Texas Bicycling News Digest July 19th 2018

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Cycling for a cause: University of Texas students ride into Edmonton en route to Alaska

Dustin Cook | edmontonjournal.com


Riding into MacEwan University Wednesday afternoon with wide grins on their faces, it was hard to believe these 23 University of Texas cyclists have travelled about 5,470 km over 47 days.

The students — part of the Texas 4000 cancer research bike ride — are raising money and awareness during a 70-day ride from Austin, Texas, to Anchorage, Alaska, covering 6,473 km (4,000 miles).

In total, 69 riders are taking part in three different groups along three routes and they will join in …

Richardson – Saturday AM Road Ride

Richardson Bike Mart | www.bikemart.com

Richardson – Saturday AM Road Ride

We have different options for different riders – please select the ride that is appropriate for your skill level.
Route Start Time Distance Avg. Speed Directions
Pro (No Leader) 8:00am (seasonal) 61 miles 20+ mph Map
Tour de Allen (Leader Assisted) 8:10am (DST only) 36 miles 18+ mph Map
Tour de Plano (No Leader) 8:11am (DST only) 29 miles 16+ mph Map
Pro (No Leader) 9:00am (seasonal) 60 miles 23+ mph Map
Tour de Allen (No Leader) 9:05 AM 36 miles 19+ mph Map
Tour de Allen (Leader Assisted) 9:05 AM 36 miles 19+ mph Map
Tour de Allen (Leader Assisted) 9:10 AM 40 miles 18+ mph Map
Tour de Plano (Leader Assisted) 9:11 AM 32.6 miles 16+ mph Map
Tour de Richardson (Leader Assisted)
5 min. Starbucks stop at Renner Rd. & Northstar. 9:12 AM 20 miles 16+ mph Map
Tour de Donut (Leader Assisted)
5 min. Starbucks stop at Renner Rd. & Northstar. 9:14 AM 20 miles 14+ mph Map
Tour de Beginner (Leader Assisted)
5 min. mid-ride stop. No trailers. No rain, 45°+ only. No drop! 9:15 AM 13 miles 10+ mph Map
Recumbent Ride (Leader Assisted)
5 min. mid-ride stop. No trailers. No rain, 45°+ only. No drop! 9:15 AM 13 miles 10+ mph Map …

Bid on Hurricane Harvey Repairs To Armoring of the Nueces Bay Shoreline/Bike Path in Corpus Christi

www.texasbids.net

Bid Date & Time: 07/31/18 2:00 PM Prebid: 07/24/18 11:00 AM
Solicitation Title: Hurricane Harvey Repairs To Armoring of the Nueces Bay Shoreline/Bike Path
Owner Solic Number: 16-1699S Status: bidding Report: 8783101
Country : United States State: TX County: Nueces Location: Corpus Christi
Scope: Scope of work generally includes cut and fill to reshape approx 200-LF of an existing shoreline providing additional fill to stabilize embankment, furnishing and placement of geotextile fabric, size 2″ to 6″ bedding stone, size 6″ to 18″ armor riprap, and repairs to asphalt bike path as necessary. This is a LS contract.
Notes: A pre-bid conference (attendance is strongly encouraged) will be held at PCCA Administration Building, 222 Power Street, Corpus Christi, Texas 78401 at 11:00 A.M. CST on Tuesday, July 24, 2018. Project Manager: …

Hard Heat Hill Day With Rodney Austin + New Sunglasses

Chas Hornung | www.strava.com

WEDNESDAY with CYCLONES

Eduardo Salas (Cyclones) | www.strava.com

Easy Hot Juvi

Ed Bustillos | www.strava.com

Memorial Park Crit – 1st

Lupe Ontiveros | www.strava.com

Bike MS: Cactus and Crude Ride 2018

Odessa American | www.oaoa.com

Bike MS: Cactus and Crude Ride 2018, presented by Apache, has been scheduled Saturday and Sunday.

The ride starts in Midland and travels to Lamesa for an overnight stay before finishing up at the Caprock Winery in Lubbock.

