Texas Cycling News March 28th

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Alas, behold the wondrous beauty that is the Pedernales cycle track l love yet hate

Austin On A Bike        austinonabike.com


I feel like a spoiled child, one who desperately just wanted a PS3 for Christmas, yet fell down in a tantrum when he got a PS4 but not the one with the biggest hard drive and those super sweet controllers (or whatever).
So, the paint on the Pedernales Cycle Track has barely dried (yet to be painted still in some spots) and here I am, ready to hate on it. Running alongside the eastern part of Pedernales from down by the river all the way up to Seventh and then across where it becomes Webberville road and ends at Pleasant Valley, the new cycle track will soon be the great connector to …

Child hurt in bicycle-car collision in East Austin

James Barragan, American-Statesman Staff

A child was hurt in a collision between a bicycle and a car in East Austin Saturday afternoon.
Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services responded to the collision near Mason Avenue and Ledesma Road around 1 p.m. and reported one patient.
The child, who is believed to be under 10 years old, was taken to Dell ChildrenÓ³ Medical Center with potentially serious injuries, according to EMS.
No further information was available.

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Event Reminder

New Caney – Conroe – New Caney With Dogs Bike Ride

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This must be the year of the dog sprint. I had three dog sprints on today’s ride on roads I normally don’t even see a dog outside of a fence.The first sprint on FM3083 just north of Grangerland pitted me against three dogs though one was elderly and appeared to be barking instructions to the other two. I sprinted for all I was worth to get away from them, which wasn’t as much as normal. I worked in the yard before the ride and the legs weren’t fresh. Later on I altered my route to avoid riding back past this spot. It didn’t do much good though.

After a rest stop at the Valero Corner Store on FM3083 at Creighton Road I headed off on Creighton Road to FM1314. It’s been a long time since I sprinted away from a dog on this road but after the left turn a big brown and white dog spotted me from his front yard. I had a slight advantage because he had to run to the gate rather than directly toward me. Again I got away and he gave up with a lot of barking. I hoped this was the last one but not true.

Whiel Iwas resting at the Valero store I talked to the same woman from the Valero store earlier this week. She asked how many miles I was biking and I said 40 or so. Across the intersection from the Valero was a field of bluebonnets, the first ones this year.

I debated on which roads to take from FM1314 back to New Caney. I decided to not take SH 242 and stay on FM1314 to Gene Campbell Road. Thankfully I was riding with the wind on Gene Campbell because my legs were tired. About a mile past the Walmart distribution center on my right were two dogs in waiting in a abandoned driveway as I rode past and they gave chase. Somehow my legs responded and I rode away from them. At this point I was about 3 miles from Brookshire Brothers and I needed to get there.

Starting in New Caney I rode to Splendora,on to Grangerland and to the Valero. I hadn’t done this route for awhile. The ride totaled 41.70 miles. Average speed topped out at 16.4 mph but once I turned into the stiff SW wind (14 mph with 22 mph gusts) the average speed went down to 15.4 mph but I improved to 15.7 mph by the end of the ride.

Weather was ideal: 83 degrees with a clear sky. The only bad mark was the wind.

Starting weather
End of the ride

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Texas Bicycle News Digest March 27th

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Biking through downtown Houston just got easier thanks to new protected green lane

By Nikki Ndukwe        houston.culturemap.com


Attention cyclists, the first protected bike trail in Houston is finally here. Mayor Annise Parker and a slew of bike enthusiasts opened what they are calling the city’s “first protected two-way cycle track” Thursday as she discussed plans to make Houston a bike-friendly place.
The park connector is located in a busy part of downtown Houston, linking Sam Houston Park to Discovery Green over a three-quarter mile route. The two-way track, on a portion of the street painted bright green, spans 10 blocks on Lamar, offering bike riders a safer and convenient way to get across downtown.
With the new connection cyclists can access the Buffalo Bayou Trails, connecting into the greater Heights and Northside neighborhoods, and the …

Thread: Texarkana Trails?

