Tex81

Hi folks!

Great community here which I found useful after some Google searches related to cycling. My real name is Blake, online I usually go by Tex. I'm 30 years old and live South of Houston in League City, Texas. I love to run and I'm training for a marathon next year. In order to cross train better, I just purchased a 2011 Trek 1.1 and I have to say I'm very satisfied with it! I've been riding bikes since childhood, but I'm relatively new to road bikes. It's a different machine for sure, but wow it is fun! I am fully addicted and already planning 100 mile rides.

Other things I'm really interested in vary from Formula 1, to space, space flight, astronomy, sailing, photography, and videography to name a few. I'm an administrator and the founder of Orbiter-Forum.com; a community for a free space flight simulator called 'Orbiter', created by Dr. Martin Schweiger of England. It's basically an ultra realistic gravity and space flight simulation for low earth orbit flights to touring the solar system. Between Orbiter, running, and now cycling, my free-time is always busy!

Thanks for having me. I look forward to finding more helpful topics and seeing fellow cycling stories.

p2templin

Welcome aboard, from another newbie. Glad you like your new Trek. My biggest advice to you at this point is: do NOT try a carbon-fiber bike unless you have the money to buy one immediately.

10 Wheels

Hi Tex,

Welcome to Bike Forums.
League City road rider here.

Tex81

Thanks for the welcome guys!

Cheers! I actually saw your pictures posted on this forum when I was doing my searches. I noticed you guys put on some serious miles too! That's fantastic to see someone in my neck of the woods who rides so much. I think it would be an amazing experience to take off for several days on a really long ride. Our weather is supposed to be perfect this weekend, so I'm thinking about riding down to Liverpool and back with a friend. I hate back tracking on my route, so I planned a loop down there from League City via FM 646, FM 517, and County Rd 159/Mustang-Algoa Rd. Then leaving Liverpool and heading South-West down FM 2917 to FM 2004 and back up through Santa Fe. Here is the route on Google maps:

https://g.co/maps/dqdbs

I've never even driven down there let alone cycling. Is there any surprises I should know about that route? Thanks again!

10 Wheels

Looks good.

Believe all the new bridges are open on that route.

Tex81

Excellent! Thanks for your feedback.

I'll post some pics after the ride if I have time to take many. I'll be tracking my ride with GPS as well.

10 Wheels

Have fun....

Tex81

Well I made it down to Liverpool. It was a tough ride because the winds were stronger than I expected from earlier predictions in the week. They were howling at 15-20mph, so the ride down was great being all down wind, but on the way back it was very difficult! Also caught a bad run through the red lights in League City, so my average speed really suffered on this ride. All in all it was enjoyable though and a memorable experience. One thing to note, which I didn't realize when I planned my route, is that FM 646 between FM 1764 and 517 is under construction with huge concreate barriers right up against the white stripe on both sides of the road. It's just over a 3 mile run there and I had already committed to the road, so I couldn't stop as the side streets were all gravel. Best to avoid that part of 646 at all costs!

I was alone on this ride as my friend had to work, so I was only able to snap a couple of pictures with my phone.

10 Wheels

Winds and flats are part of riding in Texas.
How many miles did you get in?

Tex81

61 miles total. Check out my ride stats and route here:

https://www.endomondo.com/workouts/24451293

Tracked using an app on my smart phone.

10 Wheels

Thanks...You had a Good Ride and fast for us old guys.

Tex81

Yea I am paying for it today too... LOL! My legs are good and sore, drinking lots of protein shakes and taking it easy today.