Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for September 22nd

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Day 13: West Columbia to Home – 66 Miles – Busy Bee, Clifton By The Sea, and Welcome Home
by Jim Fox            Cycling Across Texas
I woke up early this morning, but I didn’t get on the road until about 10am. I had a bit of a headwind from the north and northeast, but it wasn’t too bad. Most of my route today would be along highway 35. First to Angleton and then to Alvin. What remained after that would be roads that I’m very familiar with and ride on regularly.

I made it into Alvin by about 12:30 and realized that I had all afternoon to ride the remaining 30 miles to home. With plenty of time, today was not a day for ‘lunch on the run’. I’d find a sit-down restaurant and relax a bit. There are plenty of restaurants in town, but there is one in particular that’s been a favorite of mine for about 15 years…The Busy Bee Cafe. My route along highway 35 went right next to there, so I figured it was meant to be…Busy Bee, here I come. After about 12 drink refills and a good sandwich, I was on the road again. (Note to self: go back there sometime and have some homemade pie.)

Another 10-12 mile ride and I would be in Dickinson….home of the Gatorzillas, FIRST Robotics Team, #2936. I stopped in at the school for a few minutes to say hello to the team and then got…

Early Morning Houston Ride
by texaggs                www.bikeforums.net
I have to do most of my training at 4 or 5 in the a.m. I was trying to see if anyone knows of any group rides at that time. I prefer it to be on the west side of Houston since that would be closer to home.
Thanks.

2012 Texas Fall Cup Mountain Bike Series
tmbra.org
Huntsville Classic
Oct. 6-7, 2012
Abilene, TX
Bent Wheel Bash
Oct. 20-21, 2012
Abilene, TX
Bicycles Outback Fallout
Oct. 27-28, 2012
Waco, TX
Tyler Speed Wavesâ„¢
Nov. 10-11, 2012
Tyler, TX

2013 Hill Country Bicycle Works
Mountain Bike Marathon Championship Series
Palo Duro Canyon MTB Marathon
Nov. 17, 2012
Palo Duro, TX
Holidaze Marathon
Dec. 1, 2012
Rocksprings, TX
Fat Chuck’s Revenge
Dec. 15, 2012
Smithville, TX
Excruciation Exam 2013
Jan. 5, 2013
Warda, TX
El Paso Puzzler
Jan. 13, 2013
El Paso, TX
Miles of Discomfort
Jan. 26, 2013
Comfort, TX…

Mount Locke Race
by Roy and Christine            Pedal Pushers

Destination: McDonald Observatory
Mount Locke Race
Sunday September 16, 2012…

Late Start but No Sweat – September 22nd Bicycle Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

I got a late start on today’s ride. I messed around with my cell phone and what should be an hour exercise turned into 3 hours. So out the door at 11:51. Thankfully with the first day of fall the temperature stood at 86 degrees. The clear sky gave way to some fluffy white clouds and not much a breeze. Fortunately the humidity stayed somewhat low at 46% and the temperature only increase 3 degrees by the time I finished at 2:10 PM.

If I started earlier I probably would have met a bunch of bicyclists coming back as I left on Old Atascocita Road and Fairlake Dr. but no one appeared. After yesterday’s 41 mile ride today between leaving late and not needing to get many miles the route to Huffman and back totaled 29.75 miles at 15.6 mph average speed. My max speed was 23.6 mph and average cadence rolled in at 79.9 RPM. Riding time was 1:54:16 and I stopped an even 25 minutes mostly at the Huffman Chevron to drink a Diet Pepsi. So far this week I rode 159.15 miles and 466.03 miles in September making it 5183.29 miles YTD.

I held a steady pace for the 5 mile legs except for the first and last where the residential streets and stops slow me down.

I rode 64.5% of the route in the Zone 3 speed (17.5 to 20.8 mph). The second 5 mile leg is where I made up the time lost in the first one. For another view of the ride metrics look at Gramin Connect and RideWithGPS.com.

