A Sunday game of Tidy Up

 After Church, Sunday, I decided to tidy up my checklist and pick up some orphan BCycle Stations.  You know, the ones that are quite a distance from the other stations.

I started down in Third Ward, around MLK and Griggs.  Caught three stations within a few blocks of each other.   The local Houston Public Library Branch has three large bird sculptures.   Closer inspection reveals that many of the feathers are book titles that have something to do with "birds" from Chicken Little to Six Days of the Condor.    Colorful.  

Someone pointed out a pit bull in a Spark Park.   I guess because I was sitting in front of the school, I must work there.  (It was Sunday) I informed an HISD officer, and offered the dog some water.   I think the gate shut behind him, but I was not going to let him out, even though he looked rather peaceful.

There are four bike stations at Lake Houston, so for the first time, I went to Deussen Park, as well as Eisenhower Park.  They are pretty much next to each other, unless you are on a bike or in a car, in which case that crow don't fly right!   Deussen Park is quite spread out and offers many picnic pavilions and playgrounds, as well as boat launching facilities.   I tried to join a couple of parties, claiming to be cousin Steve from San Angelo, but maybe it was my lack of a red T-shirt, but they we were not buying it.    The pavilions are spaced out so you don't feel crowded.   Looks like a great place for birthday parties and reunions.

Eisenhower Park, from what I could see, was two trailheads and a parking lot.    The trails looked a little too "mountain bikey" for this old man, and the sign said the trail was 3 1/2 miles long   Pass.

So now, I'm East of Beltway 8, East, so where should I go next?  Yep, almost to Beltway 8 West, off of I-10.    I'm pretty sure the local association or developer paid for these stations, they just seem to belong in the neighborhoods.    Good Luck finding Memorial City Club station,  but it is between the Mall and Bunker Hill.   The station  is within 20 feet of several visitor parking spaces, so there is hope.   The security lady watched me, but left me alone.

Get out your GPS, because I am going to tell you unless you know where Pearl City Center is, you will never get there.   Hint, it is just East of Fuddruckers, which may not help as that hamburger place is also well hidden.   But I can see where BCycle can really add to the experience at these little enclaves  of more-money-that-I-have.    What is needed now is a station at the mall to give these bikers a destination!  And if that is my picture, I need to smile more!

Monday was not a BCycle day for me.  My siblings are coming in from Austin and I will guide a tour from MacGregor Park, to the ship channel, west through Greater East End and then South to Universtiy of Texas.    I want them to think I know what I'm doing, so I rode about 18 miles and scouted a viewing area of the port (saw three big ships!) as well as places to eat.    As long as I was out there, I hit a few stations.   

If you haven't ridden Brays Bayou Greenways Trail (I just call it Brays) here is a tip.   Great parking at MacGregor Park but you need to enter from Calhoun.  Hint, the bridge is not yet open to traffic.   This is your standard Houston Parks Board trail, eight foot wide concrete trail with markers here and there.   Just past the golf course is a side trail that  will take you to Magnolia Transit Center, either to get credit for a BCycle, or to catch Metro Rail home.   Your choice.    Mason Park has a BCycle station way out there, you can easily take it to the Brays trailhead.  Take a minute to admire the hike and bike bridges.   If you cross Brays Bayou on Navigation, there is a track/trail that can take you to a nice viewing point for the Port of Houston.  Ignore the trash, this is, after all, Houston.

Speaking of trash, for next year's treasure hunt on wheels, I am recommending we all take a little time to police up some of this trash, especially the stuff in and around the bike stations.   I saw several parked bikes with baskets full of trash.   Maybe we could earn a "Good Samaritan" badge if we fill a couple of grocery bags and dispose of them properly.

I ate lunch off of Canal, at a Salvadoran place   First time eating Salvadoran food.   Basically similar to Mexican with several differences,  The tortillas were 1/4 inch thick, the beans were pureed and more seasoned, and the Pollo Guisada  was made with different spices.   I believe this is authentic, I was the only Anglo in the place.   

A hidden gem is the Harrisburg Rails to Bike Trail.   You get away from traffic, except there are cross streets every 500 feet, and that traffic don't stop.   Remember to look left and right so you don't become a hood ornament!

A piece of the track of the former railroad.

There are several pockets of very cute little homes in this area, but the neighborhood needs help.

I turned South on Cullen.   Protected bike route, complete with the "Armadillos"   I saw one that had been knocked loose from the street, and I wanted to take it home, but it just would not fit in my backpack!....University of Houston was very daunting.   I knew I was the outsider, and I tried real hard to avoid thousands of students moving between classes.   I also avoided the little robots that I think are delivering food!    It was fun when two robots met each other, one seemed to lose it's mind!  I hit a few stations, and returned to my car.

