Texas Bicycling News April 17th 2022

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Around the Bend

By Bill Cound | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 4. Panther Junction to Cottonwood: Ups and downs

Wednesday April 13, 2022, 51 miles (82 km) – Total so far: 217 miles (349 km) Posted via email Sat Apr 16 12:56:01 2022 PDT

We got an early start on the day’s activities after a good night’s rest. Today we broke camp and packed back into the van for a short drive to Panther Junction. It was the first drop off of several options, the starting point for a ride across the crest of the mountain into Chisos Basin. The road ascends for five miles after the turnoff from the main highway, before dropping one mile into Chisos Basin. The basin is surrounded by the same dark volcanic cliffs that I had seen from the road. What really seems to draw people here is a web of popular hiking trails. For me, it was a short break, a few pictures and hit the road for the short climb back to the basin’s edge.

Then the real fun began…five miles of downhill without pedaling! There was …

Coast to Coast via the Southern Tier – Spring 2022

By Fletch Dobbs | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 38 – Bastrop to Somerville Lake / Carmine

Saturday April 16, 2022, 81 miles (130 km) – Total so far: 1,679 miles (2,702 km) Todays ride ended up at 81 miles. The first 14 were through the eastern side of Bastrop State Park and the scenery was stunning. Really beautiful. The route .gpx track for today predicted over 3,400 feet of climbing. As we rode, RideWithGPS logged over 3,800. And many of the short climbs early in the ride seemed nearly vertical. Yes, they really did!!

The rest of the ride was through the eastern edges of the …

Day 39 – Somerville Lake/Carmine to Lake Conroe

Sunday April 17, 2022, 68 miles (109 km) – Total so far: 1,747 miles (2,812 km) Texas Hills seem to be endless. Someone told me at some earlier point in the ride that things would get easier after Austin. They may, but they haven’t yet. And it isn’t that the hills are all that steep or long. They just keep coming, one after the other. I’m ready for some flatness!

Lots of beautiful countryside today. And flowers everywhere I looked. So the rolling hills are really cool to look at. As long as you don’t have to ride 100 pounds of bicycle and gear over them!

Southern Tier Bicycle Tour – March 22, 2022 – ?

By cjlaskey | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 26 : Johnson City, Texas to Fredricksburg ,Texas

Saturday April 16, 2022, 51 miles (82 km) – Total so far: 1,580 miles (2,543 km) Up and out well before dawn today we packed and left early but it was dark. We headed down the 1.7 mile dirt and gravel road to the main route to bike back into Johnson City as we did last night for drinks and food. Once again we did the three or four climbs but this time our reward was breakfast at the Donut Shop in town. The entire day was cool and overcast and we made it to Fredericksburg early afternoon. Then it got hot. We were staying with a Warmshowers host who owned a motel. He gave us access to showers and let us camp in the yard if one of his rental properties. We could also use the pool and hot tub and bathroom at the hotel. We chatted with him when we arrived and after pitching our tents and storing our bags we headed to Walmart. I needed a new rear light—I dropped …

Day 27 : Fredericksburg ,Texas to Kerrville ,Texas

Sunday April 17, 2022, 34 miles (55 km) – Total so far: 1,614 miles (2,597 km)

Woman Tours Southern Tier

By Shelly Nevard | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 38: Lumberton, TX to DeRidder, LA

Saturday April 16, 2022 Today was a perfect day for a long bike ride and thats what we did. Overcast skies, not too hot and a hint of a tailwind. We started out mostly on US-96 N which had a good shoulder and rumble strip in a good place near the edge of the lane. I almost didn’t notice the traffic going by at 75 mph+. We got off in Kirbyville just in time for the Magnolia festival and parade. A group of us were stopped but it was fun to watch the local parade and collect candy that was being thrown. The on street Marshall was none other than the principle of Kirbyville elementary school and he was …

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7d9kQ2luTWs

Texas Biking from Twitter

200+ Mile Week, Some Heat, Bicycling Forest Cove – Oakhurst – Kingwood

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Easter Sunday bike ride. I rolled out at 1:55 PM on the Lynskey R300 bike. Needing 5 miles for a 200+ mile week I didn’t choose a long route but “Forest Cove – Oakhurst – Kingwood” biking 21.4 miles. The only other time I rode this route according to SportTracks was October 27th, 2021. Today I didn’t ride quite as far as October 27th which was 24.05 miles. The difference was not riding to Auburn Trails today. I also wanted to get back home to finish watching the replay of the Paris-Roubaix race. I finished at 3:34 PM.

