Grinder Ruts Are a Killer – October 22nd Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

There is a road surface worse than chip’n seal and I found it today. My plan was to ride the route from October 8th. On that ride I noticed some road construction ahead signs on SR 242 but did not see any thing going on. Well today I found out what they were doing. I don’t know the name of this road surface but it is what is left when one of those giant grinders removes the asphalt to prepare the road for resurfacing. The groves are noisy in a car but on a bike with 110 psi tire pressure it is like riding over little mountain and falling in the valley every inch or so. My head was vibrating so much I could barely see ahead let alone look in rear view mirror. There were two sections that were not too long and I was able to get through them and onto Firetower Road and then go to FM1485 thinking this would get around it. When I got to FM1485 there was road construction there as well but it was only for a 100 yards or so. This was chip’n seal but after what I had encountered on SR242 I was glad to see it.

I thought I would stay on FM1485 until it intersected SR242 and check to see if the grinder had made it that far. It looked like they had not made it that far so I started back on SR242 but I didn’t more than a mile and there was the grinder ruts again. This time I turned back and took another route. From there the road surface was back to normal.

Since I now have a new rear cassette I decided I needed to ride in a different gear combination so as long as I had a tailwind I used the “Big Ring” and a middle rear cog. This helped get my average speed up so when I turned south into the light wind I could still keep my average speed in the 15 mph range. With all of the route changes I rode 48.43 miles instead of the 43 I planned on. My average speed was 15.4 mph and max speed was 25.1 mph (different gears plus a light tailwind). My average cadence was 77.6 RPM.October miles are up to 536.71, this week’s total is 129.75 miles (I will rest tomorrow so that I don’t do too many days in a row) and year to date I have rode 4778.04 miles.

The weather was great again: 76 degrees at the start and 84 when I finished. Scattered clouds kept the heat down and the light 5 mph breeze was just about right.

10-22-2011 Bike Ride Data and Route Map

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10-22-2011 Home Weather End

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Cyclocross Scuffle at Richard Moya Park – Austin, TX

Texbiker.net Posted on by

2011 Cyclocross Scuffle at Richard Moya Park
Presented by Texas Bicycle Racing Association
Austin, TX
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Online Registration Will Open Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 8:00 AM ET
We are back again at the same venue for some incredible CX racing action at the Richard Moya Park. There is a mix of twists turns, risers, sand on a straightaway and turning in the sand,tree dodging, and overall good time. This race venue has been around for around 10 years and keeps getting better. We will have food for purchase on hand again from one of our sponsors.

Location: 10001 Burleson Rd, Austin, TX
Contact: James Sides 512-431-0597 / James_G_Sides@hotmail.com

Register: On-Line at www.Bikereg.com (processing fees apply) or Day of the event for $40.00* registration closes 15 minutes prior to race start.

Directions: From the intersection of Hwy. 71 and Hwy. 183, take Hwy. 183 south 2.6 miles to Burleson Road. Turn left on Burleson Road and travel 1.2 miles. Park entrance is on your right.

Start Times:
Class Start Time Length Places-Prizes Entry Fee*
Juniors Open 10:00 am 30 Min 1-3 Plaques $15.00
Juniors 10-14 10:00 am 30 Min 1-3 Plaques $15.00
Men CX 4 10:45 am 30 Min 1-3 Plaques $35.00
Single Speed 10:45 am 30 Min 1-3 Plaques $35.00
Women CX 3-4 10:45 am 30 Min 1-3 Plaques $35.00
Master Men 40+/50+/60+ 11:30 am 45 Min 1-3 Plaques $35.00
Men CX 3-4 12:30 am 45 Min 1-3 $100 $35.00
Women Open CX 1-4 12:32 am 45 Min 1-3 $100 $35.00
Men Open CX 1-4 1:30 pm 60 Min 1-5 $300 $35.00

All Additional Races are $10 Unlicensed riders will be required to purchase a one-day license for $10.00. All Entrants must comply with USAC Rules and are required to wear a certified helmet while on the bike from registration until the last award is presented. Mountain bikes are welcome and encouraged, but bar-ends must be removed. Promoter reserves the right to combine fields and reduce payout if the field does not fee minimum prizes.

Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for October 21st

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Mountain Bike Whisperer Radio Show
This addition of MBW Radio talks with Doug Coyle, Rick Faulkner and Randy “Sully” Sullivan about what’s happening at Colonel’s Bicycles. Doug began his business literally from the back of his van 18 years ago. With the addition of Rick and then Sully the trio have made Colonel’s one of the best bike shops around. Doug, Rick and Sully talk about the shop, …

CLIF BAR 2 Mile Challenge
www.peopleforbikes.org

Did you know that 40% of all urban travel in the U.S. happens within 2 miles of where people live? 90% of that travel is by car! Realizing the great opportunity to help fight climate change, CLIF BAR created a competition to see how many car trips could be replaced with a bike instead. It’s called the 2 Mile Challenge.

To highlight their commitment to bike advocacy and the fight against climate change in 2011, CLIF BAR is out to inspire people to avoid 100,000 car trips – and they are awarding $100,000 in grants along the way! All you have…

Friday Film Fun: Crowd Sourcing a Cargo Bike Documentary
by elliott            Austin on Two Wheels
Very shortly after I started this site, I got my first cargo bike, an Xtracycle Free Radical. At the time, we had a trailer for our kids that they were out growing, and the kit which converts most bikes to long tails with room for 1 adult or 2-3 kids seemed like a good idea. Shortly, I fell in love with its ability to carry lots of stuff and talk with my son and daughter as they experience the world around them. …

Denton, Dallas, Ft Worth weekend events
by bikedenton

There’s no shortage of bikey events around DFW this weekend, so take your pick! Outstanding.
1. Querencia is doing a Tubes, Tires, and Flats educational event from 2-3PM on Sat. …

Cycling and other stuff
Don Bynum’s Blog
Several friends have pointed out that I have let them down by not providing much in the way of entertainment from my blog in the last few months.  It seems that some people get a laugh out of reading about the suffering of others.  If one’s character is known by that of one’s friends, I guess I am in trouble.

The summer was pretty hot this year.  In human terms it was historic, but in the less egocentric geologic terms it was just a modest warm cycle in the climate history of this part of what we currently call North America. Due to the heat, I did not cycle as much as I would have liked. Much of what I did was so early in the morning that memory is sorta foggy about those.  However, by the end of August I had raised my year-to-date mileage to…

High-priced equipment no guarantee for success
By Bill Cullins         www.gosanangelo.com
A friend who’s new to bicycle racing asked an interesting question a few weeks ago.

He was concerned about entering a race since he didn’t own an expensive, top-of-the-line race bike.

His question was, “What would happen if all participants in a cycling event raced on identical low-cost, entry-level bicycles?”

Simple answer — the final results would still be…

Limited Edition Missoni for Target and Headbadges
by Justin        The Plano Cyclist

I finally got the Missoni for Target bike up on the repair stand to start assembly and I took a snap of the “headbadge” sticker on the front. I didn’t know that these bikes are limited editions, which is kind of a neat thing, even if it is manufactured rarity. That being said, I have several Death of Superman watches that I bought in the ’90’s, and I’m not sneering at their manufactured rarity today. This bike is number 696 of 2984, which is both a low total…

Rear Cog Slippage – October 21st Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Apparently there was one more affect of my broken chain. Today whenever I shifted in to the normal rear cog I ride in and stand up to pedal the chain skips. This does not happen on any other cog so I am afraid the cog is worn from the old chain. So it is time to replace at least that cog or the whole cluster. What this caused me to do is use another gear combination. My large front chain wheel is a 50 tooth so I shifted to it and then went two lower cogs on the rear cassette. As a result I was riding about 2 to 3 mph faster than I was in the usual combination I use. The pedaling was harder but maybe I was not going as hard as I could or should. Now I need to get this fixed.

The weather turned warmer today with the wind out of the south-southeast at 8 mph. This usually warms things up and brings in some clouds which it did. It was was 78 degrees and the beginning of my ride and 85 at the finish. The humidity increased as well up to 43% which is still low for Houston. The next cool front is not due until the middle of next week so I can ride with my normal attire: short sleeve jersey and bike shorts.

As you can see below my average speed was 15.6 mph which is great. Also my max speed was a whopping 27.4 mph. My average cadence was 78.9 RPM which I suspect is the result of the larger gear combination. I extended the route today to 30.89 miles to make up some of yesterday’s shortfall. October miles are now up to 488.28 and year to date I have ridden 4729.61 miles. The week is now 81.32 miles.

10-21-2011 Bike Ride Data and Route Map

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10-21-2011 Home Weather End

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