Texas Bicycling News January 31st 2016

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Pretty nice 50+ mile ride, about 95% bike trails.

by ThatGuyinHouston        www.reddit.com


Leaving from my house in Woodland Trails North, I do have to ride through neighborhood streets and one short stretch of Alabonson to get to the northwest end of the White Oak trails, but once I get there, I’m on the NO MOTOR VEHICLES trails all the way downtown and out Buffalo Bayou.
Anyone who hasn’t been to …

Dick Nichols Park. Intermediate and Advanced Beginner ride (2 groups) 10 am

Saturday, Feb 6, 2016, 10:00 AM

Dick Nichols District Park
8011 Beckett Rd Austin, TX

34 Mountain Bikers Went

Helmet and working bike required, spare tube suggested.We will have two or more  groups.After the ride will probably go for lunch somewhere near downtown.This is an unsanctioned ride.  Ride at your own risk.

Check out this Meetup →

Super Bowl Ride

Fort Worth Bicycling Association        www.fwbaclub.org

Club Special Event
Sunday, February 07, 2016 8:00 am
Join Jerry for a local area tradition where cycling clubs from all over the Dallas / Fort Worth area ride to the Dallas West End for lunch on Super Bowl Sunday. This year we will be eating at Dick’s Last Resort. Jerry starts the FWBA ride at the Trinity Railway Express Station at the corner of 9th and Jones, in downtown Fort Worth. Wear your red FWBA jerseys. We recommend you …

Cycling 2015 – Plano Bicycling Association

By Tim Elliott        www.facebook.com
I uploaded some pictures from last year’s riding to Facebook.

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

https://twitter.com/pitvins/status/693928559329456129

https://twitter.com/BBQ44/status/693913947062177793

https://twitter.com/GWCChuck/status/693880090015436800

https://twitter.com/GWCChuck/status/693789004941148160

Texas Bicycling Event Reminder

Finally Some Heat Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

I was limited on time today so I chose the short route “Kingwood-E Lake Houston Pkwy” riding 24.48 miles to the southeast. I knew I would fight the wind most of the way there and back across Lake Houston. The temperature was 79 when I rolled down the driveway at 12:33. The sky was mostly cloudy with the sun going in and out behind the clouds. When it was out I was comfortable with my two jerseys and shorts. At the start before I warmed up the wind was chilly but I recovered whenever the sun came out. It was not quite the same as I rode east and west over Lake Houston. The strong wind was cooled down as it came off the lake. Going east I was okay because the sun was out but riding back home I really wanted tot get off teh causeway and my two jerseys weren’t keeping me warm.

With the short time I didn’t stop except at the traffic light at E. Lake Houston to turn around to head back home.

Two other serious bikers were on my route today. The first one I had talked with a couple of times when I was at the Huffman Chevron on previous rides. The other biker I was not familiar with.

I closed out January at 340 miles, 199 miles more than January 2015. This is a good start for 2016. This was my first 100+ mile week too. I need to decide what February’s goal will be.

The wind at George Bush Intercontinental Airport: SSW 13 mph with 21 mph gusts. My home weather station is among houses and the wind is not so extreme. Below is the weather before and after the ride.

Start of the ride
End of the ride

Monday’s weather looks favorable for biking.

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Texas Bicycling News January 30th 2016

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Texas Chainring Massacre Kicks off the 2016 Gravel Season

www.granfondoguide.com

The 2016 gravel season kicked off in traditional fashion with The Texas Chainring Massacre which is billed as “The fastest 100 miles on gravel” by The Spinistry.
The event was held on 1/23 and staged from the tiny town of Valley View, TX. Temperatures were right at freezing for the start which is extremely brisk for Texas riders to crawl out of bed. Even with the freezing temps the event drew its largest crowd ever with well over 300 riders staging at the line.
The event combined multiple categories and distances for a single mass start which created quite the parade out of Valley View. Open 100+ miles were mixed with SS and Women 50+ milers as well as large contingent of non competitive/fun riders with routes as short as 30 miles. The course was …

Child killed while riding bike in Kingwood

www.khou.com

KINGWOOD – A child was killed while riding a bike in a Kingwood neighborhood.
Police said there was a gathering at a home Friday evening in the 4400 block of Broadleaf near Maple Park Way when a guest was leaving and struck the 3-year-old. It’s unclear if …

3-year-old hit on bike just feet from parent

By Dane Schiller        www.chron.com

A 3-year-old child on a bicycle in a Kingwood neighborhood was killed just feet from one of his parents, police said.
The accident happened around 5:15 p.m. Friday in the 4300 block of Broadleaf.
The child’s parent had been talking with an acquaintance, the driver of a pick-up truck, who was stopped on the street, and unaware the child had rolled in front of the truck, Houston Police spokesman Vic Senties said.
As the driver slowly pulled away, the child was hit, said Senties, who added that the child died at the scene.
“It does not appear the driver of he pick-up truck was impaired so it doesn’t look like there will be any charges at this point,” he said said. “It appears to be an unfortunate accident.”

