Too Much Water, A Bit of Ohio, First Time Mic Bike Ride to Roman Forest

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In the desire for some bike ride variety today I rode the “New Caney – Roman Forest – Valley Ranch” route. The last time I biked this route was September 19th, 2019. I wondered if anything changed in Roman Forest since my last visit but as I rode the streets I didn’t see anything significant. The bike ride traveled 40.1 miles, the longest ride since March 7th when I rode the Gator Ride in Baytown. A close second was on March 19th with 39.8 miles on the “Stroker Road – Huffman” route. This puts me at 253.24 miles towards my 630 mile goal for April.

Weather warmed up from yesterday allowing me to shed the long sleeve jersey and ride with shorts and a short sleeve jersey. During the bike ride: start 80 (84% humidity, 74.4 dew point), overcast, wind SW 9 mph. Finish 86 (76% humidity, 77.1 dew point), mostly cloudy, wind variable 6 mph. I started at 11:11 AM and finished at 2:32 PM.

Since my last bike ride I received the external microphone to use with the GoPro Hero7 Black camera. Today I put it to work. I think it improved the audio when the wind noise wasn’t too high. Maybe changing the mic’s position will pickup my voice better and shielding it when I ride into the wind might reduce that noise. What the setup looks like.

I learned that the mic drains the battery quicker even though I use the QuickCapture feature. An extra battery will accompany me on the next ride.

While biking I encountered a water line break in Sherwood Trails where a crew inserting a new sewer line probably hit it. The street intersection was filling up as a City of Houston Public Works man talked to someone about fixing the break. Later while walking in Rosewood Cemetery I noticed a patch of dirt in the shape of the State of Ohio in the grass. This put a little bit of Ohio in Texas. The number of businesses and stores closed exceeds any holiday. COVID-19 wreaks havoc in many ways. I did not see that many people biking today.

Tomorrow: Cloudy skies during the morning hours followed by thunderstorms in the afternoon. A few storms may be severe. High 88F. Winds NNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. I think I can get a bike ride in before the rain.

4-8-2020 SportTracks Bike Ride Summary
  • 4-8-2020 Golden Cheetah Bike Ride Data-1
  • 4-8-2020 Golden Cheetah Bike Ride Data-2

Texas Biking News April 7th 2020

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Austin park usage up despite warnings about coronavirus

by Bettie Cross | cbsaustin.com

Austin and Travis County parks are closing Easter weekend. All parks, trails and greenbelts will be off limits from Thursday evening through Monday morning. City and county officials say the action is needed to keep the public safe and prevent the spread of the coronavirus. They say the Easter crowds would make it challenging to comply with social distancing rules.

Part of the problem is more people are using Austin parks and trails because they don’t have much else to do. …

Demand for bicycles suddenly hot, local shop owner says

By Robert Avery | www.chron.com

Many area residents are turning to bicycles as a way to melt away the stress during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Jeff Parker of Bay Area Cycling, which has shops at 2049 Richey St. in Pasadena and 603 E. Main St. in League City, says his business is busy with people coming in to buy or repair bikes.

That invisible, microscopic invader that has taken away our privileges to eat inside a restaurant, stopped our enjoyment of sports, forced children to learn their ABCs from home and prevented handling of animals in pet stores hasn’t been able to touch one activity in many people’s daily lives.

Cycling — a way to kill stress and achieve social distancing with the wind in your face — has found a …

Mountain Biking in Central Texas

by Ethan Fischer | centexmtb.com

Welcome to the Central Texas MTB scene! With over 10 trail systems and bike parks in the area, it’s much larger than you might think. And, if somehow you get bored of the trails here, only 3-4 hours away is the DFW area, where DORBA (Dallas Off Road Bicycle Association) has built and maintained several great parks and trail systems. So, you’ll never run out of well maintained and fun mountain bike trails to ride in Texas.

