Keeping It Warm – December 1st Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Great weather for today’s ride. If this weather happened where I grew up there would be all kinds of records set. But for the Texas Upper Gulf Coast 79 degrees on December 1st is not unheard of. Scattered clouds and a stiff south 17.3 mph wind (20 mph gusts) offset some of the warmth especially when I rode over bodies of water. Coming back home on FM1960 over Lake Houston the sun decided to hide behind the clouds for the whole crossing. Up to that point I was just about the perfect temperature but the wind blowing off of the lake put a definite coolness so I tried to ride faster to both get to the west bank and stay warm by working harder. I don’t know if I was successful in either one.

Unlike yesterday’s roaming rain clouds the sky showed many patches of blue and if you looked at the clouds on an angle to the horizon they appeared to be darker than when I was underneath them. While I stopped in Huffman at my usual Chevron station Action Sign’s moving message board said 84 degrees and sitting on the milk crate drinking my Diet Pepsi I felt nice and warm. Tomorrow could be slightly warmer. The warmth brought out two other bicyclists on my route.

I didn’t even think of any other route than going to Huffman and back. My late start (12:10) was going to push me to get back home by 2:30 (made it at 2:28) to watch the University of Cincinnati football game with the University of Connecticut. I figured 28 or 29 miles would be about as far as I could go and make the kickoff. This route ended up at 29.74 miles at 15.5 mph average speed, 26.2 mph tops speed (SportTracks) while Garmin Connect says 21.4 mph and RideWithGPS.com agrees 21.3 mph is closer to the Garmin speed. Riding time was 1:54:46 and 22:23 stop time. Mileage for the year now totals 6306.89.

[wppa type=”slide” album=”59″ size=”auto”][/wppa]

Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for November 30th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Retro Ride & Picnic 2012


############################################################

AT&T wants to boost GrowSouth initiative
by Candace Carlisle            Dallas Business Journal
Dallas-based AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) wanted to get involved with Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings’ GrowSouth initiative. The company found a way through a $2.5 million hike-and-bike trail that’s roughly three miles long through the woods of Trinity River Audubon Center. The area is adjacent to the proposed 400-acre Trinity Forest Golf Course project. The hike-and-bike trail will be named AT&T Trail. Along with that commitment, AT&T will help raise the needed funds for the project, said Ron Spears, senior…

############################################################

Former Flower Mound residents biking to Alaska for cancer research
By Chris Roark,             www.scntx.com
It’s going to be hot, cold, wet, dry and hilly.

But two former local students are willing to endure all 4,000 miles of it to help find a cure for cancer.

Jay Shah, who attended Marcus High School from 2006-2008 before transferring to the Texas Academy of Math and Science, and Caroline Suh, who graduated from Flower Mound High School in 2010, are part of the 2013 Livestrong Texas 4000 team, a group of about 75 University of Texas students that bikes from Austin to Anchorage, Alaska to raise money for cancer research.

This is the organization’s 10th year to make the trek, and different students go each year. The group leaves Austin on June 1 and arrives in…

############################################################

Hundreds of cyclists take to streets saying enough is enough
by SHELTON GREEN / KVUE News and Photojournalist DATHAN HULL
khou.com
AUSTIN – Downtown Austin was filled with close to 1,200 cyclists Thursday night. The cyclists rode from Austin City Hall on Cesar Chavez to Congress Avenue heading to the Texas State Capitol with a message.

“What do we want?” chanted a cyclist in crowd. “Safer roads!” replied dozens of others on their bicycles as they headed toward the Capitol in a ride to promote road safety in Austin.

The ride, sponsored by a group called “Please be kind to Cyclists” was one of two events in Austin Thursday evening galvanizing the cycling…

############################################################

Best Mountain Bike Trail in Dallas Fort Worth
by Shawn McAfee                Texas Mountain Bike Trails
Best Mountain Bike Trail in Dallas

I’ve debated this for a long time. But now it’s time to put an answer to the question “What is the best mountain bike trail in Dallas Fort Worth?”

You may recall that I previously asked what makes a good trail. I got several answers left there as comments on the page, but I also got  a TON of emails with people telling me why they thought a trail was the best.

