Texas Bicycling News Digest May 4th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Neilson Devo

Greater Houston Off-Road Biking Association (GHORBA)


Congrats to Devo racer David Henley taking his first win at Double Lake yesterday! This guy is crazy strong and super fast, so I’m not surprised to see him on that top step! I think he will be mixing it up in Cat. 2 soon!

Sarah Jane, Jessica Haynes and Linda Jordaan like this.

Big Ring Challenge 2015 Photos

www.thelightco.us


We were pretty excited to be at GHORBA’s Big Ring Challenge this year; we attended last year as spectators, and the trail is beautiful. The riders seemed to be in great spirits, lots of laughs and sweet wheelies. We were most excited to see the introduction of the Fat Tire category, something we …

Bike to UT Day promotes bicycle safety and use on campus

By Caleb Wong        www.dailytexanonline.com


Preston Glace, radio-televison-film freshman and first-year representative of Texas Cycling, helps fix bikes during the annual Bike to UT event Friday afternoon.
Campus organizations and students filled Speedway Plaza on Friday for Bike to UT Day, an event for promoting bicycle safety and appreciation on ,,,

The 2015 Tour Du Rouge

by Sean Valant        www.hostgator.com


… For those who aren’t familiar, the Tour du Rouge is a 533 mile bicycle ride, from Houston to New Orleans, benefiting The American Red Cross, which provides valuable services to our friends and neighbors in the Gulf Coast region and beyond. …

Achieved My 2nd Bicycling Goal

Pit’s Fritztown News        pitsfritztownnews.wordpress.com

I wouldn’t have thought I could do it that soon, but yesterday I managed to do the “Twilight Twenty” – [follow that local route here] – on my road bike. Admittedly, I had more of a “mountain” than a “road” gear range [52/39 for the chain rings and  14-16-18-21-24-28 for the rear cassette, and it is also not too exerting a route [22.64 miles, 1,415 feet of total ascent, 9% maximum grade], but still, as I …

2015 GHORBA Big Ring Challenge Coldspring, TX Results

www.usacycling.org

XC Women 1-10 Cat3
XC Men 1-10 Cat3
XC Men 11-12 Cat3
XC Women 11-12 Cat3
XC Men 13-14 Cat3
XC Men 15-18 Cat3
XC Women 15-18 Cat3
XC Women 19-29 Cat3
XC Men 19-29 Cat3
XC Men 30-39 Cat3
XC Women 30-39 Cat3
XC Men 40-49 Cat3
XC Women 40-99 Cat3
XC Men 50-99 Cat3
XC Women 19-99 FatBike
XC Men 19-99 FatBike
XC Men 19-99 FatBike Mid
XC Men 15-18 Cat2
XC Men 19-29 Cat2
XC Women 19-29 Cat2
XC Men 19-99 SS2/3
XC Men 30-34 Cat2
XC Women 30-39 Cat2
XC Women 40-99 Cat2
XC Men 40-44 Cat2
XC Men 45-49 Cat2
XC Men 50-99 Cat2
XC Men 35-39 Cat2
XC Men 19-29 Cat1
XC Women 19-39 Cat1
XC Women 19-99 Pro/C1
XC Men 19-99 Pro/C1
XC Men 30-39 Cat1
XC Men 40-49 Cat1
XC Women 40-49 Cat1
XC Men 50-59 Cat1
XC Women 50-99 Cat1
XC Men 60-99 Cat1
XC Men 15-18 Cat1
XC Men 19-99 SSOpen
XC Women 19-99 SSOpen

Bike to Work Day Energizer Stations

bikeabledallas.com

Here’s the latest list of hosted Energizer Stations for Bike to Work Day: …

Celebrate bicycling benefits at Bike Fest on May 9

www.irvingchamber.com


Irving is celebrating Bike to Work Week, May 11–15, by hosting the fifth annual Bicycle Fest:
10 a.m. to 2 p.m., May 9, 2015
221 E. Irving Blvd., (northwest corner of Irving Boulevard and Delaware Street)
Download the flier
Bicycle Fest focuses on providing a free opportunity for event attendees to learn more about bicycling in and around the Irving area, including general bicycling information, safe routes for commuter bicycling, basic …

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Event Reminders

Stuck At Huffman Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

It was July 2014 the last time I rode the “New Caney – FM1485 E – Huffman” route. I shortened it about 5 miles from the usual ride coming in at 39.63 miles. I used some different streets to get out of Kingwood which probably was the reason for most of the difference. I rode past the spot where the dog chased me on FM1485 east of the San Jacinto river but he wasn’t there today which is okay.

The weather was ideal for biking: 87 degrees, scattered clouds with a strong wind. When I left home at 11:29 the IAH weather station had a SE wind at 14 mph with 20 mph gusts. By the time I got back home at 2:28 the dropped a little from the ESE at 9 mph with 18 mph gusts. The hardest part of the route was going east on FM1485 and then south on FM2100. The headwind required extra effort. My average speed fluctuated on those roads around 15.6 mph but I was able to hold it there and when I finally got a tailwind from Huffman to home I upped it 16.0 mph and held it there until I got into Kingwood where the residential streets and stops dragged it down to 15.6 mph at the end of the ride.

