Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for July 27th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

BikeTexas Board Member Butch Willingham Passes Away Suddenly
by Jack Sanford            BikeTexas.org

It is with sadness that we report that our friend, colleague and BikeTexas Board Member George “Butch” Willingham, 68, passed away peacefully in his sleep on June 3, 2012, while in Islamabad, Pakistan, on a mission trip with the Green Acres Baptist Church in Tyler, Texas.

BikeTexas staff attended a memorial service and celebration of Butch’s life on June 18, 2012 in Center, TX, where Butch was laid to rest. It was moving to hear of the testimonials of many friends of his…

Summer TT#7 – July 26, 2012
by tonkster        Brazos Valley Mountain Bike Association
Name     Time
Collin Clark     0:46:04
Boone Fylnn     0:35:05
John Flynn     0:37:44
JP Rheault     0:40:49
Greg Swoboda     0:45:47
James Munnerlyn     0:46:18
Jonathan Lidbury     0:53:39
David Gilman     0:53:49
Patrick Farnsworth     0:47:54

Things to do this weekend, by road, by air and on horseback
By Janet Van Vleet            www.reporternews.com
For anyone who won’t let temperatures hovering at or above the triple-digit mark deter them from taking part in outdoor activities this week, have we got some events for you.

Nearly 30 years ago the Abilene Bicycling Club held the first Tour de Gap bicycle race. The annual ride always falls on the fourth Saturday of July, usually a week or so after the completion of that granddaddy of all bicycle races, the…

Army vets trade tours of duty for a Tour de Texas
By Bill Cullins            www.gosanangelo.com
SAN ANGELO, Texas — Two Army veterans from the San Angelo area are training for a big cycling ride.

Knickerbocker resident Roy Aguero and San Angelo’s Robert Balli will ride across the state from Anthony in Far West Texas to the Louisiana border at the Burr Ferry Bridge on the Sabine River.

Their planned journey has a lot in common with a bicycle ride that members of the Army’s 25th Infantry Bicycle Corps did back in 1897 (gosanangelo.com/news/2012/jan/06/early-regiment-got-in-gear-with-trek/).

The 920-mile bike ride they plan to start on Oct. 1 will take them through…

Hill Country Bicycling Touring Club Rides
August 5, 2012 7:00 am
Blue Star –Mission Ride to I-37
Blue Star Brewing, 1414 S. Alamo St., San Antonio
August 11, 2012 7:30 am
Stinson Field Mission Parkway Ride
Stinson Municipal Airport, 8535 Mission Road, San Antonio
August 12, 2012 8:00 am
Lone Oak Ride
Lone Oak Cafe, 12237 hwy 87 east, Adkins
August 18, 2012 8:00 am
Rudy’s Ride
Rudy’s Barbecue, 10623 Westover Hills Blvd, San Antonio
August 19, 2012 8:00 am
Toyota Applewhite Ride
Bill Miller BBQ, 7081 Rockport Rd, San Antonio

2012 SCCCC Track Championships
amct.tamu.edu        Texas A&M Cycling

My first collegiate race with the maroon and white was filled with sunshine, rain, pools of blood, and golf balls, AKA a great race weekend
3 years later, its that time again. The Aggie cycling team will be hosting the 2012 SCCCC Track Championships at the Alkek Velodrome in Houston, Texas. I encourage everyone who reads this to come watch the fun. There…

Ask The Readers: Why Do You Love Mountain Biking?
by Shawn McAfee            Texas Mountain Bike Trails
Here’s 16 reasons I love mountain biking.
1. If a zombie apocalypse happens and freeways are backed up, mountain biking gives me a way to survive.
2. Mountain biking helps me lose weight, while having a great time.
3. I get to meet awesome people and ride with…

Today I received an email from Don Bynum. Since it is not posted on his blog I am including the complete email text with his permission.

As the month winds down and the World Famous Tour de Longneques (July 28, 2012 edition) approaches there is still fun to be had even in the typical July Texas heat.  Yesterday a group of Hillybikers met at the parking lot near the HEB in Kingsland and did the 22.3 mile ride ou RR2900 to River Oaks Drive then north to Slab road, then west out Slab to TX71.  As we were catching our breath at the TX71 turnaround a couple of young guys on prostate crushers road up (also coming out Slab Rd. ).  They were on their way from St Augustine, FL to San Diego and had so far averaged about 100 miles per day.  They live in Phoenix and had flown to Florida and had made it to Llano County in about a little over a week!  Turns out that they had been taking a break, cooling off in the Llano River at The Slab when we had gone zipping across it on our way out.  They had loaded up and set out to see if they could catch us and get some info on Llano and places to stay and eat (that was their goal for yesterday).  Doug, Richard and I had been resting for some time when first Gil (on his Catrike Expedition), then John and Jay on John’s tandem rolled in with the two travelers about 50 yards behind and closing on them.  They seemed a little surprised to learn that the group of cyclists they had tried to chase down had only one member below 65 in it.

