Texas Bicycling Blog and News Roundup for June 6th

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Race  tests competitors’ minds, bodies, ability to work as a team
by San Angelo Standard Times
Contestants in San Angelo’s first-ever adventure race Sunday faced some challenges they were not expecting.

Joanna Tinsley, member of the team named the Adventure Chicks, almost stepped on a rattlesnake while trail running.

“We biked past a coachwhip (snake),” said her teammate Joanna Tinsley. “Adventure Chicks we were.”

The Minute Men, whose kayak was first in the Twin Buttes Reservoir after completing the racing and biking part of the race, went in the wrong direction in their kayak. …

Adventure Race

Cara Pozun, Laughlin Air Force Base, Del Rio, attempts to rope a bike during a special test.

Cup Runneth Over: Bike Racers
by Ami
I was going to try to bluff my way through a legitimate description of the race, but let’s just say that lots and lots of men and women road their bikes really fast for 90 minutes in the Texas heat, and I just think that’s plain crazy. …Beginners

Humidity Was Heavy – June 6th Bike Ride

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Today’s ride seemed more humid that Saturday’s. While 58% humidity is not the worst I have experienced it was a combination of light breeze (9 mph SSE), 95 degree temperature that must have made it feel oppressive. Mostly cloud skies could have added to the sensation. The goal today was a recovery ride after yesterday’s longer ride. That was accomplished. This coming I could ride four evenings in a row which is not the norm. We’ll see if the weather cooperates.

Today’s ride statistics:

  • miles = 23.8
  • riding time = 1:38:49
  • average pace = 4:09 min/mile
  • average speed = 14.4 mph
  • max speed = 21.1 mph
  • average cadence = 78.1 rpm
  • max cadence = 103 rpm
  • climb 181 ft., descend 175 ft., max elevation 108 ft. (overpass)
  • June miles 140.23
  • YTD miles 2180.98

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Daily News Roundup June 5th – Texas Bicycling

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Shiner Elementary School holds bicycle road-eo
by Victoria Advocate
The Texas Department of Transportation gave a bicycle safety talk, followed by a riding course and written test given to challenge the 72 students’ safety …

Biking from Austin to Alaska
from http://uwire.com/
Today, more than 50 students will depart from the U. Texas campus to begin the trek of their lives — riding bicycles from Austin to Alaska to fight cancer. One year ago, these same individuals began their journey together in Austin as … In this way, Texas 4000 is more than just a student organization or a summer bike ride. We are a life-changing experience that creates a lasting support system of volunteers and individuals excited to battle cancer no matter what kind of …

Cyclists cross SE Texas on coast-to-coast adventure
from www.beaumontenterprise.com
On a gray day in February, Jan Gagliano dipped her bicycle tires in the Atlantic Ocean at San Augustine, Fla., and began to ride west.

In her 116-day journey to San Diego, Calif., Gagliano, 62, crossed the Southern Tier, a bicycle tourism route that traverses 3,092 miles through eight states, including a three-day jaunt across rural roads in Newton, Jasper and Tyler counties. …

Palo Duro Canyon is worth the drive for mountain bikers
by Austin American-Statesman
As a Central Texas resident, driving to the Panhandle for a mountain biking excursion didn’t seem to make much sense. Why bother with an achingly long drive when we are blessed with a multitude of diverse trails in and around Austin?

The answer is simple and probably surprising to some — Palo Duro Canyon. Maybe you’ve seen pictures, read something about it or talked to someone who has made…

Palo Duro Canyon

If It Isn’t Broken Let Me At It – June 5th Bike Ride

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Today was my break it if you can day. First I crashed my wife’s computer doing the weekly backup just before I was planning on leaving on my bike ride. So my planned 6:45 AM departure turned into 7:45 AM. I recovered from that and the ride was moving along nicely when I stopped for rest break at a Valero station. After a 32 oz Diet Pepsi and a snack I got ready to leave but my rear tire was flat. Inspecting the tire I found a small piece of wire. Thinking this would not be too hard to fix I pulled the tube out and located the hole. Applying the patch was easy and I put the tube back in the tire. When I put the tube back in I must have pinched the tube and new hole meant another removal and patch applied. I put the tube back in the tire again and pumped it up. The tire stayed under pressure for a couple of minutes and went flat again. Taking the tube out for the third time I see that the patches did not stick properly. The holes were very close together so I figured I had better use my backup tube. So in it went. This time it worked so I was back on the road.

Prior to this I looked down at my watch to check on the time and saw that the digital numbers had disappeared. So my watch was useless but it still beep on the hour even if I could tell what time it was. Fortunately my Garmin Edge 305 has a clock so I relied on it until I got home.

Not many riders out on my route today but I did see a lady riding with a roller blade drafting behind her. This was in a rather remote stretch of FM1485 so I was somewhat surprised. My route was rather remote today so that probably accounts for the lack of other riders.

Weather was nice: 93 degrees when I finished, 9 mph SSE breeze under partly cloudy skies. I snapped this picture when I was turning onto FM2090 to head west.

FM2090 looking West

Today’s ride statistics:

  • miles = 62.13
  • riding time = 4:02:23
  • average pace = 3:54 min/mile
  • average speed = 15.4 mph
  • average cadence = 80.0 rpm
  • max cadence = 103 rpm
  • climb 248 ft., descend 208 ft., max elevation 151 ft.
  • June miles 116.43
  • YTD miles 2157.18

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