I was glad I wore a long sleeve jersey for a couple of reasons. There is a section of FM1485 south of the Huffman – Cleveland Road intersection where there is no shoulder and the road has some rough places in it. The florescent orange jersey made me highly visible I think and the traffic gave me plenty of room when the few cars passed. The long sleeves meant no sunscreen on my arms and warm when riding in the shade.

At the 27.7 mile point I made it to the Huffman Chevron for a rest stop. I got a Powerade drink and ate the snacks I brought with me. I sat down at my usual spot and leaned back against the gas pump canopy post. Unbeknownst to me they painted the canopy posts with aluminum paint which wasn’t completely dry. For some reason I started to lean forward and couldn’t . I was stuck to the post with my jersey. With some extra effort I finally got loose. I couldn’t see my back but I guessed the sticky spot was about 10″ in diameter. I moved over to the store front where there was a sign. No paint there but the sticky paint on my jersey grabbed the plastic sign promising $.30 per gal back if you sign up for a Chevron credit card. I wasn’t as stuck as the post but I didn’t have to worry about falling over. When I got home I showed my wife and when I took the jersey off the spot was solid paint with some cracks in it about 10″ in diameter. I tried washing the paint off with not much success. Maybe the washing machine will do better. By the way, there were no wet paint signs. I showed my jersey back to one of the clerks and she chuckled.

From Huffman to home the wind was at my back and I kept a good pace. The week is off to a good start biking wise.

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Texas Bicycling News Digest May 3rd

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Fixed Touring


Fixed Touring is having a great time at the 2015 El Clasico bike race. The first stage was a 48 mile road race from El Paso to La Cruces. The smooth roads and mountain views made for a memorable day on the bike with club members talking first and second.

Friday Night Beginner Ride – Urban ride then Twisted Root Burgers

Friday, May 15, 2015, 5:30 PM

Beverly S. Sheffield Northwest District Park
7000 Ardath St. Austin, TX

15 Mountain Bikers Went

Hey folks,Changing it up this week as the trails will not be passable, much less ride able.  Although this will be a mountainbike oriented ride, any bike will do.  I plan to ride some stairs, hills and curbs as we can find them.  As always this will be a beginner friendly ride, so plan between 5 and 10 miles as pace will dictate distance.Pace is …

Check out this Meetup →

Wounded Warriors: The W100K

by Bob Daemmrich        www.texastribune.org


Every spring, former President George W. Bush hosts a 100-kilometer mountain bike ride for wounded veterans at his Prairie Chapel Ranch ranch near Crawford. Photographer Bob Daemmrich was there Friday and offers this slideshow. …

They’re Paving Paradise

Bike Noob

Okay, that’s perhaps a bit of an overstatement. Austin is not a biking paradise, regardless of what you’ve heard.
But the reason has to do with the point of this post. The city has gotten too big, too fast. We’re now at about 843,000, which makes us the 11th-largest city in the United States. The roads I enjoyed biking on when I took up the sport eight years ago are not as inviting as they once were.
Just on Sunday’s ride, I made a jaunt out to the southeastern part of the city, where it starts becoming rural — or, at least, semi-rural. It used to be, that once you got east of Interstate 35, buildings spread out …

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Tweets

https://twitter.com/BBQ44/status/594966365338865666

https://twitter.com/BikeMS_DFW/status/594908875087679488

https://twitter.com/BikeMS_DFW/status/594833014233792512

Event Reminders

Car Show Moves Me to the North

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Today’s ride was a great one to wrap up the week. I decided to not ride to Huffman because there was a car show in Kingwood Town Center and the traffic and street closures make it difficult. The route I did ride was the “Oakhurst – Cumberland – Valley Ranch” one. This route is inside the Grand Parkway construction road cutoffs on FM1314 west and Community Drive on US59 north. I had an opportunity to check on the FM1314 overpass and it is still in need of the beams over FM1314.

The weather was good: 87 degrees, partly cloudy to mostly cloudy sky and a 12 mph SSE wind. The wind was not so much of a problem today. Over the 31.53 mile route I averaged 15.4 mph with 15.6 mph the maximum average speed. No dogs again today. I don’t miss them.

Early in the ride when I was going through South Woodland Hills in Kingwood I caught up with another bicyclist. I was wearing my Texbiker.net jersey and he said he like my blog and reads it regularly. Sadly I did not ask him his name before our routes separated. Later just before I got home there was another biker in front of me on a short section of the green belt trail and it looked like the same guy but I didn’t get close enough to ask.

Since I aired up the tires it seems like I can hold a higher speed and my average speeds are higher too. Today’s route does have some long sections where I can ride without stops. This helps a lot too. Strava said I had the 3rd fastest time on the Kingwood PL Dr. (1:58) segment.

Weekend traffic includes many people towing their toys: boats, 4-wheelers and RV’s. I don’t remember seeing any bikes though. Traffic on the ride was not too bad with the wide shoulders on the busiest roads giving me room to ride.

Weather for Monday looks great for biking: 84 degrees and clear. Tuesday not so good: rain.

Recap:

  • 196.75 miles this week
  • 111.09 miles so far in May (compared to 266 miles May 2014)
  • 1780 miles year to date
Weather in Porter during the ride

Weather in Porter during the ride

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