Dry Heat – June 30th Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Yesterday was a scorcher in the Houston area topping out at 107 degrees at Bush Intercontinental Airport, not far from where I ride and live. Imagine my relief when I got up this morning to 76 degrees, 31 degrees lower. Driving to church in my Jeep Wrangler with the top down was quite pleasant. Fast forward to 11:31 when I rolled out of my driveway it was 90.5 degrees but with some cloud cover to hold the sun at bay. The humidity dropped very low to 28% and to 26% when I got back home. I noticed my bandana was not soaked like it has been every other ride this week and perspiration did not drip or roll down my arms as I rode. Tomorrow it should be in the high 90’s.

Wrapping up June’s biking I chose a north route to Community Drive and then back home through Valley Ranch and some other subdivisions. I rode an even 27 miles (not often I ride a distance with no tenths of a mile). June ended up with 885.97 miles well over my 524 mile goal. For the week the miles totaled 227.55 and year to date moved up to 3325 miles. Check out the June to date slide below for all of the metrics.

[wppa type=”slide” album=”181″][/wppa]

[iframe http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/335539991 470px 570px]

[iframe http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1453145/embed 95% 700px]

Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for June 29th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

ATX 6-pack at Pace Bend 7-13
by John        www.AustinBike.com
The ATX 6-pack race series takes its next stop in Pace Bend park. So get ready for some racing goodness. This will not include any of the playground at the top so you don’t have to worry about the doughboy soil skewer move that is so popular, but it will include the rock garden of greatness.
For more info, check out…

Mount a Light to your Bike with a Clothespin
www.bikehacks.com

Sometimes I see a hack that is so brilliantly simple and cool I wonder why I did not think of it. This hack submitted by Midge from across the pond is one such hack. Enjoy.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I was a bit peeved with those ugly plastic brackets that spoiled the lines of my beautiful bike so I came up with this ten minute cliplight hack. It’s cobbled together with a Poundland rear light (are they called Dollar Stores in  the US?), two thin zip ties and a…

Putting the Joy Back in Cycling: Getting a Bike Fit
by Ray Garza        rgvcycling.com

Getting my bike fitted

Recently, my riding has sucked. I was just not comfortable on the bike after 10 miles. Pain on my right leg would develop and I would have to shift my butt on the saddle to ease the problem. Then my right knee would be hurting after a good workout and to top it off, my hands were constantly numbing up. I tell you, after 25 miles on the bike, I’m ready to jump off of it! That’s sad because I love to bike! After a lot of self adjustments to try to solve the issues, I threw in the towel and…

Intermediate & Faster Ride-Carl Barton Park
Woodlands Cycling Club
Saturday, July 06, 2013, 07:30am – 11:00am
by  Ellis
Directions:  I45 N exit 84B 336/Frazier Street.  Go right on 336.  Continue east about 3 miles to the park on the right. Turn right into Carl Barton Park at the second exit and park on the left side of the parking lot.  Restrooms are available.

Helmets and hydration are required.

Intermediate group:  average 16-18 mph
Faster group:  average 18-20+ mph
Multiple routes from 40+ miles.  Route is generally decided at the start of the ride based on the group and…

Randonneurs Are In It For The Ride, Not The Race
tpr.org

For many of us, a single cycling event — the Tour de France — defines athleticism on two wheels. The epic race was first organized by a French newspaper editor named Henri Desgrange in 1903. But Desgrange also had a hand in the creation of a very different style of cycling: the randonnée, a long distance-ride that prizes camaraderie and self-sufficiency over flat-out speed.

There’s no direct translation for randonnée (pronounced ran-don-NAY) — it can mean a long outing or trip, or a ramble in the countryside. For its practitioners, called randonneurs, it’s easier to define the event by what it isn’t: a race. There are…

El Paso Bicycle Club Ride
Pecan Pancake Pedal
Saturday, July 6 7:00 AM
Description:     Meet at 316 Arboles (corner of Mora, one block north of Lindbergh) for ride to top of Anthony Gap. Route: Ride to Country Club to River Trail to Vinton Road to rollers (I-10 frontage) to O’Hara to Anthony Gap; return via O’Hara and NM 28 and other Upper Valley Roads back to Limbirds’ house for world-famous Pecan Pancakes. 42 miles. Randy Limbird…

Tweets

https://twitter.com/BikeMSValero/status/350982315431833600

Whirring Wheels – June 29th Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

The WSW breeze today is supposed to push the temperature over the 100 mark so I tried to start earlier but I think 8:42 is not as early as some bikers did. I rode south and east to Atascocita, Walden and Huffman. It didn’t take long to see other bicyclists returning from their rides. I would guess I saw 30 to 40 bikers. On Old Atascocita Road as I approached the rise to cross the railroad tracks I could hear a whir that I guessed were bikes coming my way. A few seconds later I saw the tops of several helmets and then the rush of 9 or 10 bikers crested the rise and swooshed past me in the opposite direction. They were going into the wind so the group was close together for drafting.

At 8:42 it was 82.6 degrees and as I rode into the driveway at the end my weather station showed 93.7. The sky was a clear blue providing no break in the sun. I really appreciated the stop in Huffman at the Chevron station for the cold Diet Pepsi. Later today it could hit 106 degrees. I am glad to be out and back before the real heat arrives.

