Rained During the Night but Streets Dry Quick

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When I left for church this morning at 8:30 I wasn’t sure I would get to bike today. It rain 1.44″ during the night at my house and the sky was still dark and sprinkling as I drove to Humble. By the time I got back home about 11:15 the rain had left and the streets were dry except for an occasional puddle near the curb. I got ready to ride and left home at “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route. The sky wasn’t completely blue but the clouds allowed the sun through. It wasn’t as hot as yesterday at 88 to 91 during the ride. The humidity was another matter though, 66% when I got home at 2:50. The dark clouds were starting to gather again and I was glad to be home with getting caught in the rain.

With 91 miles and three possible biking days left to reach my June goal of 968 miles it was important to ride today. The route totaled 31.41 miles almost 59 miles to go. With the weather forecast including some rain I may have to be creative to reach my goal. I plan on riding 43+ miles on Monday if the weather cooperates. I rode 250 miles this week which I think is the most I have ever done in one week.

One other biker was out along my route at the Old Atascocita Road and Fairlake Drive intersection. He was going west while i was going east.

Yesterday I saw a dead doe deer along side southbound W. Lake Houston Parkway in the grass. It probably was hit by a car or truck. Today the turkey vultures were crowded around the body doing their work.

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Texas Bicycling Digest June 27th

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2015 State TT Championships Race Report

By Kat Hunter        austintriathlonstore.blogspot.com


I’ve always wanted to be more “put together.” I want to have good hair. I want to have a spotless, organized house, one that doesn’t have spaghetti sauce and bike grease on the walls. I want to cook healthier meals and read more books. I want my toddler to say “Please” and “Thank you” as regularly as he screams “NO!” I want my writing career to really take off, so much so that editors will respond to every email and pitch instead of one out of ten. I want all these things very much, and many more.
It all seems so easy, looking at what other people have and you don’t. It’s taken me 31 years to realize the truth behind that obvious lie—whatever you do, if you’re going to do it well, it takes a lot of energy. For the last 10 years or so, my workout is what I get done during the day, come hell, high water, or a bad case of the sniffles. First it was running, then briefly triathlon, and finally my ongoing, roller coaster love affair with bike racing. In the beginning I cultivated the obsession with sport to lose weight (in college I’d packed on 20+ lbs), but later my …

Rotary riders fill streets, raise funds for charity

By Mike Sackett Daily Light Correspondent        www.waxahachietx.com


More than 1,000 bicycle riders from all parts of Texas rolled off early Saturday morning for the Waxahachie Rotary Club’s 27th annual Cow Creek Country Classic bike ride.
Event organizers offered cyclists a choice of routes ranging in distances from 21 miles to 98 miles, winding along farm-to-market and county roads throughout Ellis County, for a wide range of experience levels.
“This year we made some route changes to keep the cyclists away from the highways and …

New Commute, The Good, Bad, & Ugly

Cycling Space City

I’m now commuting from Katy to an office building on the North I-10 frontage road and Kirkwood.  It’s 19.5 miles each way and in many ways encompasses the best and worst of bike commuting in Houston.  With the shared use paths on the Bayous and through George Bush & Terry Hershey parks roughly 18 of the 19.5 mile commute is car free and safe as can be.  It’s a scenic ride where I’ve seen deer, armadillo, rabbits, squirrels, alligators, coyotes, opossum, snakes, cygnets, swans, vultures, hawks, ducks, etc.  18 really great commuting miles. …

Family Ride: PJ’s First big Bicycle Adventure

by Matthew        bike4heck.com


Health issues postponed the next cycling adventure after PJ’s first ride:
Shortly after PJ’s first ride on the bicycle, he started having an ear infection. Here in Texas, this spring has had its record breaking moments. I’m sure you heard about our floods in the news. The seasonal allergies are also at a 20 year high. So, I guess it’s biology at work that my son would get the same allergies as his Mommy and Daddy. For about 5 weeks, PJ was visiting the pediatrician once a week for ear infections, gooey eyes, congestion etc. The good news is nothing was serious, just a minor issue then a follow up a week later. I wish doctors offered a card that was …

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Walking Around A Building Drops Average Speed

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I thought today’s ride was going to be over 50 miles but it ended up at 45.15 miles. I think I looked at a route that goes to Crosby and returns home through Summerwood. I rode the “Kingwood – Crosby – Kingwood” route extending the Kingwood – Hare Cook – Kingwood from a week ago. That one was 43.54 miles not quite getting south enough to be in Crosby.

Starting slightly earlier than normal (9:47) and getting home before 2:00 (1:47) I saw 6 other bicyclists along the route, all before the 18 mile point. The first one was at the west end of the FM1960 causeway over Lake Houston. The rest came as I rode toward Crosby and they biked the opposite direction.

