Texas Biking News December 5th 2019

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Electric scooters, bikes could be permanent on popular Austin trails

By Mark D. Wilson | www.statesman.com

Electric scooters and bikes could become a permanent fixture on some of Austin’s popular parkland trails in coming months.

Austin Parks and Recreation off…

Man on bicycle struck by vehicle at Waco intersection

by: Matt McGovern | www.fox44news.com

WACO, Texas – A man on a bicycle has been struck by a vehicle at a Waco intersection.

The Waco Police Department tells FOX44 the accident happened at the corner of Waco Drive and N 5th Street.

4th and 5th Streets, near Waco Drive, have been shut down but will be open later on in the evening.

The man has been transported to the hospital with serious injuries.

Austin Transportation Department holds open house on proposed changes to Stassney Lane

Luis de Leon | www.kvue.com

AUSTIN, Texas — The Austin Transportation Department held an open house Thursday to show Austinites their proposed changes to Stassney Lane. The department said the proposed changes are to help make the road safer for everyone.

“Stassney serves a lot of different uses for this part of our community. It’s a major east-west connector and it helps people where they need to go," said Laura Dierenfield, division manager at the Austin Transportation Department.

The proposed changes would specifically happen from the corner of …

Texas Biking from Twitter

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

SE Texas December Weather Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Biking in December the weather can be contrary but so for two days in a row temperatures above my cold threshold awaited as I rode. Today the temperature edged up a couple of degrees before I started out on the “Atascocita – Walden – E. Lake Houston Parkway” route at 11:26 AM to bike 27.51 miles. With two days of biking I am 35% of the way to my 150 mile goal for the month. Granted the goal doesn’t rival previous months but between uncertain weather and holidays I don’t count on biking a lot. This year will be different since my wife passed away and I bought a smart trainer to ride indoors.

Weather during the bike ride: start 73 (66% humidity, 60.9 dew point), mostly cloudy, wind S 9 mph. Finish 74 (66% humidity, 61.8 dew point), partly cloudy, wind S 7 mph. Since it was a few degrees warmer today I left the leg warmers at home and switched to a regular long sleeve jersey under the jacket. The onshore wind flow meant the chill was gone but riding over Lake Houston reminded me that chilly wind blowing off the lake can happen.

Biking south on W. Lake Houston Parkway approaching the bridge reminded me of the upcoming bridge repairs next week on the north bound lanes. A section needs the bearing pads replaced with a projected lane closure of a week. I will not bike that way until the repairs are completed around December 18th. Crews chipped away the dividing concrete separating the traffic to route everyone into the south bound lanes. There is a sidewalk/greenbelt beside these lanes but a guardrail makes getting on and off a treacherous undertaking.

Friday’s weather forecast calls for a high of 75 under partly cloudy skies and a 20% chance of rain. Looks like favorable biking weather to me.

12-5-2019 SportTracks Bike Ride Summary
SportTracks Bike Ride Summary
12-5-2019 Strava Bike Ride Summary
Strava Bike Ride Summary
Strava Year Progressions YTD Bike Ride Miles
Strava Year Progression YTD Bike Ride Miles

Texas Biking News December 4th 2019

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Bikerumor Pic Of The Day: Big Bend bikepacking along the Rio Grande, TX

By Cory Benson | bikerumor.com

Dave Redding sent in these photos of the Rio Grande from the Texas side…”such a beautiful river! Taken during an awesome 10-day tour of the Big Bend country. Super thanks to Carolyn and Tammy at AdventureCycling.org” …

Is it too soon to remind people again to register their bike with bikeindex.org? from cycling

City survey finds scooters are problematic on hike and bike trails, suggests banning them

by Jordan Bontke | cbsaustin.com

AUSTIN, Texas — Love them or hate them, the city is still reviewing data surrounding how scooters can best be used in Austin.

On Tuesday night, the Parks and Recreation board heard a presentation with suggested recommendations on how scooters can co-exist on city park trails. This comes after an eight-month survey involving extensive citizen communication and a pilot program where scooters were allowed on selected park trails: …

Santa Bike Ride returns to Longview Saturday

Rose Lundy | tdn.com

Santa’s got a new ride, and it’s a bicycle.

For the second year, bicyclists dressed in festive holiday garb will ride around Longview’s Old West Side on Saturday morning ahead of the city’s holiday parade that evening.

