Texas Bicycling News – April 21, 2023

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Dallas begins building The Loop’s Hi Line Connector trail despite contractor’s lawsuit

By Sharon Grigsby | www.dallasnews.com

No reporter’s task is less glamorous, or more mind-numbing, than sifting through the dozens of meeting agendas that City Hall posts each week.

Every so often I strike gold — this time thanks to a curious park board item that required only a drive to the Design District to confirm.

With no fanfare or groundbreaking photo op, construction has begun on The Loop Dallas’ Hi Line Connector.

The mile-long trail, a critical segment in the heart of Dallas that will close a hole in the overall 50-mile bike-and-hike circuit, had been held hostage by litigation for almost a year. …

Texas Hill Country

By Mary Buchwalder | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 8 Final day riding: Keep ‘er movin’

Thursday April 20, 2023, 45 miles (72 km) – Total so far: 302 miles (486 km) As I poured (squeezed?) my first foam cup of coffee in the hotel breakfast area, the local meteorologist appeared on tv. Today’s predicted radar views showed thundershowers as early as 11 am, with big swaths rolling through at 3, 8, and 1 am. 87% chance by early afternoon. And the “severe weather index” showed slight risk for tornado, low to moderate risk for 1-2” hail, and moderate risk of 50-70 mph (!!) winds. Eww.

We were up early and already packed up, as last night’s WeatherUnderground prediction suggested thunderstorms starting around 1 pm. Now it sounds like we have two fewer hours to avoid potentially serious weather. Can we get to our Austin hotel ahead of it? What will the roads be like today? Will there be cattle guards? Dips that have water flowing over? Accessible porches or barns for shelter if thunder, lightning, hail or 70 mph winds? Headwind or tailwind?

Ok, it’s supposed to be less hilly with …

Epilogue: And a few more random thoughts

Thursday April 20, 2023, 45 miles (72 km) – Total so far: 302 miles (486 km) Epilogue:

Wonderful. Beautiful. Challenging. Hard work. Calming. Stressful. Delightful. Dangerous. All those described aspects of our tour. Would we do it again? Well, we have other roads to explore. But yes, modified. We found no great joy in riding in and nearby Austin. Don’t get me wrong. Austin is a cool city, and we enjoyed exploring it by car. But bicycling to leave and return was marred by the density of vehicles, including many large trucks (who all were careful to pass us wide, but still not part of a pleasant ride). If we would ride the Texas Hill Country again, I would have a start/finish further away from suburbia, probably Fredericksburg. Or stay in Fredericksburg and do day rides, or couple day routes, returning there as a base camp. Well, actually motel.

The ride overall was a delight. The countryside, the riotous colors of wildflowers, the various animals (cute and fuzzy, domestic, as well as the icky), and the hills were beautiful. Challenging, yes. And beautiful. …

City of Midland, Odessa plan new 19-mile ‘Wildcatter Trail’

by: Zachary Bordner | www.yourbasin.com

MIDLAND, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- City leaders from Midland and Odessa, as well as officials from UTPB, met to discuss a proposed Multi-purpose Corridor and Trail.

The new bicycle/pedestrian corridor would link the two cities by connecting Loop 338 and University to the Scharbauer Sports Complex.

The two cities will be hosting a joint special event, to learn about this new trail, on May 4th from 6pm to 8pm. The event will be held at 105 N. Main St. in Midland.

More information about the corridor and event can be found on the Permian Basin Metropolitan Planning Association’s website.

Video: ‘Every moment counts’: Heart disease survivor shares how cycling saved his life

By Caroline Vandergriff | www.cbsnews.com

FORT WORTH (CBSNewsTexas.com) — A North Texas man is on a mission to inspire others to get active after a blocked artery almost killed him.

"My doctor told me point blank, ‘If you were sedentary, you could be dead because the vein that pumps the blood would have been clogged and you would have just keeled over,’" Fort Worth resident Shawn Tubre recalled. "’But because you exercise, your heart had figured out a way to keep pumping the blood.’"

Tubre’s love for cycling began when he was a kid, and he credits his favorite hobby with saving his life. He was training for a 105-mile event in 2019 when he noticed some abnormalities on his heart rate monitor.

"So to be safe, because this was the biggest ride I was …

New Loop Dallas Spine Trail and adjacent mountain-bike plan: Stopping crime through design

By Sharon Grigsby | www.dallasnews.com

As the city tries to address safety on its hike-and-bike network, here’s a model worth following

Building an exceptional hike-and-bike network — a task Dallas is well on the way to accomplishing — is only half the challenge.

Once those trails are built, people must feel safe using them. Otherwise, they may never give these recreational assets and transportation alternatives a second chance.

That’s why I’ve devoted several recent columns to where the city’s trail network — despite huge financial investments — comes up short.