Getting bent in Big Bend

By Terry Parsell        www.crazyguyonabike.com

The Bike: Tank Junior comes back!
I spent much a lot of money and time setting up a norco cross frame with disc brakes. I took it out for a couple of spins and just didn’t like the way if felt.
I had used my mountain bike (“Tank”) in Idaho two years ago, and pressed my regular road bike into service for my Oregon trip last year. Tank is too heavy for paved roads, and my road bike with more than 10 pounds or so on sways too much when standing, and has a bad shimmy on the downhills.
So I decided to use my old Felt cross bike I had used on my West VA tour some years ago. I made some modifications to it. The first thing I did was change the brake pads, and put Kool stop pads on, The old pads squealed loudly! The new ones not some much ( the advid cantilever brakes I have are known for their tendency to make noise).
The major thing I did was to change the crank. I had a 53X39 double on it. Which in …

Bike rider killed in NW Harris County

By Dane Schiller        www.chron.com

A bicyclist was killed early Saturday after being hit by a pick-up truck, according to Houston Police.
The 50-year-old rider, who died at the scene, has not yet been identified publicly.
“From what I can tell, he turned and was struck by the pick-up truck,” Houston Police spokesman Victor Senties said. “It appears he (the bike rider) made an unsafe left-hand turn.”
The driver of the Nissan Frontier pick-up truck was headed east at …

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Fire Engines Aplenty Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Today’s ride is the longest one of the year so far. I rode 35.42 miles on a slightly modified “New Caney – Gene Campbell Road” route. I increased my miles for January to 315 exceeding my 259 mile goal. I hope to ride a few miles tomorrow to add onto January. Last year I managed to ride 141 miles in January so this is a nice improvement. The weather has been cooperating this year unlike last year. Today it was 76 degrees when I started at 12:25 and that was what it was when I got back home at 3:19. The clear sky hung around from yesterday with just a few tiny white clouds.

I haven’t ridden this route since October 2015. Not much has changed as far as the roads go. The Grand Parkway construction at FM1314 is still there but the parkway is supposed to open in March or April.

Today as I rode NW on FM1485 away from New Caney I saw a Lone Start Ranch fire department engine parked on the shoulder of the other side of the road near a fire hydrant. The fire engine’s lights were flashing and in front of it was a fire truck tanker hooked up to the fire hydrant. In the distance in front of me I could see another fire truck coming towards me lights flashing. This was another tanker. It drove past the one on the shoulder and I didn’t think too much about it. From that point it was about a mile from Gene Campbell Road where I would turn. Continuing to ride two more fire engine tankers passed me going towards New Caney. Traffic was starting to increase and as I approached Gene Campbell Road I could not turn left because of the traffic so I rode on past. About a half of a mile ahead I saw more flashing lights on my side of the road with traffic stopped. Cars and trucks started to turn around and come back making me think the road was closed. Another fire engine tanker came from the blocked area and traffic stopped and I made it across FM1485 to head back to Gene Campbell Road. I could hear sirens after I made the turn. At first there wasn’t much traffic on Gene Campbell Road but it started to increase. Normally this road doesn’t have much traffic except for the occasional WalMart distribution center trucks. Now the traffic was steady meaning FM1485 was probably still blocked. By the time I got to FM1314 the traffic had let up some. I went left on FM1314 headed back to Porter.

Earlier there was heavy traffic on Loop 494 north of Porter. The south bound lanes were backed up about 2 miles. During the week this doesn’t happen. I am not sure why it did today. I rode north so it wasn’t a problem for me.

At the 23.39 mile marked I pulled into the Stripes station on FM1314 at 2:01. I took a 20 minute break to eat 2 Kashi Trail Mix bars and drink some water. I am avoiding the sports drinks for now since it isn’t that hot and they are heavy with sugar. As I sat on the concrete a car pulled in and a tall man got out. As he walked by he said something about a bad time to take a break. He might have had too much to drink. When he came out of Stripes he said something again not too friendly. Fortunately he wasn’t driving. The weather was warm and I enjoyed the sun.

Until stopping at the Stripes station the wind had not been a big problem but I figured from there to home I would have fight the wind most of the way. The hardest section was on the US59 south bound service road from Valley Ranch to Northpark Drive. Before riding this stretch I thought I would ride to Kingwood Drive but the wind was so stout I decided to take Northpark Drive to hit the side streets back into Kingwood. This probably shortened the route by 2 miles and my legs were relieved. Once I was in Kingwood the wind was not so bad. When I got home I saw why I had to fight so hard: 13 mph from the south with 20 mph gusts.

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