I did not ride yesterday because I was home with the painters. I missed some great weather but it stayed around for today’s ride. I went on the Atascocita – Walden – Huffman route with a slight variation not going south on Fairlake Drive and Old Atascocita Road. I don’t want to get in a rut. When you know where all of the bumps and pot holes are but can’t remember the street names because the turns are automatic route rut might have set in. This variation was a little shorter totaling 32.47 miles.
The legs are starting to respond to the rides with some power although riding west across Lake Houston on the causeway I had some doubts. The 8 mph WSW breeze sure felt a lot stronger out in the open with nothing but passing cars to break the wind. Most of the route the breeze did not pose a problem and I ended up with a 15.3 mph average speed.
No other bicyclists crossed my path today so they missed out on the beautiful weather. It was 71 when I left home at 1:08 and 70 when I finished at 3:50. A clear sky hovered over head and when I stopped at the Huffman Chevron it felt great sitting in the sun while I ate a snack.
With today’s miles I reached the halfway point to the 309 mile goal with 158.46 miles so far. Reaching my goal looks possible if the weather cooperates. 6 rides so far averaged 26.41 miles per ride. If I stay at the same average 6 more rides will get me to the goal. I hope to ride the Bike Through The Forest – Coldspring, TX on January 25th but the weather is a question. I will hold my decision until the 24th.
Tomorrow might be a stay off the bike day with the high forecast of 58 degrees.
Interview- Bike Through the Forest and the Hills 2014 – Coldspring, TX
www.wheelbrothers.com
Here is another ride to prep for the BPMS 150! Located in beautiful Coldspring, less than an hour north of Houston and Lufkin, this race is a great one for all skill levels. Check out our interview with Craig Sauer, the director of the event.
Why join the Bike Through the Forest and the Hills?
This year’s BP MS 150 endorsed bike ride benefiting the Kingwood High School dance team takes place on Sat., Jan. 25 beginning at the court house in Coldspring, TX. This ride has four routes: 12, 25, 33 and 50 miles, so we can accommodate all skill levels.
train for the BP MS 150
How long has your ride been around?
6 years, and participants include everyone from novice all the way to experts, shorter routes all the way to longer routes. Also, the ‘New Years Resolutions season’ helps add in more people. We are located 45 minutes north of Houston and Lufkin.
Also this ride is recommended by BPMS 150 – one of the first of the year – BPMS is in April, so they get to train for that race in this one. It’s kind of like a…
An uphill battle
by B.D. | SAN ANTONIOÂ Â Â Â Â Â www.economist.com
TEXAS, where expansive highways teem with trucks and tank-like Hummers, hardly seems like a good place for bicycles. Cities sprawl for hundreds of miles, and bike lanes are rare. Intrepid cyclists are rarer still.
Some Texas cities want to change this. San Antonio plans to triple bike-able and walk-able streets by 2020. Dallas, long thought the worst city for bicycles in America, has unveiled ambitious plans for a new network of more than 1,100 miles of bike lanes over the next ten years. Since 2011 four Texan cities have begun bike-sharing schemes, most recently in Austin just before Christmas. Advocates tout the benefits to health and the environment, and hope bicycles will…
Autistic Texas Boy On Bike Killed By Allegedly Drunken Driver
www.kwtx.com
HOUSTON (January 13, 2014) A man whose pickup truck struck and killed a 12-year-old autistic boy who was riding a bicycle has been charged with driving while intoxicated and could face additional charges.
Alvester Bowens was killed instantly Saturday when he was struck as he rode his bicycle along a high-speed overpass in southwest Houston.
Bowens had been reported missing after he got separated from…
A new bridge in Fort Worth, Texas, features a series of 24-foot tall arches. This feature was irresistible for Mat Olson, who rode his bicycle over the arches last weekend.
“It seemed like I was on top of a mountain. It was all windy and crazy when I was up there. It was…
In Austin, a Protected Bike Lane Built to Help Kids Get to School
by Angie Schmitt      dc.streetsblog.org
What does it look like when a city gets serious about giving kids the freedom to get to school on their own? Austin, Texas, is showing people what’s possible with a protected bike lane that serves an elementary school.
