The morning commute was quite brisk and I averaged around 12 mph. Other than that it was rather routine. The ride home was another story. I had a decent start but started to slow as I got into Memorial Park. About midway through the park in an area where there is no sidewalks and the pace has to be "Hammerfest" I was confronted by some thirtysomething yuppie in a Honda Civic who pulled up to me and yelled, "Why don't you ride that bicycle on the sidewalk." The funny thing is at that point on Memorial Drive there IS no sidewalk! There is the pea gravel jogging path, but bicycles are expressly forbidden to be on it and with all the joggers riding on it would be a hazard. The thing that made it most ironic is not more than 400 feet ahead of where we were was a bright yellow "beware of cyclists/cyclist in the roadway" sign giving clear indication that there would be cyclists in the road! Of course, this genius did not stick around long enough after dispensing with his idiotic wisdom to hear what I had to say in response. The rest of the ride home was routine.
I find it ironic that when people drive it seems to give them the impression that they are smarter than everybody else and know the driving laws better; however, the truth is that they loose about 20 points of IQ and probably have not seen the Texas drivers handbook since they were 16.
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5 comments:
I found your blog when searching for stories of people who are cycling to work/school in Houston. I saw on the news that Mayor White is promoting Bicycle to Work week again this year. Be careful in the Memorial Park area! It's difficult to navigate in a car! Have you seen that car commercial (Mercedes, I think) where they talk about designing the windshield wipers to work efficiently even at Autobahn speeds, although no one is likely to need that feature? My reaction to that was, true, no one but a typical Houston driver.
Nevermind that guy. Soon, he will consider riding a bike also. Remember to take the lane.
Actually, The stretch of Memorial Drive I have to navigate isn't bad provided you're clear of it by 5pm. Otherwise it gets exciting as the cars coming out of downtown pass you ever three seconds. At the worst, if I know I won't make it in time I can lock up at Kennally's and have a few beers untill 7pm when the traffic slows down again and go then.
Any thoughts to crossing over to the south side of memorial at the east edge of the park and taking the trail all the way to 610?
Nord,
I live north of I-10 so going south would be a bit in the wrong direction.
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