Texas Bicycling News April 7th 2022

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Could Fiesta FitFest help San Antonio become a cycling-friendly city?

by Robert Rivard | sanantonioreport.org

San Antonio is a long way from making the list of bicycle-friendliest cities in the United States, but this Sunday’s inaugural L’Étape San Antonio, a cycling event affiliated with the Tour de France, could be the start of something big.

The question is: Will San Antonio build on it going forward?

The Sunday event features organized cycling rides of 100-, 60- and 25-mile distances starting and ending at UTSA’s Main Campus. Riders on the longer route will head west toward Bandera and Comfort and back through Helotes. An impressive 2,200 riders are registered, proving that if you …

Coast to Coast via the Southern Tier – Spring 2022

By Fletch Dobbs | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 27 – Marathon to Sanderson: Downhill and downwind!

Tuesday April 5, 2022, 56 miles (90 km) – Total so far: 1,127 miles (1,814 km) We left Marathon this morning at the first rideable light. About 7:40 or so. The ride started with a gentle climb of maybe 300 vertical feet spread over about 15 miles. Winds were calm and the temp was in the high forties. A great start to a great ride. Following the climb, we met a few very gentle rollers under the same conditions, except the temperature had risen to somewhere near the seventies. Time to shed a layer. At some point that I don’t recall exactly, the …

Day 28 – Sanderson to Seminole Canyon State Park

Wednesday April 6, 2022, 82 miles (132 km) – Total so far: 1,209 miles (1,946 km) A long ride today. Wind was our biggest worry today. The NWS had issued a wind advisory for today predicting northwest winds with gusts over 40 MPH. While the wind was definitely up, the worst we saw was gusty cross winds and later on in the day we actually got a little tailwind.

Scenery today was once again unremarkable. Much the same as the past several. The highlights for me were the total mileage of 82 (and I’m still able to stand and walk under my own power), the Judge Roy Bean visitor center in Langtry, and crossing the PECOS River. My childhood memories of Pecos Bill have been rekindled …

Spring 2022 Tours

By Doug Yotty | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 0: Meet in El Paso

Friday April 8, 2022 Adventure Cycling’s intro into this ride:

This ten-day, van-supported trip explores the wild and picturesque terrain of the west Texas Big Bend region. A road rider’s dream come true, this tour offers low-traffic byways, an abundance of stunning scenery, and ample opportunities to discover the secrets of Big Bend National Park, the Chihuahuan Desert, the Davis and Chisos mountain ranges, and the Rio Grande Wild & Scenic River

Our journey through this …

Texas Hill Country Loop 2022

By Tom Camp | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 9: Leander to Inks Lake State Park: Headwinds again… Will we ever get to Inks Lake?

Tuesday April 5, 2022, 49 miles (79 km) – Total so far: 322 miles (518 km) We did check the weather forecast before starting today and saw that it was going to get up to about 97(!) degrees this afternoon. Because of that, we got an earlier start than usual at 7:53AM (approximately). We knew the heat would be a challenge but really did not expect to be riding into a headwind (again) most of the day. This made for some long, ssssllllloooooooowwwwwwww miles.

We are definitely back in the hill country again. From the start of the ride to the high point, the elevation difference was about 1,400′ but we ended up climbing about 1,800′ because of the rolling hills. The roads continue to be, for the most part, low traffic with a few exceptions around some towns.

The elevation profile for today’s ride was a bit deceiving. I was thinking that once we got to Burnet, that it would be a nice downhill coast into Inks Lake State Park. Wrong. We headed directly into the wind for a long 9 mile mostly uphill grind. We then hit some nice downhills and thought we were done with the hills. Wrong again. It’s absolutely beautiful countryside, but we were pretty sapped by the time we finally got to …

Woman Tours Southern Tier

By Shelly Nevard | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 27: Bracketville, TX to Camp Wood, TX