The annual two-day fundraising ride is an opportunity to raise funds to support …

Hunting Bayou Greenway Event

Houston Parks Board | houstonparksboard.org

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

https://twitter.com/sawheelmen/status/1019946734762561537

No Rabbits Just Heat Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

I didn’t get started quite as early as I wanted to with wheels down at 10:04 am. The delay was from me watching a little more of stage 12 of the TdF than I should have. As I rolled out my plan was to ride the “Stroker Road – Huffman” route but around the 4 mile point I changed to the “Kingwood – Hare Cook Road – Kingwood” route to add 4 miles to the ride. With the different route I rode 45.54 miles. The last time I did this route was May 14th, 2018. I didn’t see any rabbits or hares on this ride. They probably stayed home in the A/C watching TV.

Weather during the ride: start 85 (75% humidity), mostly cloudy, wind SW 9 mph. Finish 95 (52% humidity), a few clouds, wind W 10 mph. The Sahara dust wasn’t as noticeable and I didn’t have any trouble breathing.

Not many stops during the ride. The first one was at the Chevron station on the west side of Lake Houston on FM 1960. After this station there isn’t another one until the route exits Hare Cook Road onto FM 2100 and I wanted to top off my water bottle with ice and water. It lasted all the way to the second stop at the Huffman Chevron where I took a rest break to cool off in the shade, eat a Clif Bar and drink lots of ice water. The Wahoo Elemnt ride summary up to that stop.

Wahoo Bike Ride Summary Huffman Chevron

The stop lasted about 25 minutes, long enough for the PowerPod to go to sleep. Before leaving I refilled the water bottle for the 11+ miles to the finish. Biking west the headwind slowed me down some but my legs were up to the effort even though it was almost 37 miles into the bike ride. The headwind dropped off when I turned right to bicycle through Atascocita Shores and Kings River to W. Lake Houston Parkway. I held my average speed at 14.4 mph until I got to Town Center in Kingwood where stops and traffic slowed me down. As I went through Town Center passing the closed McDonald’s the big excavator was picking up the last pieces of the building and leveling the ground. Looks like they are going to start rebuilding from Hurricane Harvey and the flood. This has been a long time waiting and wondering if they were going to do something. Bicycling on I finished the ride at 1:51 pm just in time for heat of the day to roll in, but it was hot already.

Friday’s weather forecast says the high will be 101, the first triple digit temperature day of 2018. North Texas is even hotter. Maybe I will start earlier then.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

Texas Bicycling News Digest July 18th 2018

Texbiker.net Posted on by

Cyclist’s tour goes through Baytown

Alan Wiederhold-Sohn | baytownsun.com


Canadian cyclist Martin Frank Wong’s continental tour from Mexico City to Toronto, Canada went through Baytown on Monday. His tour, “Cross Continent 4 Cari” is raising awareness and funds for Doctors Without Borders.

Martin Frank Wong doesn’t consider himself an athlete. He just cycles for a cause greater than himself.

Wong, a native of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, rode through Baytown on his bicycle Monday as part of his North American tour, the second such long trek he has taken. Wong set out from Mexico City on his bicycle on June 19, with the goal of reaching his hometown in September. …

Concho Bike Shop Closes Doors After 30 Years

By Zoey Hanrahan | sanangelolive.com


SAN ANGELO, TX — Concho Bike Shop will be closing its doors after being in San Angelo for 30 years. Concho Power Equipment will remain open but the bike portion of the store will be closing up shop Saturday, Aug 4, according to the shop’s Facebook post.

“There has been a steady decline in the bike business,” said Randal Smith owner of Concho Power Equipment. “It was just time to end the bike portion of the shop.” …

Request for Qualifications – Design-Build Services for the Mountain to River Trail System

www.texasbids.net

Bid Date & Time: 08/15/18 2:00 PM Prebid: 07/25/18 2:00 PM
Solicitation Title: Request for Qualifications – Design-Build Services for the Mountain to River Trail System
Owner Solic Number: 2018-1535R Status: bidding Report: 8781326
Country : United States State: TX County: El Paso
Location: djacent to the Franklin Mountain State Park located on Tom Mays Park Access Rd.
Scope: DESIGN-BUILD: Generally, the design-build team’s scope of services and work will include the planning, development, design, engineering, and construction of the site work, facilities, parking, roadways, and related improvements for the project, including but not limited to all architect, engineering, construction, and other services necessary for the successful development, execution and completion of the project. See attached file.
Notes: Re-bid conference: July 25, 2018 at 2:00 PM at 218 N. Campbell EL Paso TX 79901 City 2 – 3rd Floor – Large Conference Room. Questions due:
in writing no later than August 1, 2018.
Plans: From Owner. See attached file.
Owner Type: Public
Buyer: El Paso Purchasing & Strategic Sourcing Department …

Great day on and off the bike

James Jimenez | www.strava.com

Bugs Galore! Also, I killed a frog.

