New Route- Katy-Fulshear-Brookshire-Katy 35 miles

I've ridden my road bike a little over 1,100 miles so far this year and I estimate over 600 of those miles have been through George Bush Park.  Time for a change huh?  So I recommended to my group we do a ride starting at Sun & Ski in Katy Mills Mall.  Now notice I didn't say, do the Sun & Ski weekend ride.  That would require getting up and rolling out of the parking lot by seven a.m.  I'm not a morning person and and neither are the rest of the crew.  Seven  in the morning isn't happening.

So the plan was to meet at 8:30 a.m. for a 35 mile ride.  New route, fresh ground!  The route would be South to FM1093, then West to Fulshear, and North on FM 359 cutting over to FM 1489 at Hunt Rd, and back North to Brookshire, then back East to Katy Mills along Highway 90.  The route:

We had ridden the areas around Fulshear with the Energy Riders training group and I was looking forward to the scenic country roads.  This is an area that sees a lot of bike traffic, so I always feel comfortable knowing I can get help in a pinch and the auto traffic won't freak out at the site of a guy on a bike- well for the most part.

We got a little turned around leaving Katy Mills and ended up on a dead end road and switching directions a couple times.  I suppose you could blame me for suggesting a route I didn't know, but I am finger pointing at the guy who said he would print, and bring a map of the route, and didn't show up.  Amazingly at one point we were trying to make a left in the middle of a semi-busy Katy Flewellen (not sure the street) and a guy in a new BMW actually stopped and patiently waited for us to make our turn.  A polite BMW driver!! Can you believe it?

Not quite ready for a cyclocross session

The day has a decent head wind along FM 1463 and it got a little too hot at the end of the ride.  I burned through my two water bottles and was pretty gassed by the time I got to my car in the shopping mall lot.  I went into Sun & Ski and got some advice on better routes South which we'll try next time.  Also with this heat we have decided we'll need to try and become morning people.  Next ride is this Sunday June 1st... leaving at 7:45 a.m.

Flooded Out Bike Path For Bike To Work Day

In 2013 I commuted a tad over one-thousand miles via bike.  Four things kept me from commuting more: business trips, work from home days, lightning, and flooding. So far in 2014 I have commuted just over a hundred miles by bike because I'm now a full-time teleworker.  So I was really looking forward to May 15th's Bike To Work Day.  I used the day as a reason to schedule meetings in the office and made plans to meet up and commute with a fellow Katy dwelling coworker and MS 150 teammate.  So of course we get 8 inches of rain the last two days and the path through George Bush Park is flooded out the night before Bike To Work Day.  Unfortunately the only alternate routes I know of involve streets with heavy car commuter traffic.  Next year then! 

Check out these pictures I took of the mixed use path through George Bush Park on May 14th at around 7:00 PM.

Bench that looks over the river that runs through the park.  This is west of the boardwalk

Entrance to boardwalk from west side

Heading East towards Barker Cypress just after the boardwalk

Heading East towards Barker Cypress just after the boardwalk

2014 MS 150 Houston to Austin Bike Ride. Crossing finish line in Austin

I'll have more on the MS 150 ride, but for now a video of what it is like to cross the finish line in Austin and a few highlights of the ride.




The battery on my phone died so I couldn't track it on Strava but here are my stats: day 1 83 miles, left Rhodes Stadium in Katy TX at 7:10 AM and arrived at La Grange 2:25 Pm. Day 2, 66 miles, left La Grange at 8:15 and arrived at State Capitol in Austin at 2:20.


Favorite moment was a group of workers from one of my company's competitors riding 2x2 in middle of lane, slow and sloppy as their regular work, cars passing on left, and after I called out cars back and they didn't move, I passed on the right.  One of them yelled at me, in most stereotypical southern accent imaginable, that I needed to pass on left. Then I told him to get right and got "I damn will when you get out of the way!".


Favorite rider was easily young pretty girl in full makeup, with false eyelashes, at the second rest stop first day. I wish I saw her day two and after about 120 miles. Or maybe I did?


Most sobering moment was having to walk on the shoulder halfway down one of the steepest hills of day two because police had closed off all street traffic and were tending to a crashed rider. Looked liked they were keeping her immobilized until the ambulance arrived. Riding this far, fast, and in traffic can be dangerous.



Most annoying thing for my teammates was easily my snoring. The next tent over put on an ambient noise app on their phone to drown it out. I remember thinking, "hmm crickets at this hour? Interesting but kind of nice. Soothing".

Energy Riders MS 150 Training Week 8

Energy Riders MS 150 Bike Ride Training Week 8

This last Sunday we were back out in Waller.  We started further North than previous rides at the Waller Auxiliary Stadium.  This is just on the South side of the I-10 and one of the official MS 150 starting points the New Waller Stadium.  We did the full 51 miles route heading North around Prairie View and back into Waller.  The ride was mostly flat with well paved roads and good shoulders and a chill population used to seeing bicyclist.  That said, along  FM 1488 we had a duly pass us too close, he seemed determined to pass us without crossing double yellow in the middle and damn tough if the pinkos in tight pants on bikes don't like it, and a few minutes later another big pickup honked at us as we were preparing to pass a slower rider.  I say two incidents on one short stretch of road is more than coincidence and would reroute myself when I come back.

Starting point of our ride at Waller Auxiliary Stadium

One of the three break points

Third break point looking out at roads

Energy Riders Week #7- Houston Bike Training Route

Energy Riders Week #7- Houston Bike Training Route

This was a great route and highly recommended.  It was nice to get North and ride some hills and see some pine trees.  Here is a map of the route.  A nice break from the usual flat rides and bayou views in Houston.

Map Of Route

We started at Montgomery Intermediate School just off FM 149.  We headed Southwest on Highway 105, then North on FM 1486 for about 18 miles where we went East at Richards along FM 149.  The FM 149 part  of the ride carried us through the Sam Houston State Park for a good 8-9 miles.  This was a 36 mile loop with an option to do another 20 miles loop cutting down Johnson Rd and FM 1097.

I was told that there were three aggressive dogs on Johnson Rd and another rider had his shoe bitten.  The only dog I saw was a wild one in Sam Houston State Park.  He crossed the road 50 yards in front of me and by the time I got to where he crossed, he was in the trees paying me no mind.

Little country store that was site of our first rest stop

First rest stop

Looking south on FM 1486 from first rest stop

Second rest stop in Richards

Closed gas station in Richards that was our second stop

Last rest stop in Huntsville State Park

Last rest stop

MS 150 Bike Ride- Training Session 4 with Energy RIders

Today we biked 40 miles from Brookshire to Waller. The route was an out and back 20 miles each way. The ride back had a 20 MPH headwind and I bonked. At one point I was going 8 mph and thought if a hill came up I would need to walk! Here is a map of the route. Definitely a recommended bicycling route.


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