Texas Bicycling News Digest August 2nd

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Cycling plans take shape

by Kirsten Crow        www.caller.com


CORPUS CHRISTI – When Michael Brodeur moved to Corpus Christi, he took up bike-riding for the first time in at least a decade.
It was a financial decision for Brodeur, a resident doctor at Christus Spohn, to ride to work and forego a second car. The investment has saved him two years’ worth of insurance and gas. It also has had other benefits.
“It’s been a pretty pleasant experience and a great form of exercise,” Brodeur said. “I feel my mind is little more clear when I ride into work.”
Brodeur would be considered a commuter cyclist.
Bicycle advocates say there are already many like Brodeur in Corpus Christi who ride for transportation or leisurely recreation, not for a …

Paralyzed Lake Travis man aided by hero dog and new UT inventions

By David Scott        kxan.com

Video

AUSTIN (KXAN) — This is a medical story about a determined, remarkable Lake Travis man. Paul Horton was paralyzed while mountain biking. Saved by his loyal and heroic golden retriever Yogi, he leads a most active life, loving Yogi and the new inventions brought him by some students from a UT mechanical engineering project.
Most days you’ll find Yogi singing with Paul and Shearon Horton around their piano. But Yogi came through big time four and a half years ago when Paul lay crippled in a ravine, unable to move. Paul recalls, “I remember being in the air, then I woke up on the ground, coughing up a lot of blood. Pretty quickly I tried to roll over and realized I was paralyzed.” Only one thing to do, send Yogi for help. “I was telling him Yogi, be …

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

Tuesday, Aug 11, 2015, 6:15 PM

15200 Memorial Dr
15200 Memorial Dr Houston, Te

5 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 →

New repair stations in Denton offer tools, tips for cyclists

By Caitlyn Jones        www.dentonrc.com


Flat tires may not be such a nightmare for Denton cyclists anymore.
The city recently installed two bike “fix-it” stations that include compressed air, screwdrivers, wrenches and other tools needed for daily wear and tear.
Both stations are along popular routes. One is in the Williams Square public parking lot on East Hickory Street near Rusty Taco, and the other resides at the MedPark A-train station at 3220 MedPark Drive, on the Denton branch of the Rail Trail.
“This kind of puts us on the map. It lets people know we’re serious about bicycling and providing stuff for people choosing to ride their bike,” said Julie …

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Tweets About Texas Bicycling

Texas Bicycling Upcoming Event Reminders

4 60 Air and A Convertible Effect

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Yesterday when I stopped at Stripes during the ride the cashier and I were talking about the heat and air conditioning. I told her when I first got to Texas in 1971 the car I had did not have A/C but I did have 4 60 air: 4 windows down and driving 60 mph. That made me think today while I was stopped in Huffman for a rest break. When I saw a convertible drive by with the top down how different their experience is versus riding on a bike. They have the wind blowing from the top of the door behind a windshield while bikers are totally surrounded by the wind though not near as fast. The cooling effect I think goes to the bicyclist while the wind blown look and feel goes to the convertible. On the reverse of this I can remember in high school a friend borrowed his parents’ convertible in the winter. Teenagers not being too bright we put the top down and turned the heat up driving around to impress people.

I rode the last ride of the week going on the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route for 31.71 miles. This put the total miles this week at 264.0; unusually a number with any decimals. The weather was even drier than yesterday at 29% humidity at George Bush Airport. If it gets much lower I think we will classify as a desert. This meant the perspiration dried quickly as I was moving through the wind. Throw in a nice 7 mph northerly wind with 17 mph gusts and it didn’t take long to dry out when I stopped at the Huffman Chevron. The Greensheet newspaper barely showed any dampness when I stood up to leave. I thought I had a chance to see the Amtrak train near Huffman but I didn’t see it. I tried to get to the Old Atascocita Road railroad crossing before 1:15 but my late start from home (12:12) put me behind. Earlier in the year my church moved the Sunday School time from 9:40 to 10:10 and the half hour later makes it almost impossible to leave home before noon. I was back home from the ride at 2:50. I checked the weather at the Chevron and here are the screenshots from my phone.

The only other bicyclist I saw was in Kingwood in the Walgreens parking lot. He was standing next to his bike. I rode past him at first because it looked like he was talking on his phone but I circled back to see if I could help. He said his rear tire was flat. I asked if he had a patch kit and he said no but he lived a short distance away and would walk his bike home. I told him okay and rode on. His rear tire had a Schrader valve and my frame pump doesn’t fit that valve.

The hot and dry weather will be with us for many more days. I plan on taking advantage of them to bike. The home weather stations at the end of the ride today.

8-2-2015 Home Weather Finish

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Texas Bicycling News Digest August 1st

Texbiker.net Posted on by

BBB-Critical mass 7/2015

MendoFilm

Brownsville Bike Brigade’s monthly critical mass ride! Thanks to everyone that came out to ride down the streets of Brownsville, TX.

