Texas Bicycling News Digest August 7th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

East Texas cyclists start new safety awareness campaign

By Courtney Friedman        www.cbs19.tv

TYLER (KYTX) – East Texas bike riders are asking for your help in making the road a safer place for them.  A local group that has started an ad campaign to spread awareness.
“Student. Brother. Son.”
“Father. Firefighter. Husband.”
“Caregiver. Grandmother. Volunteer.”
“Someone you care about rides a bike.”
These are the words you’ll see on billboards around the Tyler area.  They’ve been put up to remind you who you’re protecting when you share the road with bicyclists.
“Trying to make people aware that cyclists are everyday people. Doctors, lawyers, teachers, kids. It’s your…

Why 79 Bikers Ride Over 4000 Miles Cross-Country

By JULIA NOEL        abcnews.go.com


Biking over 4,000 miles in just 70 days may not be your ideal pastime. For a group of students from Texas, it’s how they choose to spend their summer vacations.
Students from the University of Texas bike ride from Austin, Texas, to Anchorage, Alaska, — all in the name of fighting cancer with Texas 4000. The organization raises money and each biker rides for something greater than themselves.
One of this year’s riders, Courtney Schutze, joined Texas 4000 after feeling disconnected from her dad’s battle against multiple myeloma. While she was at school in Austin, her dad was home in Dallas fighting for his life. She…

Sunday August 31st New Berlin Ride

Hill Country Bicycle Touring Club – HCBTC

Ride will start at 7:30 from the Brietzke Station Cafe parking lot at the intersection of FM 2538/Trainer Hale Road and 775.  Directions: Take I-10 east towards Seguin; turn right at FM 2538/Trainer Hale Road; follow this road for 8 miles until you come to a T.   Brietzke restaurant parking lot is straight ahead. This  ride is 30 miles plus on mostly flat terrain with some gentle rolling hills ride.   Lunch will be at Brietzke’s after the ride.   Hope you can join us for the morning ride and…

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Plano Bicycle Association

The PBA is launching 5 new rides this month
All starting and finishing in McKinney at Cadence Cyclery
Saturday OAS North
Saturday OAS Lite North
Saturday CAD Ride
Fred’s Saturday Ride
Saturday McK Java Ride
OAS North, OAS Lite North, and CAD rides start August 9
Fred’s Saturday Ride and McK Java Ride start August 16

Paceline

Fort Worth Bicycling Association

Our most recent Paceline (the club’s online newsletter) was added 8-4-14 and is available

Gulf Coast Bike Touring Photos

by Rideon        biketourings.com


One of the benefits of summer bike touring is being able to travel light. My old Bridgestone MB 1 in photo at left with Detours Grassy Handlebar Basket and two small panniers holds all I need for sight seeing and photographing the Gulf Coast’s scenic areas.
There are however two must have items for this part of the country during summer.  Mosquito Repellent and Sunscreen.  A friend who travels regularly to the Phillipines, Thailand and Vietnam commented that the Texas Gulf Coast has the worst mosquitoes he’s ever seen.
For that very reason I carry a bottle of bug spray and a…

Walnut WEDNESDAY Workday

Wednesday, Aug 13, 2014, 5:30 PM

Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park
12138 North Lamar Boulevard Austin, TX

3 Mountain Bikers Went

Trail Workday NoticeName: Walnut WEDNESDAY Workday, Wednesday, August 13th from 5:30PM to 8:00PMWhat: Walnut WEDNESDAY WorkdayWhen: Wednesday August 13th from 5:30PM to 8:00PMWhere: We will meet in the POOL parking lotWhat will we be doing: We will be doing heavy trimming in the Windy LoopWhat do I need to bring: I will have a lot of lopp…

Check out this Meetup →

MTB Ride 8am Wheels Down 8:30

Sunday, Aug 10, 2014, 8:00 AM

12 Dirty SOB’s Went

Check out this Meetup →

Wednesday Night Ride

Wednesday, Aug 13, 2014, 5:45 PM

River Run Plaza
1071 Country Club Rd El Paso, TX

3 Cyclists Went

These are leaderless rides of 17-25 miles leaving from River Run Plaza 1071 Country Club Road.Ride options vary — most involve going up Upper Valley to Borderland to Strahan to Bosque Rd to Vinton Road. Various options include taking N. Vinton to Westside Dr. to Washington to Gadsden High, then returning on Hwy 28 (note: recent chip-seal paving …

Check out this Meetup →

Tweets

https://twitter.com/BSS_Road_Club/status/497535544201469952

https://twitter.com/BBQ44/status/497527893958729728

https://twitter.com/BSS_Road_Club/status/497474046561624065

Event Reminders

Slow Like A Turtle

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Riding along the bike trail on Kingwood Drive there is a bridge just before the HEB store. The last few rides there has been a turtle sitting on a stump sticking up from the water. Today I was a turtle. The legs just didn’t want to move fast. Usually I shift into the big gear around 9 miles but today it was 15 miles as I crossed Lake Houston going east. I was riding the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route so no surprises on where I was going.

The weather was great for riding. Scattered clouds and a light 7 mph breeze stayed the whole ride. The temperature at the 10:09 start was 91 (70% humidity) rising to 95 (59% humidity) when I finished at 1:05.

Stopping at the Huffman Chevron was greatly appreciated. I stayed about 35 minutes eating, drinking and drying off with the gentle breeze under the pump canopy. I was slow to get back on the bike to head home to complete the 32.64 mile ride. To show how slow I was I only averaged 14.9 mph. Of the 7 laps I only averaged more than 15 mph on three of them. No wonder the average speed fell below my preferred 15+ mph.