The weather was hot but while I was moving the wind kept the sweat somewhat dried up. After yesterday’s rain the humidity bumped up to 57%. I perspired freely during the ride. The wrist bands continue to keep most of the sweat away from my gloves. The past few rides I wore two headbands to combat the sweat but today I only wore one. It didn’t seem to be worse than the two. I also wore a new pair of shorts. I am trying a new (to me) model from Bellwether, the Newton. The padding is good but the inseam is about a 1/2″ shorter than I prefer. My preferred shorts are the Bellwether Forma. The Forma are a compression type short with a one piece pad and the inseam length is where I want it to be. I also wear Voler Signature shorts. The pad is not quite as heavy as the Forma but the inseam matches the Forma. Biking almost every day I use 6 different pair of shorts to rotate each ride. My wife says I have biking clothes than regular clothes. I say it is about even. Based on today’s ride I will keep the Newton shorts in the rotation but I will not buy any more pairs. I will phase in new pairs of Forma shorts to replace older pairs that have rubbed the left side of the saddle bag Velcro strap below the saddle. This wears away the fabric after awhile.

The Forma shorts are hard to find. Nashbar.com had them on sale 2 weeks ago and I bought 4 pair.

Average speed was doing good up to 24.5 miles into the ride. I stopped at the county park in Crosby to rest and get some water. I made the mistake of walking twice around the building by the ball field rolling my bike and this dropped my average speed from 15.6 mph to 15.1 mph when I started riding again. Up to that point the wind had been in my favor allowing me to ride at a good pace. The ride from the park to Huffman I battled the wind all the way and could not get my legs to pedal fast enough to improve my average speed. Stopping in Huffman for a break I hoped my legs would do better riding west on FM1960 into the 6 mph west wind but they were tired. Even though I turned to the north at Atascocita Shores Drive and the wind was not a headwind I still could recover the lost average speed. Next time I will not walk around the building with my bike.

I am making progress on reaching my 968 mile goal for June. With today’s ride I am at 877.54 miles, leaving 91 miles to go. The weather forecast for Sunday and Monday shows a 50% chance of rain late afternoon to evening. I will need to ride earlier to avoid that. Tuesday is much worse with 70% to 90% rain from 8AM to 6PM. Maybe these will change as it gets closer. I have no problem when it rains during the night. This week I have biked 218.62 miles. I don’t see any weather issue to stop me from biking tomorrow (Sunday) to help get closer to the goal. It will be after church.

Huffman weather during the stop

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Texas Bicycling News Digest June 26th

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Junior Category Road Races Finish in Dramatic Fashion

www.usacycling.org


Megan Jastrab (Apple Valley, CA/Southern California Velo) won the junior women 13-14 race on the line on Thursday, offering the closest sprint finish in the past two days thus far. In contrasts, Lucas Bourgoyne (Houston, TX/Shama Cycles) won the junior men 13-14 on a solo breakaway that formed after two of the five scheduled laps around a slightly rolling 5-kilometer course that surrounded Serene Lakes in Soda Springs, CA.
Young Racers With Big Hearts

The peloton of the junior women 13-14 race stayed together for nearly all five laps, as riders hesitated to attack. The uphill finish to the line would be the deciding factor of the race, as Jastrab launched her attacking sprint and maintained her effort to put the Stars-and-Stripes on her back. Katie Clouse (Park City, UT) and Jane Tullis(Rome, GA/Frazier Cycling) rounded out …

#crossisboss : Meet Luke Fleming

by Anne Clarrissimeaux        texasbikeracing.com


A Cross Racer, Born and Bred Right Here in Texas. Meet Luke Fleming.
The summer heat has finally arrived in Texas. Yet, in less than 90 days, cyclocross season begins anew. With a cross-season countdown clock on the TBR site and rumors of teams getting their cross-specific kits ready and racers already getting a jump on cross-training for the CX season, it seems as though cross is, indeed, becoming boss in Texas.
As road-racing season enters its hot summer slowdown, the thoughts of many racers throughout the Lone Star State turn to cross. But for some racers, cross is a year-round focus. Meet 16-year-old Luke Fleming of Sugar Cycles Racing who’s coming up as a cross racer more than anything else. He and Rob …

USA Cycling Announces Spring 2015 Academic All-Star Class

www.usacycling.org

USA Cycling is pleased to announce the spring class of Collegiate Academic All-Stars! The Spring 2015 class of riders is composed of 60 riders from 17 different schools. All collegiate cyclists face the challenge of balancing school while racing, and the Academic All-Star program seeks to recognize those that go above and beyond by achieving top grades in the classroom while also competing at USA Cycling Collegiate National Championships.
Many of the riders recognized in this year’s class not only competed at the 2015 USA Cycling Collegiate Road National Championships, but also finished highly in the individual events with riders such as …
Luke Allen – Midwestern State University
Cameron Lowery – Midwestern State University
Hannah Ross – Midwestern State University

