SkippyX

So, yesterday we picked up my wife's new bike - a Schwinn Cream. Since she hasn't ridden since she was 15 years old (lo, those many years ago), we thought it would be a good idea to load the bikes on the rack and drive them to a nice old neighborhood in town that we both enjoy hanging out in. It's one of those neighborhoods that used to be affordable about twenty years ago and has become the "place to be" when it comes to trendy housing in Houston.

For you Houstonians, we were in The Heights.

We parked at a social club that we belong to and hung out chatting w/ some of our friends for a while. My wife's new bike was the subject of all sorts of compliments. We heard "very retro", "stylish" and "cool" quite a bit. It sprinkled a bit, so we held of on riding until the rain passed. Finally, it was time to mount up.

My wife was a bit nervous (She won't admit that, though ), but looking forward to the ride......I think........



So, off we went on some mellow, easy-pedalin' goodness. We rode down some of the newer/nicer bike paths in Houston. Even though it was a bit drizzly there were still plenty of people out on the MUPs and the bike paths. About 1/3 of the way into the ride we stopped off at a coffee house. She had some water. I asked her to get me a "sweet chocolaty cold sort of thing" while I got my trunk bag off my bike and took some pictures of the area.









While we were sipping our beverages and my wife updated her Facebook page, a guy came out to have a smoke. He leaned over the railing and was staring intently at her bike. He asked if the bikes belonged to us. We replied that they did. He said that he has a young lady friend who was looking for a bike, and my wife's bike looked like exactly what she was looking for. He was full of questions about where we got it, how much was it, how do we like it, etc.

My wife positively beamed. Who doesn't like having their bike complimented?

Nice view of the bike lane on Heights Blvd. Normally it's one lane for cars and a wider lane to the right for parking and a bike lane. It's one of the most popular places I've seen for riding in Houston. Great bike lane. Too short though. This spot is where the bike lane narrows to accommodate two car lanes (one left turn, one straight) before widening back out on the other side of the intersection.



We pedaled down shady streets and very nice houses, getting ideas for landscaping at our own place.

We took about 54 min to do 6.4 miles. It was a very easy pace, but it was my wife's first ride since she was a kid. We had a great time of it.

She's already said she's looking forward to taking day trips for more interesting riding/sightseeing.

It's been a great day!

goldfinch

Sounds like an absolutely wonderful day! And I love your wife's hat.

SkippyX

It was a great day. And that's her favorite cap!

Cyclist0084

Congratulations on your wife's first ride. 6.4 miles is pretty good for her ride. Great pics too. Thanks for sharing your day with the rest of us.

chefisaac

Thats awesome. Riding is much nicer when the wife can do it with you. At least now I can get out BOTH days on the weekend!

Did ya all wear a helmet? Safety first!

RobertL

Good fun!

And said above, 6.4 miles on the first ride in many years is pretty darn good.

Beachgrad05

Thank you so much for sharing! Honestly moved me to tears of joy for your wife and her first ride being such a wonderful experience thanks in large part to you, her supportive and loving husband

indyfabz

+1.

OP: Ever see someone who is suffering the effects of a bad closed head injury after a slow speed fall? I have. It was disturbing. And that was after she was out of the coma.

jasonmg1981

Looks like a great area to ride....Congrats on her new bike!

danlikes

Ever see someone ejected from an head on auto accident with a combined speed of 130+ MPH. I have he was walking around smoking cig while I was being loaded in an ambulance.

I had seat belt on and still managed three days in the hospital, a week of bed rest after that and a full two months before I was running again. While the guy that got ejected from the car was in formation and hour after the wreck.

Life is not always about helmets, safety gear, and all that. Sometimes you need to relax and breath the fresh air with a care in the world.

SkippyX

Why, thank you! That's very kind of you. I do love her dearly. She's my second wife. After the failure of my first marriage I was certain that I'd never love again. At least not w/ that depth. I couldn't seem to maintain any kind of relationship longer than three months for the following ten years.

