Carl Pointer rides his recumbent bicycle on the new recreational trail along a CenterPoint Energy easement near Hiram Clarke Road and Sims Bayou on June 8.
Martina Alavarez came for the free snow cone, but she was impressed with the new trail along Hiram Clarke Road all the same.
“Watch me run,†Alvarez, almost 4, told her mother, Grace Smith, as she dashed along the new paved trail.
With roughly four miles of new trail in the neighborhood along Sims Bayou and a electric transmission route, officials in …
Every so often someone — always a car driver — gets on the neighborhood app called Next Door to bitch about bicyclists or biking infrastructure the City of Austin has installed. The latest is about some plastic bollards that make a semi-protected bike lane, narrower car lanes and additional concrete that is meant to be traffic-calming. It’s in what was designed to be a high-density, pedestrian and bike-friendly neighborhood. Named Mueller, after the former …
While cycling Flat Rock Ranch in Texas the mountain bikers got a surprise when they all got back . someone stole there windshield wipers , WHAT A LOW LIFE , funny and sad .You stole wiper blades ??!! pic.twitter.com/aFLH4ur9cM
When two huge bureaucracies find a way to yes, you know two lawyers worked many long hours to get it done. Happy to join Jason Ryan of @energyinsights at the ribbon cutting for the 1st Centetpoint easement trail in Houston! Great work by @houparksboard and the City on Sims Bayou pic.twitter.com/qLHaGl4uQ9
— Judge Steven Kirkland (@stevenkirkland) June 8, 2019
Disruption was the theme for today’s bike ride. I disrupted my Sunday routine by starting the ride 1 minute after sunrise at 6:20 AM. With a time limit I chose the “Kingwood to FM1960” route and rode 20.56 miles improving the week’s total to 224.45 miles and June to 257.49 miles, 32% of the way to my 800 mile goal.
With the early ride I will rearrange which church service I go to from 9 AM to 11:15 AM which will be different.
Starting that early the weather was cooler but the humidity was 97% so I left the arm sleeves off and wore shorts and a short sleeve jersey. When I finished at 7:52 AM I was dripping with sweat from the humidity. Afternoon finishes don’t include all of the sweat since the heat is high enough to evaporate away. Weather during the ride: start 72 (97% humidity), fair, wind calm. Finish 74 (97% humidity), fair, wind NE 4 mph.
Sunrise was beautiful and I stopped on this bridge along Kingwood Drive to take these photos.
From there I rode south on W. Lake Houston Parkway and onto Upper Lake Drive. I should’ve watched closer on Upper Lake for the entrance to the Atascocita Hike & Bike Trail but I didn’t think it began there. At Kings Park Way a left turn and onto the greenbelt took me to an entrance to the hike & bike trail which I followed to W. Lake Houston Parkway by the Capital One Bank. Think it ended there I took these photos.
But when I looked at the map in the second photo I saw the trail went farther south. I didn’t have time to ride it today but I will in the future.
At this point I made a turn around and headed back to Kingwood. I passed several people out walking and some had their dogs with them; I waved or said hello to many of them. By now the sun was above the trees and the sky was a bright blue. Traffic was starting to stir but not too much. It felt different biking so early but the scenes were gorgeous.
Monday weather will continue the heat and dryness. I plan on biking.
Strava Year Progressions YTD Bike Ride Miles
2018 miles continue to lead 2019 but 2019 leads all of the years.
With 2020 right around the corner, numerous trail segments are starting to open for use.
Houstonians have at least four new hike and bike trails to explore this summer, with paths opening up along the Greens, Hunting and Sims bayous.
The four pathways are part of the Bayou Greenways 2020 project, which is converting 3,000 acres of land along the city’s bayous into linear parks. When complete, the $220 million project will include 150 miles of trails that connect communities along the waterways.
Looking for a way to have fun? Come out to the Playa Drain Trail to ride your bike, stroll through the nicely paved stretch of trail, experience the native plants and enjoy the sights! https://t.co/YRbS0VFT3g#HealthyPdNpic.twitter.com/ROoUM0lZUJ
— Houston Bike Plan (@HoustonBikePlan) June 8, 2019
Shoutout to all our Sweat N Serve volunteers! They got a nice 4 mile bike sweat going, and then topped it off with a painting service project. Y’all the real MVP’s. Thank you for giving back to the community! 🚴â€â™‚ï¸ðŸŽ¨ pic.twitter.com/obDYnknG5e
Went out of my way to hop on the 🚲 lane after work @ 530 am. Saw 3 other cyclists in the area. If I were to choose 3 words to describe it; Dogs, Debris, Development. These lanes NEED to be cleaned frequently in order to make these implementations a success! #completecommunitiespic.twitter.com/aoM22HGp8L
I started the bike ride a few minutes earlier leaving at 8:18 AM on the “Atascocita – Huffman – Walden” route. I needed 31 miles to put the week at 200+ miles and I actually biked 34.59 miles pushing the week’s total to 203.89 miles, making this the fourth week in a row of 200+ miles. I plan on biking a shorter route tomorrow (Sunday) to boost the week a little more. June now totals 236.93 miles, 30% of the way to my June goal of 800 miles. YTD I am 50% of the way to my 6,800 mile goal.
The reason I try to leave around this time on Saturday is to see other cyclists along the route. As I rode south on W. Lake Houston Parkway over the San Jacinto River a group of 6 cyclists headed north marking the first ones I spotted. I saw another cyclist on Kings River Drive on the way to FM 1960. Once I made the left turn onto FM 1960 from Atascocita Shores Drive several groups and single riders passed on their way to the west while I rode east.
On Fairlake Drive is where I usually see most of the bikers and the largest group were in the church parking lot. A white Jeep JKU Wrangler followed me from FM 1960 and pulled into the parking lot as I pulled to a stop on the far side of the entrance. From that spot I took these photos. The blue sky is a biker’s dream.
I waited a few minutes to see if any other bikers would appear from the south on Fairlake but none did so I got back on the Canyon and continued the ride. The next ones were on the east side of FM 2100 on Old Atascocita Road. As they approached I said hello and to say “cheese”. as they rode by.
After I took that photo I rode east to a driveway and waited to see if any others would come by but no one did. Turning around I headed back to FM 2100. Now the headwind came on the scene and I had to pedal harder than I did getting there thanks to a tailwind. The ride north on FM 2100 to Huffman was easier with the wind from my left but in Huffman I changed to riding west on FM 1960 into the headwind again. According to Strava today’s ride was “consistent with your usual efforts.” I pedaled hard enough to keep my average speed at 14.0 mph and after getting onto the causeway over Lake Houston I saw another cyclist in the distance. He was riding slightly slower than I was and I gradually got closer to him by the time we reached the west end of the causeway. I moved to the center lane to turn south onto Atascocita Shores Drive while he turned right but reappeared at the traffic light heading south while I waited for the green arrow. Stopping at the Chevron station for ice and water he rode south and disappeared by the time I came back out of the store. That was the last sighting and I rode through Walden, Atascocita, and into Kingwood finishing the ride at 11:10 AM. Overall I guess 30 to 40 bikers crossed my path during the ride, not as many as last Saturday.
Weather during the bike ride: start 77 (82% humidity), a few clouds, wind W 5 mph. Finish 90 (60% humidity), a few clouds, wind NW 10 mph.
My plan is to ride early before church tomorrow.
SportTracks Bike Ride Summary
Strava Year Progressions YTD Bike Ride Miles
2018 is a tough year to follow as it still leads 2019 by 3 miles. All other years are less than these two years.