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Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for September 21st

Texbiker.net Posted on by

The following post recounts the bad that can come from a crash with a squirrel. I am surprised I have not had more crashes with these critters. Kingwood is in a forest and there are squirrels everywhere. At least two have run into my wheels but so far nothing like this bicyclist experienced.

Man versus Squirrel
by Ed Nash             The Postcode Anywhere Blog
Have you ever wondered who would win in a battle between a software developer and a squirrel? Well wonder no longer as we’ve got the answer.

It was a cool, crisp, autumn morning in September. There was slight dew on the grass and a faint mist in the air. It was shortly before 8am and Andy Bennett, one of our senior developers, was out on his brand new racing bike, racking up a few miles before a hard day of coding. Head down, eyes up – he moved into the streamline position ensuring the most aerodynamic position possible as he ramped up his speed. Little did he know that a pint-sized, kamikaze terror lay in wait ahead. …

Collegiate Track Nationals kick off with 4 national titles awarded
www.usacycling.org
Frisco, Texas. (September 20, 2012) – The 2012/2013 collegiate cycling season got underway today with the USA Cycling Collegiate Track National Championships in suburban Dallas.

On the first of the three days, time trials and individual pursuits were contested. By Saturday night, seven events will have been decided and fans will get to find out if Marian University and the US Military Academy were able to defend their team omniums from 2011.

MORNING SESSION
The first national title of the day was awarded to Madalyn Godby (Louisville, Colo./University of Colorado at Colorado Springs). In the women’s 500-meter time trial, the Colorado rider posted a time of 36.430 to beat out silver and bronze medalists Mandy Marquardt (Breinigsillve, Pa./Penn State – Lehigh Valley) and Stephanie Torres (East Elmhurst, NY/Marian University).

Next up was the men’s 4-kilometer pursuit. After taking silver in the event last year, Marian senior Weston Luzadder (Carmel, Ind./Marian University) bested Charles Cassin (Denver, Colo./University of Colorado – Boulder) for the 2012 national…

Proposal for Regional Trail Connection at Breckinridge Park
by dickdavid            Bike Freindly Richardson
From the City Of Richardson:
The City of Plano is partnering with the City of Richardson to plan and construct a 1.9-mile trail that would wind through Richardson to connect an existing trail in southeast Plano to the Timbers Nature Preserve Park in Murphy. The trail is completely funded through the City of Plano’s bond program. The City of Richardson would provide the land and future maintenance of the trail if the City Council approves an Inter Local Agreement at a future meeting.

The trail is proposed to be built in two phases, with Phase 1 running from the west side of Murphy Road within an Oncor high transmission line corridor to the existing trail on Rowlett Creek in Breckinridge Park. Construction…

Collision with UPS delivery truck kills La. cyclist
The truck’s sideview mirror hit the cyclist in the head.
By RUSSELL ANGLIN        lubbockonline.com
A Louisiana bicyclist died after he was struck by a United Parcel Service truck Thursday afternoon in Randall County, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers said.

About 3:15 p.m., Michael H. Hutchings, 56, of Bossier City, La., was riding a bicycle eastbound on the shoulder of State Highway 217 east of Farm-to-Market Road 1541 as an eastbound UPS delivery truck, driven by Albert Ray Smith of Amarillo, passed him…

Kirkwood Native Cycling Cross-Country For Charity
Proceeds to benefit the American Heart Association
by Steve Birmingham

Justin McClelland, right, made a stop at the Kirkwood Train Station during his cross-country trek. McClelland is raising funds for the American Heart Association. photo by Diana Linsley        www.websterkirkwoodtimes.com
Justin McClelland, 31, a former resident of Kirkwood and a 1999 graduate of Kirkwood High School, is bicycling from coast to coast to raise awareness and funds for the American Heart Association.

As of Sunday afternoon, Sept. 16, McClelland, now a resident of Houston, Texas, was near Emporia, Kan., about three weeks away from his destination in Venice Beach, Calif.

