Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for June 13th

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Students bike to promote environmental awareness
by Amber Mason        www.lsureveille.com

While biking along the Gulf Coast from New Orleans to Houston, college students and recent graduates stop in Baton Rouge and help groom a community garden.
The program titled Ride for the Future is organized by non-profit organization Better Future Project. When arriving in Gulf Coast cities, group members participate in community outreach programs aimed at…

UPDATE: Garland boy remains in critical condition after being hit by SUV while riding bicycle
By Tristan Hallman        thescoopblog.dallasnews.com

Updated again Thursday by Tristan Hallman: Garland police are looking for more witnesses to verify evidence gathered from the crash Wednesday.
Any other drivers in the area at the time are asked to contact Garland police.
Jackson is still in critical condition, police said.
Updated Thursday by staff writer Julie Fancher:
Jaylyn Jackson remains in critical condition this morning at Children’s Medical Center in Dallas.
Police say a 36-year-old Rowlett woman driving a 2007…

HPD officers biking to Maine for leukemia research
By Craig Hlavaty, Houston Chronicle

For the past 32 years, bicyclists from the Houston Police Bicycle Relay Team have participated in a relay bike ride to various parts of the country to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Over the history of the program the riders have raised nearly $5.4 million in funds for the cause, according to Alex Franklin with the society.

The officers are each required to raise $5,000 to participate. They come from all…

2013 Pace Bend Mountain Biking Race – Full Lap
by TC            www.turnincranks.com

This is the 8th race in the TMBRA State Series

Shot 100% on GoPro Hero2 HD

Weather and trails were perfect. I felt 100% and had a good race. John E (Lifetime Fitness kit) held me off and finished 18s ahead of me. He was a good rabbit to chase for a good chunk of the race!

I used a new mount for this video, a K Edge mount: http://amzn.to/12Ifg6c

You can read a more detailed race report here…

Longhorns on the long road
Written by Jason Maholy            www.thereporteronline.net
A group of college students in the midst of a bicycle trek from Texas to Alaska will later this month pass through Palos Heights, where a resident will house them for a night and provide them a taste of Chicago.

Ann Engelmann, who lives in the city’s Ishnala subdivision, will play host to 24 University of Texas students who on June 1 headed out from Austin on what will be a 4,500-mile journey to Anchorage. The cyclists are participating in the Livestrong Texas 4000, and on June 22 will ride from Champaign to Palos Heights. Engelmann will provide the riders a place to stay and…

A Fossil 50 Video Preview!
By Bryan        www.bryanfawley.com

Tweets

Shorter Than Usual – June 13th Bike Ride

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Looking at today’s route I see a hatchet with a leather strap at the bottom of the handle. The routes sometime have weird shapes or remind you of one of those psychology test shapes. This being the fourth day in a row riding my legs were a little slow and not so willing to push the pedals along the 26.73 mile route. Average speed shows it coming in at 14.7 mph, below my normal 15+ mph.

The weather was warm and humid starting at 85 degrees and 69% humidity, ending at 92 degrees and 54% humidity. I poured perspiration whenever I stopped leaving a wet pavement below me. When I got home my bandana and gloves were soaked. My shorts felt like I just climbed out of the swimming pool dripping water as I walked.

I rode a mixed route today going north on Loop 494 once I exited Kingwood. Since they resurfaced Loop 494 and added a nice shoulder it is not a problem biking there. In fact during the day I think the traffic is better on 494 than on the US59 service road. Once I got to Community Drive it was time to head west and then down the service road to Valley Ranch. The wind was not that much today moving at 7 mph from the west. With all of the humidity riding into the wind felt cooling at times especially after I stopped for a traffic light or stop sign.

Lately my rides typically exceed 30 miles but today I thought of as a rest day for the weekend coming up. So far I biked 11 out of 13 days in June; much different from May.

Mileage to date: 378.71 for June, 2818 year to date. Links to Gramin Connect and Ridewithgps.com.

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Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for June 12th

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Timber Lane Trail Work Day
GHORBA.org
Saturday, June 15, 2013 – 8:30am
Timber Lane is finishing construction on a new park, 105 acres, just west of Hardy and north of Cypress Creek and west of Timber Lane. We are looking for help on Saturday 6/15 to do clean up and new trail construction. The entrance is a dirt road at 23503 Jasmine Terrace Dr. in Park Spring Subdivision on the north end of the park.

Tour of South West Austin
The Austin Mountain Bikers Meetup Group
Saturday, June 15, 2013        9:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Slaughter Creek Trail
9901 RM 1826
GPS: 30.209349,-97.904060
Austin, TX (map)

I’m still nursing my rib and not ready for the big boy trails yet so Saturday’s ride is going to stay relatively flat: one lap of Slaughter Creek Trail, ride the trails over to the Veloway for a half lap, then back to the Slaughter Creek Trail parking lot. Total ride will be 15-20 miles, the pace is casual, skill level is beginner.

