Texas Bicycling News Digest October 15th

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Weekend Group Rides Now Departing 8:00am

Corinth Cycling


As we move into fall and later sunrises, the weekend group rides will now depart at 8:00am beginning on Saturday, October 18th. Come out and ride with one of our groups.

White Oak Bayou – Moderate Pace Bike Ride

www.bayoucityoutdoors.com


We are meeting at Shelterwood and Wister at 9:30 AM.
This is a great chance to explore on of the nicer bike friendly paths in Houston. We will take the White Oak Bayou Trail to Antoine – out and back for a total of 17 miles. Pace: 13-15 mph. …

Chickasaw Woman to Rally Riders of the Pontotoc Pursuit

Chickasaw Nation


Sierra Welch, a Chickasaw and University of Texas senior, is shown somewhere in Canada during 2014’s Texas 4000 ride from Austin to Anchorage. More than $608,000 was raised in the fight against cancer. Ms. Welch will join efforts Oct. 18 to raise scholarship funds for the Chickasaw Foundation. …

Bicycle helmet giveaway slated for Oct. 25

www.yourglenrosetx.com

Does your child have a cool helmet to wear when biking, skateboarding, skating or riding a Razor? Stop by the Texas Medical Association’s Hard Hats for Little Heads helmet giveaway event on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 4:30 p.m. in the Methodist Church parking lot.
Each child will receive a new helmet, and will learn how to make sure it fits properly. This event is sponsored by the Texas Academy of Family Physicians and Dr. Paul Schmidt.
Texas Medical Association’s Hard Hats for Little Heads program promotes exercise and teaches children and their parents about the importance of wearing a helmet when bicycling, in-line skating, skateboarding and riding scooters. The Texas Academy of Family Physicians provided…

Pedernales Falls State Park Trail Build & Swim or Ride

Tuesday, Oct 21, 2014, 8:00 AM

Pedernales Falls State Park
2585 Park Road 6026 Johnson City, TX

2 Mountain Bikers Went

Pedernales Falls State Park TRAIL BUILDING DayHELP GET THE TRAIL READY FOR CRANKSGIVING!  Flat Creek Crossing & Pedernales Falls State Park trails will both be part of the 2014 Cranksgiving!Austin Ridge Riders is building new purpose built mountain bike trail at Pedernales Falls State Park!NO TRAIL BUILDING EXPERIENCE NEEDED! Austin Ridge Riders…

Check out this Meetup →

Bike ride to honor missing, exploited children

starlocalmedia.com

On Friday, the Denton County Sheriff’s Office welcomes the Inaugural Texas Ride for Missing Children to honor missing and exploited children.
The Texas Regional Office of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is holding the Ride for Missing Children, a 100K (62-mile) bike ride in Denton County to honor missing and exploited children and raise funds for prevention and education programs that help prevent child abduction and sexual exploitation.
The Ride will begin at 8 a.m. at Lifetime Fitness, 3100 Churchill Drive in Flower Mound, with a…

Bus driver fatally hits bicyclist in southeast Houston, then drives off

By Dale Lezon        www.chron.com

More details have been released after a 56-year-old bicyclist died Wednesday morning in a hit-and-run traffic collision when a school bus hit him as he crossed a street in southeast Houston.
The incident occurred about 6:30 a.m. at 9000 Airport near Hansen Road, said Kese Smith, a spokesman for the Houston Police Department.
Smith said the bicyclist was identified as Bobby Brooks.
Brooks was riding his bicycle southbound on Hansen and entered the pedestrian crosswalk. A yellow school bus that was traveling northbound on Hansen made a right turn onto West Airport and hit him.
The school bus, Smith added, had a green light. The driver did not stop after the collision.
Brooks died at the scene.
Smith said it is unclear what company or…

BWR at Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day

beardedwomenracing.org


The first Saturday of October every year is the official Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day (TKMBD), as decreed by the International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA).  This event is celebrated around the world including: Italy, Australia, South Africa, Canada, Malaysia, and Mexico. TKMBD celebrates the joy of riding in the dirt.
Here in North Texas, three trails celebrated TKMBD on Saturday, October 4, 2014.  Bearded Women Racing (BWR) volunteered at two of those events: Horseshoe (Grapevine, TX), and the NW Community Trail (Frisco, TX).
Horseshoe jointly conducted a DORBA (dorba.org) Beginner’s Clinic on Saturday, and they drew a total of 44 adults and 10 kids to the event.  Eight BWR members were on-hand to assist with set-up, the clinic, leading/sweeping rides, encouraging the kids, and…

Cyclist killed by alleged drunk driver in Harris Co.

