Texas Bicycling News September 3rd

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Houston City Council moves bayou trail plan forward

www.valleymorningstar.com

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston’s City Council has taken another step toward making 150 miles of hiking and biking trails a reality along the city’s nine waterways.
The Bayou Greenways 2020 initiative advanced Wednesday as the council approved $19 million for the next phase of trails in north Houston, clearing the way for land purchases. Officials say they’ll only use eminent domain for the project when a tract’s legal ownership is murky or when owners demand unreasonably high prices.
The initiative is a $220 million effort that’s funded with $100 million in voter-approved bonds and …

More than 23,000 Cannondale bicycles recalled for fall risk

www.valleymorningstar.com

NEW YORK (AP) — More than 23,000 Cannondale mountain bicycles are being recalled because a steering tube can fail which can cause riders to fall off.
However, no incidents or injuries have been reported, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Thursday.
The recall is for model years 2011 through 2015 of the Flash, FSi , F-4, F-5, F-29, Lexi, RZ, Scalpel and …

****Keystone/winter park DH rough edit preview***

by Seths Pool        www.bikemojo.com

Since I won’t be at work for another 5 days, I wanted to post my YouTube video very very rough edit.. Raw footage mashed up, partially labeled, ZERO speed manipulation to any clips.. (Only mentioning because a buddy mentioned he thought so) …

Press Release: Battle of San Jacinto Criterium

localbikeracing.com

Bicycle racing comes to the historic San Jacinto Monument and Battlegrounds this September 19th and 20th
Racers and fans from across the state will converge on the historic park this month for its first ever road racing event.

Sanctioned by USA Cycling and the Texas Bicycle Racing Association, the Battle of San Jacinto Criterium provides a historic venue for a late season road racing event. This is the newest race on the Texas Bicycle Racing calendar and precedes the final weekend in Ft Hood, the State Road Race Championships. The monument and battlegrounds are still open to the public during the events, and spectators will be able to tour the …

9/5 & 9/6 Rides: Scenic + Red Bud! Red Horn Coffee Shop!

by Thomas        steinerranchcycling.com

Saturday we will take on a slightly new route with some nice climbing over 62 miles. We will ride to Mellow Johnny’s like our usual Scenic ride but then take Red Bud through Westlake to Bee Caves road, do Cuernavaca, and come back home via 620. Afterward we will meet at Lakeside Grill (next to the starting point) for some burgers and beer. I believe we have now negotiated a 20% discount (thanks Steve!). We depart from Cups & Cones at …

Tweets About Texas Bicycling

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Skipped the Rain Got Wind Instead

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No on today’s ride on the “Walden – Stroker Road – Huffman” route. The temperature was 86 degrees when I left home at 11:46 and the mostly cloudy sky did not have any dark ones that I could see. I saw one other biker on FM1960 crossing Lake Houston. He was going west and I rode to the east. I almost missed due to a large truck moving between us. I waved but he was past my position and probably didn’t see me.

I thought the wind wouldn’t be a problem but whenever I rode east it was a strong headwind. The places where I battled it the most was going over Lake Houston (no wind break) and Old Atascocita Road from Fairlake Drive to Ramsey Road. At one point I came out from behind a high mound on Old Atascocita Road east of FM2100 and a big gust caught me unexpectedly. Once I made it to Ramsey Road to ride south the wind wasn’t so much of a problem. There was a lonely tractor working the grass farm pulling some implement I was not familiar with. The tractor had a strange sunroof: a pile of brush over the cockpit. I haven’t seen that before. All of the cows in one field were gathered under and around a few small trees trying to be in the shade.

Riding north on FM2100 from Stroker Road I stopped at the Shell station for a quick refill of my water bottle. Leaving there I rode to the Huffman Chevron for a longer break. When I got there it was 29.8 miles into the ride. I decided to take it slowly to miss the Kingwood High School traffic. I left at 2:32 after eating snacks and drinking some Gatorade. The weather while I was there.

I got home at 3:25 and the temperature had warmed up to 95 degrees and the wind I battled turned out to be 13 mph from the SE.

