Womens. Don’t underestimate em!

I’m now into 5 straight months at the gym named after the clock and yes, I know the word womens is not grammatically correct, but in a sense, it is.  All women are not the same and my reference is in this vein.  Like fishes, women can be quite diverse and well, different, but in the end, they are still very female in nature, with a certain amount of tenacity that confounds men in general.

The older I get, the more I appreciate their persistence and individuality and I can say that and still basically retain my caveman man-card.  A man-card is a delicate thing at best I reluctantly admit.  Women instinctively know this and we buffoons who carry them, blindly believe we have womens buffaloed… well we don’t and they tolerate us with a generous amount of levity and leeway.

I got my man-card nearly revoked this past Tuesday when I sat my ample rear man parts on the skinny seat of a “spinner” exercise bike at the gym.  It was my second encounter with this heinous and ingeniously designed torture device and I foolishly thought “this time” would be easier.  It wasn’t and the reason is the Spinning instructor - a slim woman in every respect (except for her muscular thighs) is a danged-burned sadist.  Yea, I said it.

Now, this last statement is open for interpretation and probably not the consensus of the “weaker sex” in the class, but I’m telling the truth when I say that she yells out commands pretty much like R. Lee Ermey in the movie “Full Metal Jacket” and she does it with a sweet countenance and smile – which doesn’t fool me one durned bit.

“UP!” she screams and in the mirrors, I see all the womens rise up on their pedals and begin to pump with reckless agonizing abandon.  Hey!  I’m good for the first session of “10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-3-2-2-1!” and I plop down on the seat only to realize with emasculating  horror that the “1” is being held for 10 seconds and all the womens are still up and pumping with mindless zombie giggly enjoyment!

The instructor remains sweat-less and in what can only be described as super human estrogen exertion, pumping her muscular thighs like she is on effortless vacation.  I stare at the floor and I see a growing puddle of…water?  Why didn’t they clean this up before I came?  Who left all this salty water here?  It’s a total tapestry of injustice!

“UPPPP!  MORE!  YOU CAN DO IT! (and then the kicker)  I LOVE YOU!”  I love you?  What?  She doesn’t love me.  I don’t feel any love.  Nope; none at all.  Wait.  My fellow peddlers are all grinning.  Yeah, they feel the love.  I don’t.  I don’t get it.  “Why am I here?  Why did I come here today?  Did my Bride do this to me?   Yes, she’s also grinning.  Did she coerce me?  Am I still sane?  What is the meaning of life?  Am I a Democrat?”  So many confusing questions and all I see is the fog of estrogen rolling over me.

My mind is cloudy. I have “gym-brain”.  Gym-brain, that elusive narcotic state of induced endorphins, where a person truly believes they are rational and walk around in the gym like an extra on the Walking Dead TV show… and I keep peddling.  I cannot fail here.  After all, I am in the company of the weaker sex, right?  I need to man-up and I do, but my masculine backside doesn’t leave the seat, even though all the spandex in the room rises to the commands of the instructor.  Certain portions of my anatomy are now so numb I wonder if I am being skewered.

I close my eyes and pedal furiously.  I’ll catch up.  Yea, I am still in the race.  I have an ace in my pocket these womens don’t have.  I have bulging man-muscles and lots of them.  I’ll power past them and they know it and I know it.  Meanwhile the puddle of water is growing below my bike and I suddenly have an ugly epiphany and it’s not a happy one.

It’s not my fault that I am sweating more than everyone else.  It’s hotter over here.  For some stupid reason, the two fans are pointed more towards the womens than me.  If I had the cool wind they have, I could ride in the same easy comfort.  What, my 20 ounces of water is gone from my water bottle?  The danged weak bottle must have sprung a leak and that is why the floor is so wet.  Yes, that’s it and such a simple explanation!  Whew, that’s a relief and I gather comfort from this discovery!

“UPPPPP”!  What tha?  Again?  Doesn’t she realize we live on the Gulf Coast and there are no hills here?  Is she from Idaho or something?  There is a distinct smell of moldy potatoes in the gym.  What about coasting?  How come there is no coasting in this spin class?  I don’t get it.  My gym-brain is swinging all over the pace as I try to convince myself that I am still in the race.  I am, right?

You’re danged right I am and as the instructor tells us we are finished, I look around and smile.  I can do this and the ladies are gracious enough to not point out that I am as wet as a whale, as I mop the “spill” on the floor with my towel.  “I’ll show them next week what a real man can do.”

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Baytown Walks. Wait! What?

