My early start fell by the wayside today because I went to church to solve a problem with the library computers. My efforts failed and time passed quickly. After getting back home and eating lunch I got started on the ride at 1:17 PM. My route went near the church again and while riding I thought of a possible solution so I stopped for about 20 minutes to try again but still could not resolve the problem. Back on the bike I continued north to New Caney and the turn back to home. Even though the temperature was around 91 degrees it did not feel that hot with the wind blowing (13 mph with 17 mph gusts from the SE) and the humidity around 50%. For a change I did not pour perspiration when I stopped. The mostly cloudy sky helped me feel cool.
Even with the unplanned stop the ride moved right along and after refilling my waterbottle in New Caney I headed south on US59 service road. I did not get very far though when I ran over some glass and a flat rear tire stopped me. The glass stuck out of the side of the tire so I patched it without removing the tire and just pulling enough tube out to expose the hole. The patch went on and I aired the tube up but it did not last long. The patch did not hold and the tire went flat again. I think the patch and the cement were not compatible. Not sure of the problem I walked about 1/2 a mile back to the Chevron station and re-patched the tire. This I used a different type of patch and it held firm. I pumped up the tire and hit the road again.
So today’s 31.03 mile route took about the same riding time (2:04:59) but the time stopped shot up to 1:11:55. I got back home at 4:34 PM. MY average speed dropped to 14.9 mph and my max speed settled at 22.9 mph with average cadence of 79.1 RPM. May miles total 196.68 and year to date miles are 2132.35.
Bike Friendly Denton    @bikedenton      via Twitter
There are some fun, unsigned trails in SW Denton near Old Alton bridge
Bike Friendly Denton    @bikedenton      via Twitter
All of these utility easements should have official trails on them, like all the DFW burbs. C’mon, Denton Municipal.
ATXCyclingTeam      @ATXCyclingTeam      via Twitter
Jenny Park wins the Women’s Open at Houston Grand for the 2nd year in a row!! And Kim Ciolli takes 4th today. Great racing ladies!
Alkek Velodrome      from Facebook
The Big Fix Star Walt Dawes completes his 24 hour ride for histiocytosis. Completing the 24 hours with a ride of 1798 laps, 599 km or (for the metrically challenged) 371.58 miles. Check the links: Big ups to Walt’s ‘corner man’ Mason Courtney, and Keirin Koh Annoura (Samurai…
SCCCCÂ Â Â Â Â Â @SCCCCÂ Â Â Â Â Â via Twitter
Baylor’s Danielle Bradley (@DBradley525) finishes 9th in D2 women’s road race, awesome!
How to Recover from Muscle Soreness Caused by Intense Exercise
Dr. Gabe Mirkin’s Fitness and Health E-Zine
May 6, 2012
Muscle soreness should be part of every exercise program. If you don’t exercise intensely enough on one day to have sore muscles on the next, you will not gain maximum fitness and you are also losing out on many of the health benefits of exercise. The benefits of exercise are much greater with intense exercise than with casual exercising.
You must damage your muscles to make them grow and become stronger. When muscles heal, they are stronger than they were before you damaged them. All athletes train by “stressing and recovering”. On one day, they take a hard workout in which they feel their muscles burning. Eight to 24 hours after they finish this intense exercise, their muscles start to feel sore. This is called Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS). Then they take easy workouts until the soreness is gone, which means that their…
Bike awareness; Steiner Ranch congestion; Voters’ guide helps
www.statesman.com
Comments from our readers
Bike awareness
Hi, my name’s Rebecca, and I want to make a difference. I love to bicycle, but with all the bike accidents I’m scared to. I’m also worried about my dad. He likes to bike, that’s why if we make people aware of bikers I don’t have to worry about him. That’s why I want to make…
NICA High School Cycling News Round-up May 6, 2012
By: Paul Skilbeck         www.cyclingnews.com
…Athlete profile: Boone Flynn (Texas High School Cycling League)
At 17 years old, only two years into bicycle competition, Boone Flynn of College Station, Texas, has become the first junior varsity winner of the Texas High School Mountain Bike League.