The divorce stung a bit, you see.

But I met and married the most wonderful woman I've ever met. She's kind, caring, considerate, loving, hilarious (incredible sense of humor), wise in the ways I am not.....and a little goofy every once in a while. I love her goofiness, and she loves mine.

Or, maybe it's just that our dysfunctions mesh perfectly.... .......

That's the goal. I wanted her to be my riding buddy. I can't think of a better riding buddy to have than my best friend. I was telling her today I'd love to box up our bikes, ship them to NY (where my brother lives), go for a visit, take her around my childhood stomping grounds, and then ride Rochester around Lake Ontario to the St. Lawrence, on up to Montreal, then Quebec to the Atlantic coast, back down to Maine, down through NH, VT, Western MA (beautiful), and then on to Plattsburg. At that point box up the bikes, ship 'em back to TX and then take a train back home.

She seemed surprised at the distance I'm talking about, but I think it'd be a lovely vacation. It'll take a while before either one of us is physically capable of it, but once we are in shape for it, imagine what a great time that would be!

No, neither one of us was wearing a helmet.

I don't want to kick off the helmet debate. I know that's a long-running feud in one of the subforums.

I never have worn a helmet when riding a bicycle (when I was a kid, my 20's, or presently). Right now I've found the whole idea impractical because of the sheer volume of sweat that pours down my face during my commute. However, this weekend I did pick up a Sweat Gutr in the hopes that it would work to divert the River Forehead. If it does work as advertised a helmet is high on my "must get" list.

With regard to the following section: Please, understand, my wife and I are in an interracial relationship. Sometimes we play with each other regarding race. It's not personal, and I'm not trying to offend anyone. I'm describing the interplay between my wife and myself. Obviously, neither one of us is a racist, but there are cultural differences (me being a very, very liberal white guy from Upstate NY, she being a fairly conservative black woman from Houston, TX). We like to play w/ them because it gives us both reason to laugh - and laughter is one of the best parts of a good marriage.

If you can't laugh together, what good is it?

My wife is not keen on helmets either. She's joked about it "....Boy, don't you know that no Negroes wear helmets when riding a bicycle...." So, I took to pointing it out whenever we saw a black guy or woman wearing a helmet.

One day I pointed out a black guy wearing a helmet and she said "Yeah...but he's kind of bright. You know he's got a bunch of white in him..." (she was playing - so no one get offended, please).

Today we saw a dark-complected black guy on a Specialized road bike, wearing a helmet. So I pointed him out to her. She laughed and said "Yeah. I saw. What's the world coming to when you see something like that?"

The bottom line there is that she's not keen on wearing one and I can understand that. I'm not too keen on it myself, but a little protection couldn't hurt any. It also gives handy mount points for two more lights, a headlamp up front and another (bright) blinkie in the rear.

I'll work on her when it comes to the helmet.

She doesn't sweat nearly as hard as I do. I guess it's because she grew up here. (shrug).

Hill-Pumper

SkippyX, I'm glad that you found love the second time around. That is the case with Mrs. Pumper and myself too. Also, glad that you are finding the joy of riding together, my wife is not sure how much riding she wants to do, but she is giving it a try. I'm hoping we can ride together more, I know she most likely will never be serious about it as I am, but that is all right too. Anyway, I hope this is a long term hobby for the both of you.

SkippyX

Thank you. I can only echo your sentiment. I don't think my wife will ever get as into it as I am. Heck, I don't know if I will maintain my enthusiasm myself. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

All I know (and I'm sure you'd agree) is that taking a little spin w/ one's wife/best friend is a damned fine way to pass an afternoon, isn't it?

goldfinch

Skip, my spouse doesn't wear a helmet and probably never will. In the scope of life's risks he is willing to take that one. I can't make him do what he doesn't want to do.

chefisaac

Its understandable. Some people do and some people do not. Same thing with safety belts, hard hats, etc etc etc.

