Stinky Piles of Bugs – June 3rd Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

I did not yesterday because we got some much needed rain and it took several hours for the roads to dry out. The rain freshened many things but it turned some bugs into stinky piles. On the FM1960 Lake Houston Causeway dead bugs accumulate along the barriers on the side of the road, more so on the east bound land than the west bound lane. Normally these dry piles of bugs just lay there and do not emit much of a fragrance but when the rain comes the fermentation begins. Today riding over the causeway awoke my nostrils with the strong smell. Hopefully the sun and the heat will cook the piles enough that the smell will go away.

The ride did not get underway until 1:59 but the weather was fantastic: 91 degrees, clear sky and a very light 5 mph breeze. Even the humidity was nice at 32%. Riding south through Atascocita after exiting Kingwood the traffic was light. Once I crossed over FM1960 I stayed on residential streets with a brief stretch on W. Lake Houston getting to Walden. Through Walden and back into Atascocita brought me to the mile and a half on the causeway heading east. At first I did not remember what was causing the smell but then it didn’t take long to see the rotting piles of bugs. I am not sure what kills them but the wind from the traffic on the causeway moves them into various piles along with other debris. I think they come out at night and meet their fate.

This route totaled 32.4 miles today and I averaged 15.5 mph during the 2:05:38 riding time. I did stop at the Huffman Chevron. As I was drinking my Diet Pepsi I watched the time and temperature sign across FM1960 at Action Sign. I knew the temperature was in the 90’s but the board showed varying numbers from 118 to 132 degrees. One of the ladies at the station said the sign goes haywire in the afternoon when the sun hits the Action Sign roof just right. I breathed a sigh of relief knowing it was not so hot after all. Ha! Ha!

June miles total 76.67 towards my 524 mile goal. Year to date is now over the 2500 mile point at 2516.

Tuesday looks like another great day to bike.

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Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for June 2nd

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Huntsville…a major bridge is crossed (and approved)
GHORBA.org
Great news for those of you who are looking forward to the Huntsville expansion. The TPW Commission has approved the 2013 recreational trail grant recommendations, which means that the project will receive an additional $100k to cover the cost of the large bridge we need. Here’s a link to the press release – http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/newsmedia/releases/?req=20130523a. This is significant as the bridge will allow us to create the trail extension (and loop) that was…

A&M dean cycling coast-to-coast for charity
By DINI SUSANTO, The Eagle of Bryan-College Station
COLLEGE STATION, Texas (AP) — The rapidly clearing faculty lot signaled that it was time to go home. The Texas A&M University dean backed his shiny red vehicle out of its parking spot — the back, right corner of his office. He had exchanged his suit and tie for a jersey and helmet. A pair of red cycling shoes took the place of his signature lizard boots.
“I’ve got to stay hydrated,” Jose Bermudez told The Eagle of Bryan-College Station (http://bit.ly/10BhxQC) as he filled water bottles in preparation for the…

Kelly Island Breakfast Ride
Hill Country Bicycle Touring Club
Sunday, June 9th: Ride starts at 8:00 a.m.  Meet in the large parking lot located on the corner of General McMullen and Foulois St. in Port San Antonio. Join us for an easy ride on a flat course for 18 +/- miles. This ride is timed so that we will be able to enjoy a late breakfast at Kelly Island.  Those who have not given your bikes and luggage to Roy for the Montana Cycling Trip, this is your last chance to do so – the luggage and bike trailers will be at the ride.

Directions:  Traveling east on Hwy 90, enter Port San Antonio via the 36th Street exit.  Go to Billy Mitchell, turn left, and take Billy Mitchell to General McMullen and…

A Goal Checked Off for May and Lesson Confirmed in June
Don Bynum’s Blog

Having started 2013 with the goal of pushing my annual mileage up from 3,600 in 2012 to 4,250 in 2013 I have been off to a bad start.  I need to get in 350 miles/month to hit that goal, but have missed by quite a bit in the first four months.  Finally, in May I logged 357.03 miles!  Garmin thinks I burned about 24,236 calories doing that distance.  May’s good distance aside, I am now about 445 miles behind where I need to be.  Gotta step it up in June.

This morning, to that end, I joined a couple of fellow cycling geezers, John Chalmers and Don Senzig, for a ride from Lake Buchanan over to Cherokee, TX for a burger and some of Miss Sue’s Sweet Tea.  The route we chose is one I have…

Tweets

https://twitter.com/BikePaulie/status/341365116710817792

https://twitter.com/Zevlin1/status/341297001192882177

Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for June 1st

Texbiker.net Posted on by

George W. Bush spends Memorial Day biking with wounded veterans
Memorial Day weekend was the third time Bush has hosted the Warrior 100K, an annual mountain bike ride for wounded veterans. He said he feels partially responsible for the warriors’ wounds, but doesn’t pity the vets.
By Kristen A. Lee / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Former President George W. Bush spent Memorial Day weekend on a grueling mountain bike ride with veterans wounded in the two wars he commanded during his presidency. …

Comedy Defensive Driving is Proud to Announce its 2013 Sponsorship of the PedalFast Racing Team
PedalFast Racing Signs Comedy Defensive Driving to sponsor their upcoming season!
www.prweb.com
PedalFast Racing Team is a premier mountain bike racing team that competes in the TIMBRA mountain biking series. TIMBRA (Texas Mountain Bike Racing Association) is one of the largest and most prestigious professional mountain bike racing series in the US.

Comedy Defensive Driving along with the continuing education website startup Education Location and AmpThink, a Dallas TX based company that provides wireless solutions for medium and large-size business have all signed on…

Journal of my 10 day bicycle tour in West Texas
by Raybo        www.bogleheads.org
In the last 2 weeks of April, 2013, I rode a 400 mile loop in West Texas. I started and ended in Alpine, Texas. The main destination of the ride was Big Bend National Park on the US/Mexico border. I’ve written a journal of the ride, if you’d like to read about my experiences in this area and see lots of photos.

