New Saddle, Better Weather, Happy Butt

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Watching stage 1 of the Giro di Sicilia the scenery was gorgeous. Maybe someday I can visit there. They are 7 hours ahead of the time here so the race ended earlier than many races plus they were ahead of the projected time. Great racing to inspire my bike ride today.

No route or clothing decisions today. The temperature was several degrees warmer and sunshine provided some extra warmth. I wore shorts, a long sleeve poly t-shirt under a long sleeve jersey. That was a good choice because the NE wind had a chill when I rode in the shade. The wind at the 11:19 AM start was 12 mph with 16 mph gusts and 73 degrees. By the end of the ride at 2:01 PM the wind let up some to 10 mph and the temperature was 76 but the clouds increased from partly cloudy to mostly cloudy limiting the warm sunshine.

Yesterday I installed a new saddle on my Cervelo Caledonia, the Velo Senso TT+ racing. Today was the first ride on it. Because it is not as tall as the BiSaddle I raised the seatpost about 1.5cm. The seat padded area thickness is less than the BiSaddle so I was concerned about the comfort riding on rough asphalt and uneven concrete but at the end of the ride my butt felt good. I am keeping it on the Cervelo for more rides and at least one with more miles. Tomorrow I plan on riding my Lynskey Helix bike with it’s BiSaddle and refresh my memory on how it feels compares to the Velo Senso TT+.

4-11-2023 Velo Senso TT+ Saddle
4-11-2023 Velo Senso TT+ Saddle
4-8-2022 Replacement BiSaddle New Surface Pads Cervelo
4-8-2022 Replacement BiSaddle New Surface Pads Cervelo

Today’s bike ride was on my Atascocita – Walden – Spanish Cove Drive route. It has been a week since my last ride to that area. I checked the FM 1960 road construction at Pinehurst Trail Drive and saw a little progress (see the video clips). No change at Atascocita Shores Drive.

According to my AXS.SRAM.com ride report I used the 35×13 gears the most but the 35×15 gears also got more time compared to yesterday.

It’s been awhile since I looked at my cadence data for a ride. Here is today’s cadence breakdown. This is produced by the Chrome browser extension Stravini.

4-11-2023 Strava Cadence Data Atascocita-Walden-Spanish Cove
4-11-2023 Strava Cadence Data Atascocita-Walden-Spanish Cove

Strava matched a number of other rides with today’s. I wonder how much a ride can vary and still match.

4-11-2023 Strava Ride Overview Atascocita-Walden-Spanish Cove
4-11-2023 Strava Ride Overview Atascocita-Walden-Spanish Cove
4-11-2023 Strava Matched Rides Atascocita-Walden-Spanish Cove
4-11-2023 Strava Matched Rides Atascocita-Walden-Spanish Cove

Texas Bicycling News – April 10, 2023

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Hit-and-run crash leaves bicyclist dead in Texas City, police say

Author: John Diaz | wwwkhou.com

FM 1764 was shut down for several hours Sunday morning as police investigated.

TEXAS CITY, Texas — All eastbound lanes of FM 1764 have reopened in Texas City after someone on a bicycle was killed in a hit-and-run crash, according to police.

The crash happened just after 3:30 a.m. Sunday along Emmett F. Lowry Expressway and State Highway 3.

Details are currently limited, but police said an unknown driver hit a cyclist before taking off. FM 1764 was shut down for several hours as police investigated.

Anyone with information on what happened should contact Texas City police at 409-643-5720.

Southern Tier 2023

By Sharon Greenwood | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 36: Somerville to New Waverly, TX: Bags

Sunday April 9, 2023, 72 miles (116 km) – Total so far: 1,835 miles (2,953 km) Awoke to find the Easter bunny had left a bag of treats outside my tent. A really great surprise carried out by Kathy & Karen. Sweet! Today’s long ride was great. The weather was cool with overcast skies and warmed up enough to peel off the second layer top and tights. The first 34 miles was a combination of rolling secondary roads and deserted farm roads. Low traffic and good shoulders; a cyclist’s dream. We passed through the tiny hamlet of Independence and stopped at the general store to sign the log kept for Coast to Coast cyclists. The keeper was engaging and thrilled to have us stop in. He pulled out his initial log, all tattered with yellowing pages, and I noticed dates from the early 2000s. He went right to a 2007 entry to show me an entry from another New Yorker who …

Alkek Velodrome Weekly Email

Stuart Gardner, Program Director | shoutout.wix.com

… Tuesday Night Racing

This weeks TNR is Track on Speed with a crazy combo of back to back Point-a-Lap, Snowball and Elimination so every lap counts! More info is in our RACER GUIDE so please take a look.

