Texas Bicycling News Digest August 16th 2018

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Morning Ride 8/16/18

Rosanna Campos | www.strava.com

Keep Going!! Rode solo to the kids school today and then some!

Leo Vela | www.strava.com

Hello my old buddy “Bush Park”!! missed you!!

Leo Orta | www.strava.com

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmiuMI0BtZs/

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

New Event Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Heat Advisory, RV Wave Memories Bike Ride

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Today’s bike ride was along the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman Extended” route for 33.96 miles moving my month’s total to 511.97 miles. This leaves 288 miles to reach the 800 mile goal for August. Start time was 10:20 am as I was slow getting out the door. Watching stage 4 of the Binck Bank Tour from Belgium contributed to the delay.

Weather during the bike ride: start 90 (66% humidity), partly cloudy, wind SW 8 mph. Finish 94 (59% humidity), partly cloudy, wind S 6 mph. While I was riding I got an alert of a heat advisory for most of the afternoon which is not unheard of around Houston this time of the year. Good thing I finished the ride at 1:18 pm.

This route is hard to build up my average speed with all of the stops. There aren’t many long stretches of uninterrupted road. The longest section is on FM 1960 over Lake Houston at around 2 miles long in both directions.

When I rode past the RV park on Old Atascocita Road just west of FM 2100 I waved at the man sitting in the lawn chair by an RV. He is sitting there many times when I go by. He usually waves back if he sees me. This reminds me of when I sat on the porch swing at my Grandmother’s house overlooking US40 in Hopewell, OH. I watched the traffic go by and waved to people but I think I was too far away for them to see me. This was maybe 60 years ago.

Stopping at the Huffman Chevron I stayed longer than I planned. The shade was inviting and the comfort of the Dean Food milk crate kept me there about half an hour. I went inside and attempted to buy a Blue Bunny ice cream treat but the cost was almost $3.40 and it was more than I wanted to spend so I refilled my water bottle with plenty of ice and water. Back outside I resumed my resting on the milk crate. The breeze could’ve been stronger but I cooled down some after using many paper towels to soak up some of the sweat. The ride summary when I stopped at the Chevron station.

Wahoo Ride Summary Huffman Chevron

About 30 minutes after stopping I got back on the Canyon after refilling my water bottle again, rode over to FM 2100 and waited for an opening to cross and begin the ride north to Smith Road. This is the “extended” part of the route. When I got to Smith Road I had to wait several minutes for traffic to clear enough for me to move from the right shoulder across two lanes and onto Smith Road. Smith Road needs some attention with several places where the asphalt has slipped on the subsurface leaving cracks in the asphalt. If I was not careful a bike tire could get stuck in a crack. At other places liquid tar was poured into splits causing lumps in the road.

Getting back to FM 1960 I bicycled west over Lake Houston and then on to Atascocita side street to the north. The heat was noticeable making the occasional shade welcomed but brief.

More of the same weather for the next few days. More bicycling planned.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

Texas Bicycling News Digest August 15th 2018

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Slow news day

Team

Ekaterina (Katya) Morzhueva | www.strava.com

Space City Cycling Paperclip Ride-Who needs sleep when nature and its heat awaits you? Not me

Rosa Guerrero | www.strava.com

Possum Walk loop and Elkins Lake w/Craig

Ron Gunnels | www.strava.com

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

No Crowd Roaring, Stadium Empty Bike Ride

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Due to a time constraint I chose a slightly shorter route today biking 31.12 miles. I added some side streets to get the miles above 30 and called this the “Kingwood – FM1485 – Kingwood” route. This bumped the week’s total to 108.35 miles and the month to 478 miles, leaving 322 miles to my 800 mile goal.

Rolling out the driveway at 9:32 am was almost as early as I planned and I finished at 11:56 am within, my time limit.

Weather during the bike ride: start 87 (74% humidity), a few clouds, wind 4 mph. Finish 92 (56% humidity), a few clouds, wind S 7 mph. The wind wasn’t much of a problem bu there were places requiring extra pedaling effort: bicycling south on the I-69/US59 service road from FM 1485 to Valley Ranch Parkway, Valley Ranch Parkway from the Grand Parkway to FM 1314 were a couple. While I was on Valley Ranch Parkway behind the shopping area I stopped and took these two photos of the New Caney ISD athletic complex. School starts next Monday and the activity at the stadium will increase dramatically but shouldn’t affect bicycling since I ride earlier in the day.

Bike Ride New Caney Stadium Bike Ride New Caney Stadium 2

Not sure what the pink is on the curb near the front tire. I didn’t notice that when I took the photos. The building to the right is the natatorium for swimming events.

Only one brief stop at the Stripes station on FM 1314 to refill my water bottle. I almost didn’t stop but changed my mind and it was a good decision. The cold water was good and lasted to the end of the ride. If I hadn’t stopped I would’ve run out of water before finishing.

No TickrFit HR monitor for the ride. I am getting a warranty replacement in a few days. Wahoo Fitness support is good.

More typical August weather on Thursday, good for cycling.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary