Braes Bayou Bike Ride – East
Details
Stretching across south Houston some 20 miles, the Brays Bayou trail is one of the city’s expansive system of hike & bike paths. If you’ve not ridden it, come and explore some of it’s eastern half with us, from Kirby Dr. to MacGregor Park on MLK Blvd. Very urban, but home to catfish, egrets, heron and turtles never-the-less. This will be a leisurely 12 mile or so there-and-back excursion, with a break in the shade at our turn-around point, MacGregor Park. We’ll also briefly detour through Parkwood, one of the pleasant neighborhoods just off South MacGregor, which parallels the bayou East of 288.
Bring at least a bike bottle of water and a snack. Despite the surge in popularity of all the city’s bayou trails these days, I haven’t found this section busy enough to warrant wearing a mask while I’ve been riding it, but bring one. We’re not requiring them to be worn during the ride, esp. in this heat, but that’s up to you. But everyone riding should have one. You may wish to don it during our break, despite the social distancing we will be observing, and may need it for any number of other reasons.
A wide-tired hybrid bike, esp. with or without a front suspension, is perfect for this venue. Although completely paved, with currently no sections under construction, there are a lot of rough spots, cracks, and/or heaved pavement blocks on a lot of these trails. A mountain bike will offer even more stability, but is heavier/slower. A one speed cruiser is also a good choice, but you may be standing on the pedals a lot to keep up. We’ll be doing an easy pace, but be sure you’re up to doing 12 miles on one of those things. If on a road bike, you’ll be out in front, but will have to be on your toes with those skinny tires. Oh, and slight hill alert: the trail has a few ups and downs when it transitions from street to bayou level.
We’ll depart from the Portico Kirby Apartments at 7550 Kirby, which is on the corner of Kirby and N. Braeswood. Park on Seuss St, the side street just north of Braeswood. There are usually plenty of parking spots on either side of the street here.
https://goo.gl/maps/rQwsamiXLEmU5XTo8
Bring at least one bike bottle of water, and a snack. If sunny, you may want some lotion. If you don’t already, and ride a lot, you might want to look into carrying a spare inner tube, tire levers, and either some of those little compressed air bottles or a mini-pump. If you haven’t gotten a flat yet, and ride often, you will. If we’re lucky, someone will get one and everyone will get a bonus tire repair demo, no extra charge.
If you can’t make it, please un-RSVP on the event listing, or if it’s too last minute, the morning of, let me know at (713) 660-0365. I’ll cancel if it rains. Or hurricane’s.