Texas Bicycling News August 5th 2022

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Local pastor accompanies parishioners on Judgment Day bike ride

By Mark Smith | www.crosstimbersgazette.com

Late last month, a local pastor joined two of his parishioners on a “how tough are you” challenging bike ride called Judgment Day.

Once a year in late August, the road cyclist community holds an annual event called Hotter than Hell where they ride 100 miles of mostly flat roads around Wichita Falls. Not to be outdone, the local mountain bike community, Dallas Off-Road Bicycle Association, chooses the last weekend in July to hold their version of such an event called Judgment Day.

Participants are challenged to complete 10 mountain bike trails within 24 hours, choosing between a 70-mile version and a 100-mile version. The event …

Video: City parks Broadway plan as TxDOT holds firm on keeping existing lanes

Garrett Brnger | www.ksat.com

City says the plan – and $65M in local funds – to redevelop the corridor are “on hold” as state comes up with its own design

San Antonio – The City of San Antonio’s plan to redevelop Broadway as a “complete street” with bike lanes, expansive sidewalks and landscaping has come to a halt.

But whether it’s a dead end or just a red light remains to be seen.

After a meeting Thursday with the heads of the Texas Department of Transportation and the Texas Transportation Commission, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said in an emailed statement, “We learned today that TxDOT’s priority is not improving traffic flow and mitigating congestion, it’s all about six lanes of asphalt, regardless of capacity.”

“TxDOT tells us they will work on a plan that keeps the six-lane roadway and addresses pedestrian safety and multimodal mobility. We’ll review it when we receive it.”

McAllen Crime Stoppers to host community cycling event

by: Alejandra Yanez | www.valleycentral.com

MCALLEN, Texas (ValleyCentral) — The McAllen Crime Stoppers and other community partners are hosting Viva McAllen Streets.

This year’s theme for the event is “May the Police Force Be with You.” Community members have the choice of participating in either a 5K or 10K run for $25 or a cycling ride for 20 miles or 40 miles for $25 across western Hidalgo County.

The Crime Stoppers invite federal, state and local law enforcement officers and their families and friends to join in on the event set to begin at 7 a.m. Saturday.

Children will run for free at 8:30 a.m. to kick off the Back to School Supply Giveaway.

The first 600 registered will receive an event shirt and participation medal.

Registration will be available the day of the event.

Austinites largely in favor of updated design for pedestrian and bicycle bridge over Lady Bird Lake

By Antoinette Odom | spectrumlocalnews.com

AUSTIN, Texas — An Austin Public Works survey to gauge the community’s thoughts on a design update for the new pedestrian and bicycle bridge over Lady Bird Lake generated positive feedback Thursday, Aug. 4.

Austin Transportation, Public Works and Parks & Recreation are in a partnership to develop the new Longhorn Dam Bridge that would merge “Butler Hike and Bike Trail at three points: Longhorn Shores, Holly Shores, and the unnamed peninsula near Holly Shores,” according to the City of Austin. Officials say the “wishbone” shaped bridge will go on for half a mile and form a north-to-south connection on the east side of the lake.

Public Works opened up the survey to Austin residents to retrieve responses regarding how well the design met its …

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Avoided Dogs, Avoided Rain, Avoided Starting Before 9 AM

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My attempt to start the ride before 9 AM was short lived with today rolling away at 9:08 AM on my Lynskey Helix bike. The weather forecast mentioned the possibility of rain so I wanted to get my ride in before that happened and I finished at 12:05 PM with 34.48 miles. The third time biking this route the mileage was in the middle of the previous two rides. The route is what I call “Community Drive – Cumberland – Oakhurst” which goes west out of Kingwood to US59, north along US59 to Community Drive where I cross over the freeway to head south and into Valley Ranch. In Valley Ranch I moved to side streets taking me to Forest Colony and then through the Azalea District before emerging onto Valley Ranch Parkway and then to FM 1314. Riding to the NW on FM 1314 I make the turnaround at Cumberland Blvd. with a short ride into Cumberland and back to FM 1314 going SE to Old Sorters Road. Through Briar Tree and Oakhurst I did not go south on Rock Creek to Northpark, instead I turned left onto Bentwood Oaks Drive to avoid the dogs at Northpark. Biking the frontage road south to Kingwood Drive I made the u-turn under US59 going north and into Kings Manor and returning to Kingwood. As usual the profile is rather flat with the only climb going up to the SH 99 overpass at Community Drive, the little spike on the map profile below around 12 miles.

8-5-2022 YTD Rides Community Drive-Cumberland-Oakhurst
8-5-2022 YTD Rides Community Drive-Cumberland-Oakhurst

This brought my week’s total to 183.99 miles putting a 200 mile week a mere 16 miles away. I don’t know why I didn’t ride that 1 hundredth of mile to make it an even 184 miles. Two days left in the week to ride those 16 miles. Sounds easy but the forecast again talks about rain on Saturday.

The 45×33 and 10×36 gears on my Lynskey bike are a little lower than the Cervelo and it takes longer to get my average speed up to 13 mph. The wheels turn easy but the speed is lower than necessary. I need to think about using the 33×12 as the set for riding instead of the 33×13. Checking my AXS.SRAM ride report I saw that I used the 33×13 for 1:49:16 out of the total riding time of 2:37:12 which left about 48 minutes for the other gears used. I only made 11 RD shifts which seems to say that once I shifted to the 33×13 I stayed there.