Organizer Marti Fine said the event serves two purposes: celebrating winter and holidays; and showing people it’s possible to bike year-round.

Fine moved from Connecticut to Longview two years ago. Since …

Gateway Park gets a bike-share station

fortworthtexas.gov

The newest Fort Worth Bike Sharing station is at Gateway Park, in the parking lot by the sports fields at 5302 E. First St.

The relocation begins an effort to expand the system coverage to more parts of Fort Worth. Be on the lookout for more station relocation announcements in the future.

Across the Fort Worth Bike Sharing system, there are 46 stations and 350 bicycles.

Saturday Dec. 7- east side park meeting

By mack_turtle | austinmountainbiking.com

This flyer has been going around. My understanding is that plans for John Trevino Park are up in the air and there’s a big push for a skate/bike facility. The meeting this Saturday could be an opportunity to voice your interest in the park doing that.

One issue I noticed: the park seems to be very difficult to get to without a car. For kids, that means it might as well be on the moon. The park is about two miles east of the Walnut Creek Trail on MLK/969. According to …

FORT WORTH BIKE SHARE’S TOUR DE LIGHTS

www.nearsouthsidefw.org

Wednesday, December 11 6:00 pm — 9:00 pm

Location 125 South Main St. Fort Worth , TX 76104 SOMA MicroPark Fort Worth Bike Sharing invites you to Tour de Lights! This social ride will start and end at the SOMA Micro Park with time to sip, shop and see at the local businesses in South Main Village. Santa will stop by before the ride heads out, too.

We’ll ride through …

Waco Christmas Light Bicycle Cruise

WËLHOUS | wacoheartoftexas.com

Wëlhous 324 South 6th Street, Waco, Tx Dec 06 2019 TIME 5:30 pm – 7:30 pm Come join us for a social ride through the Downtown Waco area in pursuit of Christmas lights and good times. We will be starting from our shop, heading out to explore streets decked with Christmas lights, and finishing our ride in the perfect spot to watch the fireworks after the Downtown Waco tree lighting. We have finalized the route so be prepared for about 1.5 hours and roughly 13 miles of riding. Any level of rider is welcome, but be prepared for approximately an hour and a half of riding. All bikes are welcome, but we are on WACO roads so expect rough pavement and some gravel (we recommend mountain or gravel bikes). Lights and helmets are required.

Texas Biking from Twitter

https://twitter.com/DPDBikeSgt/status/1202364143325655041

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

First Bike Ride in December

Texbiker.net Posted on by

After a bunch of days off not biking I got back on the bike and rode to Community Drive following the “Kingwood-Community Drive-Valley Ranch” route for 25.71 miles. My days off wrapped around Thanksgiving as I drove to Ohio and back after visiting relatives, my younger daughter, two grandsons, sister, and brother-in-law. To allow them a taste of Texas at Thanksgiving I took a pecan pie from HEB which everyone enjoyed. On this trip I drove my Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon about 3,000 miles, more than I drove it in the previous 12 months. But I still biked many more miles on my Canyon Endurace CF SLX.

In Ohio the cold weather kept me from thinking about biking there if I had brought my bike. The reason I live in southeast Texas is the weather allowing me to ride each month.

Today’s bike ride started at 11:52 AM after the temperature rose to 67 or 68. Blue sky with no clouds beckoned me to be outside. Weather during the bike ride: start 69 (39% humidity, 42.7 dew point), a few clouds, wind N 6 mph. Finish 72 (31% humidity, 40.1 dew point), a few clouds, wind NE 7 mph. Mt exposure to colder weather on my trip may have caused me to dress warmer than necessary for the ride with shorts, leg warmers, thermal long sleeve jersey, and a windbreaker jacket. In the sun I felt hot at times but the headwind and shade cooled me down enough.

My legs were rested from the days off but I didn’t ride hard to give them time to get back in the riding mode. Time constraints held me to the shorter than typical distance too. My goal for December: 150 road miles and no specific goal for indoor virtual riding though December weather will probably force me indoors at some point.

Thursday’s weather repeats today’s and I plan on riding outside to enjoy it.

12-4-2019 SportTracks Bike Ride Summary
12-4-2019 Strava Bike Ride Summary
Strava Year Progression YTD Bike Ride Miles