HJC, Wilson and Downeast now shipping Reid Cycles

by BRAIN Staff        www.bicycleretailer.com

DALLAS (BRAIN) — Hans Johnsen Company, Wilson Bicycle Sales, and Downeast Bicycle Specialists are now shipping bikes from Reid Cycles, a British brand offering bikes that retail for between $280 and $535.
Reid has signed an exclusive U.S. distribution agreement with Hans Johnsen, which owns Wilson and Downeast.
“We have a separate website for our international business, www.reidbikes.com, which has links to retailers and also includes distributor information,” said Rob Akam, the head of Reid’s U.K. office. “We’ve only been doing international distribution for 10 months or so and it’s going quite well. The biggest challenge has been …

Central grad raising funds for charity ride for cancer

by Bill Cullins        www.gosanangelo.com

Josh Holtkort, a 2012 graduate of Central High School and current Mechanical Engineering major at the University of Texas, will be joining 80 other UT students in May of 2016 to complete a 70 day, 4,500 mile charity bike ride from Austin, Texas to Anchorage, Alaska.
Full story available to subscribers only.

A Happy Hour Rockin’ The Indian Ghosts Bike Ride In Arlington’s Interlochen

by Durango Texas        durangotexas.blogspot.com


Can you see the Indian Ghosts sitting on the supposedly empty bench, looking out over the land on which their village was built a long long time ago?
What with there being Indian Ghosts sitting on a bench this would seem to indicate my handlebars are in …

BikeHouston chair Regina Garcia about the Houston Bike Plan

www.bikehouston.org


Thursday June 25th BikeHouston chair Regina Garcia and City of Houston Planning department planning leader Cathy Halka joined KPFT Open Journal to talk about the upcoming Houston Bike Plan.

Transit Oriented Developments: Bikable, Walkable Cities or an Economic Double Standard?

by Johnny Guzman        bicyclepointofview.blogspot.com


Discussing the modern effects of mixed used zoning, both good and bad
As a former resident of the Las Colinas/Greater Dallas area, I am a huge fan of Transit Oriented Developments and mixed used zoning. When I lived in the area, I could ride my bike to the library, the post office, the local pizza shop and even the grocery store. Las Colinas has a 10 mile bicycle trail connecting it to the neighboring suburb of Valley Ranch. Valley Ranch is a township of the city of Irving, with an extensive trail and canal system running through it’s core. Back in 2007 it was the place to be if you were a twenty-something, young, single person or a …

Reimers 150% good to go

by Bamwa        www.bikemojo.com

Except for some tall grass and this fatty

Rolled the two black loops and the “back 9”. Grass is pretty tall is the only thing. Didn’t want to ride “snakefinder” so I hung back. Didn’t help as I wizzed 2″ from the nose of this guy.
Lead rider didn’t even ..

Walnut Creek Update – 6/25/15

by Austin Bike        www.bikemojo.com

Went out there today to explore.
The crossing by the maintenance shack is green, I walked it but I could see someone easily going down hard.
Point six is hosed and closed because of the construction.
At the main creek crossing the water was moving too fast for me to cross. Not crazy fast, but seeing the other rocks in water and not being able to adequately judge the depth made me highly question the logic of trying to see what the back side was like.
Windy loop was rideable but there are a few puddles you will need to …

ARR Free Beginners Skills Clinic

Sunday, Jul 5, 2015, 8:30 AM

Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park
12138 North Lamar Boulevard Austin, TX

30 Mountain Bikers Went

Austin Ridge Riders Free Beginners Skills ClinicJoin ARR Sunday morning, July 5, at Walnut Creek Park for a free beginner skills clinic led by Aric Meyer. Arrive early enough to prepare yourself and your bike, the clinic starts promptly at 8:30am.In this month’s clinic Aric will cover the basics of: ratcheting, tight turns, and if time permits: s…

Check out this Meetup →

Summer Crit Cycling Series to be Held at the Houston Sports Park

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HOUSTON, TX (June 24, 2015)  – Unique Cycle Series Coming This July! The Houston Sports Park will host Houston’s inaugural cycle race series, open to beginner and intermediate cyclists, on Sunday, July 5th.  Races categories are open to boys, girls, women and men ranging in experience from beginner to intermediate levels. Prizes will be awarded to top racers in each category.
The Summer Crit series will take place on …

Nolanville PD puts new bike patrol program into rotation

Rachael Riley | Herald staff writer        kdhnews.com


NOLANVILLE — Nolanville Police Department is rolling out with a new program.
Just two weeks ago, residents saw Police Chief Gary Kent was not above hopping on a bicycle to set the standard for the department’s new bike patrol.
“The inaugural day that I went out, the looks and the comments were priceless — people were in disbelief or amazed that this day and …

Man Reportedly Assaulted While Biking In Austin

www.kaaltv.com

(ABC 6 News) — Austin police are investigating an assault and possible robbery that happened Wednesday evening.
Authorities say a man was biking near 3rd Avenue and 5th Street NW when a group of four to five men stopped him.
The group allegedly knocked him off his bike and began to kick and punch him, with one person grabbing the man around …

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