Mountain biking was Boone’s entree to the sporting world. “Cycling is the only sport I am active in,” said Flynn, who lists no other sports or sporting achievements in his school resume. Last year, as a mountain bike racer in events around Texas, Flynn heard from Vance McMurry about the NICA system and that he was bringing high school…
It’s hard to say which will cause the most hindquarters discomfort in the coming days: the 1,700-mile road trip from Abilene to New Jersey or the 300-mile bike ride from New Jersey to the nation’s capitol to follow.
Officers Carye Adkins and Joshua Ward left at 5:30 a.m. Sunday, hauling a trailer with bicycles and other equipment on their way to participate in the…
Hamilton Hill-Aceous
by Roy and Christine      Pedal Pushers
I remember now why Hamilton calls its ride “Hill-Aceous.” And as their t-shirt depicts, they are not even apologetic!
So why did one of their largest turn-outs show up on a hot, windy day in May? The ride is “fun,” volunteers are great, proceeds are for a worthy cause, and the roads are some of the best around. I put “fun” in quotation marks. People pay good money to ride on roller coasters don’t they? We just rode the roller coasters on our…
Ride interupted by cattle drive
by hwycruiser      www.bikeforums.net
I thought y’all who ride the back roads of Texas would appreciate my encounter on my morning ride today. I had to pull off the road to let a cattle drive pass by. I didn’t mind except for the mess they made all over the road.
National Trails Day June 2 at BCGB
by chardog         Austin Ridge Riders
All, Bart Bombay (Huckleberry) & I will be leading some projects on the main BGCB trail just upstream from Twin Falls. Stream bank armoring, closing off and re-veg of poorly drained mud pit trial sections and better defining and fine tuning of higher, well drained trails above the mud pits. The net result…
Westside Hills
El Paso Bicycle Club Ride
Saturday, May 19Â 8:00 am
Description:    Meet at Cimarron Park (Northern Pass one block east of Resler). Explore the ups and downs of the West Side, including various “Ridges†and other challenging climbs. 25 miles, moderate pace. To get there, take Resler north past Helen of Troy and turn right on Northern Pass. …
@TourduRouge         via Twitter
Tour du Rouge is tomorrow! Have fun cyclists!
@USACcollegiate         via Twitter
Texas A&M trying to reel in a break with CU, Marian, App State, and Metro State. Not much of a gap but it’s a strong one
@ATXCyclingTeam            via TWitter
Team Brain and Spine takes 12th at the Big Cedar XC MTB race today. One word…… Suffer
Texas MTB Trails     @TexasMTBtrails      via Twitter
TMBRA/DORBA podium for pro open.
George W Bush Still Rides A Bike
Like him or not, George W Bush is a cyclist.
by Richard Masoner         www.cyclelicio.us
The former president led these Wounded Warriors and 50 others — journalists, secret service, sponsor guests — through 13 miles of trails on what one marathon running journalist described as a “two-hour 50-minute ordeal complete with skinned legs and elbows and sore ribs.†…
Austin Cycling Association teamed up with Werd Recording to create a short and fun video promoting transportation cycling by way of highlighting some of the many instances in which you can choose the bike instead of the car to get you where you need to go (or do what you need to do). Filmed in Austin, TX : April 2012
Why I Ride #3: Bicycling as a Family Legacy
blog.bikeleague.org
(Charles Riou lives in Austin, Texas, where he is the Bicycle and Pedestrian Coordinator for the Texas Department of Transportation.)
I have enjoyed riding bikes my entire life and have a profound appreciation of cycling from my family history. My father grew up in France and lived though the German occupation in his late teens and early twenties. The bicycle was not only his primary means of transportation; it also played an important part in his…
Mountain Bike Whisperer Radio
www.fwmba.org
Episode 19 The 2nd Annual Fort Worth Fat Tire Festival (05-06-2012)
This addition of MBW Radio is all about the 2nd Annual Fort Worth Fat Tire Festival benefiting the Fort Worth Mountain Bikers’ Association. Josh, Suzy and LC talk about all of the highlights of this year’s festival!
