Florescent Rims With A Pearl Coat

Texbiker.net Posted on by

After a trip to the Medical Center my wife and I stopped at Carls Jr. at Kingwood for lunch. The inside was like a freezer. When we finished we walked outside and just stood there for several minutes to thaw out. That is unusual for my wife who likes it cool. This set the scene for my late afternoon bike ride. Normally I leave in the morning when the weather is just getting started. Today the temperature was 94 when I left on the ride at 3:27. The sky had some clouds and the forecast said some afternoon showers were possible but I didn’t see anything to make me not bike.

With the late start a shorter ride was all I had time for. I rode a shorter version of my “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route totaling 30.57 miles. The average speed was 15.4 mph. When I was riding south on W. Lake Houston Parkway I found out the road reconstruction had moved over to the southbound lanes. Traffic was backed up to Kings River Drive. I managed to move across the left lane and into some side streets to get around the road work. This means for the next week or so I will need to change my route when I go to Huffman.

I stopped at the Huffman Chevron for a short rest, snack and drink before riding the last 11 miles home. While I was there a brand new Mustang pulled in. I should’ve taken a picture of it. The color was a deep pearl but what really stood out was the florescent orange rims and accents. They jumped off the pearl paint. The topper was the lady driving. She was wearing a dress that matched the florescent orange. She and the Mustang were one.

During the ride home from Huffman I felt a few rain drops when I was riding on Atascocita Shore Drive and Kings River Driver. Not many drops. When I reached Town Center in Kingwood the streets were slightly damp and north of Kingwood Drive it had rained heavily while I was gone. After reaching home at 6:00 I hosed down the Stradalli from the road spray. As I write this I can hear thunder in the background. The forecast says rain is possible Friday morning.

July biking came in above my 716 mile goal with a total of 837.44 miles for the month. I was too pessimistic on what I could do, I guess. Some other statistics for July:

  • biked 24 days out of 31 (I might have increased the riding days if we had not went to Florida for 4 days)
  • my average ride was 34.89 miles long
  • I rode a total of 53 hours and 5 minutes
  • my average speed was 15.8 mph
  • my longest ride was 48.57 miles
  • my shortest ride was 15.62 miles
  • my highest average speed was 16.4 mph

[wppa type=”slide” album=”379″ size=”auto”]Any comment[/wppa]

Links to Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS

Texas Bicycling News Digest July 30th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

2014 Viva McAllen Streets

City of McAllen


McAllen Crime Stoppers Presents “Viva McAllen Streets” on Saturday, August 9, 2014. “Viva McAllen” promotes living a healthy lifestyle and we have partnered with the City of McAllen to promote safe city streets with their campaign “Run, Ride & Share”. McAllen Crime Stoppers, the McAllen Police Department, and…

Tuesdays Morning Rides Brays Bayou

Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014, 9:00 AM

Bayou Parkland Parking Lot
6520 Almeda Road Houston, TX

0 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 →

Weekend Ride at the Mountain Top Ranch

Friday, Aug 15, 2014, 4:30 PM

Location details are available to members only.

9 Members Went

One of my clients has graciously offered me the use of his ranch for the weekend of August 16th.The Mountain Top Ranch is located on about 5000 acres in the Kiamichi Mountains of Oklahoma, approximately 2.5 to 3 hours NE of Dallas. There are dirt roads we can ride and we are free to mountain bike off-road as well.  For other activities: there are …

Check out this Meetup →

Crazy 8

Sunday, Aug 3, 2014, 6:30 AM

Basico Bistro
6006 N. Mesa El Paso, TX

10 Cyclists Went

6:30 a.m. Sunday Aug. 3: Crazy 8. Meet at Basico Bistro 6006 N Mesa. 70+ miles looping around Anthony Gap with two ascents of Transmountain; over 5,100 feet of climbing. Experienced riders only. 20+ mph on the flats. Xavier Estala,[masked]

Check out this Meetup →

Dallas Cycling Trail Riders and Weekend Pub Crawler

Allen, TX
1,678 Members

We are a fun 2 part group. Fitness buddies that want to be social too! So we combined what we like doing, riding our bikes around and doing pub crawls or other social events w…

Check out this Meetup Group →

Additional Bike Signage Among Final Pieces of Sun Bowl Widening Project

news.utep.edu


Crews will post road signs on Sun Bowl Drive in the next several weeks that will promote the shared outside lanes with bicyclists. Eventually the bicycle lanes will wind along the exterior road around campus and through its core.

