My route selection turned south into some stiff wind. Today’s wind should have generated an advisory since it was as strong as yesterday. At the start of the ride the wind was SE at 12.7 mph. When I finished the wind came from the SE at 17.3 mph with 23.0 mph gusts. Riding into the wind pulled my average speed down and then I needed to recover the lost time to meet my 15.0+ mph goal. I sometimes dwell on the weather but since I ride alone almost all of the time I battle it. Mostly cloudy skies and 91 degrees with 51% humidity increased my sweat production to the point I dripped whenever I turned my head and soaked my gloves.
I went a long south route at 31.65 miles. I hit my goal of 15.0 mph average speed. Max speed of 21.7 mph and 79.2 RPM average cadence exceeded my expectations given the wind. Miles this week total 161.94, May miles total 704.61 and YTD miles total 2640.28. Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com links.
Head for the Hills Rally
A great big THANK YOU to all our riders, volunteers and sponsors. Here’s a link to all the photos Rotary can provide, shot by 2 professional photographers and a couple of volunteers.
Ft Worth Bike Routes and Bike Law
by Doohickie      www.bikeforums.net
The city issued a little pamphlet. The first page shows bike routes in the city core; the second page is a summary of cyclists’ rights and Texas and Fort Worth bicycle law. Handy for those in the DFW area. Most of the rights sheet applies to the whole state (except where Ft Worth law is explicitly cited).
An old friend of the show wanted to make sure we didn’t miss this note from Bicycling magazine dispatched earlier this week, which — yet again — names Dallas among the worst cities for bicycling in the country. Which comes as no surprise to those following City Hall’s inability to roll out The 2011 Dallas Bike Plan — because, ya know, those bike lanes are just too expensive. …
Austin Bike Culture Calendar Events: 5/24- 5/30/12
by elliott      Austin on Two Wheels
Bike Month way be winding down with Memorial Day weekend, but there is lots to do bike bike including Austin Bike Zoo’s latest theater production by bike, a comedy bike benefit, and a special Thursday Night art ride. Get out and ride!
Here’s a quick run down of recommended events for the coming week from our comprehensive calendar of all cycling events. As always, if there is an event you know about that’s not on our calendar contact us, and we’ll add your event on and possibly add it to the weekly round up. …
I Bike Richardson – Bethany Sauls
by dickdavid      Bike Friendly Richardson
It’s time for another installment of the I Bike Richardson series, where we put a face on Richardson cyclists. We’d like to introduce Bethany Sauls. She took the time to answer a few questions about biking. Enjoy:
Name:
Bethany Sauls
How long have you been riding?
I have been riding for 5 years. I got into a car accident back then and realized how scary cars are. When I ride I am alert, aware, appreciative, and more alive than I ever was behind the wheel.
How often do you ride?
I ride everyday. My bike (chi chi) is my transportation. If I need to go…
McKINNEY, TEXAS – McKinney Main Street is teaming up with local cycling organization McKinney Velo once again to host the Third Annual Historic Downtown McKinney Bike the Bricks Criterium race on Friday, May 25.
Bike the Bricks features several interval races, food, spirits, festivities and a purse worth more than $20,000. Warm-up laps begin at 4 p.m. and the races kick off at 4:30 p.m.
“Spectators of all ages will enjoy a free Friday night in Historic Downtown McKinney with cycling, festivities, food and drinks. We are estimating up to…
Real Ride 2012
fairdalebikes.com
This is by far the largest collection of Fairdale kits every assembled and I’m not even in the picture! Texas summer bike rides requires a thorough group sunscreen coverage session. Here the Full Factory/ OTX office and Sandy Carson prepare for the 85 miler. …
Monday, June 4 6:00pm Walnut Creek
Austin Ridge Riders
Ride Like A Girl is a series of women-led, all women mountain bike rides scheduled from May to September. Women learn differently from men so instruction is designed to help women build confidence while having fun and experiencing nature. Each participant chooses which group to ride with based on skill level, experience and speed. New riders are always welcome…
Coldspring by Michael Haney
www.violetcrown.org
Coldspring Road Race, May 5, 2012
John Bartle, Rick Hall, and I drove to Coldspring Friday afternoon, stayed in a very nice “Sunday house” about .5 miles from start, and showed up bright eyed and bushy tailed, which has not always been my experience going to Coldspring. Bartle continued demonstrating his good form, getting second in the 60+ race (and 7th on the 50+ 60+ race).
