Texas Bicycling News – February 3, 2023

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Cyclist journeys hundreds of miles to Island destination

By ALEXANDREA BAILEY | www.portisabelsouthpadre.com

South Padre Island, now existing at the forefront of space travel, has always attracted those with an aptitude for adventure and an affinity for curiosity. With that in mind, it is no surprise that Craig ‘Mac’ Hines, 54, found himself biking hundreds of miles to the southern tip of Texas, in pursuit of witnessing history unfold. Hines, an avid cyclist since 16, formally owned a hostel in Eugene, Oregon for 15 years before selling it, and traveling to the Netherlands, amongst other adventures. In 2022, while visiting Eugene to reconnect with former bandmates, he departed for South Padre Island to witness Space X launch its Starship, which at the time, he believed was set to occur in late Nov. of that year. “I didn’t have time to ride my bike the entire way,” recounted Hines, who had been following Space X for a while. “It was going to take a couple of months.” He arrived in San Pablo, California by overnight train. He described this as a …

183 North construction project to bring lane closures, increased construction activity and bridge widening work in 2023

By Sumaiya Malik | communityimpact.com

As construction continues on US 183 North towards completion in 2026, drivers can expect lane closures, increased construction activity on additional lanes and sidewalks, bridge widening and ramp work at the connection with MoPac.

The construction is part of the 183 North Mobility Project, a $612 million project on a 9-mile section of US 183 between SH 45 N/RM 620 and MoPac. The project will add two new tolled express lanes and a fourth continuous nontolled lane in each direction. Construction will also include adding and improving sidewalks and bicycle lanes along the service roads and bike lanes along the US 183 North corridor.

Once complete, the project is expected to …

Recon Cedar Hill, Texas

Lupe Ontiveros | strava.com

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Group A Whoosh/Gone. Tour de Zwift Stage 8 Scotland Rolling Highlands

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I joined the crowd lining up for the noon start of Stage 8 of the Tour de Zwift. For the previous 7 stages I rode the Group B routes but today I chose Group A because of the longer distance and moderate climbing. The new Scotland Rolling Highlands route awaited. 3 laps plus a long lead-in was ahead totaling 19.9 miles and 855 feet of climbing. About 1900 Zwifters in the start pen when the clock hit 0. I figured it wouldn’t take too long for the real A riders to leave me behind. For this ride I would be the sweep.

The ride out of the pen and onto the lead-in was fast and I stayed with many Zwifters. I had looked at ZwiftInsider.com and seen the roads a couple of days ago in a GPLama YouTube video. The lead-in was a rather long 3 miles. Before I exited the lead-in the companion app on my phone lost connection forcing me to stop on the course until I switched to my desktop computer’s Bluetooth. That separated me from the few riders I was with. For the rest of the ride I was usually by myself or one or two others. Occasionally a large group would race by as you can see in the video. Until the last lap I was about 50 riders from the end but I moved up to about 100 from the end by the finish.

The 3 laps would go over a 2.45 mile climb gaining 118 feet followed by 2.89 miles of mostly downhill with 2 short climbs then back to the big climb. Each lap was 5.6 miles. With a new route I had no personal records to beat or match but I did record 2 in the Breakaway Brae sprint according to Zwift. I got the Rolling Highlands route badge and the 2023 Tour de Zwift ride kit. Strava was more lavish: PR on Breakaway Brae Reverse (1:40), PR on Rolling Highlands (18:52), 2nd fastest time on Breakaway Brae Reverse (1:43), and 2nd fastest time on Rolling Highlands (19:11). Checking ZwiftPower.com I was 1225 rider out of 1231 for Group A. Apparently almost 700 people don’t share their results with ZwiftPower.com. 569 Group B Zwifters rode, 454 Group C, and 49 Group D.

The SportTracks image shows the route profile better than Strava. The “big” climb was after a nice downhill where I built up some speed to help get to the top.

2-3-2023 SportTracks Zwift Ride Summary Scotland Rolling Highlands
2-3-2023 SportTracks Zwift Ride Summary Scotland Rolling Highlands
2-3-2023 ZwiftPower Group A Results TdZ Stage 8 Scotland Rolling Highlands
2-3-2023 ZwiftPower Group A Results TdZ Stage 8 Scotland Rolling Highlands
2-3-2023 Strava Zwift Ride Summary Scotland Rolling Highlands
2-3-2023 Strava Zwift Ride Summary Scotland Rolling Highlands

Texas Bicycling News – February 2, 2023

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Kilgoround: Kilgore Cub Scouts holding "Move for St. Jude" and bike rodeo, Laird Hill Louie to report on shadow

By Lucas Strough | www.kilgorenewsherald.com

Kilgore’s Cub Scout Pack 251 will be holding their annual Move for St. Jude and Pack Bike Rodeo benefiting St. Jude’s Hospital on Saturday, March 4 from 10 a.m. until noon at the Dudley Road Trailhead on the Creekside Trail in Kilgore.

