Saturday morning's outing proves that the good people who placed these B Cycle stations, never gave any thought to crazy people trying to bike from one to another in some crazy game. But this is my biking area, so I figured it was high time to knock it out, even though my biking buddy stood me up, again! This time it was lame excuse like being on call, and getting assigned four jobs Saturday Morning. Several times in the past two months, he has thrown me over because his wife wanted to go somewhere, and once he cancelled on me so he could go see his Mommy! Talk about misplaced priorities! Not sure this Bromance is gonna make it!
Anyways, I often ride down Keegans and Brays Bayou Trails. I have actually gone as far as MacGregor Park (and took a bus back!), so this is my territory. I started at the Meyerland Jewish Community Center Station, parked my car in the neighborhood, and grabbed a bike. The Bayou bridges at Chimney Rock and South Rice are almost completed. Workers are now playing with temporary water pipes and have been spraying grass seed on the banks of the bayou.
Before you get to S. Braeswood and Linkmeadow B Cycle station, be sure to stop at 3 Brothers Bakery. I am certain there is a city ordinance that all bikes must stop for hammentaschen! At Linkmeadow, I managed to grab an E Bike, which made my left knee very happy. I consulted a map and headed almost straight to NRG park. I went through the parking lot to the north of the stadium, to get to the station on Fannin. Stop in the park and enjoy the rodeo-themed sculptures. I guess this is what they bought with the profits from all-things-deep-fried!.
Texas Medical Center is bigger than anything I ever imagined, and this little trip made it bigger. I rode through UT student housing, saw an olympic sized pool in use, and watched people play cricket in a paved parking lot! They had to dodge streetlights as part of the game.
I thought I would take a shortcut through the VA hospital grounds. Note to self, not all gates are open on Saturday morning!
I was dictating notes on my iPhone, at the TMC Innovation station on Holcombe, when a young couple stopped at the station to check-in, check-out, wax-on, wax-off just like all of us are doing. Not sure if it was the dictation, or the image of me on a bicycle, but one of them asked me if I was "the guy that blogs!" Wow, I have been validated. Someone really is reading this stuff!
A further note on this station. The upcoming Park-to-Port ride will probably offer this parking lot as an option, it IS the closest lot to the starting point of the ride, but while it was handy, and easy to get into, when all of us tried to leave the parking lot at once, I spent 30 minutes in line. I'm going to park by the Zoo.
It was decision time - do I stay South of the bayou, finish my stations, or do I head across Hermann Park for several more hours? I headed home, which was good, because this smooth ride was about to be interrupted.
The station at Bertner and Braeswood is BEHIND the building, and you drive under the building to get there! Sneaky
I took my E bike to Smith Lands and pushed it into the slot. The station grabbed the bike, but would not admit it had said bike. Since it has not recognized the incoming bike, it would not let me have another bike, and the clock was ticking on my E Bike rental. I called Daisy, but apparently she was trying to help 20 other riders, so I pulled out my Metro bus card and climbed on Metro Rail, heading home. Soon, however, Daisy at the Service Desk, got my message and reset my account, so I grabbed a bike at TMC transit station and finished my trip. I have said this before, the technology may not be perfect, but the B Cycle staff are!
At one station, I met a mother with a three year old, both on the B Cycle. Seems she had a URider child seat that quickly attaches to the seat tube and then rests on the main down frame. the kid has a seat, a front handle, and basically rides between Mom's knees. I did find it on Amazon. I saw how she had it mounted, and believe a bungee cord would help stabilize the front of the frame. Mom told me she had just returned from the grocery store!
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