I’d recommend a trip to Big Bend National Park as it offers some interesting natural features, such as the Chisos Basin, the Canyon of the Rio Grande, and some of the best birding in the United States (during migration season). However, my recommendation would be to see it by car, not bicycle! That said, a fully supported (van-assisted) tour might be worthwhile.

As hard as a bicycle tour like this one was, it is still a great way to stay in shape and soak up some of the hours of a…(many replies)

Going around the (Big) Bend
by Ray        www.biketouringtips.com
An opportunity came my way to take a bicycle tour in the last two weeks of April. This is a good time to ride down the California Coast from San Francisco to Los Angeles. However, I’ve done that ride a half dozen times and one more time didn’t interest me.

I didn’t want to fly too far for just a 2 week ride, so I limited my destination search to the Southwestern US. I selected the area around Big Bend National Park in southwestern Texas after a suggestion in this discussion thread at bikeforums.net.

As usual, I dug into the planning and quickly discovered that Big Bend NP is located in the Chihuahuan Desert. I was concerned that the views would be monotonous, the weather hot, the wind a problem, and the services limited. But, I was attracted by Big Bend NP and the chance to ride through some of the canyons of the Rio Grande.

There are no commercial flights very close to Big Bend. There is train service to Alpine, the largest town near the park, but either I board the train in LA or have to fly to some…

Out of Texas
By mel norton            www.crazyguyonabike.com
Who the heck is Mel?
I’m a 62 year old guy that likes to ride my bike. Got a bad back, bad knees, bad neck, can’t hear, got Menieres’ disease, but I keep on moving. Was into the ‘Go Fast’ bunch till the Menieres’ took my hearing/balance and that’s when I bought an old used too big for me RedLine 18 speed touring bike, some used panniers and I was hooked! I upgraded the RedLine to a Cannondale T-2000 in 1999. Still have the 1986 carbon fiber Specialized 14 speed w/Shimano 600 grouping. You got to be OLD to know what 600 was/is! As you can see from the other journals I have here, I have fun!

I have back surgery in May 2012 that slowed down bike riding, then this May I had a set of epidurals that about did the patient in. So not much in the way of training for this little adventure. Memorial Day weekend I got the…

Night Riders On A Roll
by Eric Griffey in Blotch            www.fwweekly.com
On some days it seems like the Near South is overrun with biker gangs — not the leather-clad groups of 50-somethings wearing skull caps and riding noisy luxury motorcycles. The area is host to several bicycle meet-up groups that ride en mass from bar to bar, spreading revelry and body odor wherever they land.

The longest tenured Southside beer-and-bike group is the Night Riders. The two-wheeled pub-crawlers meet twice a week (Sunday and Wednesday) at…

Texas Gulf Coast Bicycle Swap Meet @ Bayou City Bicycle Park (South of Houston)
by irideiam            forums.mtbr.com/texas
Many of you on here have showed an interest in swap meets, well my buddies and I have pulled another one together for the end of June…..Hope to see some of you there…

Brazosport Bicycle Club Rides
6/1/2013 7:30 AM
Saturday Morning Ride. More
6/2/2013 7:30 AM
Sunday Morning Ride. More
6/4/2013 8:00 AM
Tuesday Morning Ride. More
6/7/2013 8:00 AM
Friday Morning Ride. More

Intermediate & Faster Social Ride – Honea Baptist
The Woodlands Cycling Club
Saturday, June 08, 2013, 07:30am – 11:00am
Honea Baptist, 16430 FM 2854 Montgomery
Directions:  I45 North, exit 84B, Loop 336/Frazier St.  Go left on 336 west to FM 2854.  Go west on FM 2854.  The church is just past Honea Egypt Road on the left.  Park in the back.

No restrooms available.  Helmet and hydration required.
Intermediate group:   16-18 mph average
Faster group:  18-20+ mph average
Route is generally decided at the beginning of the ride based on…

Tweets

SR242 and FM1314 – June 1st Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

The summer heat is arriving. It was 82 degrees when I started riding this morning at 9:04 and by the time I finished at 12:41 it increased to 93 degrees. Mostly cloudy skies held the sun back some but I had sweat dripping from my helmet strap not long after I started. The wind was from the SSW at 13 mph and 18 mph gusts. This did not present a problem until I turned onto FM1314 and headed to the southeast. My speed slowed down quite a bit. I check at the 1 hour point and my average was 16.5 mph but thanks to the wind (and the heat too) the overall average speed was 15.4 mph for the 44.27 mile ride. I did take a few minute break on FM1314 just east of Gene Campbell Road to get out of the sun and cool down some.

I have not biked this specific route since March 30th and back then I averaged 15.3 mph.  I did see another bicyclist on SR242 east of FM1485 going the opposite direction. He was down on his aero bars heading into the wind. Going out of Kingwood the “back” way shortened the ride about 3 miles but I was able to keep my speed up by not going through as residential stops. On Loop 494 the wind was at my back and I was able to keep my speed up. The wind was generally friendly until I turned onto FM1314 for the ride back to Porter.

My goal on FM1314 was to get to the Stripes store at Old Sorters Road and FM1314 to take a break in the shade and I made it. Earlier I stopped at a store on SR242 and FM1485 to get ice and water. A man asked how far I planned on riding and when I said 43 to 44 miles he asked if the heat was a problem. I said not as much as the wind. He wished me luck as I went back out.

This week’s mileage totals 146.49 and if the weather cooperates I plan on riding tomorrow. June’s mileage equals today’s miles. Year to date I stand at 2484 miles.

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