Jackie Martinez | www.strava.com

TUESDAY WITH CYCLONES

Eduardo Salas (Cyclones) | www.strava.com

Tuesday Ride with GT and Maria

Nona Drake | www.strava.com

Texas Bicycling from Twitter

New Events Added to Texbiker.net Calendar

Heat, Wildflowers, Dog Sprint Bike Ride

Texbiker.net Posted on by

The Sahara dust still hangs around casting the sky into a gray to gold haze but not lowering the heat any. Yesterday Texans set a new record for electricity used at 71,112 MW and today will probably go higher. I didn’t put out anywhere near that amount of power while I bicycled the “SR242 – Old Houston Rd – FM1314” route. According to the PowerPod and Elemnt computer my max watts was 502 and average was 133 watts. I biked 44.3 miles boosting July to 520.3 miles, only 280 miles to reach my goal for the month.

I saw another biker in the first few minutes of the ride on my street and later another one was in front of me by about a quarter of a mile as I biked through Woodridge Forest on the way to I-69/US59.

Wheels down at 9:51 am in an attempt to get started before the temperature ramped up. I left before stage 11 of the TdF finished so I will catch up after I take my shower. The race had about 25 miles to the finish. Weather during the bike ride: start 85 (73% humidity), mostly cloudy, wind W 9 mph. Finish 93 (56% humidity), a few clouds, wind W 9 mph.

Wind wasn’t much of an issue on the ride north to SH 242 but biking west on SH 242 required a lot more effort with some rolling inclines and the headwind. I was glad when I reached the Chevron station at FM 1485 and SH 242. I stopped long enough to refill my water bottle with ice and water. Then I was back on the Canyon heading west to Old Houston Road. There the wind moved to my right side and I picked my speed back up all the way to FM 1314. On FM 1314 I noticed all of the wildflowers blooming in the grass and stopped for these photos.

Bike Ride FM1314 West-1

Bike Ride FM1314 West-2

The recent rain keeps them blooming and the mowers at bay.

After stopping I resumed the ride east on FM 1314 until I got to the Circle K/Valero station at Sorters Road where I stopped for about 15 minutes to eat a Clif Bar and drink cold water. While I was sitting on the water bottle rack outside one came and asked how I rode in the heat. I said as long as I am moving it doesn’t feel that hot. He asked how far I was biking and where I rode. Then he asked how old I was. As he walked away he said he wished he would bicycle when he was that old. After reaching his pickup truck he walked back to tell me he was going to Humble if I wanted a lift. I told him no need for a lift. Several minutes later another man who had been sitting in his pickup truck in front of where I was sitting got out and walked to the trash can not far from me. He asked some of the same questions and wished me well. I went inside to refill my water bottle before leaving.

I made good time to Old Sorters Road where I turned right. Bicycling through Briar Tree and past the two schools on Briar Berry Lane I went through the W. Hammond Drive intersection where the street changes to W. Hammond Drive. I noticed the lot on my right with a mobile home back in the trees had some people in the driveway. Usually no one is there but cars sit but the grass was freshly mowed and a big black dog was with them. He spotted me and started running to the street barking. I didn’t hear anyone call the dog but I started pedaling faster but he was gaining on me. Then I pedaled harder and started to get some distance from him and after another hundred feet he gave up. It has been a long time since the last encounter with a dog at this spot but I watch as I ride past this spot. Today it paid off. At the top of the sprint I was going 21+ mph.

Riding through Oakhurst I slowed down some to regain my energy. From there to Northpark Drive I got back to speed and made my way through Kingwood Place back to I-69/US59 to begin the ride back into Kingwood. I finished the ride at 1:17 pm, in time to avoid the peak heat time of the day.

More heat in the weather forecast for the next several days. I will try to get started early tomorrow too.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary