| Description: | Tuesday afternoon it finally got sunny after a daylong rain on Monday, so, I took off to explore Houston. I first headed northeast through some poorer neighborhoods. It was a bit tricky to get out of the downtown which is encaged by freeways and a river. Then I found a street heading east with a bikelane so I stayed on it. Here it's worth to say a few words on Houston's bike lanes. I have to give the town a credit to put out those few lanes they did, but, they are totally worthless. They average about 3 ft wide including the gutter so they are full of garbage to about 2 ft so one is left riding more-less on the outer lane. Fortunately the cars were fairly attentive (perhaps thanks to two flashing lights I had on my back), but, it was not too much fun. Once the bike lane ended, I was on a 4 lane highway that had a fair amount of semis - it was going through an industrial zone. I was happy to finally turn west on a two lane highway which was not too busy. This road was changing from less busy to busy periodically as one was closing to freeway intersections. The neighborhoods were getting more rich and this meant increasing traffic which sucked. I followed on bike route through a quiet neigborhood which led to a short stint on a trail that follows a bayou. Then more four lane highways with scant bike lanes until I got to Memorial Park, the largest park in Houston. Conveniently, there's a 6 lane highway going right through the park, and I was the only cyclist on it. I was wondering whole afternoon where all the cyclists are, and then I saw them in Memorial Park looping around the picnic loop in dozens. Looks like all Houston's cyclists are doing their conditioning looping the picnic loop. I can't see how this can be better than home trainer. Anyway, I battled some more of the 6 lane highway and then turned south towards Rice University. Here I ran into the rush hour out of the University and into a Farmer's Market, which was small but alright. Then I fooled around a bit to check out the medical center campus which is truly huge, as it should be in Texas. With the sunset I rode back to the downtown, and after some search I found a grocery store and by the time I got out of there it was pitch dark. Fortunately, I have strong lights to I made it to the hotel in one piece.
I think I am finally cured out of the depression I got when I got back to SLC from Copenhagen and Sweden. While Copenhagen is 30 years ahead of SLC, SLC is 30 years ahead of Houston. For the US, SLC is still one of the best places to be. I recommend this therapy to anyone who ever gets depressed of the place they live in (unless they already live in Houston). |