All kids in kindergarten through fifth grade are welcome to participate. Everyone is invited to attend. Kilgore Police will on hand doing Safe Kid fingerprinting.

Come out and ride, walk, run, skate or scooter.

Get your registration online at …

Big Bend Conservation Alliance hosts community bike ride around Presidio

By Sam Karas | bigbendsentinel.com

PRESIDIO — Last Saturday, the Big Bend Conservation Alliance (BBCA) hosted a bike ride around Presidio, encouraging locals and visitors alike to get active and take in the views around town. Nineteen cyclists attended the event, including a handful of folks from Marfa who wanted to help make Presidio’s first community ride a success.

BBCA Community Liaison Elvira Hermosillo organized the event with the help of Sharon Hernández of Presidio Pour Over Coffee. Big Bend Coffee Roasters provided the beans and Hernández offered warm drinks and a meeting place before the ride. “It was a success, given that it was our first time doing this and the fact that it was a little cold,” Hernández said. “It was great, we’re going to do it again for sure.”

Mayor John Ferguson set up …

Ace Hardware Foundation helps Driscoll Rehab patients enjoy special-made bikes

By: Myra Sanchez | www.kristv.com

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Some rehabilitation patients over at Driscoll Children’s Hospital now have new bikes thanks to a big donation from two organizations.

Children’s Miracle Network (CMN) partnered with Ace Hardware Foundation for a $15,000 grant that was used to purchase special therapeutic bicycles for 10 preselected Rehabilitation Services patients at Driscoll Children’s Hospital.

"The vehicles, known as Amtrykes, are tricycles and bicycles adapted to children with a wide variety of disabilities, so they have the opportunity to experience the mobility and independence children enjoy when they ride a bike," said organizers.

Each child was …

Chilly Thursday Ride San Antonio, Texas

Mark Noblitt MTCCSA | strava.com

Hit the greenway for a bit at the end of my ride. Lots of downed trees/branches, but the parks department had already been out there clearing them. Still some debris, so watch out for it. Sunset was underwhelming, but I did see some blue sky! Ran into Jhonny Rodriguez ????? and we decided we were the only people we know crazy enough to be out there today.

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The HERD, The Fence. Zwift’s Watopia Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop

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Sometimes I appreciate a fence on a Zwift ride, it helps keep the group together and the flyers get out in front and rarely come back. Today the fence required adjusting my speed and power to stay behind it or get back behind after riding beyond it. I wanted to at least match the distance from my last ride on the Watopia Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop and I feared my engagement with the fence might get in the way. I rode with The Herd on the Thursday Social ride using that route for 60 minutes. I last rode it on January 1, 2021 riding 15.50 miles. I’m not sure if that was a group ride or not. Today I rode 15.24 miles. The elevation gain was just as close: 594 feet today versus 557 feet. Around 251 Zwifters were at the start line.

I wimped out on riding the Three Little Sisters route again. Maybe Saturday’s ride.

The Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop is 11.8 miles long. No lead-in after exiting the starting pen onto a mostly flat 5.66 mile long section that took us to the start of the only significant climb. The climb was 2.36 miles long climbing from 32 feet to 213 feet. My average speed was 8.1 mph but I could’ve rode faster because I slowed to stay around the fence. After riding over the peak the descent was 1.75 miles long and I averaged 32 mph. At the bottom the road flattened to the 11.8 mile point where the lap ended after 1.86 miles. We continued on and time ran out before we returned to the climb.

2-2-2023 SportTracks Zwift Ride Overview Watopia Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop
2-2-2023 SportTracks Zwift Ride Overview Watopia Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop

The results from Zwift and ZwiftPower.com.

Results from Zwift
Results from Zwift
2-2-2023 Zwiftpower Results Herd Watopia Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop
2-2-2023 Zwiftpower Results Herd Watopia Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop
2-2-2023 Strava Zwift Ride Summary The Herd Watopia Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop
2-2-2023 Strava Zwift Ride Summary The Herd Watopia Ocean Lava Cliffside Loop