Kim McGinness turns 60 on Christmas Day. If the weather is pretty and she feels up to it, she will go bike riding near her Lake Whitney home.
“I was injured in the service, and I need a bicycle, more or less, for exercise and to keep myself from isolating,†said McGinness, a native of Columbus, Ohio, who served in the U.S. Air Force between 1980 and 1985. Fate and family brought her to Central Texas, and HOT Veterans One Stop on La Salle Avenue put a life-changing …
"I believe that biking is a lot of fun but it's more than recreational," @HarrisCoPct2 Commissioner @AdrianGarciaHTX said. "I'm in the pursuit of making sure that people can use biking as a true alternative to their vehicles." https://t.co/2IoMPIWuUL
New Event Wednesday Afternoon Ride (WAR) – El Paso, TX El Paso Bicycle Club Wednesday Afternoon Ride (WAR) – This is what follows WNW after the time change for those who can or don't work. Same route as WNR. Depart from Rio Plaza at 3 p.m. Organize your… https://t.co/sJMS8rfSIe
I rode the third new Watopia route today, Beach Island. Shorter than my previous two rides on the new courses it totaled 7.94 miles with 161 feet of climbing. This made for flat course which was good since I started later than I planned. The reason for the late start began after I left church this morning. I stopped at a restaurant to pickup my meals for Christmas. When I got there I went to the line of cars thinking that was where to pickup my order. After waiting my turn for 5 minutes or so I learned I was at the wrong place. Driving to the designated spot I called their phone number. The person on the other end couldn’t find my order. After talking and waiting 45 minutes a manager found my order and brought it to my Jeep. After a conversation with her I turned the key on my Jeep and heard the dreaded click-click-click of a dead battery. I pulled out my phone, opened the AAA app and requested assistance. About 20 minutes later Tony arrived, diagnosed the problem as a low battery, jumped started the Jeep, and did a few other tests. Everything else was good. I requested he replace the battery which he did and about an hour and a half after arriving at the restaurant I headed home.
Getting ready to Zwift I hoped things would go smoother but the sensors refused to connect to Zwift. After messing with several settings and closing Zwift the sensors finally connect and I began riding at 2:52 PM. I had a short time window to ride since I was due back at church at 4:30 PM. The short course fit that window. Shots of my ride.
Looking at Zwiftinsider.com I saw that the new Beach Island course is a slightly modified version of the event-only Volcano Flat Reverse route, placing riders on a more northerly segment which adds a quick trip through the Italian Villas and a chance for green glory in the forward sprint. The course GPS position comes up as Temotu Province, Solomon Islands.
Performance wise I set 4 records, 2 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze according to Strava. Not bad for riding 7.94 miles in 28:05.
HARLINGEN — Soon, a new trail will wind 1.6 miles along the banks of the Arroyo Colorado, crossing two bridges while stretching from Arroyo Park to the steps of Dixieland Park.
On Tuesday, Mayor Chris Boswell led city leaders in christening the $1.7 million project to develop the city’s first extension of the 2.7-mile Arroyo Hike and Bike Trail in five years.
“It’s another great Christmas present for our community,†Boswell said at the trail’s head near Boggus Ford, which donated land where the …
The plan covers 16 square miles and it includes the neighborhoods of Second Ward, Magnolia Park, Eastwood, Lawndale, and Pecan Park.
Harris County Precinct 2 and the East End District are compiling data and collecting community input on how to create a safer and more connected system of bikeways.
Citing the ghost bikes that mark the spots where cyclists are killed in crashes, Harris County Precinct 2 Commissioner Adrian Garcia — in an interview conducted over the phone as he rode his bike to his downtown office — said they want to create a plan in line with the City of Houston’s Vision Zero efforts to end traffic fatalities.
Drop Bar, Texas: A cycling podcast By Paul | anchor.fm
A few holiday cycling activity ideas for you or your family are offered up, last minute gift suggestions from Urban Bicycle Gallery for the cyclist in your life (or yourself), and perhaps, some caroling.
Intro & closing music:
Back to the Woods by Jason Shaw
Jingle Bells Instrumental:
Jingle Bells Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Went out to the Belton Lake Outdoor Recreation Area last Friday. I hadn’t been in probably 20 years. called ahead to make sure they were open. The parking area was really well maintained. The trails didn’t look like they had been ridden in months. Way more cow and deer tracks than tire tracks. Was still marked well and fairly clear, but a fair amount of small branches down (and a couple big ones) had to stop twice to pull little sticks out of the rear D. It wasn’t really enjoyable. They want you to call the office when you leave so they know if anyone is still out there (which is cool), I asked if maybe it had been closed for hunting for a couple months or something and the lady said no, it is just that not many people had riding since COVID. Seems like the exact opposite of …
AUSTIN, Texas – 2020 has seen a lot of downtime with work from home orders and closed businesses. That has left more Austinites with a desire, or need, to get outside and just do something. That lends perfectly to the great trails that Austin has in and around the city.
