Route Selection Plays A Part

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Selecting a route plays a big part on the average speed. I rode to the north on my “New Caney – Gene Campbell Road” route with a slight modification on the streets I used to exit Kingwood. Getting out of Kingwood does not offer a lot of choices so I rode through Elm Grove Village and Sherwood Trails Village before heading for Mills Branch Drive and then Ford Road. Because the number of starts and stops is low on this exit route I was able to build my average speed without the need to offset slow riding with more stops. On Mills Branch Drive and Ford Road there are no stops until Loop 494. Here is where the wind direction also factors in. A 15 mph from the SE provided help getting to Loop 494. Once I was on Loop 494 I was able to increase my average speed into the 15 mph range again with some help from the wind direction.

At New Caney I changed direction some riding on FM1485 and I continued to improve my average to 16 mph. Once I was on Gene Campbell Road the average was 16.3 which was the maximum for the ride. Turning left onto FM1314 I was riding into the wind. Sometimes the wind picked up and my speed dropped to 13 mph. By the time I got to the Stripes store at Valley Ranch my average fell to 15.8 mph. I was fighting to keep my speed up but the wind won.

After a 25 minute break at Stripes I was back on the bike riding south into the wind through Briar Tree and Oakhurst. I was able to improve my average speed to 15.9 mph for a portion of this but the wind kept beating at me whenever I turned into it. At the end of the 35.12 mile ride I averaged 15.4 mph.

19 of my 153 rides this year have been on this route.

My legs feel like they put out a lot of effort today. Adding the average speed to the front screen of my Edge 510 deserves the “credit”.

Today’s weather during the ride: 92 degrees, 76 degree dew point, 58% humidity, scattered clouds, 15 MPH SE wind at IAH.

Miles for the week are now 102.89 (for the month as well). Year to date I am up to 5384 miles.

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of my crash into the car that pulled in front front of me at Atascocita High School on Will Clayton Parkway. I believe I am recovered from that incident. For a few minutes I thought I should ride that route again but changed my mind.

Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS maps and metrics. Click on an image to enlarge it.

Ride Route on Google Earth
Ride Metrics
Home Weather Ride Finish
Ride Comparison on the same route
Week to date
Year to Date

Texas Bicycle News Digest September 2nd

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Houston to Galveston Ride

Critical Mass Houston


ROLL OUT 6:30AM SHARP!
This is a bike ride from Downtown Houston to Galveston and back. Market Square to “The Spot” on Galveston Island. We will be doing lunch at “The Spot” on Seawall.
Please be sure your equipment can make this ride and that you are in shape to make this ride.
Some will ride back, some will camp, others will have someone meet them in Galveston to car back…your choice. Some people start on NASA 1 and do a half loop returning to their cars on NASA 1.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE RIDE:
1) Choose a group that fits your ability. Remember it’s 100 miles plus round trip so choose wisely.
A: 19-21mph
B: 17-19mph
C: 14-17mph
2) We have seen road bikes, mountain bikes, and fixed gear bikes do this ride but usually…

Another roadblock for bike-sharing at Fair Park after Landmark Commission denies Parry Avenue station

By Robert Wilonsky        cityhallblog.dallasnews.com

That Fair Park bike-share just hit another speed bump: At its meeting this afternoon the Landmark Commission voted against the proposed Parry Avenue station outside the former Women’s Museum. The vote to deny, without prejudice, took most folks by surprise — even the city’s historic preservation staff.
“I certainly thought it was going to pass,” says Craig Holcomb, the longtime executive director of the Friends of Fair Park, which was given a $125,000 grant from the city earlier this year to kick-start bike-sharing at the park. After several delays, Holcomb says, he’s getting a little “frustrated.” After all, the program was due to…

Ride Like A Girl – Barton Creek Greenbelt 360 Entrance

Monday, Sep 8, 2014, 6:00 PM

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

15 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…

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Road Time Trial 6

San Angelo Bicycle Association

Date(s) – 09/11/2014
6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Location: Susan Peak Rd
Categories:     Road Time Trial
This is the last Susan Peak Road Time Trail for 2014.
***This event was originally scheduled for Sept 4 but has been postponed to Sept 11.
The start place will be about 150 yards north of HWY 87 on FM1223. Please park on the east side of the road to prevent any traffic problems.
The Susan Peak Time Trial is a 12 mile loop. …

Current Ride Info

Carrollton Cycling Club

New start time Saturday Andrew Brown Park East Ride Effective September 6th at 8:00 am .
Monday and Wednesday evening rides at Irving Bible Chruch new start time at 6:00pm

