln, Ste 800, Cedar Park, Texas 78613
Details
125 miles of fantastic Texas roads. We’re still fine tuning the route so we’ll post it when we get it finished. Show up early for coffee at Red Horn and hang after for post-ride beers.
++We will have a SaG vehicle. Bring $10 cash to chip in for gas and costs.++ …
I just rode the Head for the Hills Ride in Chappell Hill last weekend. I enjoyed it quite a bit thanks in large part to the absolutely perfect weather. The ride offered terrific scenery, with the exception of a few short sections on Hwy 105. While the wildflowers seemed to be past their prime (or was it too early?), we rode past some beautiful patches. There were also some tremendous vistas of the surrounding countryside from the top of some of the hills. True to the ride’s name, there was very little in the way of flat sections. The roads were rolling with a few Texas-steep hills, but they …
Apr 3: To Terlingua
Sunday April 3, 2016, 48 miles (77 km) – Total so far: 2,735 miles (4,402 km)
I tried to be pro-active and set an alarm for 6 AM this morning. That was fine except that for some reason more or less everyone in the campsite wanted to speak to me this morning. Some motorbikers were interested in my trip. Another camper wanted to thank me for using a dim red headtorch rather than a blinding white one. The campground host was keen to give me helpful tips regarding a route through Arizona. So all in all I was about an hour later leaving than I expected!
The first 25 miles were a repeat of yesterday, climbing back along the Ross Maxwell Scenic Drive towards the Park’s main road. The climbing was all in the first 14 miles, so that took a couple of hours. The climbing was steady and fairly pleasant though, not too steep. I stopped at the top for an early lunch (same spot as yesterday’s lunch!). Of course then a …
Apr 4: To Presidio
Monday April 4, 2016, 65 miles (105 km) – Total so far: 2,800 miles (4,506 km)
Posted via email Mon Apr 4 19:53:02 2016 PDT
There was a good sunrise this morning. In fact the past few days in the Big Bend area have spoiled me with great sunsets and sunrises. The air is clear and the skies have generally been cloudless.
It was a few miles along the road to Lajitas, really a resort town where an upmarket golf resort has been developed. A bit of an odd fit in the surroundings! There was a reasonably stocked shop, for some reason I craved fruit juice so I stopped and bought a small bottle. There were lots of resort employees buzzing about on …
Fort Davis to Fort Davis: One Dryer Town
Monday April 4, 2016, 3 miles (5 km) – Total so far: 1,216 miles (1,957 km)
Today is layover day in Fort Davis. We all needed R&R after the last 2 days of riding. Fort Davis is a very nice small town which has grown up around Ft. Davis. At first the town was where the civilians lived who worked at the fort. Now it’s a tourist community supporting the Ft. Davis National Park. For a small town has a couple of very nice places to eat.
I call this a “One Dryer Town” because the model doesn’t offer a laundry service so we had to go to the local laundromat. Of the 6 washers, only 2 work. On the 4 dryers, only one partially worked. For 14 people suddenly showing up with a bunch of sweaty dirty clothes, not a fast process. Luckily the sun was out today and with the low humidity everything dried quickly hanging on the front of the motel.
Went to local Mexican Luncheonette for lunch. Not sure how to spell, let alone pronounce what I ate for …
Luba: entering Texas Hill Country
Monday April 4, 2016, 48 miles (77 km) – Total so far: 1,406 miles (2,262 km)
Bought sandwiches in Subway in the morning for lunch on the road. The local road to Camp Wood, prescribed by the ACA maps, is a very rough chip seal. Still, the pretty landscape with mountains on the horizon and absence of traffic made for an enjoyable ride for a while. We stopped to talk with Cheryl that was driving a support vehicle for her husband Bob. Bob rode from Florida, where they live, to DeRidder LA alone but got stuck there due to bridge closures. Cheryl then decided to join him. She offered us drinks and ice that we accepted with gratitude. Later on …
Midway up the giant hill near the end of the Willow City Loop, my quads whimpered and I wished, ever so briefly, that I was flopped on a hammock somewhere instead of pedaling up a twisting Hill Country road.
Then I turned and looked down into the valley, where so many bluebonnets clustered together that I thought I was looking at a stream of blue water.
Thousands of tourists head to Willow City northeast of Fredericksburg each spring, where they spend about 30 minutes motoring along the 21-mile route, admiring wildflowers. That’s fine, but I prefer to take …
My Cat2 40-49 mountain bike race video from the 2016 Bent Wheel Bash Mountain Bike Race held at Buck Creek Trails in Abilene, Texas.
The 4th race of the Texas state 2016 series.
After a 2nd place finish at Comfort, I was feeling pretty good and hopeful of another good showing in Abilene.