SkippyX

I'll likely mildly admonish her periodically about how I'd like to keep her around for a while.

First thing, though, is to do everything I can to help the healthier habit of bike riding take root.

I never did wear one, but I would have liked to - mostly for the ability to mount a mirror. Remember, I've got a long commute. Some of it is on fairly heavily-trafficked roadway. I'd really like to have the ability to see behind me before I try to dodge over a couple of lanes to grab the turn lane.

I'm not really sold on how useful the things are for prevention of serious injury. I've seen too many conflicting studies to wholeheartedly believe what either side has to say about it. However, there's little doubt that they'll help keep you from getting a horrendous scalp gash if you hit the ground - and they do offer mount points for lighting and mirrors. That alone is worth the price of entry, I think.

I tried out the Sweat Gutr today. That is one amazingly effective product. Seriously. I might finally be able to wear sunglasses now. That's the first time I've ridden a bicycle in Texas and not had a river of sweat running down into my eyes.

indyfabz

My helmet doesn't obstruct my breathing or make me tense. In fact, I rarely know it's there. Had I not been wearing it when I crashed in a freak, violent accident last month, I would likely either be a vegetable or dead. Yes. Some people walk away unscathed after being ejected from cars, but most don't.

People can make their own choices. I just hope they truly know the risks they are taking. (E.g., riding on a bike trail at slow speeds doesn't make you immune from serious injury.)

"And that's all I've got to say about that."-Forrest Gump

CJ C

Skippy, That is sweet, its awesome to have a good riding partner. Its like pulling teeth getting my wife to go for a one mile ride. I was in Houston for the first time this past year. It didnt seem conductive to bikers or even walkers?

SkippyX

Houston really is a great city to ride in. We surely don't have the infrastructure of someplace like Portland or Austin, but we do have some infrastructure and the city has been steadily improving what we do have and adding to it for a few years now. If they ever manage to get all the bayou MUPs attached they will have one heckuva network in place.

Houston has also been growing rapidly for decades. There are all kinds of residential areas that were once on the outskirts and now are totally enveloped. While I'd not rate the main thoroughfares as anyplace I'd care to spend too much time on two wheels, what that does mean is that no matter where you're trying to go in the city there are usually quiet residential roads that parallel the main thoroughfares. You just have to be willing to look for a safer alternative to riding a big 10 lane mainline.

Mapmyride.com is a great resource for doing exactly that.

10 Wheels

Good post SkippyX..

Lovely bike and wife.

eja_ bottecchia

Glad you found the love of your life and glad that she is a bike rider.

I wouldn't let my wife ride without a helmet and she won't let me ride without one.

It is a choice that we make based upon the research out there and based upon what we have seen.

A helmet probably saved my daughter's life when she took a very hard fall after her horse decided to stop right before the jump propelling her over the horse....

But heck, this is America and we are all free to make choices...just so long as we are willing to live with the consequences of those choices.

Houston is a lovely city to ride.

CJ C

Granted i didnt have time to check out all of Houston (business trip) I walked around the area of Kirby Ave and Richmond Ave and Downtown. Taxied the other parts. It seemed very car-centric. I wanted to walk further and check out the more residential areas but a rough storm kept me from trekking around. Its a nice town but way way way to many Mexican and sushi restaurants. A half mile walk down kirby my first day i encountered 5 sushi places and 6 Mexican places.

chefisaac

It would suck to find out that you need a helmet when it is too late. Just how I look at it.

SkippyX

Wait. You mean there's other kinds of food?

Kirby & Richmond are a very congested part of town. That's the River Oaks area - where the Hoi Paloi live. The city has been really growing out on the west side - towards Katy. Richmond is one of the main east west thoroughfares. So is Westheimer (a couple blocks north of Richmond).

You couldn't pay me to ride in that area.

Downtown is OK - and I ride there regularly. Never had a problem yet.

SkippyX

Truth.