Texas Biking News April 30th 2020

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Harris County spending $850K to expand Houston B-Cycle, jump-start electric bike fleet

Dug Begley | www.houstonchronicle.com

Houston’s growing bike share system will jump into over-drive in the coming months, fueled by $250,000 in Harris County funds that will put 100 new electric bikes on city streets.

An amended plan by Harris County Precinct One Commissioner Rodney Ellis approved this week will buy the bikes, along with additional stations in under-served communities.

The bikes — outfitted with electric motors — will be distributed and used across the …

Cyclist dead after being struck by vehicle in south Tyler

Zak Wellerman | tylerpaper.com

A bicyclist is dead Thursday after being struck by a vehicle on Old Jacksonville Highway near Fresh by Brookshire’s in Tyler.

The bicyclist died immediately at the scene. More details are not known at this time, according to Tyler Police Department Officer Andy Erbaugh.

Tyler police identify bicyclist killed at South Tyler intersection

Zak Wellerman | tylerpaper.com

The Tyler Police Department has identified the cyclist who died Thursday after being hit by a vehicle at Old Jacksonville Highway and Cumberland Road in Tyler.

Gary Dean Satterfield, 65, of Tyler, was hit by a BMW while he was crossing the intersection of Old Jacksonville Highway and Cumberland Road in Tyler.

Witnesses told police …

19-year-old Austinite making impression in pro mountain biking

By John Hygh | www.fox7austin.com

AUSTIN, Texas – A local mountain biker is making an impression as a pro.

Javier Zuniga says he’s always had a passion for two wheels and now he’s getting paid to do the sport he loves. It’s something it seems like he was born to do.

Javier says he doesn’t like being inside and his mom Angie says since he was little he "was always jumping on that bicycle, wanting to …

Another Bicycle Ride

Pit’s Fritztown News | pitsfritztownnews.wordpress.com

Today I was on the bicycle again, the same route as last Sunday, and here are a few more pictures [klick on tne to enlarge and read the cation]:

Bicycle Sales Soar in North Texas During COVID-19

By Pat Doney | www.nbcdfw.com

Bicycles are the new toilet paper during COVID-19.

“It has been crazy, crazy busy,” said Bicycles Inc. marketer Traci Jordan. “I think a lot of people forgot how fun it is to ride their bikes.”

Bicycle sales are through the roof for companies like North Texas-based bike shop Bicycles Inc., with a line out the door almost all day long.

Fluor Joint Venture Selected for Oak Hill Parkway Infrastructure Project in Austin, Texas

www.valdostadailytimes.com

Fluor Corporation (NYSE: FLR) announced today that its joint venture with Balfour Beatty was conditionally selected by the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) to reconstruct and widen U.S. 290 from approximately the east end of Circle Drive to Loop 1 and State Highway 71 from U.S. 290 to Silvermine Drive in Travis County, west of downtown Austin, Texas. Fluor anticipates it will book its share of the undisclosed contract value in the third quarter of 2020. …

… Bicycle and pedestrian accommodations will be built along the entire corridor, including a seven-mile shared-use path, sidewalks and a trailhead at Williamson Creek on William Cannon Drive to accompany new landscaping, tree plantings and corridor aesthetics. …

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New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

April Bike Rides Wrap Up With Yellow Wildflowers

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April biking drew to a close with today’s ride on the “Kingwood – East River Dr – Kingwood” route. The last time I biked this route was in 2017 but I am not sure why I waited so long to do it again. The bike ride covered 46.49 miles putting April’s total at 957.28 miles. If I rode 3/4 of mile farther I would have surpassed last July’s 958.03 miles, the highest month since then. So far I biked 118.0 miles for the week. I still can reach 200+ miles this week if I average 28 miles each day. I didn’t bike yesterday which would have helped get me closer to 200+ for the week.

Bike Ride Route History Kingwood E River Rd Kingwood

I saw more people powerwashing today. Spring thing I guess.

I used a CamelBak Classic on today’s bike ride leaving the water bottle at home. It takes getting used to the CamelBak on my back and the straps but having more cold water was good.

4-30-2020 New CamelBak Classic-1

With the weather starting to warm up I thought the CamelBak to carry water would replace stopping at places to refill a water bottle. A safety precaution with COVID-19.

After yesterday’s rain and front passing through today’s weather was great if a little cooler than what I prefer. To offset the chill I wore shorts, a long sleeve jersey, and a short sleeve jersey. A brilliant blue sky meant lots of sunshine. Weather during the bike ride: start 77 (40% humidity, 51.0 dew point), fair, wind calm. Finish 81 (37% humidity, 52.7 dew point), fair, wind W 6 mph. The bike ride started at 11:05 AM and I finished at 2:48 PM.

As I rode to Splendora lots of yellow wildflowers lined the road as you will see in the video.