Buck Creek Trails can be technical enough to give me a bit of an edge and I was hopeful of …
The 2015 Ouachita Challenge was a blast! I had a wonderful time and the weather was superb but I temporarily lost my Garmin on the top of Mauldin Mountain which caused me to lose about an hour and a half of time trying to find it. After that, I vowed to not let stupid things like that happen again so I got a Garmin tether from Matt Malone and haven’t ridden without that tether ever since.
Fast forward to the 2016 Ouachita Challenge. 2016 marks my 2nd year as a participant in the Ouachita Challenge; both years on a single speed. While the OC is amazing and I love coming up to Arkansas, visiting my relatives, eating great food, and …
Day 36 – Hunt to Leakey, TX: Halfway Today
Monday April 4, 2016, 47 miles (76 km) – Total so far: 1,595 miles (2,567 km)
I reached the halfway point across the Southern Tier Route either on late yesterdays ride or early today. Half of the 3100 miles, of course is 1550, however I get a few extra miles riding to our lunch or overnight stops. The route doesn’t take the shortest connections as it tries to avoid the busier roads, include more interesting destinations, and tries to route through areas with more services. I’ve been very pleased with the locales visited and the many scenic roads.
I wanted today’s ride a bit shorter because there was quite a bit of climbing. I don’t have a Garmin for my bike that counts every foot of elevation gain as a brag point and I’m okay with that. But the Adventure Cycling maps include elevation profiles for the route. So I knew I’d have a gradual climb ending up …
A 7-year-old boy was rushed to the hospital Sunday night after he was involved in an accident. The accident happened in the 900 block of Rambler place, in a neighborhood near Leopard and Corn Products road. According to Corpus Christi police, the boy was riding his bike when a vehicle crashed into him. The child was …
An Austin cyclist suffered serious injuries after a driver allegedly hit her and dragged her for 2,000 feet with his vehicle last week, according to Austin police.
Artemio Gomez Avila, 41, has been charged with failure to stop and render aid for allegedly driving away after striking Elizabeth English with his truck.
Avila could spend up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the third-degree felony. …
Date: April 9, 2016
Location: Post, TX
Contact: Steve Crowell281-793-4480
Details: The Post to Gail ride will leave from the Post courthouse parking lot at 9:00 AM. Steve Crowell is hosting. Cost is $5 for club members. Non-Club Members must join the WTCA and pay the membership fee to ride. Please RSVP to Steve so he can plan for supplies.
I wanted to go for a long ride today with the beautiful weather. I rode the “New Caney – Splendora” route riding north along US59 to Splendora and then back to the south. I think this is the first time to ride to Splendora this year. The route is an extension of when I ride to Roman Forest Blvd. I biked 40.47 miles today. The perfectly clear sky and high 70’s temperature propelled me along and the light 5 to 7 mph breeze was just enough to challenge me but not really slow my speed down. The trip to Splendora was with a tailwind and I built up my average speed to 15.7 mph. The south bound leg was slower but I still kept my speed at 17 to 18 mph and the average speed at 15.6 mph.
There was some traffic entering the west bound entrance to the Grand Parkway as I rode to Community Drive. I had to move to the middle lane on the service road because the right lane was blocked by some construction trucks. I couldn’t tell what they were doing but there were a lot of hoses coming out of tanker trailers with compressors running. I didn’t see any workers; maybe the robots have arrived. I rode to Loop 494 at Community Drive and stayed on it until it merged with the northbound US59 service road. After passing the right urn into Patton Village I turned right at Ipes Rd. crossing the railroad tracks to ride the rest of the way to Splendora. I did this for the silly reason of spreading the route out on the map plus it avoided a tight lane where the service road bears left and old Loop 494 goes into Splendora.
From Splendora I stayed on the US59 south bound service road all the way to Valley Ranch Blvd. where I turned right to go to FM1314. At the Grand Parkway intersection I learned that the west bound traffic from US59 runs on the service road to the entrance just west of Valley Ranch Blvd. The traffic light there did not change when I rode on the sensor. After waiting for several minutes I crossed the road and under the overpass where the east bound exit ramp did the same thing for traffic going to US59 south. Again the traffic light would not change when I rode on the sensor and I rode through the intersection when the traffic was clear.
I arrived at the Stripes station at 2:07. If I hurried eating and refilling my water bottle I could beat the Briar Tree school traffic. My Edge 520 when I got to Stripes.
Porter Weather at Stripes station
I quickly ate two trail mix bars and drank some water. I was backing riding at 2:18 and made it past the schools without the traffic. The next school was at Kings Manor and I got there in the thick of the traffic but made it through without an incident. I was now back in Kingwood when at 35.78 miles the Garmin Edge 520 decided to freeze up. I pulled over and mashed on many button combinations until it shut off and restarted. Fortunately the ride data was still there. I pushed the start button and it was back working. I did have several phone disconnect messages during the ride so maybe that had something to do with the 520 freezing up. I am wondering what can be so hard for a computer to work and crash. I saw a review of the new Wahoo GPS computer last week, maybe that would work better.
