Pedal Houston Raawwks!
2010 June Pedal Houston Pub Crawl
Wow three years since the last ride review. Arnold sent me a link to Pedal Houston http://www.pedalhouston.com/ referencing the Pub Crawl. Sure it was a Thursday night and and Friday morning was probably going to suck, but as we all know, cycling is about sacrifice. Being a first time I had no idea what to expect. I departed for the ride form the Hobby area headed for the Sawyer lofts starting point. I am navigationally challenged. Utilizing google maps and my employer supplied iPhone, I felt like I was on track. Wrong. I was late as usual but they waited a bit to start. Really nice mix of people and machines. Bikes ranged from coffee shop cruisers to a full blown carbon fiber time trials bike. There were even renegade cyclists WITHOUT HELMETS ! And yet nobody died. In a group of 20ish in size ages were distributed from mid 20s to the upper 40's where yours truly resides.
The actual ride was ~7 miles along new bike paths. Chosen specically to make people aware of the new paths existence. One complaint I heard was that our group ws too large for said bike paths which is probably true, but it's a first ride adjustments will be forthcoming I trust. This a was a VERY relaxed ride. Excellent route selection with virtually zero traffic. I found my ride mates to be realxed and amiable . We made two stops Shiloh and Onion Creek with the latter being decidely more upscale than the former. However Onion Creek had $2 Red Stripe which is probably the Jamaican equivalent Busch, but cheap beer form distant lands always feels like a bargain. I had 3 or 4, BTW.
I didn't get to meet everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed the company of Sri,Renee,Philip,Micheal, Steve and some folks whose names escape me. It was a pub crawl afterall. Special thanks to Sri(sp?) who essentially donated an order of Nachos that was pleasantly shared around the table. Everybody seemed ot have a good time and nobody went to jail. Really this was the most fun I've had with my clothes on. Maybe that's sad. Maybe I should get out more. One thing is certain if there is a Pub Crawl II, I'll be there.
2007 Lyondel Bike around the Bay
http://www.bikearoundthebay.org/
This is the first year for the ride and it was held October 20 and 21. The route was 142 miles by my odometer from Fort Anuhuac to Galveston via the Bolivar ferry (Day 1) and Galveston to Baytown via Texas City, Dickinson,Kemah, and the Fred Hartman bridge (Day 2). Each d ay was about 74 miles on the map
This was a great ride for me for a number of reasons. It's a charity ride benefitting the
Galveston Bay Foundation. A greener, healthier Galveston Bay system is good for all of us. For me it a well timed training ride for the Houston-Austin MS150. A good distance to remind me that I'm going to ride the 150 in six months.
For a first time event, this ride went extremely well. I finished up with a 12.5 mph avg. speed which is nothing to brag about, but even at that slow a pace the support was excellent. Plenty of ice and fluids and munchies. Bike Barn provided mechanical support, as well as another shop and I heard no complaints along the route.
The weather was nothing short of spectacular. This is a great time of year for a ride due to th e cooler climes. Day 1 was a challenge. The winds were nothing short of brutal. I skipped the first break point and felt pretty good to the 25 or so mile mark. Somewhere along the 53-40 mile range I thought my quads would explode. The burning was a bit of a surprise. Guess I am further out out of shape that I thought. The ferry was about the 62 mile mark. I had never been so glad to see a ferry landing in all my life. There was a break point staged there and since the saddle sore had started to kick in it was a welcomed respite.
Again the ride organizers did a great job getting us onto an off of the Bolivar ferry. There was space made for us on the last few rows, we walked on and off without incident. The last 12 or so miles through Galveston were well thought out and smooth. I really enjoyed the route along the Strand(ish) waterfront and then through one of the nicer neighborhoods in Galveston. By this time we were having to stop for lights and the ride had become more of an urban cruise. For me it was a pleasant end to long day.
Day 2 again required some organizational finesse. We left the Moody Garden start and headed to the Target parking lot on I-45 North feeder. We split into three groups by speed. The was the first time ever a group rode the causeway bridge, the rumor was that Tx DOT was antsy to get us over the bridge in short order. We were probably all over the bridge in 45 min or so. This portion of the route ran through the not so scenic Texas City, then League city, Shore Acres, LaPorte, and ending up in Baytown at Houston Raceway Park.
The only beef I have is with the last few miles to Houston Raceway Park. On the other hand, it is a bit difficult to put together 142 miles of ride without some bad miles. For that matter, can you even drive 140 miles in Texas and not find a few bad miles?
Let's not forget the volunteers. All of the stops were well manned and/or womanned. They were always cheerful,pleasant and encouraging. Really a great group of folks. I had a brief chat with some of the Galveston Bay Foundation officials what an enthusiastic bunch! We had about 450 riders and I'm sure ridership will grow as word gets around. One of the officials even offered up their home as a rest stop. That is some level of dedication, to invite 450 strangers ( and their bladders) to stop by in your front yard. I'm definitely looking forward to next year.
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