By Dale Lezon        www.chron.com

A man has been accused of drunken driving after he hit a person pushing a bicycle along the service road of Interstate 10 in east Harris County Tuesday night.
The person died in the collision.
The incident occurred about 9:10 p.m. in the 15400 block of the outbound East Freeway service road near Patch, according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
Deputies said the victim was pushing a bicycle eastbound in the outside lane of the roadway when he failed to yield the right-of-way to a 2000 GMC Sierra pickup that was also traveling eastbound on the road. The pickup …

Biking for a living: Best job ever?

By Emily Spicer        blog.mysanantonio.com


I don’t know about you, but whenever I hear about the health effects of someone’s job, they’re never positive. “My job is making me fat.” “My job is giving me high blood pressure.” “My job gave me carpal tunnel,” “is ruining my eyesight,” “is killing my relationship with my family,” “Where’s the vodka?” etc.
Right?
So you can imagine my surprise one random day when I ordered lunch from The Bike Waiter and the delivery person, Koda Boulton — an acquaintance I had not seen in years — managed to convey in our two minutes of catching up before she dashed off to her next delivery how…

Bastrop to Round Top: My Bike Rules (my legs, too!)

by Mark        www.brothersbikeride.com

Tuesday October 14, 2014, 60 miles (97 km) – Total so far: 354 miles (570 km)
Guess which one of us didn’t have to walk up any hills today? Give up? Me and my awesome Bike Friday! It’s am amazing road bike, by far the most comfortable bike I own and the most dependable one on this trip and it takes only 30 minutes to assemble and even less to pack up. The baggage handlers in the airport can’t even break it.
Baxter State Park has the steepest hills we have encountered so far. More than 15% grade in some…

Bastrop to Round Top, TX – 15 Oct 2014

by Brian        www.brothersbikeride.com

Today we rode 60 miles in sunny and cloud-free skies.  We definitely had some hills, especially in Bastrop State Park at the start of the ride.  And we really didn’t have much traffic, until the very last road we were on, which was TX 159, which lead us into Round Top.  I didn’t see anything worthy of a video, but I did take lots of photos today.  Here they are: …

Day 4: Voices Carry

by SAG Lady        www.brothersbikeride.com

The Blanco Best Western is an unusual property. Its reviews on TripAdvisor are remarkably positive — a 4.9 rating and comments like “best Best Western ever!” and “Greatest hotel!” — so I was excited to stay there. It certainly had the most expensive and ornate loveseats of any Best Western I’ve known. …

Sunny Skies in Texas Bastrop to Round Top Another Pleasant 60 Mile Day

by Tim        www.brothersbikeride.com

Because of the unseasonably cold mornings and short mileage days, we are leaving the hotel a little past nine these last couple mornings. It warms up pretty quickly and we can shed the extra layers at our first rest stop.
Today we biked the first 18 miles or so thru Bastrop and Buescher State Parks on park roads that had almost no traffic. I think we passed 4 cars, all going in the opposite direction. Mark took his rest time by lying in the middle of the road. Go figure. Most of the time he sits in the middle of the road taking pictures.
We saw our first group of bikers this trip near Winchester this morning. They had biked from Austin and were on their way to Houston with a stay overnight in LaGrange. The road surfaces are definitely…

Sunny Skies in Texas

by Tim        www.brothersbikeride.com

We decided on a leisurely start this morning since we figured our ride was less than 50 miles. Every day the road surfaces have been improving and we seem to have less chip seal roads. Today’s roads were a combination of state roads and farm roads (FM). I don’t remember any ranch roads today. The county roads still seem to be dirt roads.
Oil derricks and tanks were frequent sites. And dogs chasing us. I have no idea how Mark came up with the photo of a lunging dog for his post. It wasn’t that bad but it seemed every house had a dog that barked and ran after us (mostly on the other side of a fence).
I was struck by the amount of construction going on in Bastrop, our destination today. We rode into…

