Texas Bicycling News December 21st, 2022

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VN news ticker: New US Nocturne Cycling Series, Algarve route, AG Insurance unveil new look

www.velonews.com

Organizers unveil new US Nocturne Cycling Series

Endurance Sports Marketing has announced a new three-race criterium series in the U.S. with events in El Paso, St Petersburg, and San Rafael.

The three-race event will be called the Nocturne Cycling Series and each one will feature several categories with racing throughout the day and into the night around a 1.5km circuit. The series builds on the original Nocturne Cycling event, which was inaugurated in 2007 in London.

The series will take place throughout September next year with San Rafael, California, the first on the 9th, El Paso, Texas on the 16th, and St Petersburg, Florida on the 23rd. Categories include women’s pro, men’s pro, and men’s masters.

“Our firm was honored to be offered the opportunity to launch the Nocturne Cycling Series in the U.S. and after 18 months of planning, searching, and many site visits, we are happy …

Dr. Fred Flinn Simmons Jr. 1933 – 2022

www.legacy.com

Dr. Fred Flinn Simmons, Jr., 89, died on Monday, December 12, 2022, at 7:34am of complications from Acute Myeloid Leukemia. His family was at his side as he died peacefully with U2’s "Beautiful Day" playing in the background. He will be remembered as a true Renaissance man of the highest order.

A code of excellence drove him and the pursuit of a strong moral and ethical purpose defined him. He was truly one-of-a-kind. Fred, aka "Old Dog", as he was affectionately known, was born in Austin, Texas on July 14, 1933 to Dr. Fred and Narcille Simmons. He graduated from Lamar High School in Houston in 1952 and The University of Texas at Austin in 1954. Following in his Father and Aunt’s footsteps, he received his D.D.S. degree from The University of Texas Dental Branch in Houston graduating in 1958. He then served on the faculty of the dental school becoming the "cool" professor with a unique perspective on life and philosophy with an emerging perspective on excellence, innovation and aesthetics. He …

… To describe Fred as an avid sportsman would be an understatement of epic proportions. His passion ran deep in every pursuit he was enamored with. Some included sailing, fencing, tennis, rally car racing, hydroplane motorboat racing, field and target archery, marathon running, road cycling, telemark downhill and cross-country snow skiing, horsemanship, and training hunting dogs for field trial competition as well as bow hunting and bird hunting. Notable titles and records include: 2 World Records in Hydroplane Racing, 1955; Texas State Field Target Archery Champion, 1961-1963; National Field Archery Champion, 1960 (appearing in Sports Illustrated); Winner International Sports Car Rally, Montreal, Mexico, 1959; Boston Marathon, 1978-1979; Winner, State Masters Cycling Time Trial, 1987, Runner-up 1988; Top 3 Finisher National Masters Cycling Championship; Winner, Senior Games, 85+ Category, 2019, age of 84. …

Shepherd Hill

Veloharmony | strava.com

I hung on for dear life…and suffered through the end of the ride. Will try and use this ride for Next Week’s Film. The weekend has a winter hard freeze and really will not be rideable until maybe late Sunday.

Haarvarks Kemah Tuesday Shenanigans was soo cold on way back home ???????

Troy Serrano | strava.com

More than 80 bikes given away to Brazos Valley kids

By Morgan Riddell | www.kbtx.com

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – The Ismaili Civic Organization in College Station gave away over 80 bikes to kids around the Brazos Valley Wednesday.

This was thanks to partnerships and sponsorships from around the community. 86 bikes were handed out by the organization just in time for the holidays.

The kids who won a bike walked away with the biggest smiles on their faces and said they could not wait to ride them. But they were also full of thanks and gratitude.

“That gave me a lot of joy. Actually, my parents have actually always taught us to be …

Texas Biking from Twitter

From Flat to Steep. Zwift Casse – Pattes in France

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Opening the Zwift companion app to start today’s ride there were 21,434 other Zwifters online. I set up the meetup to begin at 11:40 AM riding in France on the Casse – Pattes route. I wanted to ride more miles than one lap so I chose 20.5 miles. The only other time I rode this route was February 8th, 2022 but it was 15.1 miles. Today I rode 20.7 miles and climbed 574 feet on two KOM’s. In February the riding time was 1:00:24 and today I rode more than 5 miles farther in 1:10:09. A big difference in my average speed, 17.7 mph today versus 15.0 in February.

Weather outside while I rode: 52 degrees, partly cloudy, wind from the north at 4 mph. The reason I rode indoors on the Wahoo Kickr Core smart trainer.

After finishing the ride there were 20,134 Zwifters remaining.

Zwiftinsider.com: French cyclists use the term “casse-pattes” (literally “leg-breaking”) to refer to particularly difficult parts of a ride, or roads that awkwardly change gradient and break a cyclist’s rhythm. Released with Zwift’s France map for the first-ever Virtual Tour de France, the Casse-Pattes route covers the large outer loop of the map in a clockwise direction. The first 12km is pan-flat with two timed sprint segments, but then that rhythm is broken up in the back half by two timed KOM climbs.

Stava recorded these results: PR on Petit KOM (11:24), PR on Start Pens Lead-In to Marina Sprint Banner (1:32), PR on Casse-Pattes (49:00), and 2nd fastest time on Start Pens Lead-In to Marina Sprint Banner (1:35).

