Wind Advisory at 40 MPH – May 1st Bike Ride

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When I got home from church this morning I was looking at the weather and saw a wind advisory with winds up to 40 mph. I was not going to ride until late afternoon so I was hoping this wind would die down. By the time I started riding at 3:50 the wind was at 26 mph with gusts to 33 mph. So much for the wind dropping much. The route I was going started out with the wind but when I turned south for the trip back I slammed into the wind. My legs slowed down quickly as did my speed. Even my home weather station showed wind at 4.7 mph which is high given all of the trees around our house.

The average speed ended up at 14.3 mph but I did manage 23 mph for a top speed. Average cadence was 75.8 rpm. I did ride 24.97 miles so I met my planned miles for today. My goal for May is 650 miles which will repeat April’s miles. The stretch goal is 700 miles. After today’s ride the year to date miles is 1527.64.

5-1-2011 Bike Ride Data and Route

5-1-2011 Home Weather Finish

Additional charts, weather and map.

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Daily News Roundup April 30th – Texas Bicycling

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Tyler Bicycle Club
Road Ride for Beginners
A new ride has been added to the Thursday evening schedule.  This ride is specifically geared for beginners.  If you are new to the sport, you will be taught how to shift gears,  the road rules, and how to ride in a group. The ride lasts about one hour and is broken up into two groups if faster riders are present.  The pace is anywhere from 11 to 15 mph.

7:30am – Harden Dental Team Ride
by Scott Franklin
When: Sat May 7, 2011 7:30am to 10:30am  CDT
Where: Ronny Crownover Middle School
Event Description: This is the weekly training ride for the Corinth Cycling/Harden Dental race team. This is a 62 mile loop on an established route. Expect a fast pace and be prepared to fix your own mechanicals. There are no stops on this ride.

Area Special Olympics starts with cycling event
by Lufkin Daily News


In all, 350 athletes from across the East Texas area will compete in the weekend event. Participation in the Spring Games is required to be a part of the state Games during Memorial Day weekend, Spivey said. The opening ceremony and parade of athletes …

Matrix Challenge Race Report P/B Bikemart.com
by MC
This is a race report from the Matrix Challenge Sunday win by none other than the great Michael “Brownie” Browm. Proudly presented by Richardson Bike Mart.

After the Price/Burke 1-2 finish on Saturday there was only one question that needed to be answered. Who was going to step up and be THAT rider for Sunday. Well, crits are not like road races…or are they?. In a RR it’s easy to have a protected rider and everyone just works to keep that rider out of the wind and fresh to easily get into…

Something happened when it came time to execute the plan – April 30th Bike Ride

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I had the ride plan for today’s ride but something happened when it came time to execute the plan. First off I forgot to turn my alarm on so I got up a half hour late. This wasn’t too big of a problem and I sped things up a little getting ready. I went to the garage to get my bike and start but when I got to the garage door I noticed the rear wheel was flat. So I toki the wheel off and started to look for the cause. Looking at the tire tread I did not see anything so I removed the tube and pumped it but the hole was not spewing any air so I pumped it up more and then I found a tiny hole about 7 inches to the side of the valve stem. When I checked the tire in that position I found tiny piece of mystery wire. I call this mystery wire because it is a mystery how this stuff gets on the road and then into a tire. I patched the tube and put it back in the tire and proceeded to to remount the tire. In the process I pinched the tube and added two more holes. At this point I pulled the tube out and installed a new one being very careful not to repeat the pinching thing with my tire tool. Successfully replacing the tube and pumping it up I was finally ready to leave about 30 minutes late on top of the 30 minutes I overslept.

Overnight the weather conditions changed with the wind shifting to the southeast which brings increased clouds and humidity. I noticed a little moisture on the patio where it might have sprinkled during the night. I saw this again later on FM290 west of Splendora where the edge of the road was damp but no puddles. during the ride the temperature was in the lower 80’s with overcast skies and wind of 17 to 21 mph.

Once I was on the road the ride was going great with a ice tailwind for the first 18+ miles. When I turned northwest the wind was still there but not so much as a tailwind but it did not get in the way either. At the 33.3 mile mark I stopped at the Valero station on FM3083 for a rest and some Diet Pepsi with BBQ Kettle Chips. I figured when I turned back to the southeast the wind would slow me down so the rest and chips were to build me for the effort. Little did I know what I would run into on FM1314.

