Texas Bicycling Action- January 28, 2023

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New hike and bike trail connection, center opens at Woodlawn Lake Park

Priscilla Aguirre | www.mysanantonio.com

New trail connection to the greenway

The new neighborhood trail connection, about 700 feet long, begins at the new Berta Almaguer Dance Studio and Community Center. It leads to the Alazán Creek Greenway trail, which connects to the Howard W. Peak Greenway Trail System. The trail system is 82 miles of developed multi-use and accessible trails open from sunrise to sunset.

Alazán Creek Greenway extends a half-mile south of Woodlawn Lake and connects with the Apache Greenway. From there, users can walk or pedal to …

Touring from Fayetteville AR to Corpus Christi TX. This will be my first long haul. Any tips, suggestions, advice, etc. ? from bicycletouring

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Going Flat on Watopia’s Volcano Circuit CCW

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After climbing Watopia’s Climber’s Gambit yesterday I’m going flat on the Volcano Circuit CCW. I don’t think I rode a route more than 2 laps but I planned on riding 5 laps today but bumped it to 7 laps to get to 21.21 miles. I rode the Volcano Circuit once before but not in this direction. Badge attempt today. From ZwiftInsider.com – Watopia’s “Volcano Circuit CCW” route is nearly identical to the “Volcano Circuit” route, except you travel in a counter-clockwise direction on the circuit. To get to the circuit you must first ride ~2.6km from the spawn point, traveling through a glass bridge to arrive at the volcano. Once you arrive you will continue to be routed around the 4km circuit in a counter-clockwise direction. A lap counter visible just after the circuit banner indicates the number of laps you have completed.

Strava results: PR on Volcano Circuit CCW (8:09), 2nd fastest time on Volcano Circuit CCW (8:24), and 3rd fastest time on Volcano Circuit CCW (8:35).

I thought today’s ride as a criterium ride, not a race. I’m not fast enough for a race.

Music for the ride provided by SiriusXM Seventies on Seven channel playing America’s Top 40 Hits from January 24, 1976. Casey Kasem was the DJ.

Climbing was moderate today at 535 feet. I thought it would be about 100 feet per lap but I’m glad it was less. The hills were nearby but I didn’t go there. After the lead-in each lap was 2.5 miles. My pace partner rode ahead of me most of the laps except for when I set my personal record on the second lap. The route profile below is for the lead-in and the lap. On that drop off I gave my legs a rest and hit speeds around 30 mph.

Watopia Volcano Circuit CCW route profile from ZwiftInsider.com Lead-in and the lap.

The SportTracks ride overview shows the elevation and speed better than Strava.

1-28-2023 SportTracks Zwift Ride Overview Watopia Volcano Circuit CCW
1-28-2023 Strava Zwift Ride Overview Watopia Volcano Circuit CCW
1-28-2023 Strava Zwift Ride Overview Watopia Volcano Circuit CCW

Texas Bicycling Action – January 27, 2023

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Austin aims to address systemic racism, equity with new walk and bike trail plans

by: Tahera Rahman | www.kxan.com

AUSTIN (KXAN) — We’re getting our first look at what future sidewalks, trails and bikeways could look like in Austin.

Austin Public Works and Austin Transportation departments released three draft plans Friday, which are available for the public to view and comment on concerning sidewalks, crossings and shared streets, urban trails and bicycles.

The city said it tried to apply an equity lens to all plans starting by creating a base map called …

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New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Crawling Up The Epic KOM. Tour de Zwift Stage 6 Watopia Climber’s Gambit

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When I looked at Stage 6 of the Tour de Zwift I was taken aback. Group B’s route was the Watopia Climber’s Gambit which I have avoided because of the 2200 feet of climbing. This is a brute of a stage. I looked at the Group C route, Watopia’s Waistband, which was about the same distance but only 331 feet of climbing. I rode Watopia’s Waistband 2 days ago and didn’t want to ride it again so soon. I clicked the Group B checkbox for the 12:02 PM start time and held my breath. I’ve rode farther than 17.4 miles but I’ve never climbed anywhere near 2200 feet in a ride. To help build my determination I read the description at ZwiftInsider.com but I’m not sure it helped much. Last night I put Silca Super Secret on my Blue Norcross bike chain (what I use for Zwift) and wondered if that would reduce the friction as I crawled up the Epic KOM.

At the start 584 Zwifters were in the Group B start pen. In the chat I said my goal was to just finish the stage. I did that coming in the 303rd position out of 317 Group B Zwifters. Everyone doesn’t have a ZwiftPower.com profile. There were 343 in Group A, 736 in Group C, and 25 in Group D. Apparently the less climbing in Group C attracted the biggest crowd.

1-27-2023 ZwiftPower.com Stage 6 Tour de Zwift Group B

ZwiftInsider.com didn’t list when the Epic KOM began but I guessed around 3 to 4 miles from the finish. As I rode I hoped the earlier climbs ate into the 2200 of climbing. It did but at the bottom of the KOM there was about 1200 feet left. It was a slow climb with inclines of 10% and above. There were a few false flats but they weren’t long enough to make a dent in the distance to the finish. Watching the profile in the box in the upper right of the screen I couldn’t see me moving but eventually I crossed the finish at 504 out 587 (some late joining I guess).

I notched two accomplishments: riding Stage 6 and the Climber’s Gambit route badge. Strava said the effort was massive.

1-27-2023 Strava Relative Weekly Effort
1-27-2023 Strava Relative Weekly Effort

The SportTracks ride overview shows when the road went up my speed went way down. Most of the climb my speed was 4 to 6 mph. I sped up a little when I got out of the saddle (thank you Wahoo Kickr Core stability).

1-27-2023 SportTracks Zwift Watopia Climber's Gambit Overview
1-27-2023 SportTracks Zwift Watopia Climber’s Gambit Overview
1-27-2023 Strava Zwift Watopia Climber's Gambit Overview
1-27-2023 Strava Zwift Watopia Climber’s Gambit Overview
1-27-2023 Strava Zwift Watopia Climber's Gambit Map
1-27-2023 Strava Zwift Watopia Climber’s Gambit Map