by coke        forums.mtbr.com

… I rode Bringle Lake & Camp Preston Hunt this week.
I was told the area had a lot of rain recently. When I was looking at potential houses to buy, most of the yards were completely saturated. Lake Bringle was basically unrideable because of all the mud and water. The trail isn’t designed very well, and it appears to be the natural path for water in the area. Lots of erosion and mud. This trail might be rideable under normal conditions but I’ll have to go back to find out. If perfectly dry though, I still don’t think it’s worth the drive from out of town in its current condition.
Camp Preston Hunt was a big surprise after riding Bringle Lake. The trail is very well designed and maintained. The trail had a closure sign, but I called the number on the sign and got permission to ride. Mud was almost non existent. It’s singletrack, probably intermediate level of difficulty, and overall was a lot of fun. It’s a directional trail. Bridges are in most places water could …

Church on Barker-Clodine Getting Moved

Cycling Space city

So I rode through George Bush park today and was surprised it wasn’t flooded.  The ride started out great.  I saw two deer.  I haven’t seen deer in the park in a longtime but came across two young deer.  They were thinking about crossing the shared path but were unsure about me and ran back into the bushes.  Then on Barker-Clodine Rd I saw they are now moving the old church.  First it was the old Barker Store and now the Church.  I would love to know where they are going to and what is going in their spot.  Just across from the site the store and church were …

Bicyclist injured in Northeast El Paso crash identified

Daniel Borunda / El Paso Times

Police on Thursday released the name of a bicyclist seriously injured in a crash earlier this week in Northeast El Paso. …

Dallas bicycle officer critical but stable after collapsing on duty

By JULIE FANCHER        www.dallasnews.com

A Dallas police officer was in critical but stable condition after he collapsed on duty Friday afternoon, police said.
Officials said the bicycle officer, whose name had not been released, suffered from a …

Welcome Palo Pinto park to the family

By Dan Allen Hughes Jr., Special to the Star-Telegram

Just off of Interstate 20, some 80 miles west of Fort Worth near the town of Strawn, is the newest state park in Texas, the Palo Pinto Mountains State Park.
Once fully developed, this 4,000-acre tract, rich in wildlife and botanical diversity, will join the more than 90 parks in the state system.
The land for Palo Pinto was purchased by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department in 2011. The park will draw visitors to camp, hike, stargaze, mountain bike, fish and …

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Event Reminders

Uphill Into the Wind Hurts Biking Legs

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Another gorgeous day for biking. 80 degrees, clear blue sky but the wind was a killer at 14 mph from the NW with 23 mph gusts. I worked in the yard with my wife before leaving at 1:48. I think this may have tired my legs some because riding into the wind hurt my thigh muscles. I couldn’t get much speed and over the 32.31 miles on the Atascocita – Walden – Huffman route my average speed never got above 15.2 mph. Whenever it looked like I was going to be able to ride faster I would turn into that brutal wind. Riding into an open place the wind would try to push me back. I rode on though and got back home at 4:29 tired legs and all. My average speed overall settled at 14.7 mph. I was holding it at 15.0 mph until I had to wait to get across Kingwood Drive at the 30 mile point.

There was a section when I was riding up an incline on Atascocita Shores Drive headed to FM1960 into a headwind. My legs were hurting and the pedals became real hard to turn over but I made it. that was 15 miles into the ride just before I rode across Lake Houston on FM1960 headed to Huffman. Over the lake there was no protection from that wind but going east it was coming from my left rear quarter. Later on the way back home I struggled on the same section going west. Sometimes when the traffic passed me on the left I got a reprieve from the wind with the draft from the cars sucking the wind away for a few seconds. I could tell whenever I was behind houses or thick trees too.

It was warm but I chose to wear a long sleeve jersey and shorts in case the wind was chilly which it was coming from the NW after the front from yesterday. Also I didn’t feel like spraying sunscreen on my arms.

Finally my mileage is starting to accumulate: 133.03 this week, 433.28 for March and 868 for the year. Not as much as I was planning on but considering the weather I am gaining.

The weather when I got home.

Weather at the end of the ride (note the wind)

Weather at the end of the ride (note the wind)

You can see the forecast for Saturday is great for biking. I saw one other biker today when I was a little over a mile from the end of the ride on Sandy Forks Drive.

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