Bike and Pedestrian Improvements

www.texasbids.net

Bid Date & Time: 08/25/15 10:30 AM        Prebid: 08/17/15 10:00 AM
Solicitation Title: Bike and Pedestrian Improvements
Status: bidding        Report: 6483173
Country : United States     State: TX    County: Johnson    Location: Burleson
Scope: Construction of approx. 3,400 LF of curb and gutter, 4,700 SY of concrete sidewalk, pavement markings, signage, 3,500 LF of shared use paths, and 2 prefabricated pedestrian bridges.
Notes: A prebid conference will be held on Monday, August 17, 2015 at 10:00 AM in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 141 W. Renfro, Burleson, Texas 76028.
Plans: From Designer, for $30 per set, non-refundable. Also available from CivCast USA/Amtek Information Service, Inc., 4001 Sherwood Lane, PO Box 692303, Houston, TX 77092, 713-956-0100.
Bond: 5% bid bond
Owner Type: Public …

Man dies while biking in South Austin greenbelt

by James Barragan        www.statesman.com

A man believed to be in his 50s died Saturday morning after going into cardiac arrest while riding his bicycle on a greenbelt in Bauerle Ranch Park in South Austin, according to Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services.
EMS responded to a call around 7:55 a.m. about a man who fell off his bicycle while riding in the park and went into cardiac arrest , said Austin-Travis County EMS Cmdr. Mike Benavides. A …

In this edition of Spoke&Word…

BikeHouston


A Word from Michael Payne about Vision Zero, read more>>
BikeHouston@Events Come see us at our events from socials to community rides, read more>>
BikeHouston@Work
Find out what BikeHouston has been doing to improve your rides, read more>>
BikeHouston&Me
Meet David Barron who built our new website, read more>>
BikeHouston@Reviews
An overview in pictures  read more>>
Ride > in the spotlight this time the EastEndBikeRide group, read more>>
Calendar
Check out our calendar for the coming weeks, read more>> …

The Racing Post – August 2015 Edition

theracingpost.us

Meredith Miller and Allen Krugoff to host FREE Texas clinics

joeyTWOwheels        texascx.com


If you’ve spent the summer thinking about how to rid yourself of that awful discount double hop, this is a bit of good news. Two of America’s best cyclocross professionals – Meredith Miller and Allen Krugoff – will be coming back to Texas to share a wealth of knowledge for riders of all ages and levels.
For FREE.
That’s right, it costs you nothing but sweat and a little love for the sponsors. .
Meredith and Allen both co-own, manage and race for the Noosa Professional Cyclocross Team, which is powered by FOCUS Bikes. Brian …

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Tweets About Texas Bicycling

https://twitter.com/thejurgy/status/627556774648877057

91 Degree Cool Front Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

The first ride in August was on a route I haven’t ridden before this year. I have done ones with some of the roads but not this specific route. I call this route “SR242 – Old Houston Rd – FM1314” and I biked 46.70 miles. Thanks to a friendly north to northeast breeze I was able to get my average speed up 15.4 mph but I maintained it at 15.3 mph for most of the ride once I got on the long open sections or road. By the end of the ride it drifted down to 15.0 mph. At the 24.1 mile point I stopped at the Valero station on FM1485 at Old Houston Road to refill my water bottle to get me to the Stripes station another 11+ miles away. I was there for about 5 minutes before heading south on Old Houston Road to FM1314. There is some road construction at the intersection where the Valero is but nothing to cause any problems.

Riding west on SH 242 that friendly breeze helped me to ride at 18 to 20 mph where I built up the average speed. I left home at 10:31 after watching the Clasica San Sebastian on my laptop via Eurosport. The local TV network in the Basque Country was having technical difficulties but managed to get them fixed for the final 7km. Maybe this inspired me to pedal harder while I was out biking. Heading south from the Valero station on Old Houston Road the breeze was still being my friend and I was able to maintain my 18 to 20 mph all the way to FM1314. Riding SE on FM1314 the breeze was more of a headwind and I exerted more effort to got 16 to 17 mph. I arrived at the Stripes station at 12:59 after biking 35.5 miles. This is good training for the HH100 where I try to not stop at the first 2 rest stops because of the large crowds. I pause at those two to take some pictures but that is all. The weather screen shots while I was at Stripes.

Overnight a “cool” front moved through the area dropping the temperature to 71 when I checked about 8 AM. During the ride it was in the upper 90’s but the breeze did not feel like it was coming out of an oven. Maybe the 35% humidity was part of the reason. I wasn’t perspiring as heavily when I stopped at Stripes. The paper towels were barely wet after resting my forearms on them while I snacked and drank Gatorade. I was at the Stripes station about 35 minutes before riding south on Old Sorters Road. Riding through Briar Tree the large dog that briefly chased me the last time must have been taking a siesta. I kept a watchful eye but he wasn’t nearby. From there I rode home getting there at 2:23. Home weather station when I got home.

8-1-2015 Home Weather Finish

Setting my mileage goal for August I went with August 2014’s miles: 956. I forgot I rode that many miles last year. I rode 26 out of 31 days. I am not sure I will be able to do that many this year because we are thinking of short vacation late in the month. So I will need to make some longer rides to make up for fewer days. Last year I averaged 36.7 miles per ride. today’s ride is 10 miles over that which will help.

The hot dry weather is forecast to continue for awhile. Good biking weather (for me anyway) but not so good for plants.

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