Beginner/Intermediate Group (B/IG) Rides

Tuesday, Aug 5, 2014, 5:45 PM

River Run Plaza
1071 Country Club Rd El Paso, TX

6 Cyclists Went

The El Paso Bicycle Club’s Beginner/Intermediate Group (B/IG)  training program for beginning and intermediate riders runs Tuesday evenings through early September. A brief cycling lesson is followed by a ride, beginning at River Run Plaza, 1071 Country Club (one block east of Upper Valley Rd.). Riding groups are paced for beginner, beginner/interm…

Check out this Meetup →

Ride Schedule August

Georgetown Cyclopaths

RIDE SCHEDULE – August 2014 Short Rides Long Rides
Day Date Time Meet at Miles Map Miles Map
Saturday 8/2/2014 8:00 AM Liberty Hill Elementary School 33 miles L12 39 miles L11
Sunday 8/3/2014 8:00 AM Berry Springs Park 35 miles B24 42 miles B49
Saturday 8/9/2014 8:00 AM Dale’s Essenhaus Restaurant in Walburg 32 miles WA7 43 miles WA8
Sunday 8/10/2014 8:00 AM Berry Springs Park 33 miles B31 42 miles B49
Saturday 8/16/2014 8:00 AM Catholic Church in Andice 33 miles A7 44 miles A8
Sunday 8/17/2014 8:00 AM Berry Springs Park 33 miles B46 38 miles B40
Saturday 8/23/2014 8:00 AM Union State Bank in Florence 29 miles F5 40 miles F6
Sunday 8/24/2014 8:00 AM Berry Springs Park 31 miles B18 42 miles B49
Saturday 8/30/2014 8:00 AM Gravel Parking Lot in Weir 27 miles WE2 33 miles WE11
Sunday 8/31/2014 8:00 AM Berry Springs Park 32 miles B39 43 miles B50

 

One year ago on Texbiker.net July 30th 2013

  • Plano bicycle group honors men who saved cyclist’s life
  • UT Police Gear Up To Prevent Bike Thefts
  • Share The Road, Texas – Texas A&M Transportation Institute Kicks Off Bicycle Safety and Awareness Campaign
  • 2013 Livestrong Texas 4000 Rolls Into Delta Junction as Part of 4,000 Mile Cycling Trek
  • Texas Wheelbrother sighting in California!
  • Police, family of cyclist ask for help finding hit-and-run driver

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Tweets

https://twitter.com/Ale_Na_va/status/494299791539863552

https://twitter.com/BBQ44/status/494471215818358784

Event Reminder

Tight Squeeze Around a Truck

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Back biking today after taking Tuesday off to go to Galveston with my wife for a date. Had a great time there and it was hot. Today is a little cooler as a summer “cool” wave has moved into the area. I got started at 9:38 headed to the Liberty County line east of Huffman. I wanted to ride at least 35 miles and I figured this route would be a good one. I haven’t rode this route since June 3rd. No changes in the roads since then. I ended up biking 37.56 miles averaging 16.3 mph. I label this route “FM2100 – Huffman Eastgate – Huffman”.

Since this route was a little longer and I didn’t want to stop at the Huffman Chevron before going east on FM1960 to Huffman – Eastgate Road I stopped at the Chevron station on FM1960 at Atascocita Shores Drive to top off my water bottle with ice and water. This was at 14.3 miles and I wouldn’t get back to the Huffman Chevron until 26 miles. It wasn’t real hot but I didn’t want to take any chances. As I was leaving the Atascocita Shore Chevron I saw another biker going east on FM1960. He was in an aero tuck wearing a florescent green long sleeve jersey. I follwoed him across Lake Houston on the causeway. I managed to keep about the same distance behind him until Fairlake Drive where I turned south and he kept going straight. He crossed FM1960 before E. Lake Houston Road like he was going to the Exxon station. After that I didn’t see any other bikers.

Stopping at the Huffman Chevron for about 30 minutes I ate a snack and drank some Powerade. While I was there I checked my phone and it was 87 degrees. Sitting under the pump canopy felt very nice as the wind blew through. A DPS State Trooper stopped to visit the store. As he was getting back in his car he asked if it was hot biking and I said not today with the wind. I headed home from there.

While riding through Kingwood Greens I was rounding a curve where a pickup truck was parked. They had some orange cones out to mark the work zone. I could see an oncoming car in the left lane but there was plenty of room for me between the cones and the center line. As I was riding left of the first cone a DirecTV van tried to go around me and then stopped because of the oncoming car. This could’ve caused a problem. I motioned at the DirecTV van driver to stop and give me room to go around the parked truck. After I got around the parked truck the van came by. I wagged my hand at him to let him know I wasn’t pleased how almost caused a problem.

I finished the ride at 12:40. It was 89 degrees with 53% humidity. The wind was from the SE at 9 mph with 16 mph gusts.

Tomorrow the weather will warmup to 94 with a chance of rain in the afternoon when I will probably try to ride.

Mileage:

  • 86.12 miles this week
  • 806.87 miles for the month
  • 4182 miles for the year

[wppa type=”slide” album=”373″ size=”auto”][/wppa]

Links to Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.

Texas Bicycle News Digest July 29th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Huntsville resident gives back through new bike shop

Samuel Beard Jr. For The Huntsville Item


HUNTSVILLE — Timothy Dixon has come full circle in Huntsville.
After years of riding bicycles for exercise, enjoyment, and enlightenment, Dixon has realized a dream that many serious cyclists ponder at one point or another: Opening his own bicycle store. The Bike Spot opened in June, but held a grand opening celebration Saturday with door prizes, hot dogs, hamburgers, cake and lots of people.
Dixon formerly owned Brooks Funeral Home, but sold the…

Houston’s Plan to Make “Bicycle Interstates” Out of Its Utility Network

by Angie Schmitt        usa.streetsblog.org


This post is part of a series featuring stories and research that will be presented at the Pro-Walk/Pro-Bike/Pro-Place conference September 8-11 in Pittsburgh.
Long lanes of grass alongside power lines are almost as ubiquitous in Houston as highways. There are roughly 500 miles of high-voltage utility rights-of-way criss-crossing the city, and they’re mostly just dead spaces, forming weedy barriers between neighborhoods.
What could the city do if it repurposed these underused spaces? Inspired by an article in Rice University’s Cite Magazine, Alyson Fletcher decided to write her master’s thesis at the Cornell University landscape architecture program on that question. She drafted a proposal to turn these linear, grassy areas into a…

Chip Seal

Bike Noob


My wife and I took different routes on our Saturday bike rides, but arrived home within minutes of each other.
“They’ve chip sealed LaCrosse,” I said. “But you already knew that.”
She grimaced. “It was awful,” she said.
“Yeah,” I responded. “I had to use the sidewalk for a few hundred feet, until I got around the truck.”
“Well, my tires are wider than yours, so I could stick it out,” she said. “But it looks like I’ll have to…

Mon Road Ride

San Angelo Bicycle Association

Date(s) – 08/04/2014
6:00 pm – 7:45 pm
Location:  Mary E Lee Park
Categories
No Drop Ride
Road Ride
Riders meet at Mary E Lee Road (Nasworthy beach) and ride about 12 miles. This ride is a social (no-drop) ride. Don’t worry about getting left behind on this one. Group leaves out at 6:00PM.
– Night Ride Friday August 1st @ 8:00PM @San Angelo State Park – Burkett Trailhead. FMI Contact Justin @ Concho Bike Shop