North of E. River Drive road construction on US59/I-69 makes biking difficult near Fostoria Road to the East Fork of the San Jacinto River. Road construction is limiting my route choices with SH 242 west of US59 also expanding from 2 lanes to 4 lanes blocking the shoulder. I may drive beyond the work areas and then ride.

April biking closes out on a high note with the miles, great weather, lots of wildflowers, and biking 28 or 30 days. A summary of the month’s activities.

4-30-2020 April Bike Rides Summary

Of the 28 biking days, 1 day was using Zwift and the others were road miles. My goal for May is a modest 660 miles, all on the road. The reason for a low number compared to April is in the past my wife and I went on trips in May. Several times we went on cruises, I biked the Florida Keys in 2017 in May, and sometimes the weather slowed me down with rain. Since my wife passed away last year I don’t plan on any trips and COVID-19 stopped cruises.

4-30-2020 SsportTracks Bike Ride Summary

Texas Biking April 29th 2020

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Susman Godfrey Founder Stephen Susman Unconscious in Hospital After Cycling Accident

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys | www.law.com

Texas trial lawyer Stephen Susman, 79, founder of Susman Godfrey, was injured in a cycling accident in Houston on April 22 and remains hospitalized in Houston.

Susman, an avid cyclist, was riding in the Old Braeswood area of Houston on the morning of April 22, when his tire hit a crack in the road and he was thrown from the bike, said Neal Manne, a managing partner of Susman Godfrey.

“In a freak accident, his front tire went into one of those …

City of Tyler will host virtual hearing for Tyler Bike Stripes Project on May 11

By Taylor Miller | tylerpaper.com

Bike lanes may be coming to Tyler, and the City of Tyler plans to hold a virtual public meeting in which public comments are encouraged.

The hearing will announce the Tyler Bike Stripes Project plan, and the city hopes to receive phone calls and written feedback about the existing plans.

“The project identifies 11 bicycle lane routes and a centralized hub near the downtown area. The proposed work includes painting bicycle lanes and placing designated signage along the existing roadways,” stated a press release by the City of Tyler.

The City applied for funding for the Tyler Bike Stripes through the …

Best area to live for cycling from dfwbike

Evening Ride

Adam Guillen | www.strava.com

Inc Wed Eve Ride

Mark Brown | www.strava.com

Texas Biking from Twitter

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Route Reconnaissance: Changed in 5 Years?

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During the early morning a wet cool front passed through our area leaving the roads wet. The rain stopped around 9:30 but the clouds remained and the temperature hovered in the low 60’s for awhile. Slowly the clouds thinned and the streets began to dry off but by that time my window for biking shrunk too small for a meaningful bike ride.

I decided to drive the Jeep Wrangler on a route I haven’t ridden since June 12th, 2015; route reconnaissance. I label the route “New Caney – FM 1485 E – Huffman”. It travels north from Kingwood to FM 1485 in New Caney heading east on FM 1485, through The Commons of Lake Houston, onto FM 2100 to Huffman and then back to Kingwood.

Bike Ride History on this route

The reason I haven’t biked this route is the approximate 2 mile section from the Plum Grove Road intersection south to a side road into the Commons of Lake Houston with no shoulder. Traffic used to be light on that section years ago but over time it increased making me uncomfortable. My recon trip today was to see if that had changed.

Driving to FM 1485 covers roads I currently ride but east of the railroad tracks is where the route is over the old route. This area includes Grand Parkway construction which I picked up around where Peach Creek crosses FM 1485 and continued east on the north side of the road. Numerous homes, businesses, and churches no longer dot that side of the road but the 2 to 3 foot shoulder remained. The asphalt roadway is in reasonable condition along this segment with dirt from construction traffic on it. Nothing here would inhibit me riding. When I came to Plum Grove Road the first thing that caught my eye was the “No Shoulder” sign meaning nothing changed. On top of the no shoulder the drop off is about 4 feet down a bank into a ditch. The drop off gradually becomes shallower as the road goes south but the reason I don’t ride there remains.

Conclusion: continue to not ride this route.

Now onto a temporary construction on W. Lake Houston Parkway at the San Jacinto River scheduled to last until May 24th. The northbound bridge is closed for repairs to 14 bearing pads moving the traffic to one lane of the southbound bridge. So far I avoided biking this area since the April 27th repairs began. Driving through the area I saw the southbound right shoulder remains the same as before the repair work which means I can bike that direction. The question is getting back across the bridge riding north. Previous to the construction the left shoulder on the southbound bridge had white lane dots to mark the left shoulder. Those have been replaced with yellow dots about 30 inches from the concrete guardrail. This is about the same size as many roads I currently bike on so I think I can ride north without a problem. The problem is at the north end of the bridge where the lane moves back to northbound lanes. There is a sharp transition around the curb where the 30″ shoulder disappears. This lasts about 20 feet and I think I can get through it when traffic breaks occur.

Conclusion: resume biking south along W. Lake Houston Parkway but avoid early morning and evening traffic.