USA Cycling announces winners of 2014 elections

USA Cycling

Colorado Springs, Colo. (September 2, 2014) — USA Cycling is pleased to announce and congratulate the winners of its 2014 elections. Fourteen seats were filled on USA Cycling’s seven sport committees when voting wrapped up on August 15. It was the fourth election cycle under USA Cycling’s revised governance structure.  …
…Mountain Bike Committee
Kristen Dieffenbach (Morgantown, W. Va.) – Coach
Cyndi Smith (Houston, Texas) – Commissaire
Road Committee
Chad Sperry (The Dalles, Ore.) – Race Director
Bonnie Walker (Austin, Texas) – Commissaire…

Neighborhood Trails

Bike Noob

I grew up in the Chicago suburbs in the 1950s (Yes, I’m old). Back then, streets were laid out in a grid pattern, and blocks of houses went on and on. Of course, streets were for cars to get to and from the houses. Bikes were what kids rode to each other’s house, and to the baseball diamond, but rarely more than a couple of miles at a time. Even though we were well out of the big city, we were in an environment that was more urban than not.
Now, I’m in the suburbs again, even though my neighborhood is within the Austin city limits. But boy, is it a different feeling than the 1950s Chicago suburbs.
Less than a mile from my house is a large metropolitan park. It’s known for its large number of soccer fields, but it has playgrounds for…

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

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Event Reminder

Too Much Information?

Texbiker.net Posted on by

I don’t know if it was a good idea to add average speed to the front screen on my Garmin Edge 510. I watch this during the ride and it pushes me to go faster. Today my legs were complaining loudly as I pushed to get my average speed up to 15.0 mph and then increase it from there. I ended up averaging 15.4 mph over the 34.57 mile route. As I was biking the last 3 or 4 miles through residential streets with a number of stop signs I saw the average dip down and then move back up to 15.3. At one point in the ride I averaged 15.5 mph. The wind provide lots of resistance but I tried to overcome it.

Leaving later than usual (11:47) and riding the longer Atascocita – Walden -Huffman route I thought I would have a chance to see the Amtrak train at the Old Atascocita Toad crossing. I got there about 1:07 and waited until 1:18 but the train was a no show. It might have got there before I did.

Weather conditions were hot (92 degrees at the finish) and humid. A storm is in the far southwest Gulf of Mexico and the weather might have been influenced by this some. In the Huffman area some road shoulders were wet. Around 4 miles into the ride I was in a light rain on Tree Lane in Kingwood but it only lasted about 2 minutes or so. The wind was from the SE at 11.5 mph and the clouds allowed the sun through enough to keep it hot.

At the Huffman Chevron I tried to soak up the sweat using paper towels. I got dry enough that the wind blowing through the pump canopy was a little chilly at first. My wrist bands were soaked but did the job of keeping my hands and gloves relatively dry.

There was one other biker out and our paths met over Lake Houston on FM1960 but on opposite sides of the road. With the wind Lake Houston had some waves and a couple of boaters.

It could reach 93 degrees tomorrow with a chance of rain. I plan on riding though.

Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS

Ride on Google Earth
Ride Metrics
Home weather ride start
Huffman weather
Home weather ride finish
Ride comparison on this route
Week to date
Year to date

 

Texas Bicycling News September 1st

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Park to Port Bike Ride

hermannpark.ejoinme.org


Hermann Park and the Houston Port Authority share more in common than just the bayou system that links them – they were both founded in 1914. The Park to Port Bike Ride celebrating the centennial years of both Hermann Park and the Port of Houston will be held Saturday, September 13, 2014. The event will start at Hermann Park and travel east along the bayou to the Port, where there will be a half-way celebration with snacks, music and activities at Brady’s Landing. Riders will then return along the same path, heading west, to…

Biking with Alligators in Texas

By Diana Lambdin Meyer        www.roamright.com


The people of Beaumont, Texas, affectionately known as “beaumartians”, live close enough to the Louisiana state line to have plenty of Cajun blood in them, just enough to be a little crazy around the edges.
That’s why in Beaumont one of the most popular things to do these days is to go biking with alligators. And the place to do it is in the city’s waste water treatment facility.
Seriously, the leaders of Beaumont were considered innovators more than 20 years ago when they tackled the problem of waste water management by working a little more closely with Mother Nature. Using a 250-acre natural wetland as the frame work, the city constructed an additional 900-acre wetland that serves as a…

http://www.meetup.com/Beginners-Road-Cycling-For-BPMS150/events/201711622/?a=me1_grp&rv=me1&_af_eid=201711622&_af=event

