Texas Bicycling News Roundup January 28th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Complete Streets – Safer, Efficient, Equitable

BikeHouston


Complete Streets is a powerful concept that has the potential to be transformative for Houston. It is a street building and design philosophy that seeks to make the streets of Houston safer for all users, regardless of age, ability, or mode of transport. A successfully implemented Complete Streets policy in Houston will result in schools, parks, libraries, museums, and businesses connected to residents through transit, sidewalks, bikeways, and cars. Complete streets do not equate to expensive streets but instead lead to efficient use of resources to build infrastructure that creates a …

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

Tuesday, Feb 3, 2015, 6:15 PM

15200 Memorial Dr
15200 Memorial Dr Houston, Te

1 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 →

This Week’s Activities

Fort Worth Bicycling association

Texas Chainring Massacre
Saturday, January 31, 2015 9:00 am

Bubba Quixote’s Gravel Attack
Saturday, January 31, 2015 9:00 am
Thurber New York Hill Restuarant

Whiskey Flats
Saturday, January 31, 2015 9:00 am
Texaco @ Whiskey Flats

Super Bowl Ride
Sunday, February 1, 2015 8:00 am
The Fort Worth Intermodal Transportation Center

Monthly FWBA Meeting
Monday, February 2, 2015 7:00 pm
Fort Worth: UNTHSC

The Rusty Chain Gang Ramble
Tuesday, February 3, 2015 9:00 am
Ft Worth: Christ Lutheran Church

Cyclocross Nationals in Austin Serves as a Lesson for 2016

by Karen Brooks Harper        rootsrated.com


Austin gives Asheville, N.C. some helpful tips for the next year’s nationals
The City of Austin and the national cycling community are still trying to make sense of the disastrous finale to the cyclocross championships that happened here earlier this January. Foul weather nearly canceled the finish, and it touched off a blame game that may never be resolved. Many Austin cyclists love cyclocross, so the entire community was thrilled that Austin was hosting the national competition—that is, until the whole event got stuck.
But 1,100 miles to the east, on a picturesque private estate in beautiful …

Dallas will soon, for the first time, have reliable data on hike-and-bike trail usage

by Tom Benning        cityhallblog.dallasnews.com


The Dallas Park and Recreation Department will soon – for the first time – have reliable data on how many people are using the city’s growing hike-and-bike trail system.
The City Council on Wednesday approved a $266,000 contract to install and operate 25 electronic people counters along four major paths: the Katy Trail, the Northaven Trail, the trail around White Rock Lake and one in Kiest Park.
The counters, set to be installed this spring, will eventually be used at other trails, parks and …

The Wheels Keep Spinning for the Last of Dallas’ Bike Messengers

By Amy Silverstein        blogs.dallasobserver.com


In the elevator of a sleek Dallas office building indistinguishable from any other downtown or uptown, an elderly businesswoman with a head of teased blond hair stares at Christina Jones. Dressed in jeans, with her hair pulled back in a no-frills ponytail and a bicycle helmet in hand, Jones looks like an athlete who took a wrong turn into the stuffy corporate building. “Are y’all on bikes?” the woman asks. Jones has been riding around in the misty cold since 8 a.m., first commuting to get her morning coffee and then making 13 stops in a three-hour stretch. The rides started relatively short, a mile or less, but long elevator trips, searches for the …

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Tweets

https://twitter.com/GWCChuck/status/560509967116275713

https://twitter.com/GWCChuck/status/560508965218701312

Grand Parkway Construction Eats Bike Route

Texbiker.net Posted on by

With the good ride yesterday I decided to ride north on the “New Caney – Gene Campbell Road” route which was a little longer at 35.48 miles. Body wise the only problem I had was saddle soreness from a lack of riding. I spent more time standing up pedaling than usual to offset that some. I wore the same amount of clothes today: shorts, long sleeve jersey and a jacket. It was 77 degrees at my home weather station when I got back at 2:55. The blue sky stayed around from yesterday but the wind went from calm to 15 mph from the SE. I could tell the wind was higher but I didn’t realize how much until I got home.

To show how warm it was I noticed my jacket had salt spots on it when I stopped at the Stripes station on FM1314. Sitting there I watched the flag in the middle of of Valley Ranch Parkway stretched out from the southeast wind.

I kept the pace low today to minimize the coughing. The cough is getting better but it is not gone. I got my average speed up to 14.9 mph until I turned from Gene Campbell Road going east on FM1314. The wind provided plenty resistance and the average speed dropped from the 14.9 mph to 14.4 mph when I finished the ride.

Sadly I will not be able to ride this route for awhile. The Grand Parkway construction has moved to FM1314 with an overpass being built. In the center of FM1314 they building a pier and moved the traffic to the north side of FM1314 restricting the traffic to one lane each direction. There are concrete traffic barriers on the east bound lane for about 200 yards with no shoulder. Fortunately traffic was cooperative when I made the dash through the barrier section. This is west of Cumberland Parkway.

As I was nearing home (in the last mile) I spotted a biker shadow coming up on my left. It was a biker I usually see at the Huffman Chevron. He was getting started as I was almost finished. We talked until I had to turn left. He said he biked 5000 miles last year and so far was 350+ miles for January. I told him I was way short of that number and my 330 mile goal for January. If today is the last January biking day my miles will be 141.51, about 189 short of my goal.

The beautiful weather could hang around one more day but I will probably be able to bike tomorrow. Friday the weather gets ugly again.

RideWithGPS map, metrics and charts.

