Tour de Houston

This all started about six weeks ago when I decided I needed to get serious about riding my bicycle for more exercise. In addition, my rheumatologist said biking was good for strengthing the muscles that surround the knee, lessening the pain I have from time to time.

As if it were fate, I heard about the Tour de Houston bike ride which benefits the Houston park system. They had ride lengths of 20, 40, and 70 miles. Being that I have what's now called a "lifestyle" bicycle, which is really a "comfortable-bike-for-older-people-who-don't-look-good-in-Spandex", and not a real fanatic, I opted for the 20-mile tour. I figured I could do this since I had ridden 16 miles once, although I felt like I had been sitting on the narrow side of a 2x4 after finishing it. Having made the decision and paying my money, I was off to my version of training.

I did ride more and had three 15-mile rides along with some shorter ones, so I was feeling pumped. I even bought some cargo shorts with a padded insert for more comfort when riding. With weather and other obligations, I couldn't do as much as I had hoped, but I did more than I had in several months.

Janell and I went into Houston on Friday before the race to pick up the registration packet. Bribing her with sushi for lunch always works.

Sunday morning, at 5:00 am, I got up and was on the road to Houston by 5:30. There was lots of fog and that didn't make for a leisurely drive. I found a free parking spot and was unloading my bike by 6:45-ish. The ride started off in downtown Houston and went through various parts of town. My ride was to go through some of the older sections, ones I really had never seen. Anyway, it was pretty neat riding over to the staging area. No real traffic, lots of folks on bicycles, and a really nice venue. The picture above is of the 40 and 70 mile riders lined up for their respective starts. There was something like 2,000 people doing this.


One thing I've felt is that there is no cycling accessory that makes you look cool. However, when you are in a group of this magnitude, everyone looks goofy so it doesn't matter. I felt relatively normal with my helmet and glasses-mounted rear view mirror.

The ride began at 7:15 for the 70 mile folks, and my group set off at 8:00 am. We were much smaller than the others, with several families, groups of friends, and we individuals who couldn't talk anyone else into this. Anyway, off we went, wobbling at slow speeds until everyone could spread out across the width of the street and avoid each other.

The first thing that impressed me was that the intersections were controlled by the Houston Police Department, and we could go along without stopping or worrying about traffic. With this many cyclists, the safety in numbers maxim was very true. The second thing I noted was that having a lot of gears is a good thing when you have to go up overpasses in a headwind and you are getting tired. Very helpful.


The ride itself was very enjoyable. I liked being with all those folks even though I didn't know a single person. The weather was nice, and seeing some of the old, majestic houses from Houston's early days was interesting. While it was stressed that this was a ride, not a race, I was only determined that no eight year old was going to make it back before I did. I managed to keep a respectable speed for the whole tour. At one point, a group of about ten guys blew by us and disappeared into the distance. Showoffs.


It took me an 1-1/2 hours to ride the 20 miles, not including a 15 minute rest stop. No aches or pains. There was free food and goodies, too. After eating something and resting for a while, I packed up and drove home. Overall, this was enough fun to try some more rides. There's lots around, and next year maybe I'll try for something more. We'll see.