In some cases, the culprit is criminal activity or illegal dumping; other times, the problem is homeless encampments or dangerous design flaws. …

Fort Worth’s bike lanes lead to nowhere. Here’s what the city has planned for cyclists

Harrison Mantas | news.yahoo.com

On a hot Monday afternoon, the newly protected bike lanes along Fort Worth’s West Seventh Street sit mostly unused.

A cyclist laden with saddle bags and a woman on a racing bicycle dart down the lanes that are otherwise occupied by dead leaves after a recent rain.

Though completed in December 2022, some of the lane markings are chipping like dead skin on a poorly moisturized hand.

Fort Worth taxpayers spent $8.5 million for road improvements on this stretch of West Seventh Street between University Drive and the Trinity River.

The roughly seven block stretch uses …

Video: Aggieland Outfitters celebrates the Bike MS journey to Aggie Park

By Amy Licerio | www.kbtx.com

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – Aggieland Outfitters has partnered up with the cycling series MS-150 for this year’s ride.

Blake Bodin with Aggieland Outfitters says they are gearing up for the MS-150 bike ride that’s happening next weekend. Aggieland Outfitters is a title sponsor of this bike ride.

“Partnering with the MS Society has truly been one of the best experiences I’ve ever had, especially for not only myself, but for Aggieland Outfitters,” says Bodin. …

Southern Tier CoMotion

By Keith Misegades | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Hills easy today: Kerrville to Lost Maples Campground

Friday April 21, 2023, 53 miles (85 km) – Total so far: 1,721 miles (2,770 km) Today was a great day on the bike. My mental health is much better and I was glad to be riding despite knowing I had more hills, but they didn’t seem that hard. I guess that I have finally found my climbing legs. It took a few more days than I would have liked, but that’s life. I was on lightly travelled roads all day except for the first 12 miles it took me to get out of Kerrville and Ingram. For one 20 mile section I had a vehicle pass me about every 15 miles. Nice…

The roads I am riding are known as the Twisted Sisters accoring to the motorcycle groups. I thought that I had made a bad mistake riding these roads today, but I only had a couple motorcycle groups go by me today. I did have a group of high performance cars (Mercedes sports, Ferrari, and Corvette) go by as well as come muscle cars. They were all nice and a few gave me a thumbs up. I had a few hills in tthe 8-10% range, but the majority were about …

Texas Biking from Twitter

Mixed Up Streets Equals A New Route Name

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During the night a storm passed through dumping 2.24″ of rain according to my home weather station. The timing was excellent with the rain ending around 5:30 AM giving the streets time to dry off before I wanted to start today’s bike ride. While I waited I watched Stage 5 of the Tour of The Alps. The roads were wet there too.

I’m continuing to make up for not biking on Tuesday so I came up with a route for today’s ride based on my Atascocita – Walden – Spanish Cove Drive ride. To add some miles to that route I rode on some extra streets I don’t ride on the way to Spanish Cove Drive on FM 2100. The new route name: Atascocita – Walden – Indian Shores Drive. I wasn’t sure of the distance for this route but I wanted it to be at least 37 miles. It turned out to be 40.7 miles. The early streets were not new just not ones I don’t ride that often. In Kingwood Greens I added at loop on Forest Green Trail and Greenway View Trail. In Walden at Lake Houston Relay Road and Hikers Trail Drive were different. The big addition was riding south on FM 2100 past Spanish Cove Drive to Indian Shores Drive. I didn’t realize that would take me almost to Stroker Road. The u-turn at Indian Shores Drive started the return to Kingwood. No different streets until was on Atascocita Shores Drive at the first stop sign north of FM 1960. I turned left onto Rebawood Drive. I ride on Rebawood occasionally but usually going the opposite direction. Rebawood took me to Sunny Shores Drive to rejoin Atascocita Shores Drive and back to W. Lake Houston Parkway on Kings River Drive. Now if I can remember the road sequences I have another 40 mile route to ride. The wildflowers were out in many colors but only on the east side of Lake Houston.

So far I’ve rode 165.64 miles this week. I can hit 200 miles with tomorrow’s bike ride. I need 101 miles to reach my 700 mile goal for April.

With the rain gone the sky wasn’t sunny yet and the temperatures didn’t get above 79 when I finished at 1:49 PM. I dressed warmer than yesterday wearing a long sleeve jersey under a shirt sleeve jersey. At times the light breeze felt cool but out of the shade I was comfortable. Weather conditions: Start 74 degrees, 76% humidity, dew point 66, partly cloudy, wind SW 5 mph; Finish 79 degrees, 67% humidity, dew point 67, mostly cloudy, wind variable 5 mph.

My legs were good and the light wind helped keep the power going. I used the 35×13 gears for 1:55:11 (29.1 miles) out a total moving time of 2:56:39. I made 28 rear derailleur shifts. The 35×15 gears turned for 42:34 (8.7 miles). Link to the AXS.SRAM.com ride report.