In this post I’m going to go over each of the largest and most popular trail systems and parks in Central Texas, show you a map of the trails (if available), pictures of each park, and talk about them a little bit. Keep in mind, some of these places I haven’t …

San Antonio area parks to be closed for Easter weekend

by SBG San Antonio | news4sanantonio.com

Bexar County and the City of San Antonio announced closures of City and County parks for Easter weekend to help slow the spread of COVID-19.

Effective Friday, April 10 at 9:00 p.m. through Monday, April 13 at 9:00 a.m., all county parks and park amenities will be closed to the public. All city parks, dog parks, and park amenities will be closed to the public effective Friday, April 10 at 11:59 p.m. through Monday, April 13 at 5:00 a.m. …

How People Are Staying Motivated and Active at Home During Social Distancing

BY JORDAN SMITH | www.bicycling.com

FROM LOGGING MORE MILES ON THE TRAINER TO HAVING MORE TIME FOR SOLO RIDES, IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP RIDING DURING THIS TIME.

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic continues to spread, everything from cycling races to the Olympics have been canceled or postponed. Along with this has come closures of schools and businesses, including gyms, leaving many people trying to balance a new routine while still getting in a workout—important for both mental and physical health. So we asked cyclists how they are breaking a sweat in their new routines. From finding more time in the day to ride without a commute to …

… “I live in Houston, Texas, and I am still commuting to work each day. It is a 36-mile round trip each day. I work in the financial field and my job is considered essential. I have never been an inside-on-the-trainer type of guy. It is boring for me. I have ridden in temps from 15 to 105. Light rain and downpours. I just love being on my bike outside. So far in 2020, I have ridden 2,358 miles, per Strava. I have commuted every day this …

April 2020 Executive Director’s Report

By Clark Martinson | bikehouston.org

Bikes in West Houston

Before my job at BikeHouston, I commuted by bike to the Energy Corridor from my home in Spring Branch. Those bike trips were a mixture of major roads, trails and neighborhood streets. I could ride to HCC’s Spring Branch and Alief campuses, Memorial City, City Centre, Westchase, Terry Hershey Park, the Addicks Dam Trail, and The Energy Corridor easily from my home but few other cyclists joined me. …

Clark’s COVID-19 Cycling Errand

By Clark Martinson | bikehouston.org

It was a sunny day when I had to return to Montrose to pick up my new business cards at 2DayPostcards. There was a lot of discussion about the number of people in the parks so I started my COVID-19 errand on my bike from my home in Spring Branch during the off-peak time of 1:30 in the afternoon to try and keep social distance from others. …

Houston Bicycle Crash Report Summary

By Ron Miller | bikehouston.org

The data consists of bike crash incidents compiled by the Houston Police Department from callouts in 2013 – 2018 and part of 2019. The data includes a GPS location, the crash incident severity (i.e. Not Injured, Unknown, Possible Injury, Non-Incapacitating Injury, Suspected Serious Injury, and Killed), the incident time of day, and (sometimes) the street and street number. There were …

Pleasant Encounters

Paolo Margio | www.strava.com

Quickest way to happiness

Venny Alub – Cantu Cycling Wheels | www.strava.com

Texas Biking from Twitter

Seeing More People On Bikes Along My Bike Ride Routes

Texbiker.net Posted on by

COVID-19 rules move some people outdoors riding bikes. While I ride I see many more people on bikes but most do not wear a helmet. I hope head injuries don’t increase. So far people appear to ride sensibility but accidents are not planned. Less vehicle traffic probably helps.

My bike ride on the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route began at 11:22 AM. Earlier fog covered the area so densely that it sounded like rain as the moisture dropped from a tree above the bathroom skylight. The ride covered 33.44 miles moving the week’s total to 68.1 miles and the month to 194.5 road miles plus 18.7 Zwift miles. The road miles goal for April is 600 and Zwift miles is 30. I need to go on a 12 mile+ Zwift ride before my subscription expires April 12th.

