Rules of the Game

Every game must have its rules. They are needed for guidelines with which to operate by. And most importantly--when I am feeling like this was the dumbest idea ever, to fight the urge to cheat.

The goal: to ride my bike, take public transportation, car-pool (2+)....everywhere in Houston....for 9 months.

The area to be covered by this experiment is to be the confines of Beltway 8.
(the beltway is within the green circle, a big area)



It would be more dramatic if I sold my car or beat it to pieces with a metal bat, but the goal of this experiment is to test the true commutability of Houston. A saga about me biking to San Antonio or Austin would be interesting, but really, who in their right mind would do that?

Biking Background

Growing up in another urban jungle named San Antonio, the concept of using a bicycle as a means of transportation never crossed my mind. When you wanted to go anywhere you went by car. To school, the grocery store, restaurants or out with friends, every aspect relied on the use of 4 wheels and gasoline. We all owned bikes, we all knew how to ride them, but for the most part they remained safely confined to a corner of our garages. So blocked in by Christmas decorations that even if the urge to ride hit, good luck freeing the heavy beasts.

I became an accidental cyclist in 2003, while living in the closest thing to a biking utopia Texas has to offer...Austin. A group of students banded together to ride bikes 4650ish miles from Austin, TX to Anchorage, Alaska. The goal was to raise money for the American Cancer Society and give presentations about cancer prevention along the routes up to AK. Despite not having ridden a bike since the age of 12, I decided this was the trip for me. Three months of training + 70 days of riding and over $300,000 in donations later our team of 40 made it to Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage. Somewhere between a sore ass, throbbing shins and the Yukon Territory I fell in love with the concept of going from Point A to Point B by bike.


check out the ride at www.texas4000.com

Upon my return to Austin and eventual move to Houston, I have continued to ride my bike sporadically as a means of commuting. By sporadically I mean when the weather, distance, estimated time and route suite my preference. Equating to about 70% of the time me wussing out and climbing in my car.

The impetus for this experiment is a planned 9 month hiatus from my job as a flight attendant for a major airline. I will be working at a local store, within striking distance on my bike, and have decided to see where exactly I can make it on my two wheels. I know I will probably not be able to give up the total use of a car, but with carefully drawn parameters I would like to flip my percentage to 70% transport by bike.

The Rules to follow.....

The Project

Urban Sprawl: The decentralization of the urban core through the unlimited outward extension of dispersed development beyond the urban fringe where low density residential and commercial development exacerbates fragmentation of powers over land use; also, the consumption of resources and land in excess of what is necessary where development is costly and underutilized existing infrastructure (at least according to smarte.org).

A perfect description for my current city of residence--Houston, TX.



Here is a little info about Houston gleaned from the lazy researcher's website of choice--Wikipedia:

Population
* 4th largest city in the US with 2.2 million over 600 sqmiles
* 6th largest metropolitan area of 5.7 million people over 10,000 sqmiles (slightly larger than New Jersey, slightly smaller than Massachusetts)

Transportation
* There over 730mi of freeway and expressway supported by 8 (yes 08.00) miles of metro rail. Until recently, by far, the largest concentrated population without a metro system. Not like 8.0 miles makes a huge difference.
* Public transportation does not connect many parts of the Houston metropolitan area, requiring individual cars.

Weather
* Hot and humid


Geography
* Flat. Downtown is a whopping 50ft above sea level making flooding a minor problem.

photo taken by someone (not me) after Hurricane Ike of the downtown area


So back to project...I am going to put my keys on ice from September 2009 through May 2010 and not drive my car for 9 months inside Beltway 8 of Houston. I am going to try to live my life to the fullest through the simple use of my bicycle and public transport. But let's face it, after living in Houston for 2.5 years I have decided that biking from point A to point B usually takes less time than waiting for the bus to show up. Hence the name 'Pedaling Houston'. I hope to do it all, attached to two wheels instead of four, in the ultimate urban jungle.

I have no idea how this will turn out. It's not that I don't think this is a feasible project, I'm just not sure my will power is up to the challenge.