An Afternoon Downtown, While The Car Took a Rest

I'm a regular visitor to the Energy Corridor area trails alongside Buffalo Bayou. Last weekend I went farther down the waterway  to get a look at the revamped greenbelt facilities immediately to the west of downtown. I decided to go carless for the afternoon, taking the bus downtown and rambled the trails on a B-cycle bike. This blog post is some thoughts on the local transit situation.

I'll share pictures from the park in a separate post.

In August, Metro re-launched its bus route network from scratch. Seeing these local lines below get beefed-up service means that Energy Corridor area transit has finally made a baby step forward in convenience for getting to in-city weekend fun at least:

82 Westheimer -- featured as part of the "Frequent Network" but can be crowded and rather slow as it makes numerous stops on what is probably the busiest commercial corridor in the city
160/161/162 Express lines (via Memorial City) and 152/153 Harwin Express -- these lines form alternatives that can get Westsiders into inner-Loop destinations in about an hour.

Another welcome addition: real-time bus arrival information via text messages. Every bus stop has a number, and if I text that number to 697433, I get a text back letting me know when the next bus can be expected. This is great for finding out if my bus is delayed. Metro's interactive service map will show routes and the bus stop locations and their numbers. Checking the text-backs of adjacent stations will tell me if I can make a timely transfer between routes.

(For my personal workday commuting, however, even the new network is still useless. I'd only need to cover 10 miles, but the way the buses run would mean a two-hour trek with two transfers each way.)

Longtime residents might remember when many blocks of downtown Houston were used as cheap surface parking lots. I think that time is past. With more attractions downtown and less real estate to store cars, the parking operators have responded with a rising tide of rates -- $80 to park near the stadium for a recent Astros playoff game; $100 to park for a Taylor Swift concert!? Just the normal weekend charges have convinced me to use Metro for the coming marathon expo, as I don't need to pay $10-$15 just to stop by the GRB to pick up my race packet. For race morning, though, private transportation still appears to be the winning choice.

I did find B-cycle useful for my time around Buffalo Bayou. Growing up in the quiet suburbs, I'm not yet comfortable with the idea of riding across Midtown and the Montrose. The actual bikes remind me of the rental shoes at bowling alleys: they're functional, but clunky and certainly not the kind of equipment you'd desire to own for yourself. I did notice that Bike Barn has a rental shop near the Sabine Street bridge with much nicer looking bikes if you're ready to part with more money, of course. At $5 for a day pass, B-cycle is a bargain if you're OK with checking-in at a station once an hour.

Concerning cycling here in the Energy Corridor: The bayou trails are excellent cycle paths separated from car traffic. Howver, the on-street bike lanes on thoroughfares are still only 3-4 feet wide, in uncomfortably close confines between car traffic and curb. That has to change before cycling becomes a popular choice for everyday errands and commuting.

"On your left" . . . times thirteen thousand

I planned today's six-miler so that I could take a break in the middle and watch one of the starts of this weekend's BP MS150. Shortly before dawn, I reached my perch overlooking the Omni Hotel just as the singer began belting out the first bars of the national anthem.

Over the next 45 minutes, wave after wave of cyclists pulsed out over the Addicks Dam and down into the misted forest. The State Capitol in Austin -- their final destination -- waits for them 180 miles away. It's a sight you don't see every day:

As I was leaving, I couldn't resist snapping a final picture of the Brightroom photographers. After having them capture my not-so-glamorous side at so many events, turnabout is fair play, I say!

Tour de Donut

For most of this past weekend I was pretty occupied with moving, but I am pleased to report that I did make the time to ride in the 5th Annual Tour de Donut, a cycling event that benefits the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

There were two rides offered in this event this past Sunday. The serious cyclists would take a 55-mile loop route starting and ending at Katy Mills Mall. The other option was the shorter 28-mile donut challenge, which would offer two stops well-stocked with donuts. Each donut consumed in this challenge would earn a five-minute deduction from the rider's time.

Y'all already know which box I checked on my entry form, right??