Jack Brooks STS 5/12 @ 8 AM – Register now!
by Justin Dunn         GHORBA
The second race of the Short Track Stampede will be taking place at Jack Brooks Park on May 12th at 8 AM! The trails at Jack Brooks are in good shape so come this weekend and take a few practice laps on some of the most unique trails in Houston. Click here to register for the race or swing by GHORBA.org for more details. Current GHORBA membership is required to participate, if you need assistance please contact…
Safety Advocates Concerned With Rising Number of Central Texas Bicycle Accidents
A surge in bicycle accidents in Central Texas has shined a spotlight on the need for tougher laws, safer pathways and improved education for drivers sharing roadways with cyclists across the state, said attorneys at The Carlson Law Firm, who are also active in the cycling community. …
Biking to support troops
Minot soldier, former president bike in support of wounded warriors
By ELOISE OGDENÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â www.minotdailynews.com
Former President George W. Bush gave Army Maj. Daniel Gade a helping hand when he needed some assistance on the a mountain bike ride for wounded warriors recently.
Born and raised in Minot, Gade was one of 20 service men and women wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan invited to take part in the 2nd Annual Warrior 100K Mountain Bike Ride for Wounded Warriors. …
Tour de Norway in Clifton, TX
by WB admin         The Wheel Brothers – Cycling in Texas
The 1st Annual Tour de Norway invites you to join their ride happening on May 12, 2012 at Clifton High School, Clifton, Texas, United States
We were lucky enough to be granted an interview with Brent Grelle, Ride Director of Tour de Norway to ask some questions about their upcoming ride.
Why join the “Tour de Norway�
To have fun riding in a new area and get to see a little Texas history.
I delayed the start of today’s ride because I wanted to be sure my DVR recorded the Giro d’Italia stage 1. In years past my options to watch this race disappeared. Last year our local channel 39.3 carried Universal Sports Network but they dropped it earlier this year. So this morning I searched Dish Network to see if the Italian channel RAI was stilled offered as part of the International Italian package. It was so I went to the program guide on my receiver to see if the Giro showed up at the 10:30 AM start time. I did not see it but I did notice a couple of channels down (USN 9795, also channel 402) a cycling program. Clicking on information pulled up the Giro d’Italia. I programed the time and waited to see if it was true before setting off on my Saturday ride. Searching Google it appears that USN arrived on Dish sometime in February. This surprised me because in the past when I searched the Universal Sports Network website for carriers Dish was not listed. Now I can watch each day without streaming it over my internet connection.
Today’s route is a little different with a section biked backwards from my normal direction. The roads are familiar going my usual direction but not so when I reverse it due to my not paying attention to street names. I know the turns but not most of the names. So when I turned south onto FM2100 from Old Atascocita Road the next turn to the left onto Stroker Road would be reversed and I would have to watch closely to not make a wrong turn. While I was not sure of the road name to turn onto it became obvious as I neared it since the road was on my left and it was the first one from FM2100. From there on the reverse route looked different but not a problem.
With the later start (10:46 AM) the temperature ranged moved upward to 85 to 90 during the ride. Humidity did not let up much either: 65% going down to 52% at the finish. Scattered clouds made it warm but the SSE 10 mph wind (17 mph gusts) helped some. Even with the late start I saw some other bikers on the causeway over Lake Houston and Fairlake Drive. After that they disappeared.
The route today ended up at 36.75 miles for the second day in a row of 35 miles or more. My average speed landed at 15.7 mph even with the wind gusts. I think the deciding factor came when I rode the reverse section of the route with several stretches of nice tailwinds. I also noticed the southbound shoulder of FM2100 from Old Atascocita Road to Stroker Road is much cleaner than the northbound side. So the week’s total miles stand at 195.84 at an average speed of 15.5 mph versus last week’s 14.9 mph. May miles now total 165.66 and year to date I am up to 2101.33 miles. These figures come SportTracks since none of the three agree on the same numbers. No biking tomorrow since I have a meeting at church and need a day rest.