Brays Bayou Trail is pretty much MY trail.   It is a two mile ride from home to the Keegans Bayou Trailhead, then four miles to Brays @ South Gessner.   From my house, all the way to MacGregor Park, is 20 miles.   Been there, Done that, rode public transportation home.   From MacGregor to the port is about 6 miles or so.    The city and Houston Parks Board are busy extending Brays West.    By this time next year, if we all say our prayers, and mind our Mothers, you will be able to bike and hike from the Houston Ship Channel, all the way to Arch Bishop Fiorenza Park (he passed away last month) and a few miles beyond!   I am so excited, I check on construction every month.   There are a few ribbons of concrete west of Dairy Ashford!   This will be a long trail, separate from roads, and with many underpasses to avoid cars at the intersections.

As Dale and Roy sang: Happy Trails to you, until we meet again!

Home Tours

 For those who are new to this blog, I am trying to check out a bike from all 153 B Cycle stations in Houston, during the month of October.   I have biked through parts of town I had never seen until now.  Yoiu might want to look at my earlier posts.

Last week I rode through The Heights, and yesterday I rode through much of Greater East Side.   I try to take side streets in order to avoid being run over, so I am seeing areas I would never see from my car.   This morning's Chronicle has two articles on page D-1 about these neighborhoods.   The 2022 Eastwood Historic Home Tour is October 15-16 just south of Harrisburg, close to Cullen.  The Sanctuary, formally the Church of the Redeemer is now affordable housing.   Several units will be open to the tour.   Two houses are on the tour, as is a former ironworks, now office space.   

For information:  eastwoodcivicassociation.org     

The 2022 Norhill Bungalow Home Tour is in the Heights Saturday and Sunday.    Six homes are on the tour.   

For information:  norhill.org

For those of us who are admiring the local homes from the outside, this is a chance to see the inside.  And yes, it costs $$.  

Montrose and the Washington Corridor

 Friday night, I dropped a granddaughter off at a meeting in Montrose and started riding my bike in the south part of Montrose.   I have no pictures because it was getting dark.   Sorry.   I tried to stay on neighborhood streets with no traffic.   Fairview is a street that works well, as it will get you close to several B Cycle Stations.

I started at Freed Library, rode through St Thomas (nice little campus), And drove past the Rothko Chapel and the Menil Collection.  Alabama, Richmond and Westheimer have all sorts of little restaurants, cafes, and bars, most were rather busy on a Friday night.   Taft and Fairview has a busy Mexican Restaurant, but there is also an Art Gallery with the large windows where you could see the beautiful people being cool looking at strange art while holding their drinks and canapes  (I could not spell hor'something, and my spell check was no help).

Riding on Houston streets, especially at night, is like playing FROGGER.   If you ask me what that is, please send me a Geritol.   It seems that everyone in Houston, no, Texas, has a death wish.   Cars seem to take aim at bikes, pedestrians cross Southwest Freeway at 3:00 in the morning and we wonder why we have so many deaths, and we cyclists are just as bad.   We do not own the roads!   Stop signs and traffic lights are there for us, too.

I looked it up on the TxDot website.   November 7, 2022 will mark 21 years of constant daily highway fatalities.    People, we average 10 a day!  Even worse, during the pandemic lockdown when traffic dropped by 50 percent, fatalities actually went to 11 per day!

OK, enough preaching.

Saturday morning I headed to Buffalo Bayou and Eleanor Tinsley Park.  Road were closed because of an art festival, and the walkways were crawling with people on some kind of organized walk.   Parking is never easy down there, but can anyone figure out the signs on the Allen Parkway parking areas?   Every post says emergency no-parking.   I watch too many UTube videos from GTOGER where we watch tow trucks haul away cars because people cannot read signs, so I went to another station, parked, and started riding.

I am not the only one doing this Tour de B Cycle.   I met several.   The check-in and right back out is the give-away!    I lost track of how many times I crossed the bayou, but it was worth looking at every time.   Beautiful weather, many people out walking, riding, walking dogs, playing, and just enjoying NOT melting in the heat!  

Spotts Park had a parking space, so I started there.  Crossed the bayou and went to Eleanor Tinsley Park. The Sabine Bridge is real close to The Cistern, and I found my first restroom.  Short ride to the next station.   Took me a while to figure out how to cross Memorial and go up Sawyer to two stations.  Long stretch of back streets to Pearl Washington, and now I am heading south to the other side of the bayou.