On the way back toward Kingsland, Gil came alongside and suggested that we run the low waterbridge across the slab while he ran his GoPro camera to capture a video.    Of course when a Catriker says “lets run…”  they are suggesting winding the pedals up and seeing just how fast the machines can be made to go.  So as we came near The Slab, I set up to Gil’s left and we were starting to build speed before the final descent when a car overtook us and I had to move forward and over to give it safe passage.  Once the car had passed we began to light up the boilers and accelerate.  Gil is stil getting back in shape after a 6 month hiatus for some serious spinal surgery (which finally moved him to a Catrike), so I pulled ahead, but with the larger rear wheel and resulting higher top gear, of his new Expedition he stayed pretty close!

The video can be seen at http://youtu.be/cL2W_tACAfE complete with startled folks who were wandering along on the bridge on foot as we zipped past at about 33 mph according to my gps data.  As the speed limit may be somewhat lower, I am hoping that Sheriff Blackburn, if he sees this evidence, will only give me a warning ticket for speeding so that he and I can each fram the evidence for display in our respective environments.  Besides Judge Jones was right behind me going very nearly the same speed.

The 22.3 mile ride has brought my montly total to 287 miles and the year total to 1,794 miles burning approximately 17,688 calories for the month and 121K for the year-to-date.

Tomorrow (July 28) is the next Tour de Longneques, departing from the Castell General Store in Castell, Texas (18 miles west of Llano on FM 152) at 8am sharp to ride to the square in Llano then back to Castell for a post-ride healing soak in the rapids of the Llano River, some brisket and some Lone Star Longnecks.  Anyone is welcome to join us for this easy 36 mile ride and even easier post ride “knees-up”.  We will have a couple of SAG trucks driving the route as the temps will be toasty.

Back to a Regular Route – July 27th Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

I reverted to one of my tried and true routes today. No particular reason other than the easy, no thought required selection. Starting at 9:57 AM got me out the door so that I could be back home by 12:30 or so riding the 33.19 mile route. The end of the ride took a different turn when I started to go on the greenbelt trail to get from street to another and came across a crew grinding up tree limbs from the many trees cut down from last year’s drought and pine beetles. The trees lay by the trail for a couple of weeks but I saw them working on other portions of the trail earlier this week. The rest of the route went as expected. The work continues on the east bound shoulder over Lake Houston on FM1960 so I move to the west bound shoulder to get past the barricades. TXdot plans call for work at a major intersection (W. Lake Houston at FM1960) but I already ride away from that location because of the weird traffic lanes.

The weatherman warns of August heating up from July’s temperatures. Today was not that bad: 85 at the start and 92 at the end. Humidity fell from 72% to 52% during the ride. I could tell the difference when I rode into the wind since my perspiration evaporated more. Sometimes when after finishing a ride I weigh and see a lose of 3 to 4 pounds which must be mostly water. Today I drank almost 3 water bottles. Scattered clouds and a light SW breeze completed the weather picture. No rain clouds that I saw.

Average speed tallied at 15.0 mph with a max speed of 20.3 mph. 76.6 RPM average cadence was decent but I need to get back up in the 80’s. Riding time totaled 2:13:00 plus 27:55 time stopped. The majority of the time stopped was at the Huffman Chevron drinking one of the water bottles of ice water.

Mileage after the ride:

  • 185.12 miles this week
  • 509.91 miles for July
  • 3823.32 miles YTD

Link to RideWithGPS.com data view and map.
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Texas Bicycling Daily News Roundup – July 26th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

GROUP RIDE on the NorthEastern Trail
by Mike Freiberger            www.dorba.org
Have you heard about the Chaparral Trail or the NorthEast Texas Trail? Are you interested in a rail-trail that starts just NE of Dallas and extends 130 miles almost to Texarkana? Do you love riding? Would you like to learn more about the rail-trail project? HOW ABOUT COMBINING BOTH???
What: Quarterly meeting of the NETexas Trail
What Else: Ride to the meeting on a route that combines the completed parts of the trail and some FM/Country roads
When: August 10, 2012
I am planning to start out on Friday, August 10th from the Chaparral Trail trailhead in Farmersville, TX. I plan on riding the entire rail right-of-way from Farmersville to…

We are not going to let 20 years of progress in biking and walking come to a halt!
Alliance for Biking & Walking: People Powered Blog
imageIt’s true that the transportation bill, MAP-21, slashed guaranteed funding for biking and walking. But thanks to you and thousands of other advocates who called, wrote, and e-mailed Congress as the bill was being written, we are still very much in the game.

Our partners at the America Bikes coalition are committed to ensuring that states and local governments use every opportunity in the new law to increase the…

Wholesale shipments up 5 percent through June
PHILADELPHIA, PA (BRAIN) Thursday July 26 2012 10:56 AM MT—The warm winter brought smiles all around as suppliers and retailers booked record early sales. Yet sales success is slowing in the heat of summer for suppliers.