Starting in the afternoon it was warm but the wind wasn’t too bad. Weather conditions: 83 (humidity 67%, dew point 71), mostly cloudy, wind variable 6 mph; finish 87 (humidity 61%, dew point 72), mostly cloudy, wind SW 8 mph.

I used a different GoPro mount on the Lynskey R300 because there wasn’t enough space for the one I used on the Cervelo. I think it worked okay for shots from behind the computer. I thought the upward angle might cause a problem but it didn’t.

A look at the week’s bike rides: 7 rides, 6 of them on the road and 1 on Zwift. I used three different bikes: Cervelo 4 rides, Lynskey 2 rides, and Blue Norcross 1 ride on Zwift. Average ride distance: 30.9 miles. Fifth week in a row at 200+ miles. I need 109 miles to reach my 650 road mile goal for April. My consecutive biking streak from February 17th continued. March is the only month that I biked enough miles to reach my monthly goal.

4-17-2022 Week Ending Bike Rides Summary
4-17-2022 Week Ending Bike Rides Summary

I secured the Local Legend on Woodridge Forest Straightaway in Strava with my 6th ride in the last 90 days.

4-17-2022 Strava Forest Cove - Oakhurst - Kingwood Data Summary
4-17-2022 Strava Forest Cove – Oakhurst – Kingwood Data Summary

Texas Biking News April 16th 2022

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Woman Tours Southern Tier

By Shelly Nevard | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 37: Cleveland,TX to Lumberton, TX

Friday April 15, 2022, 40 miles (64 km) – Total so far: 2,080 miles (3,348 km) So like I wrote yesterday we were transported to 23.9 miles. It was raining lightly the whole ride. The first part was a busy road with no shoulder. If a truck came by you had to ride over the rumble strip to the grass. In 22 miles we reached the SAG which was Linda at the Honey Island general store. The next part had slightly less traffic nd still no shoulder. There were occasional lumber trucks and they made your bike shake when they flew by. No arguing or messing around with them. The next section had a wide shoulder and more traffic until the last two miles which had a lot of traffic and no shoulder. I reached …

Texas Ride 2022

By Barry Branham | www.crazyguyonabike.com

04/15/2022: To Navasota

Friday April 15, 2022, 68 miles (109 km) – Total so far: 943 miles (1,518 km) Had fairly hilly 2 lane road for about 54 miles. Weather was damp, overcast. I didn’t feal rain drops but my jersey got wet and my glasses kept getting covered with water drops. Eventually got to a freeway with a real smooth wide shoulder after about 54 miles. So the rest of the way was easy. Because of the wet weather I decided to get a motel instead of camping. Staying at Navasota Inn. Passed a Walmart on the way to the Inn about 1/2 mile back. Need more soap, don’t have any deoderant and not sure about showers where I’ll be camping tomorrow so decided to get a wash cloth. The service road next to …

Two Austin officers on bike patrol hit by suspected drunk driver

www.fox7austin.com

AUSTIN, Texas – Two Austin police officers who were on bike patrol in downtown Austin were struck by a suspected drunk driver, says APD.

The officers were struck in the 600 block of 7th Street near Red River Street around 2:50 a.m. Saturday and transported to the hospital. APD says their injuries were serious, but not life-threatening.

Chief Joseph Chacon tweeted about the incident, reminding the community not to drink and drive. "Please pray for their quick recovery, and a reminder to always have a plan to get home if you’ve been drinking," he said.

There is currently no information on the driver or if any charges have been filed.

Waffle for ????????

Federica Arkadin | strava.com

They tricked me into eating waffles and then they dropped the hammer. FML

TNP to Seabrook Ride

Mark Estopinal | strava.com

Pedal Party of One at Spider

Amy Schendel | strava.com

Got 10 climbs in before they shut the fire road down for the Klunker race.

United Way benefit ride with the SLB team

Justus Kay | strava.com

Where I Live: The Deco District

by Cristina Solorzano | sanantonioreport.org

The Where I Live series aims to showcase our diverse city and region by spotlighting its many vibrant neighborhoods. Each week a local resident invites us over and lets us in on what makes their neighborhood special. Have we been to your neighborhood yet? Get in touch to share your story.

