Texas Bicycling News Digest June 13th

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On the Road of Life Together: Bicycle Safety in Driver’s Education & Defensive Driving

Donna Hoffman, Program Manager        Texas A&M University

PDF file with information

Cyclist struck, killed while riding in bike lane

Author: Dawn Brooks, Online Editor, Producer        www.ksat.com

Police search for hit-and-run driver
SAN ANTONIO –
Police say a man was riding his bicycle in the bike lane in the 2900 block of West Commerce Street around 12:40 a.m. on May 3 when he was struck from behind by a vehicle.
Jose Macy, who police say was equipped with a safety light, was pronounced dead at the scene.Jose Macy
Officials are now searching for the person that was driving the vehicle that hit Macy and fled the scene without stopping to render aid.

Interscholastic Cycling May 2014 Recap

www.usacycling.org

USA Cycling works with several interscholastic leagues that allow athletes to compete for their schools in the tradition of collegiate cycling. Each league is unique with different disciplines during different seasons but all focus on allowing students to participate in a sport that until recently was not available within a school structure. Read the following recaps from our league directors to find out more about their league and the current racing seasons. …
…Texas High School Cycling League: 8th Annual Scholastic Road Series
By: Andrew Armstrong, Texas High School League Director

Alejandro Joglar and Dalton Walters (Jesuit Dallas) lead Hakon Hanesahd (Seven Lakes) and the rest of the field in the JV Road Race.
From May 10-11 over 50 middle and high school student athletes competed in the 8th annual Texas Road Series Finale and State Championships. Students came from across Texas to compete in the Coldspring Road Race and the Houston Grand Criterium. The state road race, criterium and series overall championships were all on the line and competition was intense.
With three category offerings for boys and two for girls competitors were on par with each other making for good, close racing in fields. Jesuit College Prep Dallas won the coed combined team overall series championship bu Wichita Falls ISD had the chance…

Is bike share bad for business?

by Fred Clements        www.bicycleretailer.com

Editor’s note: This blog post was written by Fred Clements, executive director of the National Bicycle Dealers Association. Clements’ previous blog posts can be read on bikedealerblog.wordpress.com.
New York City bike shops were in the news last week when Bloomberg wrote that the city’s one-year-old bike sharing program (City Bike) was hurting sales at local bike shops.
The article called bike shops “the collateral damage” of a program that has attracted more than 100,000 people to rent bikes for short-distance use, picking them up and returning them to 324 bike stations for a fee (daily, weekly or annually).
Charlie McCorkell, owner of Bicycle Habitat, was an early proponent of the bike sharing program. He was quoted as saying he supports it “philosophically.” But he has lost sales in the hundreds of units at his SoHo store, located near a bike station, while his…

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A Dog Sprint in Briar Tree

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More rain overnight which helps our yard and plants but delayed today’s ride a couple of hours for the streets to dry out a little and the humidity to drop some. I rolled out the driveway at 12:05 under a partly cloudy sky, 88 degrees, 57% humidity and a light breeze.

I rode to the north on what I label the New Caney – Valley Ranch – Forest Cove route. The route came in at 33.62 miles at a 15.4 mph average speed. I rode on Loop 494 far enough to check on the Adams St. resurfacing project. No asphalt put down yet which does not surprise me given the rain. This route is a generally smooth road surface except on Sorters Road south of Lone Star College. Sorters Road carries a lot of dump trucks with sand from the river and the weight does no favors on the asphalt. Another rough section is Hamblen Road east of the railroad tracks. Thankfully the traffic on Sorters Road was low and Hamblen Road was moderate.

The rest stop at Stripes on FM1314 was enjoyable. I sat in the shade drinking some Gatorade and eating a Kashi trailmix bar and cookies. The light breeze was enough to evaporate the perspiration by the time I was ready to start biking again. During the rise today I drank two water bottles of water and a 32 oz Gatorade. Except when I stopped for traffic light lights I did not notice perspiration flowing that much.

One dog sprint today in Briar Tree. The dog looked familiar but he was not at the same house that I encountered him before. Thanks to the deep drainage ditch he had run down and back up I out ran him and he gave up quickly. He was a large dog with a mean sounding bark/growl. I will now have to watch two houses in Briar Tree.

Pulling into the driveway at 2:56 the temperature was 89, 48% humidity with scattered clouds and the same light breeze.

Mileage:

  • 170.64 miles this week
  • 454.2 miles for June (431 miles left to reach my 885 mile goal)
  • 2858 miles year to date
  • Links to Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS

Tomorrow the forecast calls for 92 degrees, partly cloudy and a 25% chance of rain.