The former smooth asphalt FM1314 surface had been replaced with chip’n seal and since it was new the shoulder was not smoothed down any from traffic driving on it, even if this happens when it has been there awhile. For over 5 miles I rode into a headwind and battled the chip’n seal shoulder until I got to the junction of SR242. I felt a great relief when I rolled onto the smooth asphalt surface. I slowed down to relish the vibration being gone. From that point the shoulder was either asphalt or concrete until I got to Porter.

One point of my plan did get accomplished; riding at least 61 miles. I ended up riding 63.1 miles which put the weekly miles at 143.43 but more importantly the April miles 676.00. Year to date miles are at 1502.67. This was the reason for the 62 mile goal to get past the 1500 mile mark. The 676 miles is the most I have ridden in a month this year.

I plan on riding tomorrow to get May underway. I think I can get 24 miles.

4-30-2011 Bike Ride Data and Route

4-30-2011 Home Weather Finish

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Additional charts and weather.

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Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for April 29th

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Hill Country Bicycle Touring Club
Good News Lutheran Church BBQ Chicken–Mother’s Day Plant Sale Ride
Saturday, May 7th:  Accomplish five things with just one ride!  Get exercise, enjoy the company of club members, train for the Tour de Cure, treat yourself to delicious chicken barbeque, and buy a Mother’s Day plant for that favorite lady in your life!  Ride starts at 8:30 pm.   Meet at Good News Lutheran Church at the corner of Old Corpus Christi Road and Hwy 181 South.  This is a 28 mile ride with a 12 mile option available over mostly flat terrain at a medium pace.  After the ride plan to stay for a barbeque chicken dinner (11:00-2:00 with takeout available) and buy plants at the plant sale ( hanging blooming baskets from 8:30-1:30). Plates are $7.  For more information, contact ride leader Sandy Barsun at 210-913-3815) or email her at barsun@sbcglobal.net

Top 10: Bike Repair
by Sean Michael Ragan
We have covered a lot of bike-related content over the years, and a lot of bike-repair-related content. Trouble is, we don’t have a separate repairs-only category, so assembling this round-up required manual cherry-picking from the many pages of our Bicycle category archive. I then picked my ten favorites, tabulated the pageviews for each, and counted the days since it was…

Council candidates support bike accommodations
by bikedenton
I could describe what each of the candidates said last night in support of improved bike accommodations, but there’s a bigger story here: 8/9 spoke in obvious support. One gave sort of a non-answer, but the big picture was that nobody opposed a bike-friendlier Denton. Two years ago, the bike accommodation discussion fell flat during…

Glenville Trail Officially Open
by dickdavid

Dallas Morning News editor, Bruce Tomaso, has reported that Richardson’s Glenville Trail is officially open. This is the trail that runs from Bowser Road, past Glenville, Mark Twain and Huffines Parks, and connects with Duck Creek Trail. …

Pedal power takes Imari Miller and Danny Parks on ride of a lifetime
By Dan McGraw
Special to the Star-Telegram
…Miller, who is home-schooled, rides for the Garmin-Chipotle Development Team, a junior team based in Texas that allows him to race all over the country. He is one of two elite junior cyclists in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. …

Real life: I finished cycling across America.. in 24 days!
by Adrian Monti, Daily Mirror   by Mirror.co.uk
My cycling companion Sean and I set off from Santa Monica Pier in June last year for the long ride. When we reached Austin, Texas, on my 30th birthday, we were halfway and making good time. But six days later while cycling, we were hit by a truck. …

Riding for MS
By Bill Conrad  Frisco Enterprise
When Keith Siebert rides his bike this weekend, it will not be for himself. It will be for his mother and the hundreds of thousands of other Americans who suffer from multiple sclerosis.

Siebert and a team of riders from Plano Cycling and Fitness will be among the 4,000 or so who are participating in the Bike MS: Sam’s Club Ride 2001 on Saturday, an annual bike ride that raises millions of dollars for…

Cross country solo bike ride supports National Multiple Sclerosis Society
By Gwendolyn Glenn

…For Morris, the hardest part of his trip was riding through the hills in Texas, where he said at times he slowed down to 4 mph. Besides the extreme heat, he was glad he did not encounter any major storms, considering that there were numerous tornadoes over the past few weeks in states he passed through. …

Mom deserves an adventure on her day
By Bill Cullins   www.gosanangelo.com
Most of us will honor our moms by spending extra time with them on Mother’s Day, going out to dinner, sending flowers or buying a special gift. There might be another way to make this Mother’s Day the most memorable ever.  Instead of the flowers and big meal, you could treat mom to a day of healthy adventure and exercise. …