Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for March 22nd

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Texas High School MTB League: RACE #2 VENUE CHANGE – VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!!
by Il Pirate             Austin Ridge Riders
With all of the rain that hit TX the week of March 19, our Race #2 venue for the Texas High School MTB League is underwater!!  Vance has been able to work some serious magic to keep the race ON this weekend – but at a new venue … The race will be THIS SUNDAY at ROCKY HILL RANCH.

All of the volunteers that had been secured for Race #2 had been local to the original venue (Garland, TX).  Which means … the race is seriously underserved for event volunteers!  This is a desperate plea for help – not only to our team, but to…

El Paso Bicycle Club Ride
Tuesday, April 3
Tuesday climbing rides-5:15 pm
Begin at 5:15 p.m. from Crazy Cat, 2626 N. Mesa. Ride to McKelligon Canyon via Scenic. About 16 miles total, intermediate pace. Rebecca Reza, 225-0011.

Bill’s Birthday Bash and Ride
Hill Country Bicycle Touring Club
Start:     April 28, 2012 9:00 am
End:       April 28, 2012 12:00 pm
Venue:     LCRA Parking lot in Kingsland
Address:    highway 1431, Kingsland, TX
Please join us on April 28, in the Texas Hill Country near  the Highlands Lakes area for a wonderful weekend when you can see the wildflowers in bloom Ride will start at 9:00 am and will be led by Roy Munro.  Ride will start from the LCRA parking lot in Kingsland, TX,  a few miles away from  Lake Buchanan.  The physical address is 8347 RR 1431 West. We will ride to the Fall Creek Vineyards, in Tow,TX. This ride is approximately 22 miles. For those interested, you can pre-order a lunch to eat at the vineyard. For lunch you have an option of a Turkey wrap or Chicken salad…

Race Report: Lago Vista Road Race, 2nd place, Men’s 50+
by Will Visser @ATXCyclingTeam @BSS_Austin

The race started with near-perfect weather conditions, but with a bit of north wind at 10 to 15 mph, which didn’t do much to alter the race tactics. The forty or so guys lining up for the start looked like most of same guys I saw at the state championships last year. The race was only 33 miles: six loops of a 5.5 mile course.

The first lap, no one seemed interested in forcing anything. On the second lap, I could tell there were two guys itching to launch on the long climb. I moved forward and waited for the attack, which happened about halfway up with Bill Shirer and another guy going off the front. I thought it was too early but decided that if the guy from…

Austin Bike Culture Calendar Events: 3/22- 3/28/12
by elliott            Austin on Two Wheels
The weather this week is why we live in Austin… get out and ride! There are several century rides, a mountain bike race and a road ride this weekend. For the civic minded, check on the Austin City Council and Mayoral Candidates Bicycling Forum on Monday and the Downtown Wayfinding Community Presentation on Wednesday.

Here’s a quick run down of recommended events for the coming week from…

Student who lost fingers, legs, now aiming for Paralympics
By Pam LeBlanc            Fit City

A couple of years ago, I wrote about Jamie Schanbaum, who was re-learning to ride a bicycle after losing all 10 fingers and both lower legs to a life-threatening blood infection.

Now Schanbaum, 24, is gunning to compete in cycling at the Paralympic Games in London.

Schanbaum was a sophomore at the University of Texas in 2008 when she caught meningococcal septicemia, …

Plano Bike Route System
by Chris Mathews        Plano Bicycle Club
Watch the video featuring our very own Renee Burk Jordan and Andrew’s car
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG67VuCkm9I
The trail system in Plano has been expanded to include marked bike routes on roads.

Solavaca Cat Claw Classic
by Andrew            Neilson Development Team
Round 4 of the TMBRA XC series was held at Solavaca Ranch in Glen Rose, TX. Richard was to be the sole rider representing Neilson Development Racing Team, as Ben was unable to attend. Saturday was a travel day up to the race location, followed by a couple of pre-ride laps with Team Manager/Coach/Mechanic Andrew to learn the course and prepare to go fast on Sunday.

Sunday morning the team was out to the ranch early for Andrew’s race, then Richard would go off in the afternoon. After a good warm-up, he headed to the line. The starter failed to do a top ten call-up, so he was left with a poor starting position on the 2nd row. After the whistle he was able to make some passes before the singletrack to get into the top 10. From there he felt like his fitness was a bit off since he hadn’t been riding…

Blue sky, 85 degrees and a 10.4 mph – March 22nd Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

A fabulous spring day for biking. I don’t know what I could ask for to make it better. Blue sky, 85 degrees and a 10.4 mph southwest wind. I started a little later than I would choose because a crew to cut some trees still had a couple to cut and the driveway was blocked. The front of our house now get a lot more sun. Retirement allows me to bike during the day and I enjoyed today’s ride. The newly installed Continental Gatorskin tires performed perfectly but I did not expect any problems on the first ride. I cannot measure the rolling resistance but I did get a slightly higher 15.6 mph average speed. This could be from the friendly breeze on the return portion of the route when I kept the speed at 19 to 21 mph without too much effort. I feel comfortable the new tires will perform perfectly when I ride the LBJ 100 on Saturday.