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Texas Bicycle News Digest June 12th

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Austin bike team sets up tryout for riders; Bicyclists get first chance to experience state league

By Eric Johnson        www.austindailyherald.com


After months of setting up informational meetings, tires are finally rolling as the effort to start a high school mountain biking team kicked into a higher gear.
Though only three students attended, Wednesday’s tryout was a start.
“It’s awesome, great,” said coach Spencer Salmon. “We have more interested than what’s here.”
Anna Mitchell, a 12-year-old Pacelli student, was the first to try out Wednesday night behind Riverland’s west campus where Josh Kleve, league director of the…

Sunday Ride MTB

Sunday, Jun 15, 2014, 8:30 AM

7 Dirty SOB’s Went

Check out this Meetup →

Apples to Apples

Turnin’ Cranks

So I’ve found it a bit hard to compare progress over the duration of my cycling career. Obviously I should get better over time, right? Typically I’ve used FTP testing as my yardstick and I am due to do another test, but for now, I’ll show a quick comparison of today’s ride vs. a near identical ride from 1 year ago.
Both rides were 2×20 FTP efforts. Last year’s effort was done utilizing Heart Rate, and this year’s using Power.
In 2014, I’ve been particularly consistent in my ‘training’ and ride time. I’ve only been off the bike once for more than 2 days in a row and even then it was as a ‘recovery week’ effort to get some rest in. Ride time for this year is way more than it was this…

Brain Injuries Rose In Cities After Bike-Sharing Rolled Out

By Scott Hensley        Texas Public Radio


Bike-sharing is taking cities by storm.
Rental stations across town give people a quick way to get around — and get some exercise.
But there’s a catch.
When you pick up a bike, you usually have to bring your own helmet or go without one. If you ride with your hair flapping in the breeze, your risk for brain injury goes up.
A group of Canadian and American researchers wondered what effect bike-share systems had on the frequency of brain injuries. And they came up with a way to look at the potential problem.
They analyzed data on the treatment of serious brain injuries at trauma centers in five cities before and after bike-sharing programs were started. The data were lumped…

Wednesday Walnut Creek Social

Wednesday, Jun 18, 2014, 6:00 PM

Location details are available to members only.

7 Mountain Bikers Went

We will be meeting at 5:45 pm to air up, tune and hit the Walnut Creek trail wheels down at 6:00 pm for a 10 to 12 mile circuit, this will be a Beginner ride for folks who just want to ride Walnut at a group pace and we will do a varying loop of the trails.HELMETS ARE REQUIRED, NO HELMET NO RIDE!This is for your safety!We will meet at the parki…

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New Bike Box in McAllen

CityofMcAllen

Wednesday Night Ride

Wednesday, Jun 18, 2014, 5:30 PM

Rio Plaza, 6205 Upper Valley Road
at Artcraft (parking lot next to Little Caesars_ El Paso, TX

3 Cyclists Went

These are leaderless rides of 17-22 miles leaving from Rio Plaza, 6205 Upper Valley Rd (at Artcraft). The most popular route is a 19-mile loop to Gadsden H.S. Riders begin 5:30-6:00 p.m. this time of year.Optional dinner afterward at Hello Pizza, 1071 Country Club (River Run Plaza).

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Waited for Amtrak But A No Show

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I started a little later than what I have lately due to some errands leaving home at 10:59. I thought this later start would position me to see the Amtrak train go through Huffman around 1;00 but it didn’t happen. I waited until 1:15 but no Amtrak train. There are two tracks Amtrak can take and I guess today they went on the other one.

Riding to Huffman via Atascocita and Walden I saw two other bicyclists, one of them I saw twice. The first biker was waiting for the light to change at Atascocita Shores Dr. and FM1960. I was riding to FM1960 from the south on Atascocita Shores. I didn’t have to wait for the light to change so I was on the causeway over Lake Houston before him but about half way over the causeway he caught with me and rode on. Later as I rode on Fairlake Drive the other cyclist passed me going the opposite direction. I waved but he didn’t.

The weather started out at 86 degrees (63% humidity) and when I was in Huffman waiting at the Chevron station it was 93 according to my phone. As I rode home from there the clouds increased and the temperature went to 84 (91% humidity).  The wind was from the south at 10 mph with 18 mph gusts at the start but turned calm at the end of the ride (2:02 pm).

Nothing unusual about today’s ride. I biked 32.01 miles averaging 15.4 mph.

Mileage standings:

  • 137.02 miles this week
  • 420.58 miles in June (465 miles left to reach the 885 mile goal)
  • 2824 miles year to date
  • Links to Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS

Late yesterday afternoon I drove to Porter on an errand. I went on Adams St. to see how the resurfacing was going and the asphalt has not been put down yet. I will need to avoid this street for a few more days.

There is a chance of rain during later tonight and into Friday morning. This might delay tomorrow’s ride.

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