“This is just something I wanted to do,” McClelland said. “I am a bit of an adventure seeker and I like to try out new things to do, mostly athletic things. When I first decided I was…

ETMC debuts new bicycle response team at East Texas State Fair
www.c-bstatesman.com
East Texas Medical Center EMS will debut its new bicycle response team this week at the East Texas State Fair in Tyler.

ETMC EMS bicycle response teams include 12 experienced paramedics and EMTs who meet certain physical fitness standards, possess superior cycling skills, have a positive history with ETMC EMS and have completed training to ensure safe and efficient operations.

“More and more EMS providers are adding bicycle medics for events, such as the fair, for faster response times through traffic and crowds,” said Neal Franklin, ETMC EMS general manager. “The cyclist has the ability to move around obstacles, utilize sidewalks and navigate around people to quickly get to the injured or sick patient. The bicycle teams will be utilized at special…

2nd Race of the South Series Sept. 29-30
by League Director            Texas High School Cycling League
Be sure to check out the 2nd mountain bike race in our three-race “South Series” NEXT weekend September 29-30 at the U or Texas collegiate & high school races in Comfort, TX.  All middle and high school students are encouraged to attend.

This race is sure to have a big impact on the overall series competition and standings and will feature THREE scholastic mountain bike races over two days including short track, time trial, and CX. A great chance to compete for your school and have fun at a collegiate race. …

Saving Money on Cycling Gear
by Shawn McAfee            Texas Mountain Bike Trails
Holy Moly! Mountain biking is one expensive hobby.

Today I want to share with you a couple ways that can help you in saving money on cycling gear and hopefully prevent breaking the bank. This is advice you can use at any experience level, though my example is for a beginner rider.

When you start adding up all of the things you need it adds up quick. So how do you keep your mountain biking hobby affordable?

These are some of my best tips for saving money on cycling gear, but I’m sure that you have some yourself. Once you finish reading please leave your own helpful tips as comments at the bottom of this page so we can all…

https://twitter.com/MitchellGSides/status/249016424000016385

https://twitter.com/dontwaitformike/status/249288292716130304

Last Day of Summer – September 21st Bicycle Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

What a fabulous last day of summer. The morning started at 60 degrees but by 10:51 AM when I started the ride it climbed to a very pleasant 77 degrees. This weather carried over nicely from yesterday. No need for a long sleeve jersey today. The clear sky awaited the sun to get up. Humidity resembled West Texas levels at 30% and the light to calm breeze meant perspiration evaporated faster than normal for southeast Texas. The “love bugs” left the area so I am not swatting at them as I ride. When I stopped at the Start Stop Exxon in Porter a man gassing up his pickup struck up a conversation about riding with the pesky “love bugs”. He told me about his motorcycle riding days back in the 50’s and how he decided to buy a windshield to stop getting hit by bugs. He said the windshield did a great job on the bugs but it saved his life when he hit a pickup broadside and the windshield kept him from flying over the truck. The truck driver told the motorcyclist curled up like a baby when he went into the windshield as he crashed into the truck. He also told me about a trip he just got back from to Oklahoma with his wife and two daughters. As I went into the store he was cleaning the bugs off the truck windshield.

The last time I rode the New Caney – Roman Forest – Splendora route was July 24, 2012. The route was slightly different because I took another exit route from Kingwood that is about 3 miles shorter when I ride to the north. Today’s route ended up at 41.40 miles. I thought it would be a little less than that but with the gorgeous weather I did not mind the few extra miles. My average speed was higher than my recent rides. When I stopped for the train in Splendora I checked my average speed and the Garmin reported 16.1 mph. Later when I turned onto Kingwood Drive from southbound US59 I checked again and it showed 16.5 mph. For some reason SportTracks only wants to show 15.7 mph but Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com both show 16.1 mph average speed. So those two override the other. My max speed showed as 21.5 mph and average cadence came in at 82.2 RPM. While my max speed was not that high I held a steady speed for the ride. This table breaks down the 5 mile legs:

The speeds below 16 mph were when I rode through residential areas with stops and starts.I will have fond memories of today’s ride. The wind shifts to the southeast tomorrow so the sky will sport some clouds. Temperatures should resemble today’s.

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