After yesterday’s ride I wanted to ride a different route than my usual ones and ride around 32 miles. I delayed the start until after lunch for several reasons: went to church, watched Paris-Roubaix and to get the temperature a little warmer. I left home at 1:36 under mostly cloudy skies, 77 degrees, a SSE 15 mph wind and 21 mph gusts. The wind was my friend until about mile 16 when I turned onto Gene Campbell Road. From there to home I rode into the wind now with 25 mph gusts.
I rode the reverse of the New Caney – Gene Campbell Road route. This ended up at 32.19 miles with a 15.8 mph average speed. Riding north and west on FM1314 the wind was a full tailwind so I rode at 20 to 21 mph until the turn I mentioned. On FM1314 I stopped near Porter High School to take two pictures of the bright yellow wildflowers below. I’ve been meaning to get some pictures so I acted on it today.
Once I was on Gene Campbell Road I knew the wind would fight me all the way back. I managed to hold my own but riding on the southbound US59 just before FM1314 there was a slight incline near Andy’s Auto Sales that slowed me down with help from the wind. By the time I got to FM1314 I stopped at the Exxon station for rest before riding the last 6 miles home. The rest helped and I was able to keep a good pace into the wind.
April miles are now 167.45 and year to date I stand at 1482.09 miles. Links to Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com maps and stats.
Tomorrow’s weather looks good for riding with partly cloudy skies and 77 degrees.
Biking an Increasingly Popular Alternative in Central Austin
by: Karl-Thomas Musselman
A few transportation related stories for this beautiful Texas weekend.
The City of Austin’s Bicycle & Urban Trails Program Manager released an analysis of cycling’s share of trip in various census tracks in the urban core. While the city has hit it’s goal of 2% of trip by bicycle citywide as previously reported here, Central Austin is at a 6% rate with North Campus, Hyde Park, North Loop, and parts of East Central Austin already in the teens.
Click the image at right for a larger version.
The first three months of 2013 have seen five important bicycle Capital Improvement Projects reach completion or make progress-
the Lance Armstrong Bikeway Downtown Section (3rd Street)
the Southern and Northern Walnut Creek Trails
the Austin to Manor Trail Phase I
the Barton Springs Road Cycle Track/Bicycle Lane Improvement Project
These projects, which are funded with a combination of federal grant funds and…
Pics Of The New Bike Lanes On Collins – North Of Campbell
Bike Friendly Richardson
We got a notice from Dave Carter, with the City of Richardson, that more bike lanes were being installed – with more planned for the summer. I’m excited because the ones installed this summer will be in my neighborhood. Click here to see a map of the completed bike lanes in…
Micro Steamer
Corinth Cycling Club
Tue, April 16, 6:15pm – 7:15pm
Weekly on Tuesday
Where
133 Garza Lane, Shady Shores, TX
Description
Steady pace group ride 18+ mph with no attacking. …
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Wishing I was racing tomorrow… #tmbra@Solavaca life is seriously in the way of racing right now. 🙂
Today I met two other bikers at the Kings Crossing Shopping Center to ride a south and east route. When I left the house at 8:45 the temperature was a paltry 55 degrees  so I dressed in two long sleeve jerseys, leg warmers, shorts and a windbreaker jacket. By the time I got to the shopping center I was warmed up and ready to brave the cool temperature. The wind was calm when we pulled out but as the ride progressed it picked up and when I got home the weather website reported 15 mph from the south. No wonder our speed dropped down when we turned into it. By the time I got home it was 70 degrees and my jerseys and jacket were soaked
As we approached FM1960 to go over Lake Houston we started to see many bikers coming from the east probably headed home or to Bike Barn as part of their Saturday ride. We kept seeing them until we turned north on FM2100 away from their route. I guess we saw 35 to 50 bicyclists. This was the first time my fellow riders had ridden this route. In the future I will have to take them on a tour of the grass farms over by Crosby. When we rode south on Timber Forest we stopped for a few minutes waiting on a number of runners to cross the street. Every time it looked like a break here came another bunch of runners. This is a switch from when I go on organized rides and people stop for bikers.
