aggarcia

It was a good and bad ride. The bad was it wore me out - thanks kw for the water and ac at the end. My total mileage was 70 - my personal best.

As others had mentioned, if something could go wrong it did. Our little shortcut at the end added some mileage and I not sure it saved any time and we still had to ride S Post Oak.

It has to considered as successful as everyone made it back in one piece. I Am glad a new route is in the works as Post Oak is a little crazy.

When is the next ride down 521 planned?

AG

kwrides

You rode well man! 70 is a huge accomplishment. Has it occured to you that you did a metric?!

yeamac 

Yeah aggarcia, you did fantastic. The only thing after a metric century is an imperial century. So in your honor I took the time tonight and modified the route to go down Hillcroft instead of S. Post Oak. Otherwise it is pretty much the same route as before.

modified route going down Hillcroft.

The route starts at the McDonalds at Braeswood and Hillcroft. I drew it down to the Shipley's donut shop in Freeport which would make for a 110 mile ride. Lots of variations in between.

EDIT: Zooming the map after I created it I noticed a little problem with the return trip in that Hillcroft seems to be a one-way street south but no street going north down to Fuqua. Although the map seems to show a through street, the satellite view proves otherwise. The trick seems that once you turn off McHard road, stay on Blueridge road headed north until it turns into Chasewood, and then turn north on Lakeview which becomes Hillcroft at Beltway 8.

Also, Blueridge is a 2-lane road with no shoulder so maybe we could stay on Fuqua a little longer and go either to Chimney Rock south or else even take Court road across to Hiram Clarke and then hop on McHard. Lots of options in this area.

kwrides

After yesterday's ride, the bayou is going to feel pedestrian this morning. Pun intended!

aaronechang

Hey sorry I flaked out on Saturday's ride. I've been at St. Luke's hospital since Fri. morning and just returned back to my house about an hour ago. Short story:

Woke up Fri. morning feeling like I just got shot on my right side. Visited the St. Luke's Minor ER (Holcombe and Brompton), diagnosis was ruptured appendix. They transported me too the St. Luke's in the Med Center where I had an emergency appendectomy done.

I still have a bit of abdominal pain and a lot of leftover gas in my stomach (not a good feeling). Hopefully I should be fully recovered in a week or two. I'll keep tabs on this thread and you bet I'll join you guys as soon as I am fully well.

Rex G

Prayer out for a quick and full recovery!

Rex G

This is just dumb old me, looking at your map, and I see it adds a bit of distance as it bears northeast a bit, but what about taking the trail along Braes Bayou, east to Almeda Road? I guess perhaps the trail itself may not be all that great for a group ride? (A section of the trail is torn up for renewal, too, IIRC.) I will admit that the great slice of pie between Almeda Road and US-59, outside Loop 610, is unfamiliar to me.

I may take the trail to Almeda soon to scout some of what I missed Saturday, but then, I am near the trail between the Loop and Stella Link, anyway.

I do know there is some construction along Almeda near Airport, however, which might make Almeda a messy no-go in that area, anyway.

Just some random, pre-caffeinated thoughts.

Rex G

I am up for night rides, but mostly only on Fridays and Saturdays, when I am off work, which means being extra-careful for motorists with drinkin' on their minds. I do miss my regular Sunday night rides! I may try to switch to different nights off when a guy in my district retires next year.

kwrides

Wow! Best wishes for a quick recovery!

kwrides

I rode the whole bayou trail today and it appears the construction is done! Thanks to the city of Houston!

yeamac 

Aaron - prayers for a quick and speedy recovery also

Rex - Almeda Road between 610 and Beltway 8 is as bad or worse than S. Post Oak as far as traffic, from what I remember. The attempt was to find a route headed south that cuts down on traffic, which Hillcroft should be the lightest N/S road down to McHard, which connects to FM 521.

KW - How far is the path paved, just down to where it drops off, or does it go farther east? If they do down by the water, I hope they don't make the path any narrower like they did in other parts of the trail, or else we might fall in the drink trying to pass someone!

kwrides

oops, I should correct myself...I rode from Fondren to McGregor Park and there as no construction, except for the part by Hermann Park where there's been construction for years. You still have to take the detour there.

aggarcia

Aaron - you had surgery give yourself a break. Take some time off to heal. We will be riding more as the weather finally cools off. This summer has been brutal.

I did not even think about doing a metric century, until someone mentioned it. A century is the next milestone.

