UH (main campus) to Upper Kirby

I had a meeting at the University of Houston campus, and I thought to myself "yeah, I can definitely bike there." I checked in with a good friend who recently biked there from Montrose and a few others who live in that area to find out more info on which streets were "bike-friendly."

Here is my full route:

For starters, I went over to the new section of the Brays Bayou Trail that was completed last year (2017, I believe). It is gorgeous! You should meander over there and check it out. Once they finish the section by MLK Jr Blvd, this will be a very long continuous trail -- and easy enough for the whole family from kids to grandparents!

I biked north/east on Wheeler and I took the sidewalk/trail, which ends a bit up the trail due to building construction. I pretty much stayed on the sidewalks in this area and was very careful/mindful around the people who were walking.

Then, I turned down Scott (on the sidewalks) so that I could go down Blodgett. I biked on the street on Blodgett for most of the time. It was midday and traffic was really light. Blodgett is also a 4-lane road so there is plenty of room for motor vehicles to maneuver around me (the bicyclist). Note -- bicyclists are legally allowed to ride on any roadway (unless expressly forbidden); bicycles are a "vehicle" and as thus are allowed to use the roads.

From Blodgett (above image), I bounced onto the Columbia Tap Trail (an old rail line that was transformed into a trail -- typically known as a "rails-to-trails" project).

From the trail, I turned left onto Cleburne and took it up to Midtown. Cleburne is really easy to ride due to the low traffic -- HOWEVER -- the roadway condition isn't very good so it is a bumpy ride. Be careful of those cracks in the road, pot holes, and of course glass on the roadway.

Through Midtown, I turned left onto La Branch. La Branch is wonderful. I love it. In this area, La Branch is typically low traffic and very easy to ride. At the Houston Community College, La Branch turns into a ped-bike trail for 1 block until you reach Holman. I turned left onto Holman. Holman is ok to ride on if you are comfortable riding a bike next to and near cars. Most drivers are pretty patient in this area, but it is always best to be very careful in this area. I bike on the street and take the lane on Holman. One of the reasons why a lot of people who bike take Holman is because of the connector to Hawthorne under Spur 527 (below image).

Also, Holman has a small section of green bike lanes. The city recently completed street markings (stencils) -- bicycle stencil plus chevron markings -- through the intersection. This very simple paint treatment helps to show bicyclists where to bike and also shows drivers that people bike here -- please expect them in the roadway and drive safely around people biking. This is a great step in the right direction. Thank you, City of Houston! We love you.

From there, I biked on Hawthorne until I reached Woodhead. Woodhead is a bike-friendly street -- usually -- but be aware that there are schools on Woodhead, which makes it less ideal for biking during weekdays when school is in session.

From Woodhead, I turned right onto Main. The most challenging and stressful part of my journey is at Shepherd Drive. As a person biking, I almost always bike on quiet, neighborhood streets. Most of these streets do not have stop lights at the big street intersections. This makes is nearly impossible to safely cross these streets at most times of the day. Typically when I reach Shepherd, if it looks like I won't be able to find a break in traffic so that I can bike across the street, then I bike to Richmond and walk my bike across Shepherd in the crosswalk. This is not ideal at all. The intersection at Richmond and Shepherd is very busy. There are people turning left, turning right, and people speeding through red lights. Be very careful and very vigilant to what everyone is doing around you. As a bicyclist or a pedestrian, you might have the right-of-way, but you can't argue that if you die. So, please be careful at these busy intersections.