moving to Houston (for 3 months) begining of July

Hello Texas ladies!
I am currently in Northern California, but will be in Houston from the beginning of July through the end of September doing an internship. I am bringing my road bike and am looking for suggestions of places to ride, people to ride with, and maybe a club to join on some rides since I don't know the area that well. I am going to be living on the west side on Memorial near Eldridge.

I have been riding for about a year, generally do 30-40 miles no problem with rolling hills to some decent climbs (we have some monsters here!), but being in the Bay Area I am not used to the heat, so that will take a bit of time I am sure. I have done 2 metric centuries, and generally average in the 14 MPH range, but that is with hills, I can do about 16-18 on the flats consistently.

Let me know if you have any suggestions, or want to ride when I get to Houston!
Ellen

I actually work in this area and there is a nice park (Terry Hershey Park) with a paved trail just off of Memorial. Round trip, I think you can easily ride 20 miles or so. The main problem though is that it is multi-purpose - or in other words, you will encounter lots of walkers, joggers, families, etc., so it can be frustrating to ride there if it's a nice day. But, this area is growing rapidly (lots of construction), so riding on the roads is not easy either.

That being said, there are usually plenty of organized rides and weekly rides put on by the LBS's that are fairly close by and will get you away from too much traffic. I ride with a group that trains for the MS150 every year and they usually have drop-in rides throughout the year, so let me know if you're interested - the location varies, but there are definitely some places that aren't far away where you can always count on finding somebody riding. I've been off my bike for several weeks, but I'd love to get back out there, so let me know if you want to ride when you get here!

NorthWest Cycling Club has a club ride every Saturday. They break into groups based on your speed and distance. There is 20-22mph, 18-20mph,16-18mph, 14-16mph and a new member group that goes less than 14mph for about 30 miles. Most of the other groups go between 40-60 miles. There is also the raceteam which may go longer than 60 miles at an avg speed of about 25. We meet at Zube Park (in Hockley, northwest of Houston) and start at 7:30am. I've been a member for 3 years and love it. After the ride, there are snacks waiting.

Hey Ladies-
Thanks for the info.

TxRider- I am currently in town and went riding along the Bayou in Terry Hershey park today for the first time... pretty nice, and it wasn't too bad untill we started getting closer to 8 (turned around at Kirkwood). Another intern who just got a road bike and I are riding together a bit. TOmorrow morning we are going to head out to Katy to join the HOuston Bike Club on the Katy Mills Fitness loop weekly ride. I will be gone most of next week for an intern event in Galveston, but will be around next weekend and would love to ride if you are interested... PM me and maybe we can work something out.

Ellen

PABadger, I live in Katy (2.25 miles from Sun&Ski) and I have done the Katy Fitness Loops a couple of times! Would love to ride with you if you come out here again. PM me!