Tomorrow’s weather forecast looks delightful for biking: 90 degrees and clear. I plan on hitting the road, probably going to the north.

click on Garmin or Strava to see more details.

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Texas Bicycling News September 2nd

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Tech offers bike clinics, registration for students

By Easton Wollney         www.dailytoreador.com


Texas Tech offers free registration, clinics and racks for bicyclists on campus and is a designated bronze level bicycle university by the League of American Bicyclists.
Stacy Stockard, marketing coordinator for Transportation and Parking Services, said the bicycle racks are in place so students do not use hand rails, which could interfere with the visually impaired, or trees to park bikes. Bicyclists can …

City updates plan for bicycling network

By Allen Jones        www.chron.com

Bike blueprint to establish new paths, trail connectors for more destinations

The city of Houston is building on its efforts to improve people’s ability to bicycle to more destinations, including within the Memorial and Energy Corridor areas where local improvement districts are already contributing plans to update biking networks.
The city is spending $500,000 to update a 1993 bike plan to improve its bicycling network citywide. The blueprint will establish new paths and trail connectors based on development and traffic patterns that have occurred since the 1990s. The Houston Bike Plan, which has an April completion deadline, also will include possible funding sources for the various bike network projects and programs.
“The plan doesn’t only look at where we build new facilities and how we can build safer facilities, it also looks at the …

FREE CLINIC – BASIC BIKE MAINTENANCE

Thursday, Sep 10, 2015, 6:00 PM

Performance Bicycle
7549 Westheimer Rd Houston, TX

4 Cycling Enthusiasts Went

Check out this Meetup →

FREE CLINIC – BASIC BIKE MAINTENANCE

Thursday, Sep 10, 2015, 6:00 PM

Performance Bicycle
4750 Fm 1960 Rd W Houston, TX

7 Bicycle Enthusiasts Went

Check out this Meetup →

Parks to offer Outdoor Adventure Series this fall

www.cbs19.tv

TYLER (KYTX)- The Tyler Parks and Recreation Department is excited to offer a series of free outdoor adventure activities for the entire family. Activities include hiking, biking, fly fishing and orienteering. The Tyler Parks and Recreation Department is able to offer these adventures free of cost thanks to a grant given by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
The Outdoor Adventure Series activities for this fall will include:
Saturday, Sept. 12 from 9 a.m. to noon: Family Fun Fishing Tournament to be held at Woldert Park Pond, located at 501 W. 32nd St.
Saturday, Sept. 19 from 9 to 11 a.m.:  Family Orienteering Clinic to be held at the Tyler State Park*, 789 Park Rd. 16
Saturday, Oct. 17 from 10 a.m. to noon:  Fly Fishing Made Easy class held at Tyler State Park*, 789 Park Rd. 16
Saturday, Oct. 24 from 9 to 11 a.m.: Mountain Bike Trail Ride at Lindsey Park, located at 1255 Spur 364 W. …

Cyclist sues motorist, alleging vehicular negligence

by Molly English-Bowers        setexasrecord.com

A Texas City man is suing a Trinity motorist, alleging he was hit by the defendant while riding his bicycle.
Willie Leon Robinson Jr. filed a lawsuit June 18 in Galveston County District Court against Jeffrey Walsh of Trinity, SER Construction Partners, Ramos Industries and Enterprise FM Trust, alleging negligence.
According to the complaint, on June 20. 2013, Walsh was driving a vehicle owned by Enterprise FM Trust, while under the employ of SER Construction Partners, when …

Tuesday: Intermediate/Advanced Mountain Bike Ride at the Ant Hills

Tuesday, Sep 8, 2015, 6:15 PM

15200 Memorial Dr
15200 Memorial Dr Houston, Te

2 cyclists Went

This will be a medium to fast pace ride through the Ant Hills of Hershey Park! Bring WATER, spare tube/tire, snacks, etc…Helmets required. Call if you are going to be late so we can wait for you. Wheels rolling by 6:30! See you there

