Texas - Moving to West Houston! Where should this Road-Junkie move to?

Hi everyone! Long time lurker, first time poster!

Thanks to a many things going well career-wise, there is a good possibility that I'll be moving from Gainesville, FL to Houston. As a biker it's painful because Gainesville is without-a-doubt awesome for road cyclists but... career comes first.

I'll be working at a location close to ConocoPhillips but I'd rather live by some nice safe roads/routes/rides 1st, proximity to work 2nd, and nice social atmosphere (I don't want to be single forever) 3rd, and *cough* affordable 4th*cough*,

Can anyone recommend a nice area to look into? I hope to continue biking as much over there as I do here, so if you know of any place at all, please post! (Maybe theres a tech-saavy roadie looking for similar in a roommate? :innocent:)

This 19mph 80mi/week averaging clyde needs to continue the habit. Any pointers would be super awesome!

I would suggest far, far, far west Houston—like, Austin.

I am not in far west Houston, but the recently active thread on country roads toward Fulshear is relevant, as Fulshear is out there past Katy, toward Wallis. There are plenty of road cyclists out that way.

I am stuck inside the loop for now, the loop being Loop 610, of course, but I hope that retirement will see a move out somewhere along a general arc from Bellville to to around Flatonia. That is a bit far for a commute to central Houston, but close enough to drive in to Houston for special occasions, and also similarly near enough to Austin, Corpus Christi, and San Antonio.

It's going to tough to beat Katy. For one, it's practically next door to ConocoPhillips. You're on the correct side of town to venture out further west to get into the hills without living in the sticks, and they've finally finished all the construction on I-10 so it's actually usable as a freeway again (unlike 290 which is still just a really long parking lot).

Teeleton

I would suggest far, far, far west Houston—like, Austin.

Agreed- I'll throw in my 2 cents on San Antonio. :D

Hope your transition to Houston life is a good one. Reality is if you want to ride, you can ride anywhere. I live close to Rex G and ride the roads as well as bayou trails all the time. For serious miles though I head out West (Katy), North (Conroe), or South (Sugarland).

Despite some people's opinions, Houston is a great cycling town. I know we dont have the hills, but there is much more this city has to offer outside of cycling that smaller towns cannot. And besides, a quick 3 hour drive and you are in Austin or San Antonio riding your butt off.

Samrij, the first thing you should do is go to the CP cycling club website (http://www.conocophillipsbikeclub.org/). They have a huge group and have some serious dedicated riders. I train with them for the MS 150 which is another thing you might want to check out. Training for the 150 with CP will show you all the major routes that Houston has to offer in one season. Plus you will meet more people than you care to know.

Anyways, you can acheive goal 1 anywhere in the season. Goal 2 can be acheived from any of the many parts of houston as long as you're willing to drive 20 minutes or so. Goal 3 cannot be acheived in Katy or west houston. You need to be in the city. Look at the Galleria, Uptown, Montrose, or even Downtown for a young vibe. Goal 4, heck this is Houston. You can find any price range you want out here.

Good luck and see you on the roads.

To be close to work Katy is right on the money. Richmond/Sugar Land is also possible. Any of the areas are great biking areas. I live in the general area to Rex and CranesinTexas, but I will ride anywhere. There are bayou trails and bike routes. I have ridden to the galleria, memorial park, downtown, and almost Angleton. Houston is really a good town to cycle in, but you have to pick your time and route carefully. I ride 100 miles a week while not being in the rural areas. The MS150 training rides are another good suggestion. Just remember that gets really hot May - Sept.