Our route was about 35 miles long from the shopping center but mine totaled 39.33 miles because I rode from home and back at the end. This increased my April mileage to 135.26 and 1449.90 year to date. My average speed was 15.4 mph. Traffic seemed a little heavier for a Saturday but some areas were having garage sales. Links to Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com.
Yesterday I was wondering how many miles I had on my current set of Continental Gatorskin tires so I looked in SportTacks, a program I use to track my biking. My front tire was mounted on 3/12/2012 at odometer reading 6439. Today’s odometer reading is 13018 which says the front tire has 6579 miles on it. I have never had a bike tire last that long. Usually I got 3000 miles on tire before the flats increased to a point that I replaced it. The current rear tire is not as long lived. The rear tire I installed on 3/12/2012 lasted 4224 miles and I replaced it on 10/5/2012 with my current rear tire, a Continetal Gatorskin. I replaced the tube at the same time because it had 5 patches. Since 10/5/2012 the current rear tire has 2355 miles and looks good. The number of flats dropped quite a bit with these tires. I did switch to a wider 25mm tire with the Gatorskins. I may rotate the rear tire to the front and install a new one on the rear. This should allow another 4000 miles on both tires before a need to change them.
Thursday Ride at Walnut Creek – Beginner/intermediate ride level
The Austin Mountain Bikers Meetup Group
Thursday, April 11, 2013Â Â Â 5:30 PM
Walnut Creek Park
12138 N. Lamar Blvd., Austin, TX (map)
Back to normal summer hours
This will be a beginner ride and will be doing around 8 -10 miles.
If someone is willing to lead a faster group then we can have an intermediate group also.
Please be there and be ready to roll by 5:30 pm. We meet in the parking lot near the pool in the middle of the island.
Any question please call/text me at…
Overnighter with Bike Friendly Everyone
Bike Friendly Arlington
Simultaneously in different locations across the metroplex cyclists were packing their panniers or clipping into their pedals. We would soon converge at the same location to do one thing and one thing only: party.
Big thanks to Bike Friendly Midcities for putting the event together. The first — of hopefully many — one-day camping trips was a big hit with us. A S24HO (sub 24 hour overnighter) is meant to be an alternative to the state-line-crossing bike tours. It always last less than 24 hours so you can get back to your real life, in an out in time for laundry the next day.
Two of us set out from Arlington a little after noon. Leaving from Fuzzy’s Tacos we had a…
Action Alert: Complete Streets and Safe Passing Hearing in House Transportation Committee on April 9
BikeTexas.org
BikeTexas Executive Director Robin Stallings testified to the House Transportation Committee in the 2011 Session.Great news! Complete Streets (HB 1102) and Safe Passing (HB 2225) have both been scheduled for a hearing in the House Transportation Committee on Tuesday, April 9. We’re thrilled that both of these bills have reached the next step toward coming to a vote. Now you can help get them out of committee and onto the House floor!
Some members of the Transportation Committee are not yet ready to vote…
Cycling event to benefit disabled adults
Author: Julie Parr         www.ktbs.com
Texarkana, TX – It’s one ride through three states.
The first annual “Ark-La-Tex Challenge” kick’s off Saturday, April 6th.
Money raised from the event will benefit programs for the Texarkana Resources for the Disabled. The non-profit provides life-skills training, pre-vocational training and supported employment for…
CARPENTER PARK- 6701 COIT RD
(South Side-Near Restrooms)
Come out and enjoy a moderately paced group ride with your fellow PBA cyclists!
Feature: Greater Dallas Bicyclists Club
WheelBrothers
1. How did the club come to life?
The Greater Dallas Bicyclists club started in 1970; this will be our 43rd season. It started as just a local group of riders that organized mainly for safer rides.
2. What is your cycling clubs mission?
Our cycling club mission is to promote health and fitness in a social atmosphere, nurture new riders, maintain and develop safer routes in collaboration with local authorities, and to do community service projects as they apply to our…
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WEEKEND RIDES
Sat Bagel Ride, Einstein Bros Bagels 12400 N IH35, 8:15am
