TartanTed

Saturday Morning FM-1781 Loop

90F Sunny Day Cycle Circle

Short video of my day around Copano bay

Following on from the TEDx talk on city planning versus city engineering that I posted on Thursday the “what to watch police” thrust the following YouTube video my way (unsolicited). It features the same chap and again I seem to be in agreement with his opinions.

Although I do wear a bicycle helmet but only because it is impossible to guarantee that a ball cap will stay on your head in this windy location and I need something to protect my scalp from the searing rays of the South Texas sun.

Cycling blast from the past #03

June 5, 2020 Tartanted

August 2005 and the children find cycling fun.

When Andrew was born we moved out of Loaningdale and occupied our own little bungalow in the town of Biggar. Emily and I would quite often cycle up the hill on a Saturday morning to have a cup of hot chocolate with the kitchen staff at Loaningdale. Patty must have driven up with Andrew to join us on this fine sunny day.

In Support of Bicycle Networks

June 4, 2020 Tartanted

Or why traffic engineering sucks

I have been watching a lot of YouTube cycling content lately. I’ve always had an interest in cycling but not until now, way too late in my life, have I really delved into “the sport” in such depth. The “lateness” of this interest is a source of sadness to me as my body is no longer capable of what my mind thinks it should and can do! Nevertheless I do what I can and I enjoy it.

Have you noticed that if you even think about something, anything, the plethora of technological devices on which your modern lifestyle relies will start to present you with “stuff” to do with, or closely associated with, that original “thought”.

That is how I came across this chap and I really enjoyed his TEDx talk mainly because I happen to agree with the points he makes.

Cycle Training Progress

June 3, 2020 Tartanted

Deliberation on my Distance Data

Wednesday evening at 5pm and the temperature outside is 90F. For perhaps an obvious reason I did not think it wise to set off on my bike at that time although, having sat at my computer all day, I knew a bike ride would be beneficial to my mental and physical state. I decided to have dinner first and then set off, after dusk, to do a few miles around the sub-division in support of my mission to complete 50 miles per week.
Turns out I’ve accomplished my goal for the week with three days still eligible to contribute. This made me wonder about my total mileage and as can be seen from the bar charts I seem to be well on target In 2020 to exceed my 2019 total.

Tiger Talks Tuesday Trails

June 2, 2020 Tartanted

Another fine day in paradise with temperatures in the high 70‘s to low 80‘s F and an Easterly wind around 10 mph encouraging me to get back on my bike again and clock some more training miles. Hurricane season is here and already we have a third named tropical storm forming in the gulf. It doesn’t look like it will be a problem for us but you just never know until it happens. We are used to being prepared here in the Coastal Bend and, COVID-19 complications apart, we will be ready to deal with whatever the weather throws at us.

In the meantime Mr Tiger Kitten Cat has decided to assist me in writing my blog entries

Weathering the storm.

June 1, 2020 Tartanted

After a very stormy morning the last thing I thought I’d be doing this evening would be adding mileage to my weekly cycling goal. This morning we had a close brush with a tornado which passed 12 miles North East of Rockport. Luckily it formed over water and stayed over water. However the thunderstorms brought flash flooding to the area and my usual waterside cycling roads are covered in water. Nevertheless in the evening the sun came out and I decided to risk a short ride which turned into 15 miles on a beautiful evening.

South Texas – blink and the weather changes.

May 31, 2020 Tartanted

The weather radar showed a break in the front producing a dry, sunny weather window during which time I managed to clock up nearly 13 and a half miles on a day I thought would be a washout (pun intended)

However I didn’t quite make it home dry. I cycled through the Walgreens pharmacy drive-thru lane (yes you can do that on a bicycle although they possibly think you are a bit strange) and that slight diversion meant it rained on me for the final mile of my journey. Of course, this being Texas and not Scotland, rain, when the temperature is in the 80F range, is not an unpleasant experience.

The glory that was yesterday

May 31, 2020 Tartanted

Sunday is stormy but Saturday was overcast / sunny

I have gathered together a few photographs and a short video of my Saturday cycle ride to Goose Island State Park in Lamar, TX. I did not actually enter the park proper but visited the Big Tree and then headed home via the causeway and Fulton Beach Road.