Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for October 20th

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What am I to do?
by Ray Garza        RGV Cycling
Seems like this month a lot of accessories, that I use while cycling, have come out with new models. For example iBikeSports with their Newton+ and iPhone 5 case upgrade, GoPro with their Hero 3 (looks awesome) and not to mention Apple with their iPhone 5. What am I to do? Do I upgrade or stay?

I’ve already upgrade to the iPhone 5 but I still have the iPhone 4. Version 4 is still being used with the iBikeSports products (Dash+Power and the Powerhouse app). My sister eventually wants my old iPhone so I guess I’ll start with the…

12/8 Century at Sansom (Fort Worth)
by Spinistry            forums.mtbr.com
Field is currently limited to a maximum of 100 racers because of permit limitations. We will upgrade the permit if the original 100 sells out early enough to justify the additional expense of a higher level permit with the City.

This is a distance race with a timed cutoff(s) not a timed endurance race. Your finish will be a DNF unless all laps are completed within the allotted time.

Solo (Elite) Century of 6 laps but with a cutoff based on 90 minute laps. I completed a lap today in 1:25 poking along since I hadn’t ridden Sansom in a while. The lap GPS’d at 10 miles but GPS always loses at least 10% so I’m confident that 6 laps will get our metric century. 6 laps is going to be very tough to complete. I don’t expect many solo finishers at all. You don’t have to be Pro or Cat 1 to…

Best place for a new or used woman’s entry-level mtn bike?
by Gerry            www.bikemojo.com (San Antonio)
Looking for a new or used women’s, medium mountain bike, hard tail. It’s been a little while since I’ve shopped for a bike, thought this would be a good place to start. A little tight on cash, would like to keep it under $500. and I don’t know if she will stick with this or not.

I’d appreciate any info people can share. …(see replies)

Pecan Plantation Pedal for Petals (PPP4P)
Fort Worth Bicycling Association
Event Details
Pay Ride
Saturday, October 27, 2012 9:00 am
Come on down to our beautiful community for a fun ride through the orchard on beautiful, smooth roads! This is our fourth almost-annual PPP4P, and this year we’re opening it up to select friends (like FWBA!) to see what it’s all about. We’ll have three routes of 10, 20 and 40 miles, and believe it or not, you CAN do 40 miles within Pecan Plantation without doing the same thing twice (well, almost).

The small entry fee will get you a nice, long sleeve t-shirt which I guarantee will be the rarest in your collection. 😉 The proceeds benefit the Green Thumb Garden Club, a group that works very hard to beautify our community. You’ll…

Texas Flyers Group Rides

Flower Mound/Lewisville, TX

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https://twitter.com/DallasReport/status/259662361206611970

What an Average Speed!! – October 20th Bike Ride

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From 54 degrees at 7 AM to 81 degrees at 12:27 when I left on today’s ride covers a lot of temperature territory. I guess this time of the year temperature ranges like that can happen. Along with that movement the clear sky became mostly cloudy during the same time. By the time I finished at 4:12 the temperature difference from 7 AM came up 29 degrees to 83. The SSE wind helped for the north bound start of the ride at 15 mph and 21 mph gusts. This would turn into a headwind when the time came to turn back towards home.

I wanted to ride at least 40 miles today so I chose a route I had not used for awhile going north on US59 to SR242. Going west on SR242 still kept the wind at my back like it did on the US59 north service road. When I got to Old Houston Road I turned left to head to FM1314. This put me into the wind for the first time. I checked the Garmin Edge to see what my average speed was and what a surprise: 16.9 mph at the 21.5 mile point. I figured with the strong wind this would drop like a rock but when I checked again at 35 miles I averaged 16.2 mph. The route ended up at 40.57 miles, just over my goal. The max speed came in at 21.9 according to Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com (SportTracks shows 28.2 mph which I like but I don’t think realistic). The Splits-Time slide in the gallery shows my average speed for each 5 mile section. Once I hit the headwind the split speed dropped. The 10 to 15 mile split averaged 18.1 mph which helped me get to the 16.9 mph average speed.