4-21-2023 Strava Ride Summary Atascocita-Walden-Indian Shores Drive
4-21-2023 Strava Ride Summary Atascocita-Walden-Indian Shores Drive

Today’s Texas Bicycle News

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The Joy of Bicycling in Austin

By Kevin Curtin | www.austinchronicle.com

A one-person sociological study of springtime biking where every ride is his favorite

Many nights I’ve made this climb. Eight stories up on two wheels with one destination: the top of an unmanned parking structure reserved for state employees. It’s a million-dollar view of Downtown Austin, free to innocent trespassers.

I’ve come here to clear my head, but first I’ll break a sweat because my impulsive ass happens to be riding upon the heaviest bike on planet Earth – a 1960s Royal De Luxe three-speed that’s so classically Dutch it looks incomplete without a large blond person riding on the cargo rack. After ascending endlessly counterclockwise on straining calves, I bump down the kickstand and dismount into my observation deck of the city’s kinetic core.

From up here, I study a flow of thousands of anonymous nightlifers strolling, stumbling, scooting, driving, and cycling among the ever-growing scape of skyrises. As I marvel at how unabashedly metropolitan this …

Progress on track with 183 North Mobility Project in Central Texas

By Sylvia SheltonBy | www.bizjournals.com

Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority bringing improvements on and off the roadway in Northwest Austin

Austin’s growing list of accolades hasn’t slowed in recent years. The city has topped lists for best places to live, find work, open a startup and be happy. It’s no wonder the region continues to see tremendous growth.

Demand has led to rising housing costs in Travis County, pushing people to seek more affordable options outside of the city’s core. Perhaps this is no more apparent than in far North Austin in Williamson County, where, according to the Texas Demographic Center, the population is expected to nearly double by 2035, bringing with it an increase in commuters heading to Austin’s city center. …

… Specifically, a direct connector between the existing express lane on MoPac and the new express lanes on U.S. 183 will be built, allowing for an uninterrupted route from far North Austin and Williamson County to downtown Austin or beyond. Further, the 183 North Mobility Project will address safety concerns along the corridor by making improvements to the corridor’s bicycle and pedestrian facilities. The project will add and/or reconstruct all sidewalks along the U.S. 183 frontage roads going both north and south from SH 45 to MoPac so the community has a continuous, ADA-compliant option for pedestrians. Additionally, the project will connect existing bike lanes in the corridor with new cross-street connections and two segments of shared use path to provide cyclists a dedicated route through the heavily constrained corridor. …

Soldiers get crunk, not drunk

By Blair Dupre | www.forthoodsentinel.com

The Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers program hosted their first Alcohol Awareness Month event, Let’s Get Crunk, Friday at their headquarters.

The Soldiers spent time listening to music provided by a DJ, playing pool, ping-pong, Jenga, football, basketball and cornhole, as well as grabbing food from food trucks. There were also relaxing activities including yoga and coloring, but debatably the most entertaining activity was bicycle and tricycle racing with drunk goggles.

“It’s a simulator of what it’s like when you’re driving high or drunk to see how dangerous that is,” said Sgt. Jasmine Tcha, BOSS President. “I did throw on the goggles to test them. (They were) really …

Texas Hill Country

By Mary Buchwalder | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Preface

Planning

Logistics

Adventure

Yikes: Last-minute logistics

The Drive

Parking the Car: A tale with a bit of chaos

Riding day 1: The country mouse and the city (and suburbs and more suburbs) mouse

Riding Day 2: River and lake views

Day 3 riding: Mad dogs and Englishmen: Eating my words about adventure

Day 4 Riding the hills: Oh, the flora!

Day 5 – Rest day!: My hands and sit bones thank me

Day 6 Riding: Loose livestock and sketchy cattle guards

Day 7 Riding: Lakes and hills

Wednesday April 19, 2023, 42 miles (68 km) – Total so far: 257 miles (414 km) Yes I know, dear reader, I have “hills” in the title of today’s ride, knowing full well that this is a Texas HILL Country ride. The hills were a bit different today. Granted, the initial route out of Llano sported familiar undulating ranchland and roadside flora. But the middle of today’s route was unlike earlier days. As we came to the burg of Buchanan Dam and through the mid-section of today’s route, we skirted Lake Buchanan and Inks Lake. The latter, in particular, impressed us with short, steep ups and downs, stunning rock formations and vistas. I wanted to get pictures, but I didn’t want to pause in the middle of a nice coast downhill nor, worse, lose any momentum by pausing while climbing back up. (Really, the steepness sopped up any momentum almost immediately anyway. But stopping and restarting uphill then becomes its own challenge.) If we found a place to pull off at the top of a climb, and the vistas called to me, I’d snag a pic. But I didn’t get the photos I wanted of the …

Ribbon cutting set for new hiking, biking trail in Borger

By Vanessa Garcia | www.newschannel10.com

BORGER, Texas (KFDA) – A volunteer group is hosting a ribbon cutting for a new hiking and biking trail dedicated to a Borger resident who was an avid mountain biker.

