Bear Creek Crit

On Wednesdays from the middle of April through May every year the Northwest Cycling Club hosts a criterium in Bear Creek Park.  This is a .8 mile course.  The races start at 5:30 with Cat 4 &5's and finish with P,1,2,3's starting an hour race at 7:00 PM.

The loop is in the middle of the park on Sullens Way.  That is important to note because Bear Creek is a big park and first hand experience says you can spend a good chunk of time circling around without finding it- middle of park on Sullens Way folks!

There is a nightly purse and primes as well as a series award for category winners.  The series doesn't have a web page but they update their Facebook page frequently.

On a nice Spring night you can't beat picnicking in the park while hearing this great sound!

Energy Corridor Bike To Work Site

In advance of May 15th's Bike To Work Day I came across the Energy Corridor District's great Bike To Work site.  They are having an event on Bike To Work Day from 6:30 to 7:30 AM at the Gazebo, just off Memorial, in Terry Hershey park featuring a free breakfast, raffle, and giveaways.  They will have Bike Champions leading commutes from several points in the surrounding area (Alief, Heights, Sugarland, Katy) into the event at Terry Hershey. The longest commute I saw was 19 miles. You can sign up for a ride or email a champion for more info.  These route maps are a keeper. 

My commute from Katy is pretty close to one they are doing, though I add a mixed use path from Fry & Mason to Westheimer instead of proceeding further North on Fry.  I just like being off the roads especially during commute hours.

These route maps are a keeper for both commuting and weekend ride ideas..

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".

More National Attention. This time NPR

Another national report, this time on NPR's All Things Considered, on the growing cycling culture in Houston.  The focus is Texas wide but they do specifically mention Houston passing 100M bond to improve cycling paths.  You can here the report here: All Things Considered

Some National Attention For Houston

Bicycling Magazine's blog The Hub has some positive things to say about the city's bicycle master plan, safe passing ordinance, and undercover sting to catch menacing drivers.  They also give nice props to Bike Houston.  To quote from the blog:

One is simply about size: Houston trails only New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago in terms of population in this country, so this has the potential to benefit a lot of people.

It's great to see the positive press on Houston and the progress the city, mayor, and bike community have made. Again here is a link to the post:  http://blogs.bicycling.com/blogs/thehub/2014/04/01/cycling-police-sting-drivers/?cm_mmc=Facebook-_-Bicycling-_-Content-Blog-_-police-sting

New "Share The Road" video PSA from City Of Houston

Mayor Annise Parker and the City of Houston released a "share the road" public service announcement video yesterday. The video highlights the safe passage ordinance that went into law last year, provides some tips on driving safely around cyclists, and has a remain calm reminder. The "be the better person" line may rub me the wrong way, but I appreciate the point they are trying to drive home. All-in-all I say it's a damn good video.




Sometimes I think the mayor gets it.

Disjointed February Critical Mass

February 2014 Houston Critical Mass

So last Friday's Critical Mass featured a very heavy Houston Police Department presence with numerous officers at intersections, following the route, and even a police helicopter overhead for the entire route.  It was a disjointed presence, as if HPD didn't know if they were there to help ease congestion or harass the Critical Mass Riders.  At some intersections HPD was stopping car traffic and letting bicyclists pass through red lights.  At other intersections they were yelling for cyclists to stop at reds and or waiting to ticket red light runners.  Early in the ride we were followed by an overweight officer on his motorcycle who was pretty hostile.  He was waiting at an intersection and started blaring his siren when the light turned red, there were no cars coming so I thought his siren was telling us to continue through the red.  When I started to cross against the light he shot out his motorcycle to block the path and yelled the light was red.  I stopped and ignored his yelling but was thinking, 'what the hell, a half mile back HPD was telling us to run reds'.  Later when we were on N. MacGregor Way we were followed by a HPD car who would blare out on her loudspeaker for cyclists to stay in the right lane whenever anyone came close to the lane marker.  To me it felt more like harassment than safety assurance.  After the mid-route break at  Telephone RD and Wayside Dr HPD stood by and didn't do any traffic control to help ease congestion.

For me Critical Mass is a way to have a fun, safe, low-key ride around town at night. I get a kick out of seeing families on the side of the road and little kids waving or smiling at the Christmas tree lights on my bike.  If we make a statement that reminds motorists there are bicyclists in Houston and to share the roads then great.  I lived in San Francisco throughout the nineties and remember some really hostile Critical Mass rides.  That's not for me, but part of me wonders if the Critical Mass "Organizers" need to stop sharing the route with HPD or maybe do the ride at 5:30 PM and see how HPD likes that.  That said I'll be out in March enjoying the ride as best I can.  Check out some pictures below.

The Ride:

The Route

Waiting for ride to start at Market Square Park

Waiting to get started again after break

Little more waiting to get started again after break

Still more waiting to get started again after break

And even more waiting to get started again after break.  Notice the B-Cycle bike?

You can check our the Houston bike share program here: Houston B-Cycle

The Bikes:

Cooler on rear rack doubles as a kickstand

Cooler on rear rack has been customized as a stereo

Inside the cooler.  He said he used a moped battery to power this.  It was good and loud too.

Fat Tire Bike With Front Basket

Fat Tire Bike With Front Basket

Nice Fat Tire Bike

Couple Low Rider inspired Beach Cruisers.  Got to love the dice on these nice rides.

Fixie with I think a Brooks saddle.  Picture doesn't do justice to this sweet bike

Motocross bike turned bicycle