The Lost Lake station is across Allen Parkway from Lost Lake, which looks like someone used a lot of concrete on a bog.  A notable feature of Lost Lake B Cycle is that it is in the shade!   How did that happen?   

My map told me I was close to the Royal Norwegian Consulate General, and I had never seen it.    Seen it, got the T Shirt.  My final Montrose station was Regent Square.   Nice buildings, the B Cycle is bolted directly to the concrete, has no solar panel, and just looks very neat.

I'm on my way home.   The nearest B Cycle stations to me are the Inner Loop SW stations.   Now, I love our B Cycle staff, but its obvious there were a number of spread out stations that didn't fit into a neighborhood.    Welcome to Levy Park, north of Southwest Freeway, and many miles from my Meyerland JCC station, on Brays Bayou.   Levy Park is not easy to get to, it's kinda hidden.    It is also a very beautiful little park that includes carts full of games, art supplies and books, and I saw teenagers playing with a pile of toy trains.   There is a dog park with some of the most active dogs anywhere!  The children's play area is incredible.    There is a putting green with toddlers trying to putt.   Cute.   Even some food trucks.

But here's the thing.   The bike station is across the street from the park.   It is labeled "Levy Park" and all bikes (I saw three E Bikes) have the City of Houston Seal.    Levy Park is a Houston City Park, with the longest list of rules I have ever seen, to inlude:  NO CYCLING.    I was asked to leave by security.  Despite all the rules, the place enjoys a lot of usage.

Went home and took a nap.   Sunday, I may pick up some loose ends.

F

 

Group Rides

 I heard about a group ride at the last minute, and fussed with rush our traffic for an hour.   Memorial Park.   Pleasant ride, but I don't recommend a 6 pm start time, as guess what happens on Houston road about that time?    Add construction on Memorial, and I was worn out.

The guide pointed out that getting from Memorial Park to the WinPark/Four Oaks, might not be that safe, so we skipped it.   Now, I wasn't gonna argue, but I have a lot of experience  playing FROGGER on my bicycle.    Hwy 6,  in Sugar Land, Southwest Fwy frontage roads, S Main.  

So, here are flyers for two future rides.   (B Cycle, if I am violating copyright, tell me)

The Heights

 On my last ride, I may have ridden too long.   I tried to fix that Wednesday.

I took the Park and Ride to downtown.   I managed to find an E Bike with a full charge (a first for Dan) and I kept it all day.    Here is a note about how the system works.    It's fine to check in and out all day with the standard B Cycle, but I now know that every time I checked this E Bike in and back out, the cash register went ding!   $8.64 for the day.    (B Cycle people, this was my doing, I should have known.)  Whatever, I worked about as hard as I do with the old 3 speed, but I went faster.

Monday, I had to go back home for my iPhone.   Wednesday, I reached into my backpack, and found that my insulated quart thermos of ice water was still on my kitchen counter!    Deal with it!  (By the way, as I write this two days after this ride, I asked a stranger to call my phone when I couldn't find it in the car.    It was on top of the car!   And we encourage this guy to ride a bike?)

I headed into the Washington Corridor for a few stations, then headed north to pick up the Eastern most Heights stations.  I rode through an old part of the heights, lots of old house, trees, and signs marking this as a historic district.  Bric-a-brac and wrap-around porches. and two cats in the yard, life used to be so hard, now everything is ........The Heights have so many cute little streets with cute little bungalows, and most of what I see is either restored homes, or new homes that try to blend in.   Three story homes no wider than the two-car garage seem to be the norm, but I see no McMansions.

Beach Park has an HEB water feature.   I may be 69 years old, but I hit the red button to activate the water jets, just as if I were seven!   

Where on earth am I?  The sign says 19th and Rutland and I thought I was riding through the Houston Heights, but I think I've been transported to downtown small town Americana!  Sorry, I forgot to take a picture.

I was ready to stop, and hey, here's Heights Central B Cycle.  Right here is Ike's Love and Sandwiches, so I parked my bike and ordered my sandwich, and now I don't remember what I ordered, but it is good, and I like it.  The bread is listed as their own Dutch, and it's very tasty.   The décor up in the ceiling is lunchboxes!

It's a school holiday for Yom Kippur.   There are a couple of boys just outside a park on the main MKT bike trail, and they are selling lemonade and cookies!   Good, too!   Ice in my cup.   It doesn't get much better than this!

