Texas Bicycling News April 3rd 2022

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Coast to Coast via the Southern Tier – Spring 2022

By Fletch Dobbs | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 25 – Rest Day 3 – Marfa Texas: Resting comfortably

Sunday April 3, 2022

The Tour de Houston returned today. It was a great event. from bikehouston

Southern Tier (Eastern Half) – 2022

By TexasSalsa | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 1 Houston to Silsbee: Lots of Texas Chip-Seal

Sunday April 3, 2022, 90 miles (145 km) – Total so far: 90 miles (145 km) Up early and on the road at 6:36 am. It was still dark so had a chance to check out my new headlight. It worked great! I needed it today because it was pretty foggy. Took a couple hours to burn off. Not the most exciting roads. I’m familiar with a lot of them, so didn’t find much to take pictures of. Lot’s of Texas chip-seal, but most had acceptable shoulders. Rode 90 miles to Kountze where I met Tom at MamaJacks for lunch. We planned to go to Caroline’s Quantity & Quality but it was closed. After a Catfish Po-Boy, we put the bike in the car and drove to the campground in Silsbee. The campground is …

Texas Hill Country Loop 2022

By Tom Camp | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 7: Martindale to Austin: 30 Miles Before Lunch… Good riding.

Sunday April 3, 2022, 45 miles (72 km) – Total so far: 237 miles (381 km) We had a pretty good night at the campground in Martindale. There were lots of birds around and Joe has an App on his phone that will tell you what you’re listening to. The Barred Owl was definitely the star of the show. You can google it and hear the call – very distinctive. Two of them started calling at about 11:30 and they definitely will wake you up. This is a voice of experience talking.

We got an early start this morning – about 8:30. Our target was downtown Austin where we made reservations at the Super 8 motel.

We cruised along at our blazing 10mph speed and completed 30 of the 45 miles by lunchtime. Lunch was a bit different today; instead of crunching on the normal, dry Ramen Noodles, we decided to mix it up with some Pop Tarts. I went with a peanut butter topping on my Tarts while Joe finished his meal off with a Clif Bar dessert. Ahhhhh, fine dining on the road.

The ride was very smooth and relatively easy; there were plenty of …

Woman Tours Southern Tier

By Shelly Nevard | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 24: Alpine, TX to Sanderson, TX

Saturday April 2, 2022, 86 miles (138 km) – Total so far: 1,388 miles (2,234 km) Today we started with sunrise one the whole day was spent on route 90. It was just below 50 degrees to startThe traffic was pretty quiet and the shoulder was good but the ride was long and pretty monotonous. By the SAG at mile 20 I removed jacket and leg warmers.The route was generally down hill but a headwind started to increase throughout the day. The only town we passed through was Marathon where Womantours sometimes stays but couldn’t get reservations. We saw road markings for Timberland (formerly Bubbas ) and one of their vehicles. After a stop at a picnic area at mile 52 the wind got …

Hearing slated in Katy for widening of U.S. Highway 90

Roy Kent | www.houstonchronicle.com

Anyone interested in learning more about the potential widening of U.S. Highway 90 through the region will have a chance to learn and present ideas at an upcoming public hearing.

The Texas Department of Transportation has scheduled a public meeting to present information on a proposal to widen U.S. Highway 90 from Interstate Highway 10 to FM 1463 in Waller, Fort Bend and Harris counties. …

… A proposal from Donigan Road to Koomey Road would be a “four-lane roadway constructed within the existing right-of-way that would include two 12-foot-wide main lanes in each direction separated by an 18-foot-wide raised median. Bicycle and pedestrian facilities would include a 12-foot-wide shared use path along the north side, and a 10-foot-wide shared use path along the south side.” …

Texas Biking from Twitter

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Kingwood Streets Flower Tour

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Gorgeous weather as I drove home from church. After watching highlights of the Tour of Flanders I got ready to go on today’s bike ride. My legs were sore from yesterday’s 65 mile ride so today was going to be an easy recovery ride on Kingwood streets. I rolled away at 1:39 PM on my Lynskey R300 bike. At first my legs complained a little but they after a mile or so they quieted down. Somehow my Bolt computer got paused to not record about the initial 3/4 of a mile. But I glanced down and saw that and turned it back to record. This was the 4th time biking the Kingwood streets this year. Also today was the shortest even adding the missing mile back in. The rides were evenly divided between the Cervelo and Lynskey bikes.

