Texas Bicycling Daily News Roundup January 28th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Bike plan draws fans, foes
By Robert Cadwallader        www.star-telegram.com
Consultants studying how to make Mansfield streets more bicycle friendly outlined Monday a preliminary long-range package of road signage, striping and expansion projects that could cost $11.1 million if all were implemented.
The plan also offered a buffet of options and combinations starting at $12,500 for 50 roadside signs warning motorists to look out for bike riders. The recommendations would become part of the city’s master thoroughfare plan, which would help guide the scheduling of the improvements.
The study, which was unveiled at a joint meeting of the City Council and Park Facilities Development Corp. board, will be…

Pedal fees
Feedback sought for proposed mandatory bike registration
By Lindsey Gawlik        www.thebatt.com

Mandatory bicycle registration may become a requirement in the future for Texas A&M bicyclists, according to the Bike District Plan proposal discussed in December by the Transportation Services Advisory Committee.
Texas A&M faculty and Student Government Association are searching for input on the proposal, which if enacted could require all bicyclists on campus — including visitors — to purchase a bike permit each year for up to $10, said Brittany Bounds, Graduate Student Council president and history graduate student.
Bounds, who is a member of the Transportation Services Advisory Committee, said Transportation Services is considering…

Fort Worth Trail Workday – Gateway Park – 2/1/2014 – 8:30am
by beechnut        forums.mtbr.com
Gateway Park Workday – 2/1/2014 – 8:30am
There is only a few hundred yards left to completely open this season’s trail corridor. We expect to have enough folks to spread out and begin working on trail surface, so expect to see rapid progress in the next few workdays.
Lunch on Saturday will be Spaghetti. We’ll have Italian sausage on the side for the…

Police ID cyclist killed on way to work
The Brownsville Herald
Brownsville police have identified a cyclist killed early Monday morning as a Matamoros man who was headed to work.
Police say Alejandro Abundis Alonso, 45, lived in Matamoros and was riding his bicycle to the Burger King on Alton Gloor when he was struck and…

Tuesday: Intermediate/Advanced Mountain Bike Ride at the Ant Hills
Houston Cycling Club
Tuesday, February 4, 2014    6:15 PM
15200 Memorial Dr, Houston, Te (map)
Look for group and ask if it’s us! call me, Jeff @ [masked] if you have any questions or are going to be late.
This will be a medium to fast pace ride through the Ant Hills of Hershey Park! Bring WATER, spare tube/tire, snacks, etc…Helmets required. Call if you are going to be late so we can…

Freehub hack
An Old Guy On Two Wheels

Recently rebuilt a wheel for somebody.  I also replaced the freewheel body.  His cassette had started to dig into the spline on the freewheel.  Local bike shop owner told me he’s seeing this a lot.  The lighter metals on freehubs are softer than the cassettes.  This is what happens when racers generate high torques during sprinting and climbing.  You rarely see this on older freehubs, especially bikes  used just to get around.
It’s a shame to throw away a nice component like this.  So I tried a repair hack.  Can’t remember where I heard about this. …

Craft Sportswear North America
Some fresh Custom Kits for our friends in Texas, Bat City Cycling. Check out their race on February 22nd

Increase core strength to prepare for long bike rides
Cyclists should focus on cardio, strength before the BP MS150
By Amy Chien        www.chron.com

Mid-April sounds like a long time away, but if you’re a cyclist planning to compete in the 2014 BP MS150 ride from Houston to Austin, you’ll want to start your athletic preparations now. Whether you’re a novice or an experienced rider, you’ll want a good foundation of cardiovascular fitness and improve your strength through weighted workouts.
No, it’s not just about logging miles on your bike. For training purposes, you can add swimming or running to your cardio workouts, and weight training can build the upper-body strength for a boost when riding over rough terrain or obstacles.
Andre Trinidad, endurance competition coach and…

CX Shenanigans No. 27
by joeyTWOwheels        texascx.com
This is overdue, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge the best racers in all of Texas. So here they are, best of the best in the very best state, 2013-2014.
TX CUP OVERALL WINNERS
Elite Men Andrew Beres, Ride Away Cycling Club
Elite Women Catherine Moore, Squadra di Servitori
SS Steven “Chaos” Thomspon, Dallas Bike Works
Expert Men Derrick Saunders, Colonel’s Sho-Air
Amateur Men Tim Spence, Mafia Racing
Amateur Women Missy Hardeman, Squadra di Servitori
Novice Men Ray Frias, Team Yacht Club
M40+ Marc Bergeron, Unattached
M50+ Don Losawyer, Dallas Bike Works
M60+ Chris Thibodeau, Violet Crown Sports Assoc
MU19 Austin Schneider, Northwest Cycling Club
MU15 Tallon Pemberton, Unattached
WU19 Betty Rodriquez, Northwest Cycling Club
WU15 Antionette McCall, Mafia Racing
MU10 Brayden Harshaw, CX Project 2015
WU10 Hazel Levy, CX Project 2015
TX STATE CHAMPIONS…

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

===========================================

Tweets

https://twitter.com/kyleblounttri/status/428323318261747714

https://twitter.com/MitchellGSides/status/428225588248076288

Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup January 27th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

WOOOHOOO!!! Rode my first century.
by Sharpshin        www.bikeforums.net
Well, 102.7 miles to be exact. Elapsed time start to finish twelve hours fifteen minutes; neither swift nor stylish but then I would imagine most folks ain’t packing fifty pounds on the bike when they try this neither.