I have passed three ice cream places so far today, all in the Heights!  but was too full to stop.    When I finished with the heights in Stude Park.   I found that the new connecting trail from Stude Park to the MKT railroad bridge is not quite open, so I turned East on White Oak Trail and on to MKT, into downtown, where I swapped the E Bike for a ride on Metro rail to Wheeler.   I climbed aboard 152 to Westwood  Park And Ride.   An interesting thing here is Bus 152 doesn't stop between Wheeler and Hillcroft  Transit Center, which made the ride shorter than taking Bus 65, which was also an option.   See what I have learned!

My trip Wednesday was a good two hours shorter than Monday.   Good plan.

5th Ward, Near North Side, UHD and a couple of miles too far

 Monday, October 3, I headed to the Park and Ride in plenty of time, only to find that I had left my iPhone in the house.   45 minutes later, I arrived at Park and Ride in time to see the last bus leave.   Fortunately for me, a commuter then chose to drive in, and by giving me a ride, she was able to use the HOV lane.   Worked out.

So, starting from a downtown station, I knocked out U of H Downtown.   Note that there is a back road from UH Daly lot to Burnett Transit center.  I had no idea University of Houston Downtown had become so big.   The lady who took me into downtown told me she went there for all four years plus her masters.   Nice, modern campus, easy walking or biking between buildings, and what looks like a very convenient shuttle from satellite parking lots.  

The Exchange at Hardy Yards doesn't look like anything on the map, but it's within walking distance of UHD and hosts the $5 million postcard view of downtown Houston!   These are beautiful apartments/condos that look to be the beginning of a livable neighborhood.   I missed the UHD Shay Street building, so I backtracked, and now I have earned my first badge.

From Shay Street I headed East past the Catastrophic Theater (what on earth?) and some other very quirky businesses in old warehouses.  Stopped to watch a train go by (lots of them, it turns out), 

I pick up Lyons Ave, which goes close to several stops in 5th Ward, but first I have to stop at St Arnold's Brewery.   I have been in Houston 18 years, and this is my first visit to the brewery.  I circled the parking lot and determined that the bier garten (German spelling) opens at 11:00 and it was almost that, so I had lunch and a beer.    Very good food and service.

Here is an observation:  When the Army sent me to Germany almost 50 years ago, Germany was busy consolidating breweries into just a few giants, and now, here in Houston we have little breweries all over the  city.   Go figure.

Continued East on Lyons picking up 5th Ward.    I can see some gentrification, and some houses that have been renovated, but I also saw run down homes.

Anybody know the story about this brick sculture on Lyons?

Crossed Buffalo Bayou and up Navigation.  From the bridge I could see some of the East River Project.   I was getting tired by now, so I just noted the sign pointing to the Houston Maritime Museum.   Maybe next week.    Cruised into EADO and struggled through downtown to Smith, where there is a stop every two blocks for my P&R bus.   It was right at 3:00 so the the express   buses were running.

Some random thought about the whole experience.

You don't want to be in a hurry.   Look around, there are many places we have never seen before.

I think most of us are checking a bike in, and immediately taking it back out, or taking out another, so we can get credit for the B Cycle station.   Give yourself a couple of minutes before you try to take the next bike, as the system needs a minute or two to reset your account.

If you run into problems at a station, call the service desk.   Many call centers want you to recite every number you know, including your Mother's maiden name, Daisy just needs your name and location, and she will fix any problem.

I ran across two B Cycle techs on the road.   Joshua bailed me out when I questioned whether that out- of-service station was really out of service.

And finally, whether you plan to hit all 153 stations, or just a couple of neighborhoods, I hope you have a great time, as I am.

Tour de Bicycle - I get started!

 I headed to 5th Ward after church.   I decided there were a few stations too far from the others for a full day's ride, so I headed to Mickey Leland Park.  Zero bikes.   Cross US 59 and go to Henderson Park.  Large Live Oak provided a shaded parking spot for the car.    Checked out a bike and headed back to Mickey Leland Park.    

Leland Park has a very nice memorial to the late congressman.   It is also the trailhead for Hunting Bayou Trail, so I rode down the trail, crossed a couple of bridges and came back to the station.   This is a very nice, paved trail that may someday go all the way to Buffalo Bayou.

Back at my car, I decided to scoot over to Moody Park.   Crossing the Metro tracks can be interesting, the park had families engaging in numerous Sunday afternoon activities.   Took a bike to Quitman nearnorthside Metro, then on to Leonel Castillo, where the station and I had some misunderstandings that the nice lady at the service desk helped me with.    One slot would not lock, and another slot would not unlock, so once the lady manually got me a bike, I decided to head back to Moody Park.

It was a nice day to ride.    Hopefully, we are done with high heat for a bit.