With the help of the Green Lane Project, the capital of the Lone Star State has really been stepping up its bike infrastructure lately. The city has been looking for strategic places to add protected bike lanes whenever it has the opportunity, says Bike Austin Executive Director Tom Wald, whether it’s resurfacing a street or making some other physical or design change.
One of the more interesting protected bike lane projects in Austin is Bluebonnet Lane, which was redesigned in 2012 with a two-way bikeway separated from traffic with flexible posts. What’s especially…
ARR Trail Stewardship Meeting
The Austin Mountain Bikers Meetup Group
Wednesday, February 5, 2014Â Â 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Pizza Bistro
12001 Burnet Road, , Austin, TX (map)
Ask for Rich
When: Wed, Feb 5 from 6:00PM to 9:00PM. Pizza, drinks, beer, wine are all available for purchase. Come early to eat and drink, formal meeting begins at 7:00PM.
Who should attend:Â All current ARR Trail Stewards and…
HBC Pattison – Hempstead Ride
Houston Bicycle Club
Saturday 01/25/14Â Â Â 9:00AM
Distances: 32(A), 43(B), 49(A), 55(C) miles
Training ride ( ride hard! ). No hills, but smooth road, mostly paved shoulder, stores at Monaville and Hempstead. Good food at Hard Times BBQ after the ride.
Bill’s Hilly Chilly MLK Day ride
Fort Worth Bicycling Association
Event Details
Club Ride
Monday, January 20, 2014 9:00 am
Routes
Chilly Billy’s Hilly Ride
62 mile route
40 mile route
26 mile route
Watson’s Lone Star
Hill Country Bicycle Touring Club
Sunday Jan 26, 2014
Ride starts at 9:00 a.m. at the Economic Development Center in Somerset, Texas. The route travels down the wide shoulders of Somerset Road to Watson Road. We’ll cross Hwy. 16 South to Lone Star Blvd then ride by the Toyota Plant and make our way back to Somerset. Lunch at a local Mexican restaurant, now open on Sundays. The ride travels country roads and roads with wide shoulders with a few gentle hills.  This ride will automatically cancel if it is 45 degrees or colder 1/2 hour before start time.
Ride Leaders:Â Debbie and Richard Hays
That’s the message from the City of Fort Worth after a BMX stunt cyclist crossed the Trinity River on the arches of the new West 7th Street Bridge in a daredevil feat on Saturday.
Mat Olson told News 8 he had contemplated the dangerous bicycle stunt for some time, but had to wait until conditions were right.
Police officers warned him after the…
2013 Recap
www.turnincranks.com
The word of the year for 2013 would be racing. I really pushed myself this year to both train and race in the TMBRA series. My original goal was a top 3 finish, but that turned out to be too ambitious. I could have finished in 5th had I done the optional Pay Dirt trail work, but I didn’t get my trail work in so I ended up in 9th instead.
In addition to racing the TMBRA series, I also managed to score a victory in a relay marathon race with Kirby at Reveille Peak.
As cataloged in my Strava log, I ended the year with 228 hours of saddle time for 2600 miles of riding, beating my 2013 mileage goal. I didn’t come close to my…
US Nationals CX and Texas Top 10’s
www.texasmountainbiketrails.com
…Here is a listing of the Texans who landed themselves in the Top 10.
Kevin Fish, 9th, Men – U23, Austin, TX
Faith Watkins, 10th, Women – Cat 1/2/3 Masters 35-39, Austin, TX
Summer Moak, 4th, Women – Junior 15-16, Katy, TX
Frederic Schmid, 2nd, Men – Masters 80-84, Waco, TX
Christina Gokey-Smith, 2nd, Women – Cat 1 Master 40-44, Denton, TX
Catherine Moore, 3rd, Women – Cat 1 Master 40-44, Waco, TX
If you’re smart, you’ve already reserved those important days off at the office. Because, I gots to say…ain’t no party like an Austin party, cause an Austin party don’t stop.
You best get ready.