Yeamac/Kwrides - I am glad a different route is planned, S Post Oak does get busy. I second nixing Almeda road at drivers think it is a super speedway. I do not mind riding with traffic, but it is best to avoid the crazy drivers as much as we can.

I note from that ride - we stopped to help a fellow cyclist with a flat, walking his bike along 521 to Rosharon ( it was several miles down the road ). His group left him on the road side. A know the shoulder is relatively safe, but a few minutes of assistance is all it took to get him back on the road. Also make sure you not only have the necessary repair items, but you know how to use them properly. This gentleman without kw and yeamac would have suffered a pinch flat again because of his improper tube changing technique.

Great ride, maybe next time we will have more riders and cooler temperatures.

yeamac 

So I took an early lunch today and rode down Hillcroft --> W. Fuqua --> Blueridge Rd --> McHard Rd. to scope it out. Took about 30 minutes to reach McHard from Braeswood.

The good: less traffic than S. Post Oak
The bad: Hillcroft has a lot of small patch jobs that are now breaking up which makes for some rough riding at times

My 2 cents: Leaving at 6:30 am or earlier, S. Post Oak has never had a lot of traffic, and the road surface is pretty good, so that would be my preference to Hillcroft. But leaving after 6:30 and on the return trip later in the day, it may be best to use Hillcroft due to traffic concerns.

Do all of you have lights for your bike? It is actually quite nice to start early in the dark to avoid heat and traffic. Plus pretty soon the sun won't start to rise until after 7 am.

yeamac 

Anyone up for a ride this Saturday? 80 miles to Brazos Bend State Park. Similar route as last time, except at Rosharon take FM 1462 west (right turn) to Brazos Bend State Park. Those that may not want to go 80 miles could turn around at Rosharon which is a 54 mile round trip.

Meet at the benches by JCC at 6:25 a.m., rolling by 6:30. Sunrise isn't until 7:02 so you'll probably want to run lights at the start. Weather should be a little cooler ... light, favorable winds ... should be a great ride!

My riding buddy is coming, so that's already two and a half (I'm bringing the daughter on the tandem).

scattered73

I did that in july that and is a pretty decent ride I would recomend taking 521 to sandy point rd/42 then that dumps you off at 1462 and also takes you by a mom and pop bbq place if you got the munchies. I again might try to join yall but recently injured myself will see how I feel.

aggarcia

I am in at this point. I should be able to keep up with the tandem - I hope .

yeamac 

Thanks for the Sandy Point Road tip, scattered ... we'll check it out on the outbound leg for sure. Hope you can join us. Is the right turn onto that road near that Sandy Point Bible church? I remember the church, but don't recall the road.

Also, this time I'd really like to start out only going 18 mph and maintain that pace instead of taking off like jackrabbits in heat. I think it'll help us maintain the pace throughout the ride.

Tex_Arcana

I'm working this weekend, but it looks like a good route. Of course if I was going to go to Brazos Bend on my day off I would take a pack rod and reel along with me and do a little fishing too.

My wife would sooo kill me for leaving her home and going fishing.

Rex G

I might join the ride this weekend for a bit, though I am NOT ready for the 80-mile part yet. The sidewalk body-surfing I did last Saturday happened after I hit a critical level of fatigue, and reached what I call "stupid tired." (IQ, judgement, and reaction time take turns for the worse.) I had probably best stick to shorter rides until I build a better base. I should probably sleep the night before, too.

kwrides

That always helps!

aggarcia

Rex,
You were doing well until the curb surfing. For someone who has not actively ridden, you did as well as the rest of us on the ride. See you Saturday.

AG

yeamac 

Last call for the ride this weekend. Please post if you plan to join us. Right now it is yeamac, +friend, aggarcia, and probably Rex. Meet at 6:25 am at the benches on the Bayou path by the JCC; leaving promptly at 6:30.

Right now the weather service is saying 30% chance of isolated thunder storms, great temps, low winds. Sounds like it should be a great morning to ride as I'm optimistic the rain will hold off and not come until later in the day. Unless it is raining or if the roads are wet in the morning with it looking like more rain, I still plan to ride.

scattered73

I am planning on doing it rain I am going to force myself to get up. My injury is pretty much healed except for a little tightness so I think I will be ok

Rex G

Barring major drama from my 90-year-old FIL, who has dementia, and periodic insomnia, I will see y'all in the morning. (He is a major reason I did not sleep at all last Friday night.) I will consider this a meet-and-greet; when I get dropped, I get dropped; I don't plan to attempt the whole distance.