April miles are moving towards my 772 mile goal with 111 miles so far with 3 rides. tomorrow and Wednesday the weather should be as good so more biking in the works.
Details and tons of pics on the blog.
Deception de·cep·tion: Brushy Creek Single Track (Deception) NEW Trail Head
Main purposes of the rerouting:
More trail as a negotiation for the Barn closure.
Avoid the rutted fall line at the very beginning.
Avoid the low-lying area at the beginning of Deception – boggy/muddy mess
Move trail from flat area to a slope for drainage to avoid standing water.
GEORGETOWN, Texas (KXAN) — Central Texas families came out early Sunday morning to show support for fellow Texans dealing with Autism.
Sunday marked the eighth annual Autism Bike Ride and Run Run put on by the Autism Society of Central Texas, with the event being held at Georgetown High School.
All of the proceeds collected from the event stay local to help families in Central Texas. Some of these proceeds came from events including a …
http://texasbikeracing.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/DSC01785.jpg
Team $uper Awesome
Members
Andy Austin “Pandacutionerâ€
Brad Joe Scott Howard
Erik Binggeser
Brian Leib
Cinnamon Johnson West
Adam Raul
Rey Madolora “DJâ€
Sir Andrew Yates
Todd Hauber
Caden Burross
Nicole Ortega
Ash Duban
Jared Thompson
Stew Stafford
Colin Frazer
Ali Tracey
Tony Drewry
Bart Beddingfield
Andrew Carter Hill “Jrâ€
Tim Cook
Adrian Flores “Princeâ€
Lance Norman “Peachesâ€
Wiley “Overlord†…
Day 2 of the 30 day challenge. I was joined by my wife on her Novora Transfer. I was happy she joined my son and I on the short ride just as the sun was setting.
Luba: Pecos
Saturday April 2, 2016, 60 miles (97 km) – Total so far: 1,326 miles (2,133 km)
After escaping our motel this morning we continued riding through the canyons for a while until, finally, reaching famed Pecos River. Now we were outside West of Pecos law of Judge Roy Bean. Met another solitary cyclist that started riding from St.Augustine FL in mid-February. Our challenge for today was to cross safely the two-mile bridge just before Del Rio. We were told that larger cycling groups were given a police escort – that’s how dangerous riding on this bridge was. We waited for Richard at the beginning of the bridge to cross it together, thinking the strength is in numbers. Turned out that …
Apr 1: Around Big Bend National Park
Friday April 1, 2016, 61 miles (98 km) – Total so far: 2,624 miles (4,223 km)
I was woken this morning by the rising sun. Considering my alarm call yesterday morning was before 5 AM I felt a slight lie in was probably a good idea.
For a change to the usual routine, after breakfast I didn’t load up Rory but instead headed off unloaded on a short side trip slightly further down the Rio Grande. At Boquillas Canyon Overlook there is a good view of the river, and into Mexico on the other side. The Mexican village of Boquillas is very close. I’m glad I …
Apr 2: Around Big Bend National Park
Saturday April 2, 2016, 63 miles (101 km) – Total so far: 2,687 miles (4,324 km)
Posted via email Sun Apr 3 15:19:02 2016 PDT
Emerging from the tent this morning, it turned out the late arrivals last night were a group of guys about my age. Here for a weekend of hiking. Fortunately for me they seemed to have brought way too much food so I was gifted a plate of bacon and a further plate of sausage. Combined with my oatmeal that should keep me going for a little while! To our collective bemusement the other chap appeared and (at about 8.30 AM) offered everyone else a beer. After he’d gone I sense-checked this with the others. Yes they thought that was odd too!
First of all I had to brave the four miles of gravel up to …
Day 35 – Fredericksburg to Hunt, Texas: Along the South Branch of the Guadelupe River
Sunday April 3, 2016, 54 miles (87 km) – Total so far: 1,548 miles (2,491 km)
First my knee report. It’s feeling better. A bit sore at the end of the day but pretty good to start each day. My thanks to Steve of Jacqui’s Cycling Class who was my ground controller on the knee issue. He has been following the blog and emailed links to several articles about knee pain – the cyclist’s most common injury. Also tips from my brother in law Steve. So I made corrections and they have certainly helped:
1. I’m taking Advil to reduce inflamation. 2. Applying ice in the evening again for the inflamation. 3. Lowered my bicycle saddle (seat) and moved it further back. Lowering was the one best correction. I had been thinking the seat should be highest to maximize the stroke but it put too much stress on my knee.
After breakfast at the Old German Bakery and Restuarant in Fredericksburg (I had Eggs Florentine and a pastry) I rode out again under …