There’s a lot to love about The Deco District. People are friendly, traffic is calm, and there are plenty of local businesses to support. But my absolute favorite part of living here is being near the Alazán Creek Trail.

I ride my bike everywhere. Since the Alazán Creek Trail opened a few months ago, I’ve been able to bike from my apartment down Elmendorf Street to Woodlawn Lake Dog Park, where I can then get on the trail and take it to so many great places in town. I especially love stopping by Shotgun House Coffee Roasters. The trail also takes you to Southtown, Confluence Park, and Mission Concepción. I love seeing people out enjoying the …

Driver sentenced to 18 years in fatal hit-and-run of cyclist from 2018

abc13.com

SPRING, Texas (KTRK) — A man is sentenced to 18 years after being found guilty of intoxication manslaughter and failure to stop and render aid in the death of a 68-year-old woman.

The video above is from a previous report.

The bicyclist, who has not yet been publicly identified, was on the road inside Pundt Park on Friday, March 23, 2018. They were riding with seven other people.

"They were in the process of crossing a crosswalk when one of them was struck by a vehicle," said Pct. 4 Constable Mark Herman in 2018.

Two men were inside the small SUV.

The driver, Philip Trahan, left the scene and drove his compact SUV into a wooded area, according to Herman. …

Texas Biking from Twitter

Surprised Myself Getting Started. Kingwood to Ramsey Road – Huffman Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

I surprised myself with today’s start time for the bike ride. I was out the door and Cervelo Caledonia wheels rolling at 8:56 AM. And that was after eating breakfast, watching the finishes of the Tour of Turkey and Tour du Jura and all but the last 11k of the Paris-Roubaix Femmes (I finished this one after my bike Ride). I don’t know what got into me. I didn’t have to wait on the temperature to warm up for a change which probably helped the most. I even finished at 11:44 AM, before some of my bike rides even start.

To make up for not biking outdoors yesterday I picked a longer distance route for today’s ride than usual, the “Kingwood to Ramsey Road – Huffman”. Today’s ride went 37.9 miles, a little less than the previous ride this year on the route on March 19th. With today’s ride my week totals 194.94 miles. If the weather holds I should bike enough miles tomorrow, Easter Sunday, for a 200+ mile week. I only need 119 road miles to reach my 650 road mile goal for April. That one looks in reach as well. Someday I will ride Ramsey Road north and the county roads to FM 1960. I drove on those roads a few years ago and the surface wasn’t very good. Plus they looked ripe for loose dogs.

4-16-2022 YTD Bike Rides Kingwood to Ramsey Road - Huffman Route
4-16-2022 YTD Bike Rides Kingwood to Ramsey Road – Huffman Route

Not much thinking went into selecting the kit for the ride: shorts, long sleeve T-shirt, and a Texbiker.net short sleeve jersey. I encountered some light mist pockets during the ride but not for long. Most of those were south of FM 1960. Weather at the start and finish: start 74 (humidity 99%, dew point 74), mostly cloudy, wind S 7 mph; finish 77 (humidity 90%, dew point 74), overcast, wind S 6 mph. For a change the wind stayed below 10 mph, more like summer. The overcast sky kept the sun at bay but I still wore sunscreen.

Checking the AXS.SRAM.com ride activity report there were 35 RD shifts. Two of those involved me moving the left paddle instead of the right paddle. The ride took a total time of 2:45:59, with 1:32:35 in the 35×13 gears and 52:41 in the 35×15. I think the light wind allowed me to stay in the 35×13 when I would’ve shifted to the 35×15. My legs felt good and powered through a few uphills into the wind.

I moved the GoPro mount to the left of the Bolt computer and in front of the handle bar. I also added the wind muff to the mic to cut down on the wind noise. I had to adjust my removal and reattaching of the GoPro with it on the left side. I think the wind muff helped but I need a windy day to see how it does then. The new mount removed the Bolt computer form the shot.

4-16-2022 GoPro Mount Cervelo Caledonia-3
4-16-2022 GoPro Mount Cervelo Caledonia-3
4-16-2022 GoPro Mount Cervelo Caledonia-2
4-16-2022 GoPro Mount Cervelo Caledonia-2
4-16-2022 GoPro Mount Cervelo Caledonia-1
4-16-2022 GoPro Mount Cervelo Caledonia-1
4-16-2022 Strava Kingwood to Ramsey Road - Huffman Data Summary
4-16-2022 Strava Kingwood to Ramsey Road – Huffman Data Summary