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.
[iframe http://connect.garmin.com/activity/203643946 98% 825]
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…
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…
Had a #cyclocross promoter friend ask for post-event documentation surrounding turf condition for a proposed city. Know of anything?
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.
Due to the rain the area has received over the last few weeks, Flintridge will still be too wet to hold the STS race this weekend. The Flintridge STS has been moved forward one week to Saturday August 4th to give the trails more time to dry out. Long range weather forecasts look good for continuing to dry out the trail and to give minimum rain between now and next Friday. The rain sure puts a damper on riding, but we’d rather keep the trails in good condition than see them damadged when ridden while wet. All current registrations for the event will still be good for Saturday August 4th, see you there!