About fifteen minutes after the clock started, I crossed the start mats with the back of the pack. The route was slightly altered this year, with riders being sent out of the mall parking lot and over to the Interstate-10 feeder road. I think this change gave the riders more pavement to work with and reduced early bottlenecking.

It was a beautiful morning with cool, sunny skies and some breeze as we turned off the highway onto the two lane blacktop that cut south into the Katy prarie. This section of Fort Bend County is making the transition from rural to suburban, with horse ranches and feed stores alternating with newly-sprouted master-planned communities.

I'm far from being a serious cyclist. My only "training" was taking my Schwinn Suburban out of the garage for a ten-mile ride the previous weekend to make sure it was still working. One of the ride marshals pulled alongside me and grinned. "You're doing pretty good on that mountain bike." I suppose I was.

Just like last year, I did a lot of passing in the early portion of the ride. Among the parade of wheels, I saw more than one tandem bike, a couple of rollerbladers, and a pair of young ladies sporting pairs of short-shorts and brightly-colored over-the-knee long-stockings.

At mile 11, I made it to Fulshear (pop. 718), the site of the first donut stop. I pulled off the road into the gravel-covered parking lot in front of an attorney's office. The cyclist behind me lost control on the gravel and skidded sideways to the ground. He gave me a good startle, but he was okay. So it was time to hit the donut line.

"Start me with three," I told the volunteer. She plucked three glazed Shipley's donuts from one of countless boxes and placed them in my hand. I turned my back on another volunteer, and she made three hash marks on my race bib. (Last year, I showed up with my race bib on the front of my shirt, runner-style like a noob.)

Down went the donuts: 1 . . . 2 . . . 3 . . . yummy! Back in line, I asked for three more and got three more hash marks.

4 . . . 5 . . . 6 . . .

With the sixth donut, I could sense that my stomach was starting to question what I was up to. I was already one donut shy of my count from last year, but I decided that I had eaten enough for now and re-mounted my bike. I felt really loaded down, like the donuts were five pounds each or something. It wasn't until three miles out of Fulshear that I was pedaling normally again.

After that first stop, the 55-mile route split away and the line of riders around me had definitely thinned out. I certainly was far from the only one out there on a cheap bike. I waved the "sign of the horns" at a guy with the dulcet tones of Kiss rising from his handlebar speakers. I exchanged greetings with a couple of riders sporting Aramco Houston Half Marathon shirts.

Turning north, we passed the halfway point of the route entering Waller County. We proceeded on to the bustling city of Brookshire, Texas (pop. 3450), where the second route stop at mile 18 waited for us at a quick-lube shop. I accepted three more glazed from the donut tent and took them down -- slowly. By the ninth I had "hit the wall" in gluttony terms and had to take a seat on the curb. Another guy and I marveled at a third gentleman standing in the grass puffing away.

"A cigarette!?" we asked incredulously.

"Hahahahaha," replied the smoker. "Yeah, and I've had ten dounuts too."

I wouldn't even think of emulating his example, but I admit that I was impressed. I did want to reach double-digits in the donut count today, so I staggered to my feet, and asked a volunteer for one final sugar-coated ring of fried dough. It felt like a long, long time, but I earned that tenth hash mark on my bib number and re-mounted for the return leg to Katy.

I never really felt normal for the rest of the ride. Really feeling loaded down, I was fighting a headwind and was barely eking out 12 mph. As I entered the mall parking lot, I noticed my Garmin had ticked off 29.3 miles for this year's revised route. As the race clock ticked to 3:01, I rolled across the finish mat, feeling accomplished. Last year my chip time of 2:07 and seven donuts was good enough to put me in the top 15% overall. This year's official results are still being tabulated, but I'm pretty sure going for more donuts this year possibly cost me more time than I got back in credit!

48 hours 'til it's time to eat the donuts!

With the Tour de Donut coming Sunday, I used this "rest" day in my schedule to liberally apply spray lube to my Schwinn Suburban Sport and go for a short 20 minute ride to make sure everything is "mechanically sane."

All systems appear to be "go" for now!