The ribbon cutting is hosted by Six Pack Outdoors for the Chad Alan Foster Memorial Trail System at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday in Borger. A trail ride and hike will follow immediately after the ribbon cutting.

The trail is dedicated in memory of Foster with hopes to provide an outlet for outdoor recreation. …

Southern Tier CoMotion

By Keith Misegades | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Shorter day than hoped: Fredericksburg to Kerrville Thursday April 20, 2023, 34 miles (55 km) – Total so far: 1,668 miles (2,684 km) Not a whole lot happened today. The roads were little travelled by other traffic and I went through some pretty scenery. A lot of ranches one after another, some bigger than others. One ranch, the Morris Ranch appeared to to be quite large and I think that it was the one that had the metal horse drawn carriage. Very impressive.

The hills aren’t bothering me that much anymore, I just gear down and go slower. I averaged a whopping 10 mph and have realized that in the big hills on other tours, this is about all I can do. With patience, the miles go by. The was one section of road that didn’t have a fence on one side up next to the road. I passed over a number of cattle grates which served the same purpose as fences. I think that if a person wanted to make a good living installing and fixing fences, they should do it in Texas.

I have also been using these distances to see how much …

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Patches Of Mist Did Not Deter Biking To Roman Forest

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Making up for not riding on Tuesday was the theme for today’s bike ride. Wanting to ride north I checked SportTracks for my recent rides into Roman Forest to see if they were 40+ miles. The last time I rode there was September 5th, 2022, for 44.86 miles. That is above the typical distance for this route of 41 to 42 miles but the number I wanted to get close to. That ride was an outlier. I chose that route but was not going to ride the same exact roads today thinking I would bike 42 miles.

4-20-2023 SportTracks Ride History New Caney-Roman Forest-Valley Ranch
4-20-2023 SportTracks Recent Ride History New Caney-Roman Forest-Valley Ranch

The sunshine was gone leaving an overcast sky as I rolled away at 10:34 AM on my Cervelo Caledonia bike to bike the New Caney – Roman Forest – Valley Ranch route. I decided to dress lighter than yesterday with shorts, arm sleeve and a short sleeve jersey. Without the sun it was a little chilly until I warmed up after about 15 minutes of riding.

Nothing different as far as streets riding north through Kingwood and Woodridge Forest to the US59 frontage road. I headed north crossing FM 1314, making a stop at the cemetery to visit my wife’s grave where I felt the first patch of light rain. This didn’t deter me from continuing hoping the mist would move away or I would ride out of it. Back on the frontage road I made the right turn onto the TX 99 service road to Loop 494. More mist patches there as well. On Loop 494 the mist left encouraging me to keep biking. At Payne Road I saw the big beams for the new bridge over Caney Creek parked on the road, maybe that bridge will open yet. It was damaged by Hurricane Harvey in 2017. The detour back to the frontage road to get to Tavola where I went over the new railroad crossing. Through Tavola I made the turn onto Roman Forest Blvd. to begin the loop into Roman Forest. I rode the normal streets I take until the Appian Way and Galaxy Blvd. intersection. I don’t remember ever biking north on Galaxy Blvd. to Roman Forest Blvd. so I went that direction. It was a smooth road lined with trees and no driveways. A surprise happened at Roman Forest Blvd., the old road was resurfaced with smooth asphalt. The rough road and potholes were gone. A nice ride from there to Appian Way where the new asphalt ended but the road was still nice. Back to US59 and the familiar roads back to Kingwood. West of US59 I didn’t run into any patches of light rain and finished the ride at 1:52 PM. The patches of mist were all I encountered thankfully.

Two Strava medals with the second overlaying on this 2nd fastest time on Out of Roman Forest (14:27).

The week mileage stands at 124.93 and the month at 558.51 (80% of my 700 mile goal).

Weather conditions: Start 76 degrees, 77% humidity, dew point 69, overcast, wind SE 14 mph; Finish 75 degrees, 78% humidity, dew point 68, overcast, wind S 13 mph. The wind wasn’t too demanding on the way back to Kingwood though I would’ve preferred a tailwind. I used the 35×13 gears for 2:15:24 (33 miles) out of a total moving time of 3:07:12 according to my AXS.SRAM.com ride report.

4-20-2023 Strava Ride Summary New Caney-Roman Forest-Valley Ranch
4-20-2023 Strava Ride Summary New Caney-Roman Forest-Valley Ranch