That weather with rain was to the southeast when I finished the ride and after I was inside I heard a few drops hitting on the metal chimney cover but that was about all it did. I avoided getting wet from rain. The clouds held the temperature a few degrees lower than yesterday’s ride. The wind was light not posing much of an issue. Weather conditions: start 86 (humidity 74%, dew point 77), mostly cloudy, wind S 5 mph; finish 91 (humidity 52%, dew point 71), mostly cloudy, wind N 0 mph.

8-5-2022 Strava Ride Summary Community Drive-Cumberland-Oakhurst
8-5-2022 Strava Ride Summary Community Drive-Cumberland-Oakhurst

Texas Bicycling News August 4th 2022

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RACE – Tuesday Night Crit – B race (cat 3/4) – COMMENTARY

Honest Tree | www.youtube.com

Be ready for the decisive moves!

Bicycle Fun Safety Story Time – Nacogdoches Texas

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Tune-up for Hotter’N Hell Hundred begins with Vernon Burnin’ Bike Ride

by: Angie Lankford | www.texomashomepage.com

VERNON (KFDX/KJTL) — While cyclists across the country are getting ready for the Hotter’N Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls later this month, many riders throughout Texoma will be getting a tune up for that ride with another race in Wilbarger County.

The 26th Annual Vernon Burnin’ Bike Ride is a 100K for both novices and experts.

Other race lengths include 12, 22, and 33-mile routes. Sag wagons will also be available for riders who can no longer continue the event.

A detailed course maps and some controlled intersections will be provided. All courses will be well marked.

The ride will begin at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, August 20, 2022 at the Vernon College campus. Late registration begins that same morning at 6 a.m. …

Video: After customer has bike stolen, local business surprises him with new one

By Joshua Skinner | www.cbs7.com

ODESSA, Texas (KOSA) – On a typical day, West Texas Nutrition deals with nutrition.

On Tuesday, it dealt with bikes.

It’s all for a good cause after a long-time customer had his bike stolen from in front of the store Sunday, Aug. 31.

“It broke his heart,” said WTN co-owner Valerie Vasquez. “He didn’t know what he was going to do.”

His name is Jose Trango, and he’s been a daily presence at WTN for the past three years.

“He’s just the sweetest guy,” Vasquez said.

After his bike was snatched, Vasquez and co-owner Orlando Luna wanted to help, so they took to Facebook to raise funds needed to buy Jose a new bicycle.

It worked.

“I want to say the …

RPR-Austin Rattler tire choice from BikingATX

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Variation Takes Effort. I Like Dog Leashes

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When I ride the same route 3 times in a week searching for variation takes some effort. I found a little variation today on my “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route by adding a loop in Kingwood Greens, the Atascocita Hike & Bike Trail, and riding on Rebawood Drive on the way back to Kingwood. That put the distance at 35.23 miles, slightly above the average for the 18 other rides in 2022. No changes in the roads or construction areas I rode through. The sliver of pavement between the barriers riding west on FM 1960 approaching Atascocita Shores Drive is a way to stay out of the traffic but today rather than waiting for a left turn there was a long opening in the westbound traffic allowing me to move over to make the right turn onto Atascocita Shores and avoid the stop light. A man working on some landscape on the Atascocita Hike & Bike Trail saw me coming and held his German Shepherd dog as I rode by with the dog lunging after me but restrained. I think another German Shepherd tried to chase me earlier in the ride but his leash stopped him. I like leashes.

I saw three other cyclists: two on FM 1960 riding west as I made the turn onto Fairlake Lane and the other on Rebawood just after turning off Atascocita Shores. I wonder if the two on FM 1960 stopped at the donuts shop at E. Lake Houston Parkway like have seen others do in the past.

Getting started before 9 AM by 1 minute was a big effort though I thought I would do better than that. I finished at 11:50 AM with the temperature at 95 heading toward a possible 100. Glad I missed that. Yesterday I registered for the HH100 so I might see 100 degrees on August 27th in Wichita Falls. I’m waiting on my hotel reservation to come through.

This wasn’t a fast ride and it took most of the ride to get my average speed to 13 mph or higher. As I rode west over Lake Houston I changed to 35×15 gears because the headwind was so strong. I didn’t know how strong until I finished at looked at the weather, 20 mph gusts. No wonder my legs had trouble pushing the 35×13 gears on my Cervelo Caledonia. Link to AXS.SRAM ride report. I did ride the 35×13 gears for a total of 1:30:10 out of the total moving time of 2:45:56.

Weather: start 86 (humidity 78%, dew point 78), a few clouds, wind S 4 mph; 95 (humidity 55%, dew point 76), mostly cloudy, wind SW 9 mph gusts 20 mph. I don’t remember reading about the wind being that strong in today’s forecast. Not that it would have altered my ride.

8-4-2022 Strava Ride Summary Atascocita-Walden-Huffman
8-4-2022 Strava Ride Summary Atascocita-Walden-Huffman
8-4-2022 Strava Ride Map and Segments Atascocita-Walden-Huffman
8-4-2022 Strava Ride Map and Segments Atascocita-Walden-Huffman