Late start, 9:50 am on Saturday, meant I’d be finishing after dark IF I made it, but I’ve been riding a lot at night lately. Here’s the bike at the start, note the addition of Bontrager fenders, put on the night before.
Four miles in, heading east towards downtown San Antonio….

Pedernales Falls State Park Trail Building Day
The Austin Mountain Bikers Meetup Group
Sunday, February 9, 2014    9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Pedernales Falls State Park
2585 Park Road 6026, Johnson City, TX (map)
It’s a big park please click the map link below

Austin Ridge Riders trail building project to bring new trail at the park.
NO TRAIL BUILDING EXPERIENCE NEEDED! Austin Ridge Riders will provide tools & guidance for volunteers, as well as a prize raffle after the work. Volunteers get into the park for free on trail building days.
If it’s been a long time since you have built trail, or if you have never built trail, please give it a try. It’s very rewarding to see a…

Six retailers from Texas make the list.

Top multi-sport retailers named as triathlon conference opens
by BRAIN Staff        www.bicycleretailer.com
MARINA DEL REY, Calif. (BRAIN) – The trade association Triathlon Business International and triathlon site Slowtwitch.com have named the top 50 multi-sport retailers in the U.S. They released the list Sunday as the two-day Triathlon Business International annual conference got under way here.

Slowtwitch publisher Dan Empfield compiled the retailer list, through a voting process that was weighted 80 percent on suppliers’ votes and 20 percent on votes cast by Slowtwitch readers.

Ballots with approximately 300 retailer names divided among nine geographic areas — …

Mountain bike race drew 100
www.lmtonline.com    (subscription required)
The festivities building up to the third annual Border Beer Fest on Feb. 1 continued Sunday with the Border Bike Challenge hosted by Pedalheads Laredo, a local cycling organization, at the Shiloh Bike Trails. The bike challenge was the first mountain…

Spring Fling (Cat 5 Crash!!!) 2014 De Leon Springs RR
Jose Cabrera
A crash on the last lap of the race took out about half of the field. I placed 2nd today!!!

Texas State Parks for Mountain Biking
By Danno Wise        about.com
Mountain biking has become very popular in Texas over the past couple of decades. Luckily for Texans and visitors to Texas, the Texas State Park system is home to some of the nation’s best mountain biking trails. Dozens of state parks feature trailways ranging from a couple miles to a couple hundred miles and include trail sections for every level of rider, from beginner to advanced. …

Rudolph’s Revenge and a fire at North Shore!
beardedwomenracing.org
The team’s 2014 season has been officially underway since December 2013, but through a few different race cancellations and postponements, we still hadn’t had a complete race with our participation until last Saturday, January 25th.
The Rudolph’s Revenge race was a 30 (or 40) mile race on the toughest singletrack in North Texas combined with super fast fire road. The 30 mile race took at least 2 hours to finish and covered roughly 1500 feet in elevation change. It had been postponed because of weather in December, but it officially was put into the books on Saturday.  Two of our new…

01/26/2014 CYPRESS/SPRING ROAD Close Passes
by James Webster
Close pass on a Sunday bicycle ride

Fm 1314 to route 242
Greenbridge dr to Research Forest to
Kuykendahl to Pinelakes Blvd to
TC Jester to Spring Cypress to
Barker Cypress to Huffmeister to
East Louetta to Mueschke

Had  headwind and leg cramps

Cyclist hit, killed
The Brownsville Herald
BROWNSVILLE — A bicyclist died early Monday after being hit by a vehicle, authorities said.
Police spokesman J.J. Treviño said a man in his mid-40s died at the intersection of Charlie Clark Drive and Old Highway 77 as a result of the accident.
The motorist remained at the accident scene, Treviño said.
It was not immediately clear…

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

===========================================

Tweets

https://twitter.com/mikethreadgould/status/427843178192834560

https://twitter.com/BikePaulie/status/427800331372621825

Texas Bicycling Daily News Roundup January 25th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

McAllen Arbor Day Walk, Run, Ride and Race 2014
by Erica Proffer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=TPPb-RinF2M
McAllen’s annual Arbor Day activities features a bike tour, 5k and 10k run, family walk and a criterium (bike race). Hundreds of people turned out for this year’s event. This is a quick look at some of the participants.

Sunday Ride Division1 / Boneshaker Project
Crisp winter morning ride from Division1 bike shop with the Boneshaker Project crew.