4-3-2022 YTD Bike Rides Summary Kingwood Streets
4-3-2022 YTD Bike Rides Summary Kingwood Streets

With the bright sunlight I started noticing all of the plants blooming causing me to title this the flower tour of Kingwood. Almost sounds like the Flanders tour. You can see the blooms in the video. Weather conditions: start 81 (humidity 43%, dew point 57), fair, wind E 14 mph gusts 21 mph; finish 82 (humidity 44%, dew point 58), fair, wind SE 21 mph gusts 29 mph. I think this is the first bike ride this year where the temperature at the start was in the 80’s.

I climbed 62 feet today over 15.93 miles versus 26 feet in 65 miles yesterday according to Strava. And I thought it was flat in Kingwood.

I biked 15.93 miles (Strava, 15.94 in SportTracks) not counting the missing 3/4 of a mile. This put the week’s total at 245.7 miles. I had to go back to the week of May 31 to June 6th for a week higher at 252.14 miles. Thanks to yesterday’s 65 mile I also rode the most miles in a bike ride this year. I continued my consecutive biking days intact starting February 17th. During this week I rode Zwift once and road rides the other days. 4 bike rides on the Cervelo Caledonia, 2 on the Lynskey R300, and the Zwift ride on the Blue Norcross AL bike.

4-3-2022 End of Week Bike Rides Summary
4-3-2022 End of Week Bike Rides Summary
4-3-2022 Strava Kingwood Streets Summary Data
4-3-2022 Strava Kingwood Streets Summary Data

Texas Biking News April 2nd 2022

Texbiker.net Posted on by

‘A dream come true’: Olympians competing in weekend BMX event in Longview

By Yoleyne Romero | www.news-journal.com

Nick Bruce has traveled the world with his professional BMX career and represented his country at the Tokyo Olympics this past summer.

The 29-year-old native of Youngstown, Ohio, has been to Texas several times, but this weekend was his first time in Longview. Bruce is competing in the third round of Saturday’s 2022 USA BMX Freestyle Series at Dodson Action Sports Complex at Ingram Park. The event features amateur and professional competitors.

USA BMX Freestyle is an organization that offers a series …

Coast to Coast via the Southern Tier – Spring 2022

By Fletch Dobbs | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 24 – Van Horn to Marfa: It’s all about the wind

Saturday April 2, 2022, 74 miles (119 km) – Total so far: 1,012 miles (1,629 km) We left the Van Horn RV Park at the first rideable light, which works out to be about 8:00. Todays ride climbed just over 1,000 vertical feet over the space of 60 miles. The last 14 or so are either level or slightly down hill. Nice. The bad news: a fairly stout headwind commenced at about 11 and retry much stayed in our face for the rest of the ride. It did vary a bit, sometimes becoming a quartering cross wind. But it kept everyone challenged for the second half of the ride into Marfa.

We rode past more plain West Texas desert scenery. I spotted several …

Southern Tier (Eastern Half) – 2022

By TexasSalsa | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Background: Here we go again!

Spring is normally the best time to ride in the southeastern portion of the US. Days are getting longer and weather is generally warm but not overly hot as it is in the summer. Hopefully I’ll be able to enjoy some nice weather days on this self-supported tour from Houston to Jacksonville, FL. Departure is tentatively set for April 3. The plan continues to evolve, but I think the framework is now set (even if it remains subject to change!). To keep things simple, I’ll leave from my home near Houston and head north-east until I pick up the Southern Tier Route. There are several options, but I’m planning to …

Texas Hill Country Loop 2022

By Tom Camp | www.crazyguyonabike.com

Day 6: Sattler, TX to Martindale, TX: River Road Ride then ‘Where did the Hill Country Go?’

Saturday April 2, 2022, 39 miles (63 km) – Total so far: 192 miles (309 km) Rating: (0) We left our campground in Sattler this morning and headed out on the River Road towards New Braunfels. The road is really, really, really, really, really nice as it follows along the Guadalupe River. The traffic was lower than we expected since it was Saturday. It looks like it may be a favorite ride for local cyclists as we saw plenty of them. We waved at the ones coming at us and watched the ones who passed us disappear quickly. A good speed for us with the loaded bikes is about 10mph. Blazing.

Now that I’ve talked up River Road as being idyllic, I must confess that it is within Comal County. I said some not-so-nice things about Comal County Roads yesterday; our experience today almost makes me want to go back and change the complaints. Almost.