Mile markers

  • 150.84 for the week
  • 251.85 for the month (593 miles left to reach August’s goal)
  • 4464 miles year to date

Friday’s weather should be warmer and clear. Maybe my legs will move faster.

Links to Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.

[wppa type=”slide” album=”386″ size=”auto”]Any comment[/wppa]

Texas Bicycling News Digest August 6th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Folding Bike and Dallas Skyline

by Bill Chance        billchance.org

Trinity River Bottoms
Dallas, Texas

There is a contrast between the forlorn forgotten floodplain muddy muddle given a little shade in the brutal Texas heat by a rusty rundown railroad trestle bereft of train, ties laddering the…

‘Naked unicyclist’ dies in overnight traffic accident in La Porte

By Carol Christian        www.chron.com

A man who became known to the Kemah community as the “naked unicyclist” has died after an overnight traffic accident, police said.
Joseph Glynn Farley, 48, was riding his unicycle about 11 p.m. Tuesday in La Porte when he was struck and killed by a Jeep, Sgt. John Kreuger of the La Porte Police Department said.
Farley, who was wearing clothes and a safety vest at the time, was southbound in the 2000 block of Sens Road in a lane of moving traffic where the road has no shoulder, Kreuger said. He was hit from behind by a Jeep that was also southbound, the police department spokesman said.
Although Farley was following the law by wearing the safety vest and having lights on his unicycle, accident reconstructionists believe he might not have been visible to other motorists due to lights from…

Anybody Can Be Cool, But Few Are Born AWESOME

Words and Photos : Nicole Ortega        texasbikeracing.com


‘Cross is coming and sexy is in season. Team Super Awesome is stealing the sun that shines down on us all. Recently, they opened the doors to the wisdom of their ways so that I could share it with you. I was cordially invited to visit one of their super-secret, outdoor training locales in order to formally document some of the world-class athletes who comprise Team Super Awesome. Among them, you will find Belvedere, a hard man who ties the lot together; Kong, “The Cider Hound” and…

Tuesdays Morning Rides Brays Bayou

Tuesday, Aug 12, 2014, 9:00 AM

Bayou Parkland Parking Lot
6520 Almeda Road Houston, TX

1 Cyclists Went

1 to 1 1/2 hour ride starting at Bayou Parking lot off of Almeda . See  map: http://www.meetup.com/Beginners-Road-Cycling-For-BPMS150/photos/20541122/We have changed the meetup point to make it easier and to circumvent traffic.Good in town training ride for MS150

Check out this Meetup →

What Should They Do?

by Krista Carlson        urbanvelo.org


This short survey is part of a study designed to evaluate interactions between cyclists and motorists from North Carolina State University. It takes less than five minutes, and the results will be published in October 2014. The study is intended to contribute towards improving…

Can I get a one-handed zipper?

Bike Noob


Finally, we’re getting a real Texas summer, with daytime temps getting into the 100s (38+C). Not that I was looking for that kind of heat, mind you. But the really hot stuff has held off much longer than usual, and I’m grateful.
Now that it’s here, though, we still find ourselves out riding. It doesn’t take long before I start heating up, and I’m looking for relief.
Besides cold water (which doesn’t stay cold long at 100 degrees), I like…

Tweets

https://twitter.com/COABikeProgram/status/497061000571404290

Event Reminders

Up to Splendora and Back

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Nothing fancy about today’s route. I rode north along US59 to Splendora and then back south to Kingwood Drive. The last time I rode this route was April 27th, 2013. I figured it was time to ride a route I used to ride all of the time. The distance today was 38.3 miles at a 15.6 mph average speed. In 2013 it was 38.1 miles which is probably due to my using a Garmin Edge 500 then or making a couple of turns shorter than today.

I stopped a few times to take some pictures to show the area. (Click on the image to enlarge it)

Eagle Drive at US59 looking south to the Grand Parkway
Railroad Ave north of Roman Forest Blvd
Downtown Splendora looking west
Downtown Splednora looking SW
Approaching Splendora on Railroad Ave
US59 south from Patton Village
Grand Parkway at Community Drive
Grand Parkway at Community Drive
Looking west at Community Drive

The weather got a head start on me today. I left home at 10:35 (I just can’t seem to get out the door before 10:00) with it already 91 degrees (65% humidity) under scattered clouds. Surprisingly as long as I was riding it didn’t seem too hot. When I stopped to take these pictures though the sweat started flowing. The temperature increase to 94 by the time I got back home at 1:53 and the humidity let a little to 60%. The breeze was from the south at 6 mph.

Riding the long stretch from Splendora to Kingwood Drive was into the light breeze and I slowed down some because of it. I was glad for the rest stop in Porter at the Star Stop Exxon at FM1314. No Stripes today. Sitting out by the pumps in the shade the breeze was cooling and I dried off pretty quick. I enjoyed the time eating a couple of snacks and drinking cold Powerade.

Leaving Star Stop I was back in the sun and heading down the service road. Traffic wasn’t too heavy. Earlier when I was on the south service approaching the Grand Parkway construction site a Montgomery Precinct 4 Constable zipped past me a little closer than I care. Later I saw he had a car pulled over with his lights flashing.

I took a few streets today I don’t normally ride on to add some variety.

Tomorrow’s weather looks like a repeat of today.

Mileage marks:

  • 118.2 miles for the week
  • 219.2 miles for August (leaves 626 miles to reach August’s goal)
  • 4431 miles year to date

[wppa type=”slide” album=”385″ size=”auto”]Any comment[/wppa]

Links to Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.