While I was gone 3 hours and 45 minutes my actual riding time totaled 2:34:48 plus 1:09:29 time stopped. A big chuck of the time stopped happened at the 10 mile point when I suffered a pinch flat, the first one in a long time. When I inspected the tire before pulling the tube there wasn’t any wire or other thing sticking out. Once I got the tube out it took several attempts to find the snake bite from the pinch because it was about 4 inches from the valve stem. Once I found the holes the patch kit solved the problem. I made a mental note to replace the patch kit when I got home since all of the glue was used up. (Hopefully no more flats during this ride.) After airing the tire up I got back to riding. No more tire issues. Once I got home I topped off the tire pressure.

Back the bike I maintained a steady pace until I hit the headwind as I mentioned above. My energy started drain and by the time I head southeast on FM1314 it required a lot of effort to battle the headwind. I thought about changing my planned stop at Star Stop Express Exxon in Porter to the Valero station on FM1314 but when I got to the Valero station I thought I could make it. I knew I needed to eat something but I did not want to pay the higher prices at Star Stop so I hit the Family Dollar store on FM1314 and got a package of 8 Oatmeal sandwich cookies for a $1. When I got to the Exxon station I bought a 44 oz Diet Pepsi to wash down the cookies. (I only ate 4 of them)

When I arrived at the Exxon station there was a man filling up his red Chevrolet Blazer and he asked if the wind was bad and I said yes. After he finished he walked over to me at the store doors and we talked about bicycling. His name was Eli and he lives in Oakhurst, a subdivision I ride through frequently. We discussed the wind and some of the roads we both ride on. I told about some streets that avoid heavy traffic areas. He was thinking about riding to Conroe when he got home but after hearing about the strong wind I think he changed the direction for his ride. I mentioned my website for ride information and news. He said he rides with other bikers at West End Cycles and some other groups on the west side of Houston. He is looking for some riders closer to his home. I told him about some groups I know of in the area.

After drinking and rest I headed back home, refreshed to do battle with the headwind. Good thing because the 21 mph gusts seem to come at me often as I road the south bound US59 service road to Kingwood Drive. Once I got there I turned back north for a short section before heading into Kingwood amongst the trees and house. These helped buffer the wind. After this ride my mileage totals: 173.80 miles this week, 522.91 miles for October, and 5819.75 miles YTD.

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Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for October 19th

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Tour De Donut – Nov 4, 2012
by Bike Brookshire


Another year for Donuts and MS150 training starts with the annual Tour De Donut at Sun and Ski Sports Katy Mills.  Gear up with jersey pockets that can hold a dozen donuts so you can win the donut eating riding challenge route.
Route Map
Registration details
The Tour de Donut is a unique bicycle race where riders embark on an appetizing 28-mile journey with rest stops along the way serving as many delectable donuts as you can eat. For EACH tasty donut consumed, the rider is awarded a tempting 5-minute time credit. Eat enough delicious donuts, and you can finish the race before you…

Richardson City Council Receives Update on Central Trail
by dickdavid        Bike Friendly Richardson

From the City of Richardson‘s weekly newsletter:
The City Council received an update Monday on the extension of the Central Trail, which runs from the Spring Creek Trail in north Richardson and currently ends at the Arapaho Road DART Station. Plans call for the trail to extend to Richardson’s southern city limit and eventually connect with Dallas’ White Rock Creek Trail.

The City expects to begin construction on the trail in January and complete the project in early 2014. The 1.9-mile extension will cost $4 million and is funded through Richardson’s 2010 Bond Program and…

Texas NAACP Convention Includes Bike Ride
BikeTexas

Riders at the 76th NAACP Annual State Convention in Corpus Christi.The Texas NAACP 76th Annual State Convention at the bayfront Omni Hotel in Corpus Christi, TX, included a bicycle ride with BikeTexas as a morning activity.

On Friday, October 12, BikeTexas took a group of NAACP convention attendees for a seven-mile ride along the bay. Included in the group was Texas NAACP president Gary Bledsoe, who had to get back for a presentation at the convention and missed out on the group photo. BikeTexas enjoys the opportunity to connect with old friends and has…

Mountain bikers ready to roll through Dinosaur Country
By Bill Cullins                www.gosanangelo.com
SAN ANGELO, Texas — Lube that chain and air up the tires on your mountain or cyclocross bike.
Pack the lawn chairs, tent and related camping equipment.
Stock up on energy drinks and Power Gels.
Prepare to party — it’s almost time to race your bicycle through Dinosaur Country.

