Riding trails in Houston, TX with the Houston B-Cycles

Spring Break vacation with the offspring down to Houston, Texas. We decided to try out Houston's urban bike sharing program, the B cycle.

We had done quite a lot of reading on the program in preparation for the trip, including emailing the director of the program and getting quick and helpful replies from him in regards to which stations were at or near trailheads of paved bike paths. However, come riding day, there was a bit of a breakdown in marital communication regarding which station we should attempt to rent from.

( Later it will be mentioned that someone was not comfortable with the area we ended up renting the bikes from.  This is where the marital communication breakdown was rooted in.  I had chosen not to ride this path and had spent time and scouted out another for that very reason, it did not look like a safe place to me.  In the end though there was another variable and that was the ability to park, for which I had not taken into account.  We would have had to of been to the place I had scoped out to ride at 6 am to find a parking spot as it was right by the Zoo and all the Museums and it was spring break so Everybody and their dog was there was there and I think they each drove 3 cars.  Sorry Sweetie for giving you strife.. in the end it was Perfect! :)  ~~S     Now back to your regularly scheduled writer!  :D

First we attempted the station at Stude Park which is literally right on a bike path (was never really able to determine if this path had a name or not, other than maybe the "White Oak Bayou Trails" or the "Houston Heritage Corridor West Trail"). However, upon arriving there we found only 4 bikes available. We needed 5. So, without enough bikes available there, we went to the station on the other side of this park, which I guess actually isn't called Stude Park there, but maybe White Oak Park. I found the lack of consistent names of trails and parks in Houston to be uber confusing. Anyhoo, it was the B cycle station in front of the Leonel Castillo Community Center at 2109 South Street.

So, here we were. I was mildly concerned about the safety of the area but we ended up not having any issues with leaving our vehicle parked there while we went on our one-hour bike ride.

Houston B Cycle Kiosk

Next obstacle was actually getting the rentals paid for and released from the docks. We could have purchased our $5 per person 24-hour membership online, but we chose to just purchase at the bike kiosk (in hindsight I would recommend to purchase your pass online, even if you're just doing the 24-hour pass like we did.  I'm guessing online HAS be to easier.  Read on........). At the kiosk, first we were asked a series of questions that included our ZIP code, mother's blood type, and the name of the person we sat next to in 7th grade band. After all that, it was now time to swipe our credit card (Note: According to the B cycle website, only credit cards are accepted, not debit cards). The B cycle website, however, does not, according to my lengthy searching, tell you what credit cards it actually accepts, and neither does the bike kiosk. First we tried Brand X Credit Card, only to be told there was a problem with our card. So, we start the whole 12-questions process over again. Swipe the Brand X card again. There is a problem with our card. Again.

(Insert frustration and a few choice words, here.)

So, we start the whole 12-questions process over again again. This time, swipe the Brand Y card. Success! We release one bike from the dock, finally! Bikes 2, 3 and 4 were a bit easier, once we got in the rhythm. And then, BAM!!!!  Road block again.  Apparently, the system will not let you check out more than 4 bikes with one card.  Again, another little item that, to my knowledge, is no where to be found on the website.  I understand that there is probably a logical reason for that, and that this program is set up to be used mainly by urban commuters for transportation, and not families of 5 wanting to take an hour long recreational bike ride in the park, but still. Very irritating.
Good thing we had a third card on us, huh? Yeah.  But it was a debit. But it took it. So, I guess it ran it as a credit card.  Whatever.  Fifth bike released!  Let the riding commence!

But wait.  Where's the trail? Does anyone see a trail? Oh, there it is. Down there. Down that steep, unpaved and, at the bottom, rather swampy hill. It's always an adventure. So, down we went, pushing the bikes and sloshing through the pseudo-swamp.

The ride was fun -- short, but fun. We forgot to turn on our Map My Ride, but we think we rode right about 4 miles.

Actually I ended up turning mine on about a mile into the ride.  So here is the map. ~~S

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRide

It was nice to ride with two more of our kids. It was the first they have ridden with us since we started this lifestyle and I hope they will join us for more rides in the future. As dorky as it may be, or they may think it is, I could tell they were having fun, even if they didn't want to admit it. :)  And it made me happy that they were.

A very small part of the trail that we rode was actually a rail-trail, converted from the old MKT (Missouri-Kansas-Texas) railroad line.  Yes, that is the same old line that is the very successful Katy Trail in Missouri, too.

Here is a picture of the family on the bridge of the old railroad line.

And there it is from the side.  The base is still the old railroad trestles.

MKT Rail-Trail trestle bridge, Houston, TX

All in all, we had a fun time riding the B-cycles. The bikes were in great shape. And I have to admit riding a step-through bike was nice for a change. :)