I grew up playing outdoors, unlike what is commonly accepted as normal child activity  today.  Being hyper was unheard of; we were boys.  Baseball, football, whiffleball, Army – we played Army almost every day.  We were the baby boomers, being born after World War Two and the Korean conflict.  Of course we had toy guns and a lot of times, we had sticks that in our vivid imaginations were machine guns.  We shot a lot of imaginary enemies of our country and many times, were wounded or killed.

My 3 brothers and I spent untold hours on long hikes in the woods, often staying gone from my Mom’s scrutiny for hours – or we rode our bicycles and would many times chalk up 10 mile adventures.  We would climb trees and when our body weight over-powered the tall plant, we would hang on and ride the tree to the ground before letting go.  This was our entertainment.  Its what we did to entertain ourselves.

We would find a brick wall and one would bat, while the other threw a rubber ball at the strike zone or we would find a circular track and ride our bikes around it 100 times or more simulating a race track competition.  One summer in Woodstock, Georgia, we camped out in the wooded section behind our house for over a month, only using the house for the toilet, a meal, or the occasional shower.  We loved staying outdoors and it was plenty hot, wet, or cold all of the time.

I’ve lived in my present house for 22 years and with a large track of woods behind it, I’ve never seen kids playing there, so yes, times have changed from the ancient times of my childhood.  Thank the big man in the sky, that is about to change again.  Boomers are once again coming out of their houses and… walking.  Maybe, just maybe, it will include kids and teens.  The Blue Heron Park Trail has about 2.5 miles (estimate) of 10-foot wide sidewalk for us to bang our feet upon and it has a lot of activity and it is just one of the many trails our city has built for us Baytownians.

Thanks to Scott Johnson’s strong leadership and Sonja Payne, we now have a Baytown Walks program and I am pleased to say we had a good turn-out on its first day.  Baytown for many years was a very hostile place for hikers, bikers, and walkers, lacking even a modest number of sidewalks, let alone walking trails.  This has changed, but there is more work to be done and more wide sidewalks are needed.

We are fat, folks.  There is no sense in denying it.  We need to get off our rumps and walk.  What, you’re not fat?  Good for you.  No go outside and start walking.  Sweat all you want, but walk anyway and while you’re at it, bring a plastic garbage bag and pick up a little trash while you’re sweating.  All that bending over will work wonders for that soon to develop six-pack and make the city look cleaner at the same time.

Speaking of making the city look better, I confirmed with a city employee that the proliferation of signs being stuck at every intersection advertising “Repairing credit for $250” and another that “Buys Homes Fast” are illegal signs, so feel free to remove and recycle them in your green can.  They are litter, nothing more.

The city has an OAP (overall plan) to connect all of our trails together in the future and I for one applaud it.  The sooner the better and every dime spent on it is an investment in our city’s future and our personal health.  I am anxiously awaiting the trail expansion and fourth bridge across Cary Bayou in Walter Jenkins Park.  I’ve put a bug in Dustin Schubert’s ear to certify the trail at 5000 meters so people will come to Baytown to train for long distance running.  The area behind the dog park could be a spaghetti trail with elevation changes in that would make a runner’s mouth water.

And speaking of water, let’s get that kayak launch point on Cary Bayou at JC Holloway Park!  The new launch point at the Baytown Nature Center is awesome!

Welcome to Baytown!

This is what many believe to be a typical Baytownian.

“A horrible black hole of a town. it sucks you in and it is almost impossible to break it's hold on you. It is full of worthless men and stupid women. The few good people are always trying to get out. AKA Dirty Bay   God I can't wait to get out of Baytown.”

On more than one occasion, it’s been pointed out to me that I obsess over city parks, hiking and biking trails, and over-concentrating on making Baytown friendlier to joggers and people who enjoy riding a bicycle on our road’s shoulders.  One current councilman told me one time that’s all I need to worry about and he would worry about everything else.  He scored zero points with me for that self-righteous smug and flippant remark.

Although I admit he was partially true and I say partially because frankly, there’s hardly a shoulder on any of our side roads.  Riding a bicycle around Baytown is akin to playing in the street – not a smart thing to do at all.  Forget that on any given weekend around the state, thousands of educated and hard-working Texans are competing in foot and bike races, or training for the MS-150, so when I read Chris Presley and Scott Sheley’s stance on the “most viable source of future revenue for the city” in the Baytown Sun, Tuesday, I took a keen interest.

And a little alarm sounded.

Presley went first with this: “We need to stop declining property values. Property values do not appreciate in Baytown like in most other communities. In fact, values have been trending downward in District 2 in recent years. If we can find ways to better stabilize our older neighborhoods and better stabilize those property values, in tandem with being more fiscally responsible with taxpayer’s dollars, we could eventually roll back the tax rate.”