On the ride a train delayed me for about 10 minutes as it crawled through the crossing in Huffman. While I waited I noticed the airplanes coming in to Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport above us. They seemed to float and the clear sky made it easier to see the plane’s details. After the train moved on I stopped at the Chevron station in Huffman to refill my waterbottle and eat a Kashi bar. While I ate I saw a slow moving 747 gliding into land. Even from a distance the 747 looks very large.

The weekend weather looks like it could repeat today’s. The last time we visited Stonewall, TX (where the LBJ 100 starts) was in 1989. I wonder what changed in that time.

Some ride statistics:

  • 31.51 miles today
  • 21.5 mph max speed
  • 2:01:06 riding time
  • 82.0 RPM average cadence
  • 87.31 miles this week
  • 402.20 miles in March
  • 1038.29 miles YTD
  • Garmin Connect data link

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3-22-2012 Home Weather Station End

3-22-2012 Home Weather Station End

Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for March 21st

Texbiker.net Posted on by

USA Cycling to distributes nearly $3 million to grassroots initiatives
Bicycle Retailer & Industry News
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO (BRAIN) Wednesday March 21 2012 4:09 PM MT— USA Cycling announced Wednesday that based on 2011 license sales, it will distribute $421,170 back to its 34 Local Associations.

With the 2011 payout, USA Cycling has now delivered nearly $3 million to its Local Associations since the program’s 2003 inception.

“The LA Payout Program represents a major reinvestment of membership dollars back into racing at the local level,” Steve Johnson, USA Cycling’s president and CEO said. …

…Texas Bicycle Racing Association received $28,680 and…

NICA launches Booster Fund
BERKELEY, CA (BRAIN) Wednesday March 21 2012 2:46 PM MT—The National Interscholastic Cycling Association has launched a Booster Fund program. The fund was established with $30,000 raised at the NICA Awards Banquet in January and will provide micro-grants to individual student-athletes, coaches and teams from underrepresented areas and disadvantaged backgrounds. …

…Up to $15,000 will go to as many as 30 student-athletes, coaches and teams in the NICA spring racing leagues, which this year are Northern California, Southern California, Washington and Texas.

Wildflower Route – West of Lake Buchanan 2012
lakebuchanan.wordpress.com
The following is a route and a few pictures taken on a cycling ride west of Lake Buchanan, TX on March 12, 2012.  In most areas the bluebonnets and paintbrushes were far from fully developed.  Later pictures should be available to post by the end of March.  This is a very good wildflower year.

First… The Route. …


Bluebonnets in bloom, Lockhart Mountain in the background.

New Huntsville SP trails???
by pleepleus        forums.mtbr.com
Do any of you GHORBA guys know when the new trails are supposed to to be built and completed? I’ve looked at the GHORBA site and forum but their isn’t much new info and the forum doesn’t get much activity.

I just moved from the Houston area to Huntsville and can’t wait for some more mileage in my new back yard.
response by bobdole
We’re undergoing environment studies, etc right now. Expecting to begin construction in Q4 2012 with completion in Q1 2013.

Bessies Creek 24 – Texas Ultra Cup Challenge
Bike Brookshire
The 2012 edition of Bessies Creek 24 cycling races will be held over the weekend of April 14/15. Spring riding is a wonderful time of the year to be cycling in southeast Texas.

Racers will be treated to a profusion of brilliant wildflowers inhabiting the lush verges bordering the  course; bluebonnets, indian paintbrushes and cornflowers are just a few of the dozens of varieties of wild flowers which bloom this time of the year in southeast Texas, to cheer and amaze us with their displays.

Spring also means soft southeastern breezes, cool nights and hopefully generally mild days. Wild life will be out in force with magnificent Coopers’s hawks catching the updrafts overhead and rabbits, squirrels and the…

Big Event
by msrarkitex            Brazos Valley Mountain Bike Association
The Big Event is this Saturday.  Students from TAMU are giving back to the community (thank you very much!)  We are planning on working on Game Trail.  It was damaged by the rain from 4-5 weeks ago.  Wonder how it survived last week and this weeks rain!  We will also have a few other projects to work on.  If you want to “give back” to the trails…

Move It: LBJ bike tour set for Saturday
By Jessica Belasco            www.mysanantonio.com

Cyclists in the fifth annual LBJ 100 Bicycle Tour can take part in a special bonus after the morning ride: Luci Baines Johnson’s narrated bike tour of historical landmarks on the LBJ Ranch.