Back to TNR #1 and my thoughts of gently easing into things with scratch racing didn’t really pan out as everyone just went all in and it was pretty brutal… and awesome!

Thundercats

The level here is totally unrecognizable compared to the start of 2022. While Le maintained his winning ways taking all three races Allison pushed him so hard earning a great 2nd place. Tai, Ryan and Callan battled for 3rd with the much improved Tai getting the better of the other 2 who were both riding at a great level!

Junior Open

Due to a couple of last minute withdrawals only 4 riders lined up but that didn’t slow …

Southern Tier CoMotion

By Keith Misegades | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Into Texas and tailwinds: Merryville, LA to Silsbee, TX

Monday April 10, 2023, 52 miles (84 km) – Total so far: 1,243 miles (2,000 km) I slept well last night and enjoyed the company of Bob Luze of Houston who is on a solo bike trip from Houston, TX to Quebec. We closed up the cabin at the Merryville Historical Museum that they allow cyclists to stay and were on our way by 7:39 AM. Breakfast was a couple packages of pop-tarts and some water. Bob headed east and I headed west towards the Texas border. Just 5 miles down the road, I crossed the border. The road didn’t change much as I had a nice shoulder pretty much all day. A third of the trip will be in this one state.

It sure is nice to be out of Louisiana and on better roads. You may not realize that rough roads tend to make you go slower, so having smooth roads as well as a gentle tailwind was a …

Southern Tier 2023

By Sharon Greenwood | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 37: New Waverly to Shepherd, TX: Fences

Monday April 10, 2023, 54 miles (87 km) – Total so far: 1,889 miles (3,040 km) Great night’s sleep – must have been yesterday’s stress and the 8pm IPA. On route at 7:30. All but 4 miles will be in the Sam Houston National Forest. Poor or no shoulder so we ride in the road but the few cars that pass us are kind. It’s a very peaceful ride past large cattle ranches. Lots and lots of barking dogs; three or four per house and we are so grateful for fences. The dogs bark and race alongside us as far as the yard permits. Coming into New Waverly (just 4 miles from camp) the dogs were barking but remained in the yard. Not so lucky for James & Alan coming through. They were in the …

Texas ain’t flat! Big Bend National Park is rad.
by u/krsvbg in bicycling

100-mile route near Austin?
by u/AccomplishedNet7419 in BikingATX

Evening Ride San Antonio, Texas

Steve Gutierrez | strava.com

Cactus Cove Houston, Texas

Thomas Anselmi | strava.com

Trek Katy Monday Harris County, Texas

Eddie Hernandez | strava.com

MTN Bike Monday San Antonio, Texas

Dan Carrion- Blitz Racing | strava.com

Texas Biking from Twitter

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Commitment. No Weather Wimping!

Texbiker.net Posted on by

It took commitment to get on the bike today. I ate breakfast while watching the women race in the chilly and wet Ronde de Mouscron in Belgium. If they can ride in that weather I can’t wimp out when the temperature is above my threshold of 60 degrees like I did last Saturday. I hoped the temperature would improve and the sun peek through the overcast sky for today’s bike ride. The weather forecast contained a little optimism but as the time to ride got closer I began to doubt it. When I went to change into my bike clothes the sun teased a little and I saw a tiny patch of blue sky but by the time I got back to my Cervelo Caledonia to leave the clouds covered the sun and the temperature went down a couple of degrees. I had put on a light weight long sleeve jersey to wear under a jacket but I went back and forth about changing to a heavier jersey. I decided to change into a heavier, but not thermal, long sleeve jersey and went back to leave. As I put my shoes back on the temperature went down a few tenths of a degree and I wondered if I should wear leg warmers. After more decision time I went back for the leg warmers. Now I was finally ready to leave.