Last half of the last of 3 laps, I got into what seemed a promising 3 man break (I thought there was another 6 man group up the road). It turned out the earlier break had been reabsorbed, so we were brought back by the main field maybe 5 or 6 kilometers from the finish, as they were not…
Alkek Velodrome
We are down to the last Friday Night of the Spring Mini-Series! Who is going to take it all on the last night?
In the Cat 1/2 race, Andrew Carlberg (Spincycle) doing an internship in Seattle leaves the door open for Robert Bodamer (Matrix) to claim the top spot, with a tough battle for third between…
When I got up this morning I saw a wind advisory from the National Weather Service. An excerpt:
The National Weather Service in Houston/Galveston has issued a Wind Advisory… which is in effect from 10 am this morning to7 PM CDT this evening. * Event… high southerly winds of between 15 to 25 mph… gusts to 35 mph. * Timing… late morning through the afternoon hours. * Impact… strong Crosswinds could impact high profile vehicles… blow around lightweight objects and cause isolated minor tree damage.
No mention about bicyclists but they should. Today my route goes north as I try to rotate them to avoid boredom and to see different scenes. With the high wind my guideline calls for riding into the wind at the start and with the wind on the return trip. I overruled that today thinking I could build up enough speed on the north bound route to offset the headwind on the south bound leg. With 90 degrees and scattered clouds the only tough side of the weather would be the wind.
The ride delayed some while I watched stage 18 of the Giro d’Italia. For a change the sprint winner was not Mark Cavendish. I never see the pro peloton riders eat bananas but today the overall leader, Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha), had one in in his hand as he rode the stage. It was worth the wait but I figured I would pay a price if the wind kicked up early.
I left the house at 10:47 and it didn’t take long to notice the wind blowing from the southeast but with all of the trees in Kingwood I did not feel the full brunt. With the first 13 miles going north the wind would be my buddy. As I rode along when I got to Porter at FM1314 I could see the US flag over WhatABurger standing straight out and not too far away the flag above WalMart strained against the pole as well. On this stretch I pushed my speed up to 20+ mph to build up the extra time when I turned south at FM1485 in New Caney. This table shows the speeds before the turn at 13 miles and afterwards.
When I made the turn south in New Caney at first I thought maybe the wind died down some but it didn’t take long to prove that wrong. Within a mile the wind started whipping my loose CamelBak straps against my back like a jockey riding a race horse. The only problem was I did not have much reserve to overcome the headwind. I was able to keep my speed at 15 to 16 mph for most of the time until I got some relief when I turned into Valley Ranch. For about 1.5 miles I had a tailwind which ended once I moved to Valley Ranch Parkway and headed south. My speed took a hit right away because Valley Ranch Parkway has no trees at first to break the wind. I put my head down and kept pedaling.
By now I thought my overall average speed would fall below 15 mph but for the last 3 miles of the 30.28 mile route the wind came from my back or right rear quarter. I finished with a 15.0 mph average speed, riding 2:01:10 with only 4:52 time stopped. My max speed hit 21.7 mph and average cadence was 77.1 RPM. Now this week’s mileage totals 130.28, May totals 672.96 miles and YTD is 2608.63 miles.
I decided the SportTracks program will be my main data record with alternate data views at Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com.
Question for those who did the Real Ale ride.
by canemaster         www.bikeforums.net
Did you feel like there were WAY too many riders for staff to handle? I’ve done this ride for the past couple of years and this year was by far the most attended. The pit stop areas, mechanic help, # of bathrooms, and food/beer tents seemed to stay the same from past years but the number of people more than doubled. I needed a RD adjustment after the first stop but didn’t feel like waited 30 minutes to get it. It was just a minor annoyance but I…
Updated: Local Discounts for Bicyclists!