DYING TO RIDE
A cycle of losses
As tensions grow between bikers and drivers, death toll comes into stark focus
By Dane Schiller        www.houstonchronicle.com
Teenager Miguel Marcial pedaled his bike along a narrow, dark stretch of Richmond Avenue early one morning last July, following closely behind his older brother. The immigrant dish washers had worked the late shift and were both biking to a nearby pharmacy to buy toilet paper.
Only a few feet from the drug store’s parking lot, a brand-new BMW driven by a law student, Steven Moritz, who had just left the Estate Lounge, smacked 17-year-old Marcial from behind and launched him head-long into an oak tree.
The vehicle didn’t stop, according to police. It dragged Marcial’s orange and white bike beneath it for six blocks before disappearing into the humid summer gloom.
“If I had not pulled in, we would both be dead,” Miguel’s brother Palemon recalled hauntingly last week.
Marcial was one of at least 23 bike riders killed on Houston streets in the past five years, according to police and safety reports, as well as…

Upcoming Rides and EventsSan Antonio Wheelmen
Saturday, 2/1:         Bullis County Park Ride
Sunday, 2/2:           Southside Mission Ride
Saturday, 2/8:         Cibolo Ride
Sunday, 2/9:           Toutant-Beauregard Ride

Wahoo Fitness RFLKT+ and Cyclemeter App v10.0.4
BY Ray Garza        RGV Cycling
Cyclemeter iPhone App
In my last post, Wahoo RFLKT+ and Wahoo Fitness App v3.5.2, I talked about pairing up and using the RFLKT+ bike computer with the Fitness app on my iPhone. It worked great and solved some of my problems I had while cycling at night. I liked the fact that I no longer need my ANT+ dongle and adapter cable to read my ANT+ compatible sensors. I also liked that I can now read my bike computer when I cycle at night (something that I do often). Check out the write-up for additional information. This time around I’m pairing up the RFLKT+ with the ever popular Cyclemeter App from Abivo.
Everyone has their favorite bike computer app and Cyclemeter seems to be on everyone’s list. It’s a very stable and configurable application that is great for multi-sports. I wanted to try it out since it now supports the RFLKT bike computer system. First thing out of the bag is that the support comes at a price. You see, if you want to…

Skills Clinic #96: RCP’s Loop 13 NEW DATE
Dallas Off-Road Bicycle Association
Saturday, February 1, 2014       10:00 AM
Rowlett Creek Preserve
2525 Castle Rd
Parking Lot at Castle Drive and Centerville Road
Garland, TX (map)
Please Note the NEW DATE Feb 1
Skills Clinic #96 RCP’s Loop 13 Jeremy Morse will be your instructor. Jeremy is among the very best bike handlers in North Texas. And he is a very good, patient, clear, and experienced mountain bike instructor. (And he is a nurse to boot!)
What: Loop 13 at Rowlett Creek Preserve has a variety of obstacles, most notably some rock gardens.
Who: The clinic is only for intermediate mountain bikers, or…

What’s Coming Up?
Hill Country Bicycle Touring Club
17th Annual Garner State Park Weekend- 2/14/2014 – 2/17/2014
Join us for a weekend of camping, hiking and, of course, biking. For those of you without RVs or tents, there are cabins to rent for the weekend. Ride Leader: Vanessa Leal
Spring Club Picnic- 3/22/2014
Join us for our semi-annual club picnic at Southside Lions Club Park. There will be various routes and distances to choose from, followed by food and fun. Bring your outdoor toys (kayaks, canoe, fishing, etc…). Ride Leader: Amanda McCoy…

Rudolph’s Revenge 2013 Results
www.texasmountainbiketrails.com

Yeah, it’s 2014, but hey… We’re rebels here at TXMTB.

30 Mile Men’s Open
Place    Bib #    First Name    Last Name    Chip Time    Speed
1    60    Chris    Wright    *1:59:38.377    15.046
2    49    Steven    Allen    *2:02:45.387    14.664
3    37    Thomas    Attaway    *2:05:22.390    14.358
4    39    Josh    Storm    *2:05:23.413    14.356…

Tweets

https://twitter.com/MitchellGSides/status/427646692360740865

https://twitter.com/BBQ44/status/427546970236784640

https://twitter.com/BBQ44/status/427510213231394816

Oh So Close

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Riding south over Lake Houston on W. Lake Houston Parkway I saw debris from what looked like a car crash or two. The bridge probably iced over during the modest ice storm we had last Friday. The Houston Chronicle had numerous photos of traffic problems. One of the joys of being retired is not driving in this weather. I didn’t bike either.

Today I rode 22.40 miles at a 15.0 mph average speed. I am inching to my January 309 mile goal but I am not there yet. With today’s ride January miles stand at 300.12. With the weather forecast for this week it could require me to ride in the cold. Since I began the month riding my Motobecane 700HT MTB I may finish riding it too.

I didn’t realize the wind was kicking up so much when I rolled out the driveway. The temperature was 66 when I left at 11:45 and 70 as I finished at 1:21. Wind was 15 mph from the SW with 21 mph gusts. This accounts for the extra effort I used going south. The return home with the wind most of the way was easier.

The only other  bicyclist I saw was dressed way less than me. He sported a short sleeve jersey and shorts while I wore leg warmers, long and short sleeve jerseys, windbreaker jacket and half finger gloves. The wind carried a chill with it so I was glad my clothing kept it at bay.

[iframe http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/436200756 470px 570px]

[iframe http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2191915/embed 95% 700px]