At 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 3, mountain bikers from all over the region will saddle up and head out on the first of multiple 9-mile laps on the North Shore trails in San Angelo…

LADA LOVE
bicyclesoutbackracing.net

We embarked on a 92 mile ride full of wind, gravel, and character building moments. A few breakdowns (mentally, physically, and mechanically) left us all with memories to carry into the off-season and thirsty for more LADA adventure in 2013.

Reader Rides: Gfcos’ First Time on a Trail
by Shawn McAfee            Texas Mountain Bike Trails
My First Time on a Trail
Today’s post is by one of our own readers, Gf_cos, and tells his story about getting back on a bike and his first time on a trail. You can find him posting frequently in the blog comments and also on the YouTube channel.

If you would like to share your own experiences about mountain biking, send an email to email@texasmountainbiketrails.com.
-Shawn

I hadn’t been biking consistently for about 20 years or so, since my very early teens. Lack of funds, time, and frankly interest prevented me from getting really into it. During this time, though, I’d learned of some of the different varieties of mountain biking and decided that it was something that I eventually wanted to…

Throwback Route
by Ken            Texas Racing Life
I’m in Austin recruiting right now. Tons of interviews, seeing tons of students, shaking tons of hands! It’s always fun to get back on the UT campus. I go back about once a year, and it’s amazing how much change happens every time. I am so suprised by the multiple building that they have started building!!

I also got a chance to ride one of my favorite routes while I lived in Austin, Shoal Creek. It circles around a neighborhood and includes a section of about 5 minutes of uninterrupted road. The whole loop is about 10 minutes long. I took my TT bike and did a grueling 3 x20 min workout as preparation for Tour de Gruene on November 3. Most of my ride was in the dark but I had my strong light so I could see. I felt like the Shoal Creek was exempt from the changes in Austin: there was even…

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Geezer Day Bounce Back – October 19th Bike Ride

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No riding yesterday (Thursday) due to a geezer day. I woke up to overcast skies and then the temperature slowly moved up to 72 degrees so I decided not to go riding. After a couple of naps I felt groggy just to seal the deal of being a geezer day.

I call today a bounce back day. When I went to the kitchen this morning around 7 AM I noticed the outdoor temperature at 54 degrees but sunrise would be in a half an hour and the sky looked clear as best I could tell. By 8:30 the doubt left and the sky was clear. The temperature moved up the scale so that by 12:05 when I started my ride it was 77 degrees with a very dry (for us at least) 34% humidity. During the 2 hours and 38 minutes I rode it went up to 84 degrees and the humidity dropped to 24%, very low for us. I could feel the dryness. No perspiration, dry wrist bands and dry shorts and jersey. When I stopped in Huffman at the Chevron station for my Diet Pepsi ritual the Greensheet I sat on stayed dry except for a small spot. The IAH weather station (see the gallery below) showed a calm wind but I think out on my route the wind would kick up from calm to around 10 mph or more at times especially when I rode north.

My route selection took me south and then to the east before turning back towards home. I rode through Eagle Springs, Walden at Lake Houston before going over Lake Houston to Huffman. Traffic was not a problem and the road surface is generally concrete. Road debris is heaviest on the causeway over Lake Houston for some reason but no tire issues so far after the ride. The route lasted 33.21 miles. At the the 20 mile point my average speed stood at 16.1 mph and at 30 miles I averaged 16.2 mph. By the time I got home at 2:38 my average dropped to 15.8 mph according to SportTracks (Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com showed 15.9 mph). SportTracks generously showed a 25.9 mph max speed but I think the real max is 21.9 mph from Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com. Riding time totaled 2:05:49 plus 26:30 stopped. After today’s riding the mileage totals: 133.23 miles this week, 482.34 miles for October and 5779.19 miles YTD. The Splits-Time slide below shows the average speed for each 5 mile section. The slowest occurred at the end of my ride. I rarely mention elevation gain and loss since it is flat as a pancake around here.

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