Texas Bicycling News June 28th

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HPD officers pay respects to S.C. shooting victims during ride

www.khou.com


CHARLESTON, S.C. — During their 2,200-mile trek to New York City, members of the HPD Bicycle Relay Team stopped in Charleston, S.C., to pay their respects to the nine Bible study members who were killed during June 17’s tragic shooting.
Members stopped to pray at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church and …

Man Struck, Killed After Running Light On Bike At Local Intersection

www.kwtx.com

KILLEEN (June 27, 2015) Michael David Carrasco, 26, who was identified as a Fort Hood soldier, died at a local hospital Saturday after a car struck him as he rode his bicycle through a red light at a Killeen intersection.
The accident happened at around 12:50 a.m. Saturday at the intersection of Veteran’s Memorial Boulevard and W.S. Young Drive.
Carrasco was headed south on W.S. Young when he failed to stop at the  …

Ride Like A Girl – Lakeway City Park

Monday, Jul 6, 2015, 6:00 PM

Lakeway City Park
502 Hurst Creek Road Lakeway, TX

16 Mountain Bikers Went

Based on the theory that women learn new skills differently from men, these rides are designated as “for women only”.The concept is simple:  the “girls” meet at local bike trails for group rides and mountain biking skills instruction.  Riders break into small groups based on ability and then hit the trail.  After the ride, the ladies regroup for a…

Check out this Meetup →

Handlebar Cyclery Group Ride – 37 Miles in Fulshear

Saturday, Jul 4, 2015, 7:00 AM

Handlebar Cyclery
26440 Fm 1093 Rd Ste A100 Richmond, TX

3 SH!FT starters Went

Let’s go meet up with Handlebar Cyclery. It’s a great shop right on the edge of Houston’s best cycling locale. They have a few different speeds. I think most of us (the usual group that actually shows up lol) will be fine in the B Group… if they stay at the posted speed. If anyone wants to jump on with the faster group they are welcome to. We can…

Check out this Meetup →

Ride Like A Girl – Skills Clinic @ City Park

Monday, Jul 13, 2015, 6:00 PM

City Park – Emma Long Motorcycle Trails
7548 Oak Shores Dr Austin, TX

16 Mountain Bikers Went

Based on the theory that women learn new skills differently from men, these rides are designated as “for women only”.The concept is simple:  the “girls” meet at local bike trails for group rides and mountain biking skills instruction.  Riders break into small groups based on ability and then hit the trail.  After the ride, the ladies regroup for a…

Check out this Meetup →

No Indian Ghosts Haunting Arlington’s Village Creek On This Last Sunday Of June

by Durango Texas        durangotexas.blogspot.com


My handlebars went to Arlington this last Sunday of June to the Village Creek Natural Historical Area.
What the handlebars are looking at is the scourged ground left behind when Village Creek ceased being in …

Ride Like A Girl – BCGB 360 Entrance

Monday, Jul 20, 2015, 6:00 PM

Barton Creek Greenbelt – 360 Access
3755 S Capital of Texas Hwy. Austin, TX

23 Mountain Bikers Went

Based on the theory that women learn new skills differently from men, these rides are designated as “for women only”.The concept is simple:  the “girls” meet at local bike trails for group rides and mountain biking skills instruction.  Riders break into small groups based on ability and then hit the trail.  After the ride, the ladies regroup for a…

Check out this Meetup →

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Tweets About Texas Bicycling

https://twitter.com/AnnaMegan/status/615263312415203328

https://twitter.com/grandpajerald/status/615288487990816768

https://twitter.com/ElevateCycling/status/615212292083421184

Texas Bicycling Upcoming Event Reminders

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 …

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Tweets About Texas Bicycling

https://twitter.com/bmalatt/status/614855833361321984

Texas Bicycling Upcoming Event Reminder

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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