Race Preview – Cyclocross Scuffle – 10.19.14

by joeyTWOwheels        texascx.com

Cyclocross Scuffle.
Cyclocross Scuffle.
Cyclocross Scuffle.
Say that ten times fast.
Sunday finds us in Elgin – the sausage capital of Texas – for day two of weekend three. Y’all are familiar with the Bat City Cycling offering, and past write-ups can be found here. The old course at Moya was a pure gem amongst those large pecan trees and subtle ravines – long dragstrip with flow.
Bat City is a legacy event (images from the race in 2012) and the team re-used Webberville for the…

Me & The Indian Ghosts & A Lot Of Other People At Village Creek Today

Durango Texas


Those are my handlebars overlooking the Village Creek Natural Historical Area’s Blue Bayou which is currently not blue, today around noon.
I was in that particular neighborhood due to needing to take possession of some vittles from Walmart and ALDI.
I got gas today, but did not call my mom. It was not convenient to call at the time I got the gas at the extremely cheap price of $2.89.
I remember way back in July of 2001, driving north to Washington, paying $1.19 in Amarillo, thinking that was high. Then I got off the…

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Tweets

https://twitter.com/chanellshorter/status/522552879702614017

Event Reminders

Blue Powerade and a Blue Sky

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Another beautiful day for biking. The blue sky hung around from yesterday and the temperature warmed up slightly to 83 while the humidity dropped to 38%. After riding to the north yesterday going to the southeast was the route for today: “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman”. The wind was 6 mph from the north with no chill in it like yesterday.

My like legs were not so fresh today and even with the lighter wind I struggled to get to 17 mph whenever I had a headwind. Riding out in the exposed areas the wind had the upper hand.

Polarized sunglasses give the blue sky a depth that is unreal. It seems to go forever.

I didn’t see any other bicyclists today.

At 22.3 miles I stopped at the Huffman Chevron. The Powerade drink dispenser was back online and I drank that to wash down the trail mix bar and cookies I brought to snack on.

Overall I rode 34.04 miles averaging 15.1 mph. I recorded the route as Atascocita – Walden – Huffman but I rode an extended version through Atasca Oaks and into Walden. I needed the variety and with the gorgeous weather the extra mile or so was great.

Where I am after today’s ride:

  • 68.09 miles for the week
  • 377.05 miles for October
  • 5908 miles for the year
  • 51st time I rode this route this year

Tomorrow I may ride later in the day. I left home today at 11:42 and got back at 2:33. Weather for tomorrow is forecast to repeat today’s.

Links to RideWithGPS and Garmin Connect metrics and maps.

Ride Route – Google Earth
Ride Metrics
Huffman Weather
Home Weather Ride end
Ride Comparison for this route
Week to Date
October to Date
Year to Date

Texas Bicycling News Digest October 14th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

GHORBA ride at Double Lake!

GHORBA.org

Event category: Rides
Trail: Double Lake Recreation Area
Sunday, October 26, 2014 – 9:30am
Please join us for our monthly GHORBA ride. This month will take place at Double Lake! 9:30am
Invite your friends!

DORBA Beginner Clinic

Saturday, Dec 13, 2014, 1:00 PM

Rowlett Creek Preserve
Castle Drive Garland, TX

41 Participants Went

DORBA will have a new beginner clinic on Saturday December 13th at Rowlett Creek Preserve at 1:00 PM.Blain Norfleet will be your instructor, you can send him a private message at “bikecop” on the Dorba.org website, if you have any questions. Blain is THE mountain bike instructor for the Dallas Police Department and patrols downtown on his bike.Wh…

Check out this Meetup →

Bike ride at George Bush Park

Sunday, Oct 19, 2014, 9:30 AM

Fun Fair Positive Soccer – Westheimer Pkwy
20150 Westheimer Pkwy Houston, TX

2 Katy bicyclist fun riders Went

Check out this Meetup →

Road Championship Weekend ~ The Fort Hood Challenge Day 1 • Sep 27 2014

www.road-results.com

All Military Open     • All Open
• Men Cat 2     • Men Cat 3
• Men Cat 4     • Men Cat 5
• Men Pro/Cat 1     • Women Cat 3
• Women Cat 4     • Women Cat1/2

