Ideas for Riding around Houston?

[Aromig]

I will be in the Houston area the last week of February (M-F). I'll have some free time and I'm wondering where I should ride (I'm looking at road biking). I'm not yet sure where I'm staying yet. My plans are pretty flexible and I'll have a rental car so I can drive places to ride if there are any "can't miss it" kind of places. I'm also trying to decide whether its worth bringing my bike ($75 to fly it), or are there great places to rent a road bike? Any insight into weather at that time would be great too.

Amy

[thekarens]

Hi Amy, there are several bike shops that rent bikes. Bike Barn is the closest one to me, but it literally takes an hour to drive from one side of Houston to another so without a better idea of where you're staying it's hard to make a suggestion.

PS weather is hit and miss in February. We've had sun and we've had cold at that time so it's hard to predict.

[Aromig]

Hi Amy, there are several bike shops that rent bikes. Bike Barn is the closest one to me, but it literally takes an hour to drive from one side of Houston to another so without a better idea of where you're staying it's hard to make a suggestion.

That looks like a great bike shop -- and for the rental prices I probably can't justify spending $150 to fly my bike with me! I'm likely going to be staying in the Pearland area, but I'm not positive yet. It looks like there are Bike Barnes all over. I'll also have a rental car, and I'm used to driving a lot (and like seeing new places) so sounds like I'll have a fun trip. If you have any awesome, can't miss rides or routes, let me know. Otherwise, I'll likely just look at Ride with GPS and download some to my Garmin. Thank you!

[thekarens]

If it were me I'd get to the outskirts of the city. Houston drivers aren't the friendliest to cyclists. I can't think of any specific routes for road biking, but since you're on that side of town you might enjoy riding the coast /Galveston area. For that checking ride with GPS is a great idea.