GO for a Mountain Bike Ride

Sunday, Sep 7, 2014, 8:00 AM

Meyer Park
Cypresswood Dr. Spring, TX

6 Bicycle Enthusiasts Went

Join us every Sunday at Meyer Park for a 1hour and a half (approx) ride for beginners and intermediate riders.Ride is 10 milesWe will be on the Cypresswood TrailAny questions please call us at the store:[masked]Bring a helmet, water bottle, spare tube and a positive attitude

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All Level Ride @ Walnut Creek Spring/Summer hours

Sunday, Sep 7, 2014, 9:30 AM

Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park
12138 North Lamar Boulevard Austin, TX

18 Mountain Bikers Went

New Spring/Summer hours to help when the weather gets warmer.  Starting 3/9 we go to 9:30 am.We know that this time change doesn’t work for everyone so we hope you considering hosting a ride for yourself and those who might want to ride at a different time or on a different day.You do NOT have to be a ARR member to attend most club riders. You wi…

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Belton to be first stop on bike tour

JANICE GIBBS | FME News Service        m.kdhnews.com


TEMPLE — When cyclists in the 16th Lone Star Circle of Life Bike Tour stop in Belton this year, it will be their first day of travel and well before they become truly road weary from their 650-mile ride.
The purpose of Lone Star Circle of Life is to raise awareness throughout Texas of the critical need for life-saving donations of blood, marrow, organs and tissue.
The need in Texas for donations is great.
One out of every 20 Texans will need blood at some point in their lives. Each year 20 million blood components are transfused. There are more than 750 patients in Texas searching the registry for a matched donor.
Each day, an average of 18 people die while waiting for an organ. More than 120,000 men, women and children are…

Saturday September 6th [Dam Loop] and Sunday September 7th [Coffee Shop / Babes] Rides!

Steiner Ranch Cycling

TOUR DE CURE – Saturday September 13, 2014 There is only two weeks left and you can still register.  You can join our team for FREE by using THANKS2014 as your code.  You can join our team at http://main.diabetes.org/goto/TeamBeef
WEEKENDS RIDES
Dam Loop – Saturday September 6th at 7:30am at Cups & Cones
This Saturday the Steiner Ranch Cycling Club we will be doing a modified version of the dam loop.  We will head out Steiner Ranch up Steiner Ranch Blvd and up the 620 towards 4 Points and make a right there and circle back toward Riveplace.  Bike into River Place then left on Big View and then make a left at bottom of hill and then right onto the 911 road.  We will take that up to City Park and then right down into Ski Shores then back out down City Park all the way to 2222 onto the 360 up the grind to Bee Caves.
At this point people can just head back to Steiner Ranch via Bee Caves to 620 or they can…

ST. Paul’s Ride

####  Hill Country Bicycle Touring Club
Ride starts at 7:30 a.m. at the St. Paul Evangelical Church’s parking lot (the gravel part in the back) adjacent to Harmon’s BBQ for a 30 or 20 mile group ride at an easy pace.  Ride will proceed southeast through rolling farm country to New Berlin, then northwest by Zuehl and Hackerville Road back into Cibolo.  The 20 mile ride will cut over at Gin road between Santa Clara and Zuehl.  See Map #506.  Directions:   To get to St. Paul’s (108 S. Main) in Cibolo take IH35 north. Take exit 175 and turn right on Roy Richard Dr. (FRM-3009 S).  Drive 3.2 miles and turn…

Bike to the Dynamo Game Event Requests BikeValet | Tickets Available for Volunteers

BikeHouston

BikeHouston’s BikeValet services are in demand following the great experiences at the Sunday Streets events in April, May and June as well as Mid-Main on May 1. BikeHouston has now been asked to provide another BikeValet as the Houston Dynamo plays the Chicago Fire on September 28. Cyclists have two great options, that day. You can buy the Dynamo’s $25 package deal including your admission to the game, the Bikebarn ride and water bottle and…

Labor Day Ride OAS Reunion

Plano Bicycle Association


Mike Boyle, Ed Singer, Chris Mathews, and Alan Warner riminisce over OAS rides of years gone-by. Only Ed can still hang with our big dogs. But they all had a great day at the Labor Day ride and picnic. Thanks Lori, Brad, Andrew, and all the cooks!

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

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