Bike Like A Pro Athlete, Eat Like A Pig

by John Burnett        www.npr.org


Last month, a friend and I rode bicycles 738 miles up the spine of Texas from the Rio Grande to the Red River, dodging oilfield trucks and yipping Chihuahua dogs.
All that pedaling had us burning about 5,000 to 5,500 calories every day. And so the 10-day journey — eight days of it riding into a headwind — became a movable feast.
There were hero sandwiches, Tater Tots, loaded baked potatoes, rib-eye steaks, chiles rellenos, cheese enchiladas, fried shrimp, cheeseburgers, french fries, hot dogs, barbecue brisket, beef jerky, chocolate glazed donuts, Snickers bars and…

Day 3: Superstition

by SAG Lady        www.brothersbikeride.com

When you stay at hotels, do you use the little shampoos and soaps they give you? My new policy is to use hotel soaps only if they seem especially good. The hands-down best hotel beauty products I’ve encountered were at Le Château Frontenac in Quebec City. They use Rose 31, a scent by Le Labo, and I became so enamored that I’ve started ordering Rose 31 laundry detergent so that my clothes can smell like it. An indulgence, yes, but I’ve come to believe in the positive influence of good scents on my sense of the worldence.
Anyway, some Best Western on L2 gave us such a huge bar of soap that I couldn’t bring myself to leave it behind. So I’ve been toting it around in a baggie and watching it shrink slowly with use, inordinately proud that I am not wasting plastic and soap. I’m sure most frequent travelers bring their…

Race Preview – Webberville CX – 10.18.14

by joeyTWOwheels         texascx.com

Weekend three!
How is your season going?
Are you doing as well as you thought?
Do you wish you rowed sculls instead?
Wherever you are in the spectrum, you should be sure to find yourself just outside of Austin this weekend. Webberville Cyclocross is a legacy event that we’ve written about many times before. It’s a tried and true course, with new mods that have been very well thought out.
We asked John Bartle, promoter of Webberville Cyclocross (and one of the only people we know who was at the first…

Saturday 10/18 [Alternative LIVESTRONG] and Sunday 10/19 [LIVESTRONG] Rides!

by Dante        steinerranchcycling.com

We have a big weekend of riding and from what it looks like as of today great weather for said rides.  The big ride of the weekend is the Livestrong ride and you still can get in for FREE if you contact Susan Carlo at s.carlo247@gmail.com  That being said you have choices.  Below are other rides you can choose from.
ALTERNATIVE LIVESTRONG RIDE – Saturday October 18th at 7:30am at Cups & Cones
Saturday Thomas is leading an alternative Livestrong ride.  It will be a 104 mile ride with 6000 feet of climbing. The link to the route is below: …

Warmly Rolling My Wheels Around The Woodhaven Country Club Golf Course

Durango Texas


When I take a walking tour of my neighborhood I usually walk around in the Industrial Wasteland part of the neighborhood.
I have walked in the non-Industrial Wasteland part of my neighborhood before and may have used a photo from that location for blogging purposes, but I don’t remember doing so.
My usual mode for a tour of the non-Industrial Wasteland part of my neighborhood is via the rolling my wheels method, hence the picture of my handlebars pointing at a scenic scene with a trio of golfers, with one…

Bike Ride at 78th Annual Texas NAACP Convention

BikeTexas


NAACP-Framed-Photo-El-Paso2014 marks the fifth year of a bike ride at the Annual Convention of the NAACP Texas State Conference. This year’s conference was in El Paso, so three BikeTexas staff plus 75 bicycles headed out on a Wednesday morning to get to El Paso in plenty of time for the Saturday ride.
The ride is sponsored by Texas NAACP and Walmart, and this year we had the added bonus of having VeloPaso staff and volunteers lending a hand. VeloPaso’s Victor Cordero and Scott White joined BikeTexas for a pre-ride to…

Kyle, TX to Bastrop, TX: A Dogs Day in The Heart of Texas: Bicyclists chased by packs of dogs 5 times in a single ride. Tim screams like a man.

