Observations on Riding My Bike to Work
September 14, 2007:
Today was the first day I rode my bike to work. Really, other than a test run last night, it was the first time I had ridden a bike since mine got stolen in college in 2001. This is the closest I've ever lived to my [non-college] job, and since I was dissatisfied with the bus service from my place, I thought maybe riding a bike to work would be faster.
First of all, when I got my bike back from the shop, I got head and tail lights, for safety. Besides, it's Houston city law to have a head light while operating a bicycle in the city limits (not that anyone does it anyway). I didn't get a chance to go register my bike, also required by law. I decided to risk the $5 fine until I could go get the $1 permit. I also didn't have a chance to get my helmet out of storage. While it's not a law for adults to wear one, it's just plain stupid not to.
The first leg of my trip was pretty standard. I rode down my street to Heights Blvd., then took the nice spacious bike lane/bus stop/parking lane combo. It isn't what you think, they actually put in a full-length parking lane, then added a bike line on the side of it. So when there wasn't anyone parking or any buses stopping, I got a good 10 feet all to myself.
The first hitch was when I got to Washington for the second part of my trip. I knew there was a lapse in bike lane, but I didn't quite know how the the city of Houston wanted me to go. I didn't have the bike map lane map with me, so I followed the sign for "Bike Path" and turned right on Center Street (see map below). Unfortunately, there wasn't another sign for me to turn left, so I just kept going in the opposite direction of the way I needed to be. Looking at the map, I should of turned on Yale :( I eventually turned left on my own and got back onto the non-bike lane part of Washington and rode back towards town to the part with the bike lane.
The next hitch is that the map lies. If you look to the east on Washington, it shows a bike lane going all the way to the police station, then it splits to a shared road path at the freeway. But really, the bike lane ends right below that elementary school and turns into just a plain road with a lot of cars on it. Confused by this, I accidentally turned down the road and went into the police station parking lot (dead end) and had to turn back. Luckily after that bike lane ended, there was a big flat sidewalk to ride on until it went back to a shared bike route.
Riding downtown wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. For the most part, I rode in the bus lanes on the marked routes (which is what you're supposed to do). The cars (thankfully) watched out for me and I didn't feel like I was in any real danger, even though there were cars flying around me in all directions.
Overall, with the wrong turns, it took 25 minutes. I think I should be able to do 20 minutes next time, now that I know what I'm doing. Not including walking and wait time, the bus takes 22 minutes from stop to stop, so I'm coming out ahead on time.
So here are my observations for next time:
- Definitely get a helmet. Even though I have a bike lane, that doesn't stop cars and buses from getting really close to me.
- When you buy a bike lock, it's important to remember to bring it! I had to have my wife drop mine off downtown on her way to work.
- A rear view mirror would of been really nice
- I need to wear some kind of band around my ankles to keep my khakis from wanting to get stuck in the pedals.
- I need to keep a change of clothes at work just in case my clothes get dirty/overly sweaty from the bike ride.
- I should probably pick a different bike rack location each time I ride my bike downtown. If someone sees the same bike in the same location every day, they might think it was abandoned and try to steal it, thinking they're not hurting anyone.
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