Earlier I had thought about riding north to New Caney over Caney Creek but with the rain last week I read the creek was higher than usual and I didn’t want to chance taking a detour. So I switched to the Community Drive – Cumberland – Oakhurst route which doesn’t go that far north. It also is more miles which I need to get back on track to reach my 700 mile goal for April. With the clothing decided and the different route I rolled out on my Cervelo Caledonia bike at 11:44 AM.

I altered the start of the route onto streets I don’t use that often when going north. It doesn’t change the miles much but Strava didn’t find any previous rides to match. Looking SportTracks I see rides from this year and last year with the same name but varying miles. Before rides I go over in my mind the streets and roads that are part of a route. sometimes I forget some and sometimes I add some. But I assign the same route name. The list below is all of the rides with this route name.

4-10-2023 SportTracks Ride History Community Drive-Cumberland-Oakhurst
4-10-2023 SportTracks Ride History Community Drive-Cumberland-Oakhurst

My clothing choices turned out to be good ones. The weather at the start and finish of the ride: start 66 degrees, 75% humidity, dew point 58, overcast, wind E 6 mph; finish 65 degrees, humidity 79%, dew point 59, overcast, wind N 7 mph. The forecast said it would warm up but it actually went down, nowhere near the 72 degree forecast. I felt warm after getting the body heat moving around 15 minutes into the ride.

The legs were strong and the wind was light so I was able to get my overall average speed up to 14.2 mph on the way back to Kingwood from Cumberland. My AXS.SRAM.com ride report showed pedaling the 35×13 gears for 1:42:37 (25.6 miles) out of total moving time of 2:36:13 (35.51 miles). I finished the ride at 2:24 PM.

4-10-2023 Strava Ride Overview Community Drive-Cumberland-Oakhurst
4-10-2023 Strava Ride Overview Community Drive-Cumberland-Oakhurst

Texas Bicycling Action – April 9, 2023

Texbiker.net Posted on by

European Tour of Texas

by Fun Bikin’ Enterprises | www.bikereg.com

The European Tour of Texas is a bundle of 4 small community bike rides that share a European Theme. They live up to their European Heritage with challenging routes, a variety of distances and blend it all with Texas Hospitality. We’ve ridden these rides for decades and know that they are all committed to providing an excellent ride experience. Here’s how it works.

When you register for the ETT you are automatically registered for all 4 of our featured rides (unless you pick the 3 ride option). Single registrations are available (no tandem registration rate is available). All registrations include one of our Limited Edition Jerseys. After you register for the ETT Series you will be provided a code and store link to use to order your jersey. We’re even paying the shipping fee so that your jersey is delivered to your home.

Each ride will send you a …

Southern Tier 2023

By Sharon Greenwood | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 35: Smithville to Somerville, TX: Pies

Saturday April 8, 2023, 69 miles (111 km) – Total so far: 1,763 miles (2,837 km) Awoke to no rain but wet tent. Packed up and on bikes at 8:00. Rode fast with Karen. Actually caught up to scouts Steve & Rick just after their lunch stop. Rode together on great backroads to Rounde Top at mile 40. It’s 10:45 and the cafe famous for its pies opens at 11:00. We eat our PB&J sandwiches on the porch until opening time. In we go for decaf and delicious pies: Sweet & Salty for me (chocolate and caramel with melted fudge). It must register at 2000 calories alone! They make and sell 300 each day. In enters Stephen and Dan to join us. Back on route on great farm roads; lots of fun, low/no traffic. At mile 50, Karen sped in to camp and I took my time peddling at a more leisurely pace. Enjoying great undulating roads. Into Yegua Creek Campground at 2:30. Nice sites on Lake Somerville. Beyond Burgers and baked beans by Steve & Harris. Colored Easter Eggs tonight. The air is cool but not cold. Perfect camping night.

Texas Fixed+ Houston, Texas

Alex Maldonado | strava.com

Metric, followed by extra credit for the real hundo. 15.0 new miles

Sending Ben’s creek gap!! Harris County, Texas

Jim Storey | strava.com

Morning Ride Willis, Texas

Reuben VF | strava.com

Texas Biking from Twitter