The Trail Foundation, which maintains the Butler walking/biking trail along Lady Bird Lake, has seen at least a 20% increase in usage due to the pandemic.
Even with the colder weather, they’ve heard several "just found the trail" stories from Austinites who need a change of scenery from their homes. The …
Prologue: 00:00
Route Map: 01:38
West Rayford to Augusta Pines Pkwy: 02:58
Warming up on Kuykendahl Blvd Eastbound: 10:11
Heavy Rain on FM 1097 Northbound into the Forest: 16:16
Meeting Team RR on Sunday at Crust Pizza: 23:05
FM 1488 Westbound: 39:05
MT Magnolia: 56:46
Pushing on the final climbs on Jackson Road: 01:23:02
Late in December 2015, I finally got a cell phone. At the same time, a cycling friend said I had to get Strava (strive in Swedish). I’d never heard of it, but figured why not. So the friend and I met for a ride, and I started recording all of my bike journeys ever since. At that time, I had to use the phone because I didn’t have a Garmin watch. Without Strava, or some other similar situation, I would not really know how far I’ve gone, and all the other data it captures. And man, have I gone far (better than being far gone). I mean, if you consider …
Texas Biking from Twitter
Happy holidays! May your next few days include love, merriment and of course, bikes! 🎄 pic.twitter.com/TpSBHL3xFU
Today https://t.co/aQ8K8xCldj provided 🎠🚲 & 🧸 to two young boys that were injured recently during a Major Assault Family Violence. It’s their efforts these two boys will have new 🚲& 🧸 this holiday season.
When Denton's bike plan is updated, we need a strong effort from the city to build a safe, comfortable base network ASAP instead of spending years painting small segments of disconnected infrastructure here and there. Learn how Jersey City did it: https://t.co/4eAcTxxAbSpic.twitter.com/mJvuqYEDkh
Christmas came a little early this year! We are happy to announce a new station at River Park! This new location is at the trailhead at 3100 Bryant Irvin Rd and is ready for checkouts now. #bikeshare#fortworth#fwtxpic.twitter.com/2D4T1TvpOe
New Event Eisenhower Park – San Antonio, TX Hill Country Bicycle Touring and Adventure Club
Eisenhower Park to Rittiman Road. Wheels down at 9:00 am; wheels rolling at 10:00 am. One way, that is a total of 23 miles. It is out and back, so you can choos… https://t.co/e52CSK7Irs
New Event Texas Cycle Werks South Austin Trail Rides – Austin, TX The Austin Mountain Bikers Meetup Group Texas Cycle Werks, proud sponsors of the ATX100K endurance race series, hosts weekly shop rides each Tuesday and Thursday leaving from the shop in … https://t.co/L7cdipjVXl
The blue sky left replaced by an overcast sky. The temperature was 74 at the 11:29 AM start rising to 81 when i finished at 1:31 PM. Not the typical winter day but good for biking. Today I rode my Canyon Endurace bike following what I call the “Oakhurst – Valley Ranch” route. I needed to ride 13 miles to hit 200 miles for the month and the ride totaled 26.31 miles bringing December road miles to 213.5. Last December I biked 281.3 road miles and 255.7 Zwift miles. I am short of those numbers this year but there are 8 days left. How this year compares to previous years in miles.
Weather conditions for the bike ride. Notice the wind change from the start (blue images are at Houston Intercontinental Airport) versus finish. No wonder I pedaled hard riding south from Valley Ranch.
Before the ride I had a brainstorm on a different mount for my GoPro Hero 7 Black camera. I think I own more mount combinations than anyone else. This new position moved the camera above the handle bar left of my Bolt computer. Because this was closer to me I didn’t use an external mic (I will try that the next ride). I also used my Hero 7 silver as a hand held camera. The setup.
For the third ride in a row Strava reported today’s efforts was harder than my usual effort. Power out numbers point in that direction. Average power was 107 watts with the max at 387 watts. Both those numbers are lower than yesterday but close. I split riding time at 50% in zones 1 and 2 and 50% in zones 3 to 7. Zones 6 and 7 total 15% riding time. That is higher, probably due to the stiff headwind on the ride south. Golden Cheetah’s view of the bike ride summary data.