We did see some really crazy geese along the way. …

Texas Biking from Twitter

zuhne Education Expedition Bike Ride – Rosharon, TX

Texbiker.net Posted on by

I looked up the starting location Thursday to see how far it was from Kingwood. At first I thought about getting up early early Saturday morning to drive to there but then decided to drive there on Friday late afternoon and stay at a nearby hotel. I made my reservation at the SureStay Hotel in Alvin. It’s a good thing I did that because I drove by the exit to Alvin and turned around to get there. After checking in I drove to Freedom Field where the ride started at 7:30 AM. Google maps took me on side roads that I don’t think I would’ve navigated well without the practice drive.

Eating breakfast at the hotel I then left for Freedom Field and got there about 6:45 AM in plenty of time. I ween to the registration area and picked up ,y number, safety pins, and a map. I waited a few minutes and then went around handing out Texbiker.net business cards. Everyone accepted one.

Back at the Jeep I attached the number to my Texbiker.net jersey and got the Cervelo out of the Jeep. I had difficulty getting the front thru axle to thread but finally succeeded. The rider next me needed a safety pin for his number so I gave him one of mine. I was number 176. I didn’t keep tabs of the numbers I saw but I would guess there 200 to 300 riders. I chose the “long” route which came in at 65.17 miles (65.18 in SportTrack’s calculation). Many of the riders left before I made it to the start line due to the thru axle problem. (Later when I was back home I didn’t have a problem threading it.)

4-2-2022-zuhne-Education-Expedition-Registration-Area-2
4-2-2022-zuhne-Education-Expedition-Registration-Area

The ride description said the roads were not high traffic roads, mainly Brazoria County roads. The exception was FM 523 but it had a wide shoulder. Most of the road surfaces were in good condition but some potholes and slippage cracks appeared at times. Traffic was minimal except for FM 523 where a couple of oversize load 18 wheelers passed. Also the only climb was on FM 523, an overpass of a county road and railroad tracks.

Rest stops were spread out about 15 miles apart. Each one was well stocked and the volunteers were super friendly. There was a contest for the best rest stop. I voted for the first one on the long route. There were aliens and funny high school volunteers. The others were good too. I stopped at all 4 on the long route. There was an option to repeat a lap on the long route to bump the mileage to 82. I didn’t consider that an option.

For several miles I rode with Samur from Beaumont. This was his second organized bike ride. He said he rode a spin bike. About a month ago he bought his bike from his partner, a Specialized. We caught up again at one of the rest stops and at the finish area. He was going to ride the 82 route but changed his mind adding about 5 miles to the 65 mile route I rode.

I was surprised at my average speed of 14.7 mph. The wind was not too strong and the roads flat. Not many stops at intersections meant I could keep my pace steady at 15 mph except for one road where the wind felt stronger and I rode at 13 to 14 mph. Checking AXS.SRAM.com activity report I learned that I only shifted the RD 7 times during the ride. That is a sign of how flat the roads were. I also spent 4:17:50 of the total 4:36:22 riding time in the 35×15 gear combination. Talk about consistent. My average power in those gears was 104 watts. Total calories burned 2,331. I may have ate that many combined at the 4 rest stops. I must’ve ate the right amount because I wasn’t hungry or felt like I was running out of energy.

Weather conditions: start 65 (humidity 84%, dew point 60), overcast, wind N 5 mph; finish 73 (humidity 71%, dew point 63), overcast, wind NW 5 mph. I brought a wind jacket for th ride but decided not to wear it. I wore a Bellwether soft fabric long sleeve jersey with a Texbiker.net short sleeve jersey over it. Except for the first a couple of miles to warm up I was comfortable the whole ride. The increase in temperature probably helped. Not much sunshine until the drive back home as I reached Houston.

One drawback to the soft fabric LS jersey come with the Jeeps keys sagging the rear pocket. Adding my phone and the GoPro camera in the rear pockets of the Texbiker.net jersey when I visited the rest stops it felt like a big weight dangling on my back. I need a holster for the GoPro.

I finished the ride at 12:22 PM. The lunch hit the spot with a Subway turkey sandwich, Cheetos, a cookie and cold water. The route was marked well at the turns with reassuring sings after a turn or intersection. Police were friendly at the intersections manned.

4-2-2022 Strava zuhne Education Expedition Summary Data
4-2-2022 Strava zuhne Education Expedition Summary Data