Tuesday April 5, 2022, 49 miles (79 km) – Total so far: 1,522 miles (2,450 km) It was already warm in Fort Clark Springs when we left at 8 AM. Emily made us breakfast and we ate in the same room where we had dinner last night. We finally left route 90 and traveled on more rural roads until we turned left on TX-55. There was some road construction and we had to watch for traffic. There were more greener trees and entrances to ranches. Occasionally you might see a cow or other animal. It was a little hazy and slightly overcast. You didn’t see any ranch houses but you might see some ornate gates for the ranches. At 45 miles we crossed a bridge over the Nueces River and we went down to the river to a swimming hole created by damming the river. The water was so refreshing. I went in in my bike shorts and sports bra. It was starting to get really hot out. A short ride took us to …

[ Day 28: Camp Wood, TX to Vanderpool, TX

Wednesday April 6, 2022, 39 miles (63 km) – Total so far: 1,561 miles (2,513 km) Since we had no breakfast at this hotel but we all had coffee in the rooms we each got a bagged breakfast. I had oatmeal a couple of hard boiled eggs a banana and a dairy free yogurt. I never had dairy free yogurt so I tried it but I will avoid in the future. We expected a headwind but i never expected 20 mph with 40 mph gusts. After about 9 miles the first steep climb begins. There are three on this route. I was having trouble making enough speed to stay upright on the bike so I got off and walked on some steep parts. We’ll, if the van wasn’t there i might of kept going but I didn’t think it would be safe. So I joined almost the whole group except our 5 strongest riders and Linda Gardner who had already taken the SAG to the top of the first climb. The van went up a very narrow mountain road with no shoulder, rough pavement and …

Police still looking for hit-and-run driver that crashed into bicyclist in South Austin

By Carissa Lehmkuhl | www.fox7austin.com

AUSTIN, Texas – It’s been one week since a witness unintentionally captured video of Nicolas Gardiner getting hit by a car while biking down Riverside Drive.

Gardiner and witnesses told FOX 7 that it was intentional. The person responsible has still not been caught.

"I got to say it’s pretty violating," said Gardiner on Wednesday. "Apparently you …

Photos of car that swerved, struck bicyclist on Riverside Drive released

www.fox7austin.com

AUSTIN, Texas – The Austin Police Department (APD) has released photos of a vehicle they say "intentionally swerved and struck" a bicyclist on W. Riverside Drive in late March.

APD says that on March 30, just before 8:30 p.m., officers responded to a call about a crash in the 700 block of W. Riverside Drive. Nicolas Gardiner had been riding his bike when a white vehicle intentionally swerved and struck him. The driver did not stop or render aid after hitting Gardiner.

Gardiner received medical treatment at a local hospital, says APD. He told …

Downtown Texarkana Bicycle Tours

txkparent.com

The City of Texarkana, TX in partnership with the Texarkana Museum System has brought back Downtown Bicycle Tours starting this Spring.

This season’s theme is “A Cycle Through Public Art.” Expect a thorough showcase of all the art in downtown Texarkana you might have missed!

Fiesta Leisure Ride

Esther Barrientez -TEAM TACO | strava.com

Add the Hills to the Wind Tonight

Francisco Simas – US MES | strava.com

BA Training Ride

Jason Wipf | strava.com

Texas Biking from Twitter

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

35 Wind Gusts, 22% Humidity. This Can’t Be SE Texas

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Delayed starting today’s bike to allow for the temperature to warm up from the 49 degrees at sunrise. While waiting I watched the 4th stage of the Itzulia Basque Country from Spain. Beautiful scenery there with some steep climbs. None of those here. I tried a different kit today with the 68 degree temperature at the 11:42 AM start time. Usually I would wear a wind jacket but today I opted for a long sleeve thermal jersey and a short sleeve jersey over that. That worked great and I will try this on some future rides. Maybe wind jackets are not always necessary. It was definitely windy for today’s bike ride.

This was the second biking this route this week but I rode the Lynskey R300 today. Overall I biked this route 7 times so far in 2022. Today’s ride was consistent with the other 6 rides except my average heart rate was lower. Out of the 7 rides 5 have been on the Cervelo Caledonia.