Look for Lloyd on the orange Santa Cruz Tallboy in…

Tuesday Ride at BCGB – Intermediate ride level
The Austin Mountain Bikers Meetup Group
Tuesday, June 18, 2013        5:30 PM
Barton Creek Greenbelt – 360 Access (beside brick office building)
3755-B Capital of Texas Hwy., Austin, TX (map)

Back to normal summer hours.
Please be there and be ready to roll by 5:30 pm. We will meet in the parking lot of the office building

Any question please call/text  me at [masked]
Intermediate level ride with no drop.
Ride at your own risk and…

Photos from Dirt Remedy
by TC            www.turnincranks.com

Last week I made it out for the local short track series race at City Park (Emma Long). The format is a timed short lap race, with each lap being about a mile in length. The B race is as many laps as you can begin* within 45 minutes.

The race is held at the most technically challenging trail around Austin and is the location where I achieved my one and only 1st place finish at El Deguello last November.

This is a true mountain biking course and I am very excited for the local race series. I just wish I could make more of the races. Being on Tuesday nights, it makes it impossible for…

New Infrastructure, New Rules
by djcurtin                Bicycle Sport Shop’s Offical Cycling Blog

We’ve all seen them. The green boxes at certain intersections around Austin. Part of the ongoing expansion of cycling infrastructure in Austin. But if you’re not familiar with a bike box you’ve likely wondered “what are they?” We asked Nadia Barrera with the City of Austin Public Works Neighborhood Connectivity Division about them and here’s what she had to say.

The two green boxes at the intersection of Barton Springs Road and Lamar Boulevard are called “two-stage turn queues.”  They help cyclists navigate turning left through an intersection.

Cyclists: Use the boxes when you want to turn left.  For example, if you are traveling eastbound on Barton Springs and want to head north to downtown on Lamar, continue straight at the…

‘Bikes, Blues, and Barbecues,’ about a father and son bicycle tour through Texas, now available as an e-book
texasbbqposse.blogspot.com

You may remember the father and son — Tim and Robby Landauer — who made the bicycle barbecue tour through the Central Texas heartland.

We published an item about them in March after Robby sent us a copy of an unpublished manuscript he had written about the trip titled “Bikes, Blues, and Barbecues: Me, my dad and our three favorite things.”

Now, Robby Landauer has turned his manuscript into an e-book, available both through Amazon and Google Play.

“You don’t need a Kindle to read the Amazon copy,” proud father Tim informed us in an email. “Amazon has…

Tweets

https://twitter.com/MontroseHTX/status/345016282271326208

https://twitter.com/BikePaulie/status/344509399429165057

https://twitter.com/grandpajerald/status/344829725769871360

https://twitter.com/grandpajerald/status/344829217495740416

Doe and Two Fawns – June 12th Bike Ride

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I mixed up the streets on today’s route to get some variety. My timing was good because I saw a doe and two fawns walking across Fairlake Drive as I rode south. They came from a yard on the right side of the road and into the brush and trees on the left side. This is the first deer sighting in quite a while, maybe not since I use to ride at night after work. I suspect they did not see since they were not in a hurry.

As you can tell from the elevation this route is very flat, not that surprising for the Houston area.

After getting rained on yesterday today was dry and humid, 75% when I left home at 9:41 but it go down to 53% when I got home at 12:20. Temperature ranged 83 at the start to 92 at the finish. Partly cloudy skies kept the sun coming down on me. My bandana was dripping sweat when I stopped at the Huffman Chevron. Usually I leave my helmet on over the bandana when I stopped but today I sopped up the sweat with some paper towels and kept my helmet off enjoying the breeze blowing across my head. The wind was from the south at 9 mph with 17 mph gusts. I didn’t really notice the gusts but I was riding slower than I expected. Over the 32.42 mile route I averaged 15.1 mph getting to that on the ride from Huffman back home.

With the earlier start and school out I thought I would ride on some streets that normally have more traffic, specifically W. Lake Houston Parkway south past FM1960 before riding into Walden. There was at least one school bus out which I had to stop for on FM1960 just before E. Lake Houston Parkway to drop off one student. No other bicyclists crossed my path today.

June miles are increasing now up to 351.98 and 2791 year to date.

After yesterday’s ride I put on my shade tree mechanic’s hat and replaced the front shock absorbers on my Jeep Wrangler. I was not the fastest mechanic but considering I don’t do this very often (maybe 30 years ago) it only took 2 hours. I probably could’ve been faster if I had a couple of better tools.

Tomorrow is supposed to warm a few degrees with partly cloudy skies. I probably need to ride early to avoid some of the heat.

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