Great Weather Continues – May 20th Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

A Sunday ride in beautiful weather must calm the soul. The scattered clouds, 89 degrees with 42% humidity and a 12 mph SE breeze propelled me along on the 26.92 mile route at an average speed of 15.4 mph. I thought my average would be slightly higher but when I made the turn around at Community drive I encountered a head wind at times and that slowed me down. My max speed hit 23.8 mph and I averaged 81.8 RPM cadence. I modified my route slightly to get over 25 miles and ended up over that.

The first 5 mile section moved along at fast pace since I reduced the number of stops and starts. This table shows the time and speed for each 5 mile section.

At the 25 mile point I got into the residential areas and my speed drops due to the stops and traffic. Total riding time was 1:44:39. Stop time only came to 2:31. Mileage as of this ride:

  • 185.31 miles this week
  • 542.67 miles in May
  • 2478.34 miles YTD

No biking yesterday because we went to Galveston for the Houston Jeep People Go Topless Day (Jeeps that is) meetup. Over 200 Jeeps lined up for a group picture.

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Texas Bicycling Daily News Roundup May 19th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

When you need to park your bike it makes it interesting if the bike rack is special. I like 2, 5 and 13.

25 Awesome and Unusual Bike Racks
by Emily Temple                flavorwire.com

We know it’s not officially summer quite yet, but the way we see it, we’re square in the center of prime bike riding season — it’s nice enough to bike around the city, but not so hot that the extra effort plasters all your hair to your face and soaks your t-shirt. But where to put your bike when you’ve reached your destination? If you’re lucky, you can cozy it up to one of these wild and colorful bike racks, which nearly all double as public art in their respective cities. After all, why…

LONE STAR Randonneurs
Promoting Long Distance Cycling in North Texas
Next Event: May 26, 0700
600k ACP Brevet
200k, 362k, 411k RUSA Brevets
Mineral Wells

Violet Crown Weekly Rides
The Bagel Ride – Saturdays
Einstein Bros. Bagels at 12400 N. IH-35,  8:15am roll-out.
Check the VC Yahoo Email Group on Fridays for changes.
3-5 hours. Routes decided at the start. Ride FAQ

The Freewheeling Ride – Sundays
Freewheeling Bicycles, 2401 San Gabriel St., 8:15am roll-out.
Check the VC Yahoo Email Group on Fridays for changes.

Pic From The Richardson Bike To Work Day Energizer Station
by dickdavid            Bike Friendly Richardson
The BikeDFW/Bike Friendly Richardson Bike To Work Day Energizer Station was a great success! We had about 2 dozen bike commuters stop by to recharge for their ride to work – and we think we’ve motivated dozens of other commuters to think about biking. Here are some pics. Click here to see all of them.

I would personally like to thank: …

Mellow Johnny’s Bike Shop
by Ray Garza            Ciclistas Urbanos
I found Mellow Johnny’s bike and coffee shop on 4th street. It is a huge bike shop that sell Trek, Giant and other urban type of bikes. They also have daily rentals.

From what I can tell from observation their customer service is excellent. They are one of the few shops that perform actual bike fits and instruct new cyclists on proper posture and leg position. The rest rooms are actually showers with lockers, that’s impressive. …

Worm: Mazama family biking along the Continental Divide
By Rick Steigmeyer        World staff writer
That crazy guy and his family are at it again. Methow Valley residents Rob Seckinger, Ina Clark and their two kids, Maya, 13, and Wiley, 11, took off this week on another epic bicycle journey. Seckinger — he’s the self-described crazy guy — and his family flew to El Paso, Texas, where they rented a truck to get their bikes to Antelope Wells, N.M. for the start of their trip May 11. They plan to ride — each on their own mountain bike — north along the Continental Divide to Banff, Alberta. They didn’t get off to a great start, Seckinger wrote on his blog. One of the bikes…

6th Annual 24 hours in the Canyon in Canyon, TX
by WB admin            The Wheel Brothers – Cycling in Texas
The 6th Annual 24 hours in the Canyon invites you to join their upcoming ride happening on June 2-3, 2012 at Palo Duro State Park – Canyon, TX
We were lucky enough to be granted an interview with Ryan Parnell, Event Director of 24 hours in the Canyon to ask some questions about their upcoming ride.
Why join the Ride?
To make a difference in the life of a cancer patient, to remember those who we have lost to this terrible disease, and to celebrate with those who have won the battle. Also, people should join it because it is held in one of the…

@GeorgetownGrand        via Twitter
I posted a new photo to Facebook. Georgetown Grand, Saturday Podium

Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for May 18th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Film Festival Discounts for Cyclists!
Bike Friendly Oak Cliff
The Oak Cliff Film Festival organizers have a special place in their hearts for cyclists. They’ve put together quite a line-up June 14-17th and they’re offering cyclist discounts. For those of you who plan to make it a weekend-long biking affair, you’re entitled to half-price festival badges. You can park…

Smurfboy Summer Endurance Series
from North Texas Mountain Bike Patrol
The 2012 Smurfboy Summer Endurance Series
This will be a series of four 4 Hour races. Each Race will be from 6pm-10pm.
Rowlett Creek           June 16, 2012
Boulder Park             June 30, 2012
River Legacy              July 14, 2012
North Shore              July 28, 2012
Price is as follows:
$40 per race, $120 if you preregister for all four races up front

Real Bike to Workers
by Steve A        Dallas Point-to-Point

I like the Fort Worth “Bike to Work” event. It is very easy for me to get there without even much of a detour from my usual commute. I simply remember to go an extra half block and hop on the TRE commuter train at Hurst Station. Two stops later I’m there. If it weren’t “part of the package,” it’d be almost as easy to drop the bike off at work and go to the event on foot. Back in the days of my v2 commute, it would have involved several added hours to do it via bicycle. However, the event isn’t quite perfect. It is scheduled according to what is sometimes called “banker’s hours.” As a result, I mostly get to watch…

Bike Week ABC FAIL
by Steve A        Dallas Point-to-Point

Steve A, serial offender against the “ABC Quick Check.” It isn’t that I don’t make the check, but the intention of doing so isn’t meant to help an ABC scofflaw assess how much longer he can go on anymore than checking the oil on a car is intended to assess how many more miles can be driven before the motor freezes up. I’m bad, I admit it. You can see past episodes here. Among other posts.

This one is different. You see, this is Bike Week and it gives my normally boring commute a little extra spice. On Monday, somehow my front tire got damaged. I noticed it on the way home, but tire pressure was reasonable. On Tuesday morning, my front tire was way too soft. Contemplating things, just as motorists…

Cotton Belt Trail links neighboring cities
by Diane S. W. Lee            impactnews.com
Trails to provide safe route for pedestrians, bicyclists in DFW area

More than a dozen bicyclists, pedestrians and Colleyville city officials gathered in April on the freshly paved Cotton Belt Trail near the city’s southwest border at L.D. Lockett Road to celebrate the completion of a new 2.8-mile portion of trail connecting Hurst to Colleyville.

Colleyville now has more than 33 miles of public and private trails, and the city is looking to add three miles more over the next five years as part of its master…

Ride of Silence honors local, worldwide cyclists
by Brian Brode            www.examiner.com
PLANO, Texas – Although they did not say a word, they refused to be silent. That was the spirit of the 50 cyclists who rode yesterday’s Ride of Silence.

The Ride of Silence is an international group ride held on the third Wednesday in May, paying tribute to cyclists injured and killed by an automobile while riding their bike on public roadways. First held in Dallas in 2003, the event is growing…

Ride of Silence 2012 – Fort Worth – Pre Ride Speech
by WheelBrothers

Scott Strom and Chris Baab were kind enough to say couple words before the 2012 Ride of Silence Fort Worth edition.

Lost in My Own Neighborhood and Wounded Warriors – May 18th Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

After using the same exit route from Kingwood for going north I thought today would be a good day to try a different one. So I studied Google maps for the directions. Writing these down I set off. I did not get far when I noticed one of the streets I would take came earlier than I expected. So checking my directions I turned sooner and moved on. Well it did not go that smooth. After a short distance I came to W. Lake Houston Parkway which should not happen. Retracing my route I turned right when the route went left. After a couple of attempts I got on the correct streets and found the right way which happened to be the name of the street to get me to Mills Branch and onto streets I know even though I do not bike on them. From then the route went as planned.

It has been over 20 years since I biked on Loop 494 from FM1314 north to Community Drive. The last time shoulders did not exist but now they do. The southeast wind propelled me along at 20+ mph. My speed enabled me to average almost 16.9 mph at the one hour mark. One disappointment though came when I rode on FM1485 west of US59. TXdot is resurfacing a section and the pavement is now chip’n seal. Fortunately I only needed to ride about 1 mile until I turned onto Gene Campbell Road. The loose rocks on FM1485 made for some skittish riding at time when my front wheel slipped around hunting for solid pavement. This forced me to slow down for safety. This came about the 13 mile mark so I recovered speed on Gene Campbell Road to hit that 16.9 mph average speed.

For the last couple of weeks I attempted to visit with a former biking partner in New Caney, Mark Peterson. My previous two attempts missed him for various reasons but today I finally connected and we visited for 15 to 20 minutes. We biked together for several years back in the 1980’s. We went to the Hotter’n Hell 100 when it was just getting started. The first year we camped at Arrowhead State Park and almost melted from the heat.

Speaking of the weather, today it was picture perfect for biking: 90 degrees, scattered clouds, 35% humidity and that 15 mph SE wind.

The ride got a late start (1:31 PM) because my wife and I went to Bush Intercontinental Airport to welcome 200 to 250 wounded warriors. We never did this before so we did not know what to expect. It was awesome. The large crowd waited for them to arrive. Behind us a barbershop chorus warmed up with a wide variety of songs. Once the warriors started walking past us everyone started clapping, ringing cowbells and cheering. Here are a few pictures.

At the end of the ride my average speed ended up at 15.9 mph. My max speed topped out at 23.7 mph and average cadence 82.0 RPM. Riding time totaled 2:02:29 with 54:14 stopped. The time stopped included my visit with Mark and listening one of the clerks at the Porter Exxon tell me about her dysfunctional family while I ate a snack and a Diet Pepsi. With the 32.14 miles today this week’s miles total 156.58, May totals 515.75 and year to date is 2451.42 miles.

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