More than 1,100 riders participated in last year’s event, which starts and ends at the ranch and winds through the Hill Country. There are five route options ranging…

Living a Better Story, take two, day three
M. Kent Travis

Well, it’s now day four of our bicycle trip around East Texas. Our intention is to challenge ourselves and to consider how we might tell a better story with our lives.

As I sit here at 8:50 in the morning on day four, I’m a little frustrated at the rain and the cold. We began yesterday with an ominous forecast. I didn’t really know what we should do. So we just decided to shove off despite the rain and the promise that it…

 

I heard the hiss of air – March 21st Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

With yesterday’s rain and the early morning rain today I doubted that biking would happen today but by 2:00 the sun came out and the clouds thinned. The streets around here dry quickly with the breeze and sun so the disappeared in most places. I did come across some water on a trail that I use to get started but after that it looked like the rain took place several days ago.

When I first start to get dressed I thought I would need to wear my windbreaker but the temperature increased several degrees once the sun arrived and by 2:43 when I started the ride the 70 degree temperature allowed me to leave the windbreaker home and add a short sleeve jersey over my long sleeve jersey. No leg warmers today. By the time I got back home the temperature went up to 75 degrees. A fabulous spring day I might say. The WSW wind clocked at 11.4 mph with 21 mph gusts but they weren’t a major factor since my route and wind breaks minimized the effect.

The ride did not get off to a good start though. Around the 1.6 mile point I heard the hiss of air leaking from one of my tires. I could determine which one right away but by the 1.95 mile point it became clear the rear tire was the problem. I pulled over at a building off the street and looked at the rear tire. I could not find any puncture causing things but there was a cut that went through the casing. Removing the tube I quickly found the hole by pumping up the tube and then laying the tube on the tire it lined up with the cut which indeed did go all the way through the tire. After a problem last year I now carry a section of an old tire to use as a boot so I put that inside the tire over the cut area, patched the tube and aired the tire back up. The patch worked and I continued my ride with no other flats.

Due to the rain delay my ride started later than I would prefer so I biked amongst the schools getting out. School buses and parents picking up their children crossed my path most of the route but the beautiful weather made for a great ride.

Yesterday while the rain kept me indoors I did some bike maintenance. I waxed my chain in anticipation of riding in the LBJ 100 in Johnson City this Saturday.  Another thing I wanted to address was the saddle angle. While the saddle I use is very comfortable I thought the angle was not what it should be with the nose pointed up and the saddle not being level, So I got my level out and adjusted the saddle angle to as flat as the seatpost would allow. I wanted several days to bike with this new angle before going on the LBJ 100 in case the adjustment did not sit well. After the ride I think the new angle will work so no change in that.

One thing I had to change when I got back home was the tires. With the cut in the rear tire I decided I did not want to ride this Saturday out of town with a boot in the tire. I could feel the the boot every time the wheel rotated and that place in the tire came in contact with the road. I did not remember when I installed the Hutchinson Fusion 2 tires but looking back in my SportTracks log I found on June 20, 2011 I replaced the previous tires. Since then I biked around 3,500 miles on the Fusion 2’s. In the past if I managed to bike 2,500 miles on a set of tires I thought I got my money’s worth. I replaced the Hutchinson Fusion 2’s with Continental Gatorskin 700×25 tires. I try to keep a spare set of tires on hand since I never know when the need will arise. I am moving to a 25mm wide tire from the 23mm Hutchinson ones. I read several blogs and articles extolling the “wider” tire comfort and durability versus the narrower tires. I also lowered the pressure from 120 psi to 105 psi. Overall I am impressed with the Hutchinson Fusion 2 durability. The roads I ride are not debris free by any means so to get 3,500 miles with a few flats is very good. The Gatorskins are supposed to be even more durable and the Fusion 2’s do not appear to be sold any more. Tomorrow’s ride will be a test of the tire switch. My planned route goes over Lake Houston where road debris lives and flats happen.

Some ride data for today:

  • 1:44:09 riding time
  • 15.1 mph average speed
  • 24.1 mph max speed
  • 82.2 RPM average cadence
  • 26.19 miles today
  • 55.79 miles this week
  • 370.68 miles in March (346.8 miles March average mileage since 1990)
  • 1006.77 miles YTD (earliest I made this amount)
  • Garmin Connect data link

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3-21-2012 Home Weather Station End

3-21-2012 Home Weather Station End