Check out this Meetup →

4th Annual VIVA! Streets is back on East 6th Street

BikeTexas


VIVA! Streets Austin is back on East 6th Street (from I-35 to Robert T. Martinez Jr) on Sunday, September 13 from 12:00-5:00 p.m.  The one-mile, car-free festival will feature obstacle courses, gardening classes, anti-bullying workshops, martial arts demonstrations, ballroom dancing lessons, yoga, zumba, soccer, basketball, giant chess, cane fishing, bird walks, learn to ride a bike courses, kids drum circle, a pilot bicycle intersection, tennis, petanque, hula hooping, chalk art, bike polo, PupStops, and more. Special aerial performances and classes will be offered by SkyCandy.
“We are excited to have VIVA! Streets back on East 6th Street! As a business …

Hotter N’ Hell 2015: How Did it Go?

by Johnny Guzman        bicyclepointofview.blogspot.com


With the hot month of July we had this year, I thought this year’s Hotter N’ Hell was going to be a scorcher. Well, it was, in the sense that I am now officially a “Scorcher”, or a sub 6 hour century rider. The actual temperature itself averaged in the low 80’s, freakishly cool for this time of year in what is supposed to be the hottest part of the country right now.  I am by no means complaining that it wasn’t hot enough. You see the guy in the blue, long sleeved jersey in the photo above? Yep, that’s me, dressed up trying to protect myself from the sun. The cool, overcast and breezy day kept me fresh on the bike and contributed to my performance.
The first 50 miles of the race, as opposed to last year’s Hotter N’ Hell, were the hardest.  The roads were so bumpy that even my Selle SMP TRK saddle didn’t help to take the edge off the harshness of the ride. I rode the last couple of miles to the 50 mile rest stop standing on my …

Tweets About Texas Bicycling

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Riding in the Wet

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Yesterday I wasn’t motivated to ride and did some chores around home. It was a good thing because I would’ve got caught in the rain. Today I decided to try riding the “New Caney – Gene Campbell Road” route again. The last time I tried I turned back when a rain storm moved in from the north. The sky was mostly cloudy when I rolled down the driveway at 12:09 but no threat from rain except by the coast at Baytown. I figured it would stay there or drift to the northeast.

The clouds were broken enough to allow the sun to get through but the temperature was 90 degrees at the start, significantly lower than last week. I think fall weather is reducing the heat effect. I set a good pace as I rode north to new Caney and headed northwest on FM1485. The light wind was not slowing me down too much. I built up the average speed to 15.4 mph while riding on Gene Campbell Road. Once I reached FM1314 and turned to the southeast the wind resistance picked up and the average speed dropped to 15.3 by the time I stopped at the Stripes station at Valley Ranch Parkway. The stop at Stripes was at 26.2 miles into the ride. As I got near Stripes I could see the dark sky to the southeast. I stopped and ate my snacks and drank some Gatorade. When I check the weather on my phone I saw a patch of rain over Kingwood and beyond. I checked back later and it had moved closer to me and the cars on FM1314 coming from US59 had their windshield wipers on. I decided to wait at Stripes to see if the rain would pass over. After about 10 minutes the rain seemed to stop and the wipers stopped on the cars.

As I thought about leaving the parade of New Caney ISD school buses came west on FM1314 to turn into Briar Tree for the school there. To avoid the traffic I waited additional 10 minutes thinking this would give the buses time to pick up the children and leave. Earlier before the rain arrived I almost rode north into Valley Ranch and then down the US59 service road. This would add a couple of miles to the ride and avoid the schools in Briar Tree. With the rain I cancelled that but when I got close to the schools in Briar Tree the cars were lined up and not moving. To add to the scene it was drizzling rain as I stood in line to get past the schools. I finally got to a point in the line that I rode around the cars and on to Oakhurst. The streets were damp but the drizzle let up some and the streets were dry just north of Northpark Drive.

I rode through Kingwood Place heading to Kingwood proper. the streets were still dry until I got to South Woodland Hills when the rain started again. It rained lightly all the way home from that point. I ended up biking 37.44 miles and got home at 3:42.

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