I wanted to ride far enough today to reach 200 miles for the week and I did by .54 miles for 200.54 miles. June increased to 858.96. Year to date is 3298 miles. With one more riding day in June these numbers will go up but I won’t add more than 25 to 30 miles.

In addition to all of the bicyclists there were a number of boaters on Lake Houston. The water looked a greenish blue and cooling.

[wppa type=”slide” album=”180″][/wppa]

[iframe http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/334865026 470px 570px]

[iframe http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1449151/embed 95% 700px]

Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for June 28th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Trek and REI Join Forces with Alchemy Goods to Grow Nationwide Bike Tube Recycling Network
Network of 600+ shops in nearly every state to collect one million bike tubes by the end of 2014
eon.businesswire.com
SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Alchemy Goods, manufacturer of upcycled bags and accessories, announces its partnership with Trek and REI to form a nationwide bike tube recycling network. This network includes over 600 Trek dealers, REI stores and independent bike shops, and is represented in nearly every state. To-date, Alchemy Goods has collected over 400,000 bicycle inner tubes — thereby diverting them from the landfill.

“We are aiming to collect tubes at each of our 1,800 retailers across the U.S., making recycling easy and accessible.”

Cycling is on the rise as more cities adopt bike-friendly measures including the addition of bike lanes and bike share programs. According to the League of American Bicyclists, bike commuting has grown by 47-percent nationwide between 2000 and 2011. In fact, over 13 million bikes were…

Independence Day Ride
San Antonio Wheelmen
Date:     07/04/2013
Time:     08:30 AM
Location:     Meet behind the Main Street Square (aka MarketPlatz)
West Austin Street
Fredericksburg, TX

Details: Independence Day Ride in  Fredericksburg  (NW) [R to H].  PLEASE NOTE START TIME!!!  Routes of 35 and 50 miles.  Meet behind the Main Street Square (aka MarketPlatz) in downtown Fredericksburg on West Austin Street for a moderately hilly scenic ride through the beautiful Texas Hill Country.  From San Antonio, take I-10 West to Hwy 87 in Comfort.  Turn right (North) on Hwy 87 and go 22 miles to…

Erwin Park Summer Series July 4th Race
Texas Mountain Bike Trails
To register for the July 4th Erwin Park Summer Series race, follow the link below.

We will have hot dogs and a little BBQ after the races so come out, stick around and celebrate our nation’s independence with some fun racing.
Choose Your Race Entry…

Clear Creek High School grad biking to Alaska to raise money for cancer research
by By KRISTI NIX        www.yourhoustonnews.com

School may be out, but University of Texas student Akanksha Verma won’t be found sunning at the beach. Hometown friends won’t run into her at the movies or find her working a part-time job this summer. Instead, Verma dedicated her time off to participate in the Texas 4000, a 4,500-mile fundraising bike ride to for cancer research.

Verma, a 2009 graduate of Clear Creek High School, is one of 69 UT students who are spending roughly 70 days to ride from Austin to Anchorage, Alaska as part of…

TTC Ignores Cyclist Safety, Issues Toll Road Ban
BikeTexas.org
Cyclists confer in the hallway after the TTC decisionYesterday, the Texas Transportation Commission listened to testimony from Texas cyclists asking the commission not to ban cyclists from toll roads. The Commission chose to ignore the testimony—that there is often no alternative route, that toll road shoulders can be the safest place for bicycles to be in an area, that cyclists need access to their destinations just like everyone else—and voted 5-0 to ban bicycles from all TxDOT-controlled toll roads.

BikeTexas is disappointed and frustrated by this decision. We feel that the commission has arrived at this decision without any real study or planning. They did not consult…

SafeCyclist Training Proves Worthwhile for Teachers
BikeTexas.org
A boy identifies parts of a bicycle as part of the SafeCyclist Curriculum.

As part of our ongoing commitment to reach schoolchildren across Texas with a message of bicycle safety, BikeTexas regularly conducts teacher training sessions in the SafeCyclist Curriculum with the help of a TxDOT grant. Since 1991, BikeTexas has certified close to 4,000 PE teachers and youth community workers. In addition, our SafeCyclist certified college faculty have taught approximately 4,000 students studying to be PE teachers. Part of the grant includes asking…

Thursday Ride at Walnut Creek – Beginner/intermediate ride level
The Austin Mountain Bikers Meetup Group
Thursday, July 4, 2013        5:30 PM
Walnut Creek Metropolitan Park
12138 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, TX (map)

Back to normal summer hours
This will be a beginner ride and will be doing around 8 -10 miles.

Chris is willing to lead a faster group so we can have an intermediate group.
Please be there and be ready to roll by 5:30 pm. We meet in the…

#WINNING
By Kathleen            bicyclesoutbackracing.net
Last night’s Driveway race was HOT.  I felt really good on my training ride on Tuesday and thought that a rest day on Wednesday would allow me to have a good race on Thursday.  The course was the Championship Loop which is in my opinion the hardest course we do at the Driveway.  We ran counter-clockwise down the corkscrew.  The crowd at the race last night was lighter than usual.  Leila and I were the only women in the Masters/Women’s Open race.  We speculated that school having just gotten out for the summer, the 4th of July, family vacations, and the heat were the main reasons for the low turnout.  None the less we were ready to race each other.  The race was strung out from the…

Tweets