#CXnats in Austin is gearing up. You’ll get all the unofficial news here, on our FB and Twitter – local tips, course info, parties, more. You can also follow the official promotion group @AustinCX15. Nice folks, to be sure.
Alright, the #TXCX crew was tearing it up in Boulder, and day three was…
New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar
New Event: Corsicana Stage Race – Corsicana, TX: Recurring Event First start: 2014-03-22 08:00:00 CDT
Texas A&M University preparing for influx of Aggie cyclists
BY ALLEN REEDÂ Â Â Â Â Â www.theeagle.com
Texas A&M University is planning for an influx of cyclists on campus. The exploding growth at Northgate and the planned West Campus housing project will increase the amount of bike traffic, and university administrators are looking for outside help to handle it.
The university has issued a 29-page request for proposal for a contractor to create a bicycle district plan, which will essentially be a planning guide for everything bike-related at A&M. The scope of the work…
Skills Clinic #96: RCP’s Loop 13
Dallas Off-Road Bicycle Association
Saturday, February 15, 2014Â Â Â 10:00 AM
Rowlett Creek Preserve
2525 Castle Rd
Parking Lot at Castle Drive and Centerville Road
Garland, TX (map)
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…
January Fun Ride!
Corpus Christi Cycle Club
When: Saturday, January 25, 2014
Time: 7:30am
Where: 801 E Broadway Ave, Portland, TX 78374
Who: Any & All local or visiting Cyclists who want to join us for a fun/social ride and can ride a distance of ~ 65 miles (with refueling stops at mile 20 & 42). We will have 2 groups to accommodate a larger number of local cyclists. Group 1 will ride at an average pace of 16-18 MPH, and Group 2 will ride at an average pace of 14-16 MPH. Each Group will have a dedicated SAG Support Vehicle. This is a fun/social ride, and NOT a Hammerfest or Race Pace ride!
What: Come on out and join us for a fun & social ride and explore one of the beautiful routes South TX has to offer – just over the bridge. A SAG Supported ~64 mile loop starting in Portland, heading out on 181 toward Sinton, then heading West on 188, then South on 796, and then looping back through Odem, finishing back in…
Directions:Â I 45 NÂ Exit 87, left on 105 W for about 10 miles, go thru Montgomery about 1 mile past FM 149, The school is on the left across from the Sports Complex
No restrooms available.
Routes from 30 to 50+ miles. Helmet and hydration required.
Intermediate group:Â average 16-18 mph
Faster Group:Â 18-20+ mph
Route is generally decided at the beginning of the ride based on the group and weather. Intermediate group about 45-50 miles. Faster group 50+ miles.
Please arrive in time to be ready to ride at the start time.
Tweets
Some more scoop on today's race. Cyclingdirt did an interview with Kevin post-race. Hear what he had to say…. http://t.co/z7NJyWwbmK
My time did not allow for a 30+ mile ride today so I elected to ride south through Atascocita and Walden before heading back home. I figured this route would be 20+ miles long and it turned out to be 22.57 miles. Not any other serious bicyclists out today but I did see several casual bikers.
Leg muscles complained some today and my butt is still trying to get used to the saddle. Several times I stood up to pedal to use different muscles.
I thought yesterday’s wind was tough. Today the wind was from the SSE at 16 mph with 22 mph gusts. This slowed my average speed way down to 14.5 mph. At times I was barely moving it seemed when I got out in an open area where the wind could really pound on me. Conversely when I got a tailwind I picked up the speed to around 19 mph or so. Unfortunately this route does not have any long stretches where I could use the tailwind to make up for the slower sections.
While my weather station reported 67 when I left home at 11:46 and 72 when I finished at 1:26 I was glad I wore my cool weather wardrobe: long and short sleeve jerseys, leg warmers, shorts, windbreaker jacket and half finger gloves. The wind had a chill to it that cut through my clothing whenever I rode into it. Pulling into the garage and out of the wind when I got home felt good.
With today’s ride January miles now total 125.99 leaving 184 miles to match January 2013 miles. I was able to ride 3 days in a row but tomorrow looks doubtful with rain in the forecast. Tuesday looks better for riding with 68 and clear sky predicted.
