Texas - I like it here!

Until recently I had concentrated on Bicycle Mechanics, Touring, Single Speed, and General, and did not even notice this Southwest forum until looking for threads on the recent Houston-Austin MS150. I like it here so far! :) Bellaire is in SE Texas, surrounded by the giant spawling amoeba of Houston, along with two other small bordering cities, West University and Southside Place. We try to be a bit of Mayberry inside all the urban sprawl, and Bellaire is a bit more bicycle-friendly than (most of) Houston, if for no other reason than the rigourously enforced speed limits.

I think Bellaire was Houston's first streetcar suburb, wasn't it? They still have one, but it's just on display in a park, I think.

Ahh Bellaire. I remember when that was a viable shortcut to 59 South.

There is indeed a streetcar still in the park. The big thing happening to change Bellaire now is the demolition of the bungalows and the building of two- and three-story trophy houses.

I grew up in Bellaire. My mom still lives in the same house only now it is surrounded by giant two and three story houses. It's hard to say Bellaire is bicycle friendly, it's just not as bad as the rest of Houston. They did have bike lanes on S. Rice but they had the usuall problems. Parked cars and trash occupied them normally. With the Braes Bayou trail you could get from Bellaire to downtown, Herman Park or the UH campus pretty easily.

Even Houston beats the rural roads in the east part of Harris County, where there are no shoulders, and the cars move at freeway speeds. When I was growing up out there, in the 60's and 70's, it was expected that bicyclists leave the paved roadway when a motor vehicle came along. I was amazed the first time I saw cyclists in Houston actually remaining on the pavement, even taking the lane, when cars approached.