Bike Friendly Oak Cliff
BFOC is proud to have partnered with several local businesses to offer discounts for anyone who rides a bicycle to the merchants listed below. This discount program has been recently updated and expanded. The list of merchants is permanently on the right side of our homepage. If you see the sticker above on a…
Locals Mourn Deaths of Cyclists Hit and Killed While Riding Bicycles
By Jen Kastner      NewsWest 9
PERMIAN BASIN- The Basin’s been described as being notoriously unfriendly to cyclists. The number of deaths and near misses have local cyclists on-edge. On Wednesday night, they rode in silence to honor those who were killed while riding on the streets of Midland and Odessa.
David Ham is the owner of Peyton’s Bikes in Midland. He’s lost fellow riders who were also good friends. “We’ve had to identify a couple of them because they didn’t have identification and we knew what kind of…
@BikeEdinburg      via Twitter
I posted 17 photos on Facebook in the album “BE Productive Ride” fb.me/1PfYHpE1W
Alkek Velodrome
Dates set for the Time Trial Series!
Sunday June 3rd
Saturday Jume 30th
Sunday July 29 (tentative)
(All morning sessions)
200m, 500m, Kilo, Pursuits! All officially timed for your training program and personal glory!
Let’s Talk About the $70 Bottle Cage
by Darryl         lovingthebike.com
For this segment of our “Let’s Talk†series, we’re asking you to post your comments, opinions, and thoughts on the $70 Bottle Cage. Yes, most local bikes shops will carry a carbon bottle cage somewhere in the neighborhood of $70…what do you have to say about it?
As always, this “Let’s Talk†post will be built by our readers so be sure to jump in and voice your opinion in the comments section below. Have a look at this short video to get you in the spirit and then…
Bicycling: Saturday, 8 a.m., Woman Hollering Creek Ride, 26 to 70 miles, Judson High School, Converse. 496-693-8247. …
The Greensheet Pumps Austin Bike Promotion
HOUSTON (MMD Newswire) May 23, 2012 — Bike Month may have just ended, but the chance to get a great deal on classified bike ads extends all summer long.
The Greensheet, the original classified publication of Texas, is reaching out to specific Austin groups to place free classified ads for bicycles and bike products in Austin from now through September. The promotion applies to both individuals and certain businesses chosen by The Greensheet Classified Department.
“Austin is one of America’s major bike cities,” said Kathy Douglass, CEO of the The Greensheet. “We are happy to promote exercise, healthy living and the cycling…
The Weekend in Pictures
by djcurtin         It’s Time To Ride!
It was a great weekend to get on a bike. Events abound for every rider.
The weekend of bikes kicked off on Friday morning, with National Bike to Work Day, promoting the fun and benefits of getting to work by pedal power. It was a perfect morning to ride—and stop for breakfast at one of many breakfast stations around town. And the cruise home was made better by happy hours for bike commuters around town, including stops at our…
Bike the Bricks III
McKinney Velo
The big night is almost here!!! Don’t miss the 3rd annual, Bike the Bricks in historic Downtown McKinney.  Brought to you by the City of McKinney, Fiat of McKinney, Richardson Bike Mart, any many more…(Full Sponsor Listing). McKinney Velo will be well represented…
Memorial Day Ride 2012
by sooner1Â Â Â Â Â Â Shawnee Trail Cycling Club
Another holiday, another chance to ride a route we rarely see. Shawnee Trail is again doing our popular routes that go west to Oak Point, Aubrey and Sanger. We’ll see horse farms, lakes, creeks and – yes – a few hills. the short route gets the priveledge of climbing Blackjack Hill while the longer routes will have their own challenges. We’ll have a couple of breakpoints and the ride/pace options will depend greatly on…
21st Annual Collin Classic in McKinney, TX
by WB admin
The 21st Annual Collin Classic benefiting various organizations invites you to join their upcoming ride happening on June 9, 2012 at McKinney North High School
We were lucky enough to be granted an interview with Mike Keel, Event Coordinator of Collin Classic to ask some questions about their upcoming ride.
21st Annual Collin Classic
Why join the Ride?
To enjoy a day of cycling in a pleasant rural setting.
