The First Erickson Software Bicycle Tour of The Woodlands

On Sunday morning June 22, 2003, Erickson Software sponsored a Metric Half Century Bicycle Tour, which was held in The Woodlands, TX. One rider participated, and he had a good time.

There's now an official tshirt! and a store!

95% of the ride was held on the pervasive and frequently shaded bicycle trails in The Woodlands, which made for an enjoyable ride. A Metric Half Century is 50 km, about 31 miles. If you want to do a full metric century (100km), then tack on another route, either the second tour or the third tour.

Conditions were normal for southern Texas during June - the temperature was in the upper 80's with humidity around 80% as well. It was hot and muggy, in other words. Fortunately, there were a large number of water spots along the way, as nearly every park has a water fountain.

Typical trail view - picture taken on Research Forest trail near Cochran's Crossing

Route

1. WA Starting at Bear Branch Recreation center, take the path by the tennis courts and back into the woods. You'll be heading towards Alden Woods Drive. After you cross the bayou, turn left at the fork in the trail.
2. WA When you reach Alden Woods Drive, turn right and ride to Gosling Road. Turn right on Gosling and ride to Research Forest.
3. At Research Forest, turn left and ride to New Trails Drive. Turn right on New Trails, and proceed to Lake Woodlands.
4. WA Turn left on Lake Woodlands, heading across the bridge and by Northshore Park.
5. At Grogan's Mill, turn right. When you reach the community center on Lake Robbins, turn left and proceed past the Cynthia Mitchell Woods Pavillion.
6. Turn right on Six Pines, and continue over the new Woodlands Waterway to North Millbend.
7. WA Left on North Millbend, around the Tournament Players Course. You'll pass Fernridge Drive in just a short distance and continue along Millbend. When you reach Fernridge for the second time, turn left across Millbend onto a fairly narrow trail.
8. WA Follow the trail until you reach Sawmill Road, ignoring the neighborhood exits to the right from the trail. At Sawmill, continue following the trail - don't go over the bridge over Grogan's, but continue through the woods.
9. When you reach South Millbend, turn left and cross Grogan's Mill, heading towards the Woodlands Athletic Club. The trail is a sidewalk in front of the club, then heads back into the woods. As the trail splits at the end of the parking lot, take the right hand branch onto the wide trail.
10. Follow the trail, ignoring the left turn to Grogan's Point. The trail will turn sharply right after crossing the golf course and join with North Millbend. Here you'll be riding along a quiet residential street for about half a mile.
11. At the intersection of North Millbend and Crossvine, the bicycle trail resumes on the far left side of the intersection. This is the south-eastern entrance to the Nature Trail.
12. Ride along the Nature trail, turning left at the first intersection (near the entrance) and right after crossing a small wooden bridge. Proceed to Glen Loch.
13. Cross the street at Glen Loch and turn right. Follow the trail past the churches to South Panther Creek.
14. WA Turn left towards Creekwood Park, then cross the Panther Creek and follow the trail as it turns north (right) away from Panther Creek.
15. Proceed along the trail, which bisects the Panther Creek Loop and follows a bayou. You'll duck under Woodlands Parkway, then come to a bridge where the trail splits twice. Take the second right turn, and continue along the trail towards Woodrush.
16. WA At Woodrush, take the right hand branch of the trail along the right hand shore of the bayou.
18. You'll come to Wedgewood Park, very pretty but no water to drink. Follow the trail along Wedgewood - it will turn right and head for East Panther Creek, where you'll cross the road towards the entrance to West Isle.
19. Turn left on East Panther Creek, and follow the loop trail all along East Panther Creek, North Panther Creek, and West Panther Creek until you reach Flintridge. Turn right on Flintridge.
20. WA After crossing Gosling Road turn right on Rush Haven. Follow Rush Haven to Falcon Wing.
21. WA Turn left on Falcon Wing and follow it to Flint Ridge. You can only turn right, so do so. Now you are on the fabled hills of Indian Springs. Maybe not so fabled, but just about the only place where you really will need to change gears on the entire trip!
22. Follow Flint Ridge past the John Cooper School, over Kuykendahl, and across Woodlands Parkway to Sterling Ridge Road. At the roundabout, turn left on the Sterling Ridge path.
23. When Sterling Ridge reaches Branch Crossing, turn right. Follow Branch Crossing to Alden Bridge.
24. WA Turn right on Alden Bridge, eventually crossing Research Forest. Continue following Alden Bridge past Mitchell Middle School, Alden Bridge Park, and over Research Forest again until you reach Cochran's Crossing.
25. Turn left at Cochran's Crossing and proceed to Research Forest.
26. Turn right on Research Forest and ride back to Bear Branch Recreation Center.

The route map was assembled from a pastiche of images from Yahoo! Maps and the route drawn in by hand. It's most useful for general guidance - you won't be able to use it to follow the trail, but if you're confused about some segment and you're intimately familiar with the Woodlands it might be useful. Or if you want to bail half-way thru, you wimp, you can figure out where you might be able to do that.

Yeah Yeah

Note: Of course, the official name is "The Erickson Software Bicycle Tour" and the "of The Woodlands" part of the title of this page is merely descriptive.

Copyright (c) 2003 Kenton Erickson. All rights reserved.