Today, let’s all cast our vote for the best mountain bike trail in Dallas Fort Worth. Fill in the survey with your vote for your favorite mountain bike trail. I kept it pretty simple and easy, just 2 questions and it shouldn’t…

############################################################

Tweets

############################################################

Roaming Rain Clouds – November 30th Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

With rain clouds roaming the area I switch my planned route several times. Finally after answering the phone a number of times I got out the door at 1:50 PM heading on a northerly route to Community Drive. I kept a wary eye on some darker clouds moving around the somewhat blue sky as I rode through Kingwood on the way to US59 but no rain drops hit me. Earlier the radar showed some of this area might be getting rain and I saw some evidence in low spots in the pavement but the road surface was dry.

When I first got out my biking clothes I included a short sleeve and long sleeve jersey. I watched the temperature slowly limb to 74 so I left the short sleeve jersey off. As I rode I wished that I kept the short sleeve jersey and the long sleeve one. Despite the 74 degrees the wind chill (if there is one at 74 degrees) made it seem cooler than it should have. The 20 mph wind gusts did not help this any either. Hoping the exercise heat would offset the wind chill I continued riding. At some point the cloud cover got heavier and the temperature dropped to 72. The wind gusts went away but the steady wind went from 13 mph to 17.3 mph so the wind chill effect stayed active.

This route ended up at 28.36 miles at a 14.8 mph average speed, 22.4 mph top speed and 77.1 RPM average cadence. My average speed dropped some because I was in a school bus line on Community Drive slowly moving through the stop sign. At that point I also turned into the wind but I thought I was making up the lost time. riding time totaled 1:54:35 and 5:55 stop time. Other than the wind and school buses I did not run into any obstacles. The ride stats vary slightly on Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com. The last slide below shows the November summary fom RideWithGPS.com.

The next two days could be several degrees warmer than today. A good start for December. We still need rain.

[wppa type=”slide” album=”58″ size=”auto”][/wppa]

Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for November 29th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Build Your Own Arduino-Powered Bicycle Lights, Turn Signals, and Odometer for Safe Night Riding
by Thorin Klosowski                lifehacker.com

Riding a bicycle at night is a bit dangerous, but electronics blogger Jenna DeBoisblanc shows off how to build a system that includes turn signals, a strobe light, speedometer, and brake lights to keep you safe.

The entire system is built on the backbone of an Arduino Uno with a few other parts totaling at about $150. That seems expensive, but DeBoisblanc’s build covers a lot of ground. You not only get safety-centric features like turn signals and brake lights, you also get a handy speedometer…

############################################################

CYC indoor cycling studio opens near UT campus
By Pam LeBlanc            Fit City
Holy quivering quadriceps, someone finally did it.

They melded cycling and clubbing, and the whole dimly lit, sweat slinging, music thumping experience leaves you with the most heavenly fitness hangover.

Tuesday afternoon, I popped by the new CYC studio adjacent to the University of Texas campus (a brilliant marketing plan) to try out one of the indoor cycling classes.

This, as they say, is not your mother’s spinning class. And I should know, because (with all due respect) my mother-in-law is a die-hard spinner, and she might…

############################################################

Group Riding Class
by Chris Mathews            Plano Bicycle Association
Group Riding Skills Agenda
Presentation w/ Q&A    .5 hour
Parking lot drills             2 hours
Practice ride                 1 hour

Want to be more confident riding in groups? Want to ride more safely in groups? Want to help others ride better in groups?

Then take Group Riding Skills Sunday Morning, Dec 9, at Italia Village Restaurant, Northwest Corner of Spring Creek Parkway and Coit Road in Plano, TX. This is the location of the Plano Bicycle Association ride starts.

Check in at 7:45 am for a prompt 8:00 am start.

Instructors will be Chris Mathews, Brian Bedingfield, Mike Cantrell and Warren Casteel, all League Cycling Instructors. We will do our drills in the parking lot behind…

############################################################

Tweets

https://twitter.com/JuliaBikes/status/274222258325700608

https://twitter.com/JuliaBikes/status/274221706531442689

############################################################