Tuesday October 14, 2014, 48 miles (77 km) – Total so far: 294 miles (473 km

By Mark Sullivan        Another Week in Texas        www.crazyguyonabike.com

We used google maps for a slight detour from the ACA route to avoid back tracking along I 35 to the center of Kyle. It was easy and saves 4 or 5 miles from the route to Bastrop. It was a perfect day for riding in terms of weather and the first sunny day so far, with only slight winds and rolling hills. We took our time and enjoyed stopping for photos whenever we saw an opportunity and there were many today. Most of the roads had no shoulders, so if you are reading this looking for route descriptions, be careful on Rt. 21 and again on Rt. 20 , as traffic can be heavy and fast. We were only on 21 for 3 miles but they were not pleasant miles and 20 had less traffic but enough to make you need a…

Winter Cycling Gear… by Andrew Hoodwin

Plano Bicycle Association

Winter Cycling Gear
It’s hard to think about how to put more cycling clothes on since we’re still radiating heat from the summer we had, but as we recently discovered, cooler weather is around the corner, if not here already.
Many of you are new to riding and might not have thought of riding during the winter season.  Now that you have the cycling bug, even if you hadn’t planned on riding, you’ll probably get restless and want to give it a try.  After that first winter ride, you’ll certainly be heading to your favorite local bike shop to try and not make the mistake you did that morning as your ussure if your ears are still attached to your head…  This guide is intended to save you some grief and be prepared for the worst. If you think you are…

Ride Across Texas – WIN a Salsa FARGO

Oak Cliff Bicycle Company


Come bite off a portion or all of this 90% gravel expedition that traverses from Texarkana, AR to Tucumcari, NM., presented by our homies at Spinistry. The Mini RAT is a three day option that ends at Johnson Branch State Park where OCBC will have a support tent set up for all riders. Even Mini RAT participants will get the chance to ride the NETT (North East Texas Trail/Chaparral Trail), a beautiful and developing rails-to-trails project. Check out the Spinistry site for all the details.
I personally love touring for many reasons: the vast open road, time to think, ever changing scenery, camping, challenge, and on an on. I have found that the gravel roads lend themselves to be less traveled and offer nicer views that most people do not…

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Tweets

https://twitter.com/brimarpd/status/521342944184659970

Event Reminders

Summer End and Florescent Orange Jersey

Texbiker.net Posted on by

According to Eric Burger, Houston Chronicle weather man, the front that passed through yesterday is the end of summer. I don’t know if I would make that claim just yet but today was cooler than before. I donned my florescent orange long sleeve jersey and shorts to hit the road on the “New Caney – Gene Campbell Road” route. I hoped the bright colored jersey would help me stay warm. It was 73 degrees when I left home at 11:50 under a very clear deep blue sky. The shade trees that kept me cool in the past and I enjoyed, today kept me cool but not so enjoyable with the sharp NW 12 mph wind and the 22 mph gusts. I was glad to get out of the heavy trees onto the roads with more sunshine.

After weaving around Kingwood I rode west on Adams St. to Loop 494 to ride to New Caney. The wind fought me all the way to New Caney slowing me to 15 mph or less most of the time. Turning onto FM1485 and going west helped a little bit but I wasn’ able to speed up until I started riding on Gene Campbell Road. The trees along the road held the wind back some plus I was not going into the wind as much. Once I reached FM1314 the wind moved to my back and I pedaled at 20+ mph. This enable me to increase my average speed from 15 mph to 15.6 mph. The 15.6 mph average lasted until the 31 mile mark of the 34.05 mile long ride.

By the time I got home at 2:26 the temperature had edged up to 76 degrees and my efforts had warmed me up as well.

My stop at Stripes was brief today because I need to be back home by 2:30. I was there just long enough to eat a trail mix bar, two cookies and refill my water bottle. Standing in the sun was nice. I forgot to put sunscreen on my face though, probably because of the long sleeve jersey making me think I didn’t need it.

The weather is supposed to repeat for several days this week. I look forward to biking in it.

Links to Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS metrics and maps.

Ride Route Google Earth
Ride Metrics
Home Weather Ride End
Ride/Route Comparison
Week to Date
October to Date
Year to Date