But it’s still good news: sales are up $40.7 million to $577.1 million over the first six months, and unit shipments increased by 66,284 units, according to the Bicycle Products Supplier Association Leisure Trends June report.

That said, the market is changing. 29ers and hybrids are driving most of the sales gains, but comfort bikes are picking up market share after…

Group Ride To The Cedars Food Park Grand Opening
by dickdavid        Bike Friendly Richardson
Sorry about the late notice on this, but how about a ride into Dallas this Saturday? Cedars Food Park is celebrating their grand opening on Saturday, July 28, from 5 – 10 pm. We’re going to start a group ride from the Spring Valley DART station, head down the White Rock Creek Trail into east Dallas, then hop on either the…

Peaches and Paris in the Summer
by Susan Wilcox            BikeTexas.org

BikeTexas staff headed north for a few days to greet cyclists at two North Texas events and spread the word about the BikeTexas license plates.

The first stop was at the Peach Pedal on July 14 in Weatherford. Participants went home with about…

Austin bike builder part of San Francisco exhibit
By Pam LeBlanc            Fit City
If you’re flying through Northern California this year, take the time to check out an exhibit about the evolution mountain bikes at San Francisco International Airport.

The exhibit, which focuses on contributions by Northern California bike designers, includes a bicycle created by Austin’s own Wes Williams.

Williams long believed that mountain bikes shouldn’t have been randomly patterned after the…

Flatland Century ride draws all types of cyclists
By Rusty Graham            www.yourhoustonnews.com

More than 2,500 cyclists left Rhodes Stadium in Katy Sunday to ride one of seven routes in the Katy Flatland Century event.

Rides ranged from 25 to 100 miles, with cyclists taking a “rolling start” — largely leaving as they were ready, with those taking the longest routes leaving first.

Organized by the Northwest Cycling Club, the ride has grown from 426 riders and “three or four routes” in 1988 to include…

Tim’s Ride from Dania’s
Lone Star Cyclists
Pace: Touring
Date: Saturday, July 28, 2012 – 7:30am
Location: Dania’s Mediterranean Grill, 710 E Sublett Rd, Arlington
Distances: 40 and 56 miles
Join your fearless ride coordinator for a couple of routes from Dania’s Mediterranean Grill. We’ll head southeast over Joe Pool Lake to Midlothian before returning on some beautiful roads.
Ride Leader: Tim Williams…

Jim Windass, 63, to cycle 2,500 miles of America’s Route 66 in memory of wife Christine
www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk
…Christine battled breast cancer for 18 years before losing her fight for life, aged 58.

Now, Jim is raising money for the hospice to show his appreciation for the care she received and the kindness staff showed the whole family.

He will fly to Los Angeles on August 3 before spending three weeks cycling through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri and finishing in Chicago. …

Texas cyclists turning on helmet cameras to capture road rage
by Sherry Williams / KHOU.com
HOUSTON – Many cyclists are embracing helmet cameras because of what BikeTexas.org calls an increasing and disproportionate amount of road rage directed at them.

Most serious cyclists have road rage horror stories.

“(I) get flipped off a lot,” Chris Davis said. “Instead of just getting mad, you…

Route Past Some Learning – July 26th Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

After yesterday’s longer than planned ride I decided today would be shorter and easier. So I went on one of my more frequent routes with a couple of variations. The variation took me through the New Caney High School campus off of US59. Even though school is supposed to be out there were numerous people there. Maybe they could teach this old dog some new stuff. This route ended up at 27.48 miles with an average speed of 14.5 mph and a max speed of 20.9 mph. My average cadence was a low 74.6 RPM reflecting my slower and lower efforts. The wind felt stronger today so when I turned back towards home I faced a headwind. Our electricity went off this morning around 6:30 AM and was off when I left at 9:51. My wife said it came back on around 10:30. When I got back home after the ride the electricity went off again. With all of this on again and off again I had to work on my router to get back on the internet.

I noticed my right knee showing some soreness whenever I stood up to pedal. I attribute this to the miles yesterday. I hope this is correct. So the recovery ride should help this work off. By the time I got home the soreness was gone. The warm weather continues with the temperature ranging from 85 to 93, humidity 74% to 55% and partly cloudy skies. It did rain at our house after I got back for a few minutes. I think the wind was around 10 mph from the SW during my ride. This was enough to slow my speed.

Tomorrow I plan on going for a longer ride than today.Riding time totaled 1:53:36 plus 8:12 stopped. Most of the stop time was at the Texaco station at Valley Ranch filling my water bottle.

After the ride miles stand at: 151.93 this week, 476.71 for July and 3790.13 YTD. Link to RideWithGPS.com data and map.

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