4-7-2022 YTD Bike Rides Atascocita-Walden-Huffman Route
4-7-2022 YTD Bike Rides Atascocita-Walden-Huffman Route

The strong wind didn’t stop the other three cyclists I saw on the ride, all near Fairlake Lane and FM 1960. The first cyclist made the video but the other two were too far away and too quick to catch on the GoPro.

Wind from yesterday’s cool front stepped it up a notch. The weather conditions for today: start 68 (humidity 29%, dew point 35), fair, wind N 18 mph gusts 28 mph; finish 75 (humidity 22%, dew point 34), fair, wind NW 20 mph gusts 35 mph. Mostly the wind wasn’t too bad on the way to FM 2100 and Old Atascocita Road except for riding east over Lake Houston. Exposed to the wind and gusts my bike got pushed around. I kept a firm grip on the handle bars but sometimes front wheel struggled to not go towards the concrete barrier to my right. This would’ve been the day to use the 30mm wheels instead of the 50mm. When I got a tailwind the pedaling was easy. Another hard section came riding north on FM 2100 to FM 1960 straight into the wind. Riding west over Lake Houston wasn’t quite as rough as east bound.

Last year on this date I rode the “Kingwood – Splendora – Kingwood” route going 42.58 miles.

The week is up to 140 miles. With 3 potential biking days left a 200 mile week looks possible. For the month I’m up to 252.9 miles, 39% of my 650 mile goal. All road miles so far this week. If the forecast is correct no Zwift rides necessary to keep my consecutive days streak alive.

4-7-2022 Strava Atascocita-Walden-Huffman Data Summary
4-7-2022 Strava Atascocita-Walden-Huffman Data Summary

Texas Bicycling News April 6th 2022

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Beer Bike returns in-person, crash raises track safety concerns

By Viola Hsia | www.ricethresher.org

This past Saturday, Rice University celebrated the first Beer Bike to resemble pre-COVID celebrations in two years. The festivities began with college-specific events early Saturday morning, followed by a campus-wide Martel public, a color festival in the central quadrangle, a water balloon fight and a float parade, culminating in the races at the track.

Beer Bike last year was held in limited capacity, while the year before that was completely canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Official 2022 race results have yet to be released from the Rice Program Council. …

Bicycle ER: A new Wichita Falls business is hitting the road

Trish Choate | www.timesrecordnews.com

Avid cyclists Taylor Houts and wife Missy saw it again and again when they were going to rides last year.

Cyclists would forget to bring glasses for protection during a gravel ride, leave a water bottle at home or find themselves suddenly needing a new jersey, a nutrition boost, an extra innertube, a CO2 cartridge or a minor bicycle repair.

"We thought, man, wouldn’t it be cool if we had a trailer with just all the stuff that people forget?" Taylor said. "Invention comes …

Roxo Racing Check In From Their Training Camp

By Chris Watson | pezcyclingnews.com

Roxo Racing checks in from their winter training camp in Fort Worth, Texas: As the racing season gets under way, we thought it would be a great time to take a look behind the scenes at the recent Roxo Racing women’s team training camp in Fort Worth.

Fort Worth, Texas is home to our team organization and staff. Two of our main sponsors, Roxo Energy and Scott Dennett Construction, are also here. For convenience’s sake we’re close to the DFW airport, which sits squarely in the middle of the southern United States. And we have the best BBQ and Mexican food but y’all already knew that. …

Have your workout gear ready for Fiesta FitFest!

by SBG San Antonio | foxsanantonio.com

AN ANTONIO – Get ready to break a sweat! San Antonio Sports introduces Fiesta FitFest, a new fun event that will bring more fitness and fun to Fiesta. There will be tons of music, food, libations, entertainment, and of course fitness.

This event will kick off Friday, April 8 through Sunday, April 10 at the UTSA East campus lot.