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Texas Bicycling News Digest January 27th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Innovation, The VIA Way: Here Comes The Bike Lid

By Eileen Pace        tpr.org

Some San Antonio commuters load their bikes onto VIA bus racks. But now, if they don’t need their bikes at the other end, there’s an option — VIA’s new ‘Bike Lids.’
Here at San Antonio’s Medical Center Transit Station, VIA’s Abigail Rodriguez shows off the newest pilot program for commuters who ride their bikes to the bus stop but don’t want to take them to work.
Perhaps there’s no place at work to store a bicycle. Or perhaps the bus drops the rider off so close to their destination that the bike won’t be needed. Enter the Bike Lid, covered parking for your bike. You can’t …

Riding the Anthills Bike Trails in Terry Hershey Park, Houston, TX

myglobaladventure.com

https://www.youtube.com/watch?x-yt-cl=84838260&x-yt-ts=1422327029&v=agGd1DA_Bg0&feature=player_embedded
Riding the anthills bike trails in Houston, TX on June 29,2013. I rode west from Wilcrest Drive to Hwy 6, and back, a total of 11 miles. You don’t see the really technical parts of the trail because I either avoided them or walked my …

Lick Creek Hike and Bike Trail

www.texasbids.net

Bid Date & Time: 2/05/15 2:00 PM
Prebid: 01/29/15 2:00
Est. Low Value: $3,396,209
Est. High Value: $3,396,209
Project consists of a five (5) mile hike and bike trail. Work includes: demolition of existing 4′ walks; tree protection; irrigation system salvage; clearing and grubbing for trail alignment (30′ trail corridor); erosion control; fence removal; paving (gravel) removal; grading; concrete curb & gutter; retaining wall; concrete drainage culvert (3’x5′); landscape boulders; trailhead concrete paving (5″ thick concrete w/ 6″ lime base and excavation); trailhead limestone paving; trailhead bicycle rack; trailhead trash receptacle; trailhead informative signage; trailhead fence; precast concrete pavers; pedestrian crosswalk …

http://www.meetup.com/Burleson-Area-Recreational-Cyclists/

Brownsville By Bike – New Repair Stations & Bike Racks

BikeTexas


It’s getting easier all the time to roll around Brownsville–the city is installing bike repair stations, bike corrals, and new bike racks.
At the last CycloBia Brownsville in December, over 400 people stopped by BikeTexas tent to learn how to use the new bike racks and repair stations. BikeTexas has worked closely with Brownsville city staff to get these new …

Craddock heading home after nasty TDU crash

By Andrew Hood        velonews.competitor.com


Lawson Craddock (Giant-Alpecin) is heading home following three nights in an Australian hospital recovering from a harrowing crash in stage 4 at the Santos Tour Down Under.
The 22-year-old Texan crashed heavily Friday in the early kilometers of the stage, just as the peloton was picking up speed and coming over some rollers as the day’s main breakaway was forming.
In a freak accident, Craddock evidently punctured his front tire, then bounded into a drainage ditch, with his front wheel collapsing, sending him catapulting over his handlebars. One rider who saw the crash said, “It …

Slow Intermediate Ride @ Walnut Creek 4:00 PM Let’s do this!!!

Thursday, Jan 29, 2015, 4:00 PM

Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park
12138 North Lamar Boulevard Austin, TX

7 Mountain Bikers Went

This is a non-official ride, just looking for folks who want to ride.This will be a slow intermediate ride but we can split into more groups, basic or advanced if others are willing to lead also.Meet in the parking lot by the swimming pool. The route will make it easy for anyone to get back to the parking lot.   Helmets are required along with a …

Check out this Meetup →

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Tweets

https://twitter.com/GWCChuck/status/560126999101194240

https://twitter.com/GWCChuck/status/560078744724189184

Sickness and Weather Dealt a Blow to My Bike Riding

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Since my last ride on the 18th I have suffered fever, chills, coughing, bronchitis, antibiotic medicine  and cold weather. All of this has kept me off my bike needless to say. I am starting to recover and went for a ride today to test my condition. Coughing from time to time meant my bronchitis is not over yet but I can tolerate. January has not been kind to me and my wife this year. Whatever I had she had it times two.

Anticipating today’s great weather yesterday I worked my the Stradalli RP-14 road bike. I waxed the chain and installed a new 34T front chainring. With over 5400 miles on the bike/chain ring I figured the 34T ring must be worn. It wasn’t drastic but the valleys between the teeth looked wider than the new one. I previously replaced the rear cassette and chain. I want to keep the drive train components around similar mileage. I am still waiting to put new tires on. The current ones are still performing well. No flats.

The weather was too good to not ride today. 81 degrees when i got back at 3:00, clear blue sky and no wind to speak of. Tomorrow is supposed to repeat as well as Thursday. I plan on biking tomorrow but Thursday is iffy because I take my wife to the oncologist.

I wanted to ride to the north but chose the Atascocita – Walden – Huffman route in case I needed to cut the ride short for some reason. The New Caney – Gene Campbell Road route doesn’t have any options to shorten the ride once I get to New Caney. It was great getting out of the house and in the sun.

My wardrobe selection was probably overdone considering how warm it was: shorts, long sleeve jersey and a jacket. I was comfortable and with my coughing it was better to be warm than chilly.

The ladies at the Huffman Chevron asked where I had been. I said the cold weather was too much for me.

Today’s ride was 32.09 miles long. Reaching my goal for the month is now impossible unless I ride a century or two by the end of the month. This is not likely with the weather turning chilly and wet again on Friday. So far I biked 106.03 miles this month. If I can ride 30+ tomorrow I can cut my losses to less than 200 miles for the month.

Average speed was 14.3 mph falling to 14.1 mph at the end of the ride. I did not try to push a big gear in fear of starting a coughing spasm. Slow and steady is the goal for now. The Golden Cheetah program and Garmin Connect are in agreement on most of the ride metrics. I will show Garmin Connect for now.

RidewithGPS map, charts and metrics.

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