The weather is more spring like. During the bike ride: start 80 (85% humidity, 74.8 dew point), mostly cloudy, wind SW 6 mph. Finish 83 (77% humidity, 75.5 dew point), overcast, wind W 8 mph. I wore a long sleeve jersey that wasn’t necessary but I wasn’t real uncomfortable. Along with the long sleeve jersey I added shorts and a short sleeve Texbiker.net jersey. Wind wasn’t much of an issue today except riding west over Lake Houston without any wind breaks.

Some days the legs are tired and today was one of those days. They turned the pedals but when called upon for extra output it wasn’t there. Average speed didn’t get above 13.4 mph because sustaining effort was available. I will label today a recovery day.

Without organized rides my biking routes call for some variety. I need to go on some of my less used routes.

Wednesday may see the temperature hit 90 and the chance of rain is less than 20%. Maybe I can start earlier and go on a longer route for some variety.

  • 4-7-2020 Golden Cheetah Bike Ride Data-1
  • 4-7-2020 Golden Cheetah Bike Ride Data-2

Texas Biking News April 6th 2020

Texbiker.net Posted on by

MAY IS (STILL) BIKE MONTH

by Lauren Jenkins | bikeleague.org

When more people ride bikes, life is better for everyone. It’s one of the League’s guiding principles, one we seek to achieve through our advocacy, our programs, and our campaigns. It’s why we’re responding to the current crisis with resources for advocates and local businesses while also forging ahead on our core work around federal advocacy and building a more Bicycle Friendly America for everyone.

It’s why this May, the League is still celebrating National Bike Month, because bicycling is more essential to our lives than ever—and because we could all use some bike joy to look forward to. We hope that the hundreds …

Zube Park (290 a little west of 99) was empty on Sunday morning… from bikehouston

Greetings Red River Riot participants

Spinistry | www.facebook.com

It should come as no surprise that we will not be holding the event this weekend. We’ve been putting off sending out this official announcement hoping to be able to share more specific information about the plans around the makeup date.

Unfortunately there is just no way to make any definitive plans about anything right now. Every time we started sketching out a potential Plan B, C or D events and circumstances lobbed hand grenades into …

Many Conroe businesses shift gears amid coronavirus

By Meagan Ellsworth | www.chron.com

… Busy time for bicycles Nearby, Race Ready Repair bicycle shop at 206 N. Main has seen some changes in clientele due to COVID19.

Owner Gary Rogers, a full-time firefighter with The Woodlands Fire Department who opened the shop over a year ago in downtown Conroe, said the business has seen less cyclists whose races have been canceled by the pandemic. However, he’s observed a change in clientele with an increase in beginner and recreational riders who are taking their bike out for new tires, gear adjustments, and more.

He has noticed more departmental store bikes, including from Walmart and Academy, and more parents interested in taking …

Houston Bike Share Closing Some Stations Amid Coronavirus, Despite Strong Numbers

GAIL DELAUGHTER | www.houstonpublicmedia.org

Houston BCycle recently expanded to 109 bike share stations, and the nonprofit says it’s seeing strong ridership numbers.

But to encourage social distancing and prevent people from congregating, BCycle has now decided to close 12 of its most popular bike kiosks.

BCycle’s Henry Morris said it appears a lot of people are now using the bikes for solitary recreation, pointing to ridership numbers from March up more than 20 percent from last year.

During the month when people started staying home, BCycle says it recorded a …

Busy Time For North Texas Bike Shops: ‘It’s Going Like Gangbusters Around Here’

By Jason Allen | dfw.cbslocal.com

ARLINGTON, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) – North Texas bike shops are as busy as they’ve ever been, as people are pulling long-forgotten bicycles out of the garage, tired of being stuck inside.

Bikes that have collected dust and rust for years, are now lined up for repairs in area shops.

New bikes are flying off the racks, too, sometimes sold with just a phone call and …

Texas Biking from Twitter

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