There will be all types of fitness experiences including, the L’Etape San Antonio by Tour de France, a world-class amateur cycling event, …

Man sentenced for fleeing on two stolen bikes

by: Larry Statser | www.texomashomepage.com

WICHITA FALLS (KFDX/KJTL) — A man who stole one bike from a Wichita Falls bike shop, then fled on a second bike stolen from a nearby house after employees chased him down, pleaded guilty to two charges.

Thomas Wagoner was given five years probation for burglary and a drug possession charge. …

Pro cycling puts Palestine on the map

BY STUART WHITAKER AND PENNYLYNN WEBB | www.palestineherald.com

More than 200 cyclists descended on Anderson County this past weekend for the first Dogwood Omnium. This road race is part of the Triple Crown Series hosted by Momentum Sports and is tied to the USA Cycling organization.

"With over 200 racers for the inaugural Dogwood Omnium, we couldn’t be happier with the turn out,” said Mary Raum, Tourism Marketing Manager for the city of Palestine. “After speaking with many of the participants, they were pleasantly surprised by the ‘small town vibe’ in Palestine and they are looking forward to coming back for the El Camino Gravel Adventure this coming September.”

According to Raum, cycling enthusiasts typically compete in races similar to the …

Pedestrian and Bicycle Safety Advisory Committee Regular Meeting

www.amarillo.gov

Date: 04/11/2022 11:00 AM
Location: Simms Municipal Building
Room 275, 808 S. Buchanan
Amarillo, Texas 79101

NOTICE OF MEETING & AGENDA PEDESTRIAN AND BICYCLE SAFETY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Texas Biking from Twitter

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Into The Headwind, Was I Prepared?

Texbiker.net Posted on by

A full plate of bike races watched before I left on today’s bike ride. I watched the women’s and men’s Scheldeprijs in Belgium followed by stage 3 of the Itzulia Basque Country in Spain thanks to GCN+. I was concerned about the potential change in the weather with a front arriving around noon with strong winds. Nevertheless I rolled away at 11:02 AM on the Cervelo Caledonia. I chose the “Community Drive – Valley Ranch – Gene Campbell Blvd” route with a section riding into the wind on FM 1314 to the NW.

With the temperature possible to go down some I dressed for that rather than the temperature at home. I wore shorts, a long sleeve jersey, and a short sleeve jersey. As I rode through Woodridge Forest on the way to US59 the wind was increasing and the temperature may have dropped a couple of degrees. But the sun started to push away the clouds. That helped the temperature hold steady for the ride. I over dressed but a little extra sweat didn’t hurt me.

As I put my shoes on I got a notice of a software update for the Bolt computer. I agreed to the installation and finished getting dressed. Later around Community Drive I saw the heart rate was not showing on the Bolt computer. I tried to get it connected but failed. After I finished the ride at 2:09 PM I powered off the Bolt and started it again, tried connecting the Tickr Fit monitor and it worked. Just to be safe I repeated that and it worked again. I don’t know what caused the problem but maybe powering off and back on helped. Tomorrow’s ride will test it again.

The N wind was the strongest as I rode on NW on FM 1314 slowing me to 12 mph at times. The trees blunted the wind some and it was great to make the u-turn at Gene Campbell Blvd. The ride back to the SE sped up with the nice tailwind. I made up time. Weather conditions: start 78 (humidity 79%, dew point 71), mostly cloudy, wind W 6 mph; finish 79 (humidity 48%, dew point 58), fair, wind N 18 mph gusts 28 mph.

This was the second time biking this route in 2022. The distances were almost identical, today’s riding time 2 minutes faster as was the average speed. From the AXS.SRAM.com activity report : 29 RD shifts, 1:41:24 in the 35×15 gears, 1:02:50 in the 35×13 gearing.

4-6-2022 YTD Bike Rides Summary Today's Route
4-6-2022 YTD Bike Rides Summary Today’s Route
4-6-2022 Strava Community Dr-Valley Ranch-Gene Campbell Blvd Data Summary
4-6-2022 Strava Community Dr-Valley Ranch-Gene Campbell Blvd Data Summary