Upcoming Rides

El Paso Bicycle Club

Saturday, August 2
Airport/Strauss-7:00 am
Sunday, August 3
Crazy 8-6:30 am
Tuesday, August 5
B/IG Ride & Lesson – Cycling Tips-5:45 pm
Wednesday, August 6
Wednesday Night Ride -5:45 pm
Thursday, August 7
Thursday Night Rollers-6:30 pm
Saturday, August 9
Pecan Pancake Pedal-7:00 am
Sunday, August 10
Triple Threat-7:00 am

Huge Race Week in DFW

www.texasmountainbiketrails.com

This week is another convergence of kick-assery as we have 3 racing opportunities for mountain bikers in DFW within the next 7 days.
Tuesday and Thursday nights at 6pm we have DFW Summer Series races, followed up on Saturday by the Lone Star XC race at Rowlett Creek Preserve.
Registration Links…

Group Riding Skills

Brazos Valley Cyclists

One of the fun and rewarding parts of bicycling, for many people, is a chance to ride in groups. Group rides, ranging from the talkative Monday Social Ride, to the intense Take No Prisoners ride, present a unique set of challenges that are not always immediately apparent to new riders.
What are the best ways to learn good group-riding skills? One source I like are YouTube videos, such as the following one on how to avoid common causes of crashes, and…

Upcoming Events

Brazos Valley Cyclists

Mountain Bike Time Trials
July 31 @ 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm
|Recurring Event (See all)
Every Thursday
Millican Reserve
Bike-Friendly Friday Breakfast
August 1 @ 7:00 am – 9:00 am
|Recurring Event (See all)
Every Friday
Blue Baker
Bankers’ Ride
August 2 @ 7:00 am – 11:30 am
|Recurring Event (See all)
Every Saturday
Prosperity Bank
Flagpole Ride
August 2 @ 8:45 am – 11:00 am
|Recurring Event (See all)
Every Saturday
A&M Flagpole

Who is Helping Out at the Bright Futures Fair?

BikeHouston


The Street Olympics’ Summer Games have grown to be one of the most popular events of the summer. Founded in 1987, the Summer Games are now a renowned day of great fun with friendly competitions. A major component of the Street Olympics’ Summer Games utilizes exciting, interactive booths and other activities to emphasize the importance of education, preventive health care, and personal safety. The “Final Event” fair targets children, ages six to fifteen and helps them visualize that they too can have bright futures.
BikeHouston will have an interactive booth at the Bright Futures Fair where we will be fitting children with helmets, please consider signing up as a volunteer here.

Critical Mass Houston

Friday, Aug 29, 2014, 7:00 PM

Market Square Park
301 Milam Street Houston, TX

1 cyclists Went

Houston CriticalMass @HoustonCMThe Houston Critical Mass is a bicycling event held on the last Friday of every month. We meet up at Market Square Park in downtown Houston around 7pm.criticalmasshouston.comalso:Critical Mass Houston is a casual bike ride starting from downtown Houston and going wherever. Cars rule the road every day, but one day…

Check out this Meetup →

Get to Know You Ride and Dinner

Wednesday, Aug 27, 2014, 6:30 PM

Dallas Bike Works
4875 W Lawther Dr Dallas, TX

22 Members Went

This ride is one of two monthly introductory rides. It will be one lap around the lake (about 11 miles).Beginner pace (8-10 mph pace): one lap at a conversational pace will take about 65 minutes. This is a no-drop ride and we encourage all types of riders to start with this monthly ride before trying one of our faster pace rides. We will not leave…

Check out this Meetup →

One year ago on Texbiker.net July 29th 2013

  • Thrills and spills at Juniors Track National Championships
  • Corinth Cycling
  • Medical examiner identifies 8-year-old girl who died in Frisco bike accident
  • Cities of McAllen & Pharr Awarded Federal/State Funds to Enhance Hike & Bike Trails for Safety, Health, and Beautification
  • Children Shine At Special Needs Camp
  • 3nd Annual CPR Ride and Summer Picnic
  • NICA High School Cycling News Round-up – July 29, 2013
  • New MTB Trails at Buescher State Park to open August 15, 2013

Tweets

https://twitter.com/COABikeProgram/status/494163308027457536

https://twitter.com/JerryDusterhoff/status/494018330156871681

Event Reminder