12-21-2022 Strava Zwift Ride Overview France Casse-Pattes
12-21-2022 Strava Zwift Ride Overview France Casse-Pattes
12-21-2022 Strava Zwift Ride Route Map France Casse-Pattes
12-21-2022 Strava Zwift Ride Route Map France Casse-Pattes

Texas Bicycling News December 20th, 2022

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Christmas at the Children’s Center

By Sandy Barber | www.ntxe-news.com

Fannin County, Texas — In all, 188 children received Christmas gifts from the Fannin County Children’s Center, thanks to a generous community and many hard-working volunteers and staff.

For the third year in a row, the Children’s Center created a pop-up store to serve the children served by CASA and the Children’s Advocacy Center. Some CASA children were still served the traditional way. The pop-up store gave parents, caregivers or advocates an opportunity to select presents for their children. Each child got one or more books and either a coat, hoodie or pair of shoes. Each family got one family board game, wrapping paper and gift bags. Caregivers were also able to select toys and other gifts using a point system which gave each child 5-10 gifts. …

Texas & Louisiana On the Scene: December 2022

www.enr.com

On Nov. 30, Fluor Corp. announced that its joint venture with Balfour Beatty Infrastructure had completed construction of the $666-million, 10-mile-long Interstate 35-E and U.S. 67 Southern Gateway project in Dallas with all highway lanes officially dedicated and open to traffic. The Fluor-led joint venture was selected in 2017 by the Texas Dept. of Transportation as the design-build and capital maintenance team for the reconstruction and improvement project located along Interstate 35E and U.S. 67 in Dallas. “This is one of the many vital infrastructure projects to improve the I-35E corridor in Dallas in response to business and population expansion in one of the country’s most dynamic regions,” stated Thomas Nilsson, president of Fluor’s infrastructure business. …

… Just two weeks prior, in mid-November, Fluor was celebrating another major milestone for a different Texas DOT contract, this time the groundbreaking of the Interstate 35 Capital Express South project. The project—awarded to Fluor in 2022’s second quarter—will add two non-tolled high-occupancy vehicle managed lanes in each direction along I-35 from SH 71/Ben White Boulevard to SH 45 Southeast. The project also will include the reconstruction of bridges and the addition of pedestrian and bicycle paths. This section of I-35 carries an average of 150,000 vehicles per day …

Houston’s MKT Trail Spur Connector now open in the Heights

By Sofia Gonzalez | www.bizjournals.com

The $1.2 million project includes 850 feet of a 10-foot-wide concrete hike-and-bike trail, along with stormwater upgrades, a retaining wall and safety railings.

New MKT Spur Connector improves bike, hike access in Houston Heights

Ashley Brown | www.houstonpublicmedia.org

The connector was completed a few months ago and the city has since added additional safety railings and retaining walls and stormwater drainage to help prevent flooding along the trails.

Hike and bike trail connectivity has just gotten better in the Houston Heights area now that work on a new connector is complete. The City of Houston held a ribbon cutting on Tuesday to celebrate the new MKT Spur Connector that connects the MKT and White Oak Bayou Greenway Trails.

The $1.2 million project is a 850 ft. long and 10 ft. wide trail that allows residents to travel from the MKT Hike and Bike Trail to Stude Park, connecting to what used to be a dead end under Studemont Street.

"The MKT Spur Connector fills a major gap for the city’s bike network," said …

Fast Group Cycling 2022

Veloharmony | www.youtube.com

Our content provides group rides with narrated cycling tips, product reviews, bicycle maintenance and cycling training videos to help you go further and faster on each and every ride.

If you’re in the North Houston area and would like to ride with us: https://groupme.com/join_group/876488…

Prologue: 00:00 Route Map: 00:33 Alden Village Center: 01:50 FM 1488 West: 02:57 Hwy 149: 24:08 Jackson Road: 32:49 FM 1486 Northbound to Mount Maria Road: 47:38 Bonus Material: 58:59

Texas Biking from Twitter

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

ZHCC Tuesday Tootle – Zwift Watopia Tempus Fugit

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Today’s Zwift ride was a group event with the ZHCC on the Tuesday Tootle Group D. The ride was 60 minutes using the Watopia Tempus Fugit route. This was the third time riding this route in 2022 plus two times in 2021. It wasn’t a large group at 32 and we didn’t have any flyers taking off through the fence. I went through the fence a few times but slowed and got back after a few seconds. My goal was to ride 20 miles which meant the average speed needed to be 20 mph. I was a little below that at 19.9 mph but I rode 20.1 miles. The reason for Zwift today was the weather fell below my 60 degree threshold at around 52 when I started at 12:30 and 56 at the finish. It was cloudy with a 13 mph NE wind. I would not have enjoyed riding outside.

The route description from ZwiftInsider.com, ““Tempus Fugit” is Latin for “time flees (or flies)”, and this is certainly a flat, fast route. Released as part of Zwift’s Fuego Flats desert expansion, it is designed as an out and back TT race course, with the lead-in from the desert start pens making the course come in right around 20km in length for one lap.” I only climbed a total of 167 feet, one of the flatter routes in Zwift.

Comparing my previous rides.

12-20-2022 SportTracks All Rides Zwift Watopia Tempus Fugit Route
12-20-2022 SportTracks All Rides Zwift Watopia Tempus Fugit Route
12-20-2022 Strava Matched Rides Watopia Tempus Fugit
12-20-2022 Strava Matched 2022 Rides Watopia Tempus Fugit

I accomplished my 3rd fastest time on Tempus Fugit (32:07) according to Strava.

12-20-2022 Strava Zwift Ride Overview Watopia Tempus Fugit
12-20-2022 Strava Zwift Ride Overview Watopia Tempus Fugit
12-20-2022 Strava Zwift Ride Route Profile Watopia Tempus Fugit
12-20-2022 Strava Zwift Ride Route Profile Watopia Tempus Fugit