“These people are known to be generally hard-working, if somewhat unsophisticated. Many of these people could be called hillbillies or swampers. Trailer trash is commonly seen in and around the Baytown area. Sometimes these people are referred to as "refinery trash."

Sometimes these people are referred to as "refinery trash."

Mr. Presley is in line with what I believe.  Not only do we need to stop the downward slide, we need to encourage high end house-building by hook or crook.  It’s been a pet peeve of mine for some time that many who speak about supporting this town, live in Sommerwood, Atascocita, or Jersey Village – anywhere but the Dirty Bay – a term I resent by the way. 

Sheley’s reply sounded okay, but did not make provision for expanding amenities, namely fixing up “what we already got.”  Now I like Scott.  I think he’s a great guy and to my knowledge, I haven’t met Chris and what I am saying is simple.  If we want Baytown to grow, we have to bring it all up at the same time and not just push business expansion.

Sure, Pirate’s Bay is a money maker.  I’ve never been there, but folks seem to like it and I have no problem supporting Mr. Sheley on his idea to promote it.  I like the idea of the Industrial complex kicking in their share also, but if either of these fellows were in my district and they said we’re going to three-lane the heavily traveled McKinney Road and add sidewalks or connect all of our parks with a hike bike trail (or die trying to get funding), I would poke a hole in their ballot in a heartbeat.

“A crappy city East of Houston that has absolutely nothing to do or see except for a mediocre mall in which half of the stores are either closed or run by ######”.

I’ve got my feelers out and have been communicating with Dustin Schubert and John Dupois about the future of Jenkins Park and the Blue Heron Parkway and as soon as something concrete – no pun intended, becomes available, they are going to help me bring it to this column.

Baytown is in serious need of a certified 3.1 mile (5K) loop so runners can train for races.  A 6.2 mile (10K) trail  would be better.  Recently, my bride and I have been over off Beltway 8 and highway 90 to the Gene Green Beltway 8 Park, which is a well kept secret.  It’s basically two detainment ponds separated by a forest.  The forest is a giant dog park with a hiking trail snaking through it and around the 250 acres is a wide cement sidewalk measuring 2 miles per circuit.

A small part of the Gene Green Beltway 8 Park

Inside, the environmentally-friendly park’s most popular features are a zip-line, an extensive exercise area, a kiddie spray park, tennis and basketball courts, a BMX freestyle course, dog runs, paved trails, an amphitheater and well-equipped skate park.  It also has a first class restroom, something we can’t have at Walter Jenkins park due to recurring vandalism.  We have a portacan.

“Baytown, the ultimate low of existence.”

Am I saying that Channelview Texas has a better park than the entire city of Baytown?  Yes, I am and it saddens me.  No, it embarrasses me.  We have been in this heavily used park a number of times and always there are men, women, and children of all ethnicities exercising in a safe environment.

Again, I am not knocking our Park’s super – I think he does a great job.  I can’t go into one of our parks without seeing maintenance crews doing the place right.  What puzzles me is how can these other areas I visit have what we have and seemingly so much more?  I’ve been to some retention/detention ponds that have fountains, bridges, benches and all kinds of other amenities and I want it for Baytown.

Pond B of the Baker Road Extension - Future Retention pond.

Our Park engineer Dustin Schubert replied to my questions about expansion in an email, knowing full well I will quote him verbatim.  “On the Jenkins park connector it is high on our list to make that connection, however funds are not available in the near future.  On the retention basin we have not put a plan together as to what amenities it will have.”

City Council.  Find the funding.  Make Baytown a place where proud Baytownians who have 6 figure incomes want to raise their families, spend their money, and jog, ride their bikes, and support this town.

Quotes, compliments of Urbandictionary.com

The future of Baytown

An open letter to our city's leadership:  I know everyone is seeing the scorched-earth dirt work that is going on all around Houston and Baytown.  Its almost as if there is a vendetta against anything green.  God help us if we don't start an aggressive program to replant. The greenhouse gas alone will continue to spike upward and then there is the very serious loss of habitat for wildlife to consider.

Baytown has always been a blue-collar town and I like it that way, but the truth is we have to start looking at more than people and industry growth, or the people earning very good livings off of our industry will live elsewhere and our collective health will decline.  We must push, push, push the expansion of parks and hiking/biking trails and businesses must be encouraged to replant trees and more trees, specifically native varieties tuned for the Gulf Coast.  I am going to retire here, most likely next year with no plans to go to "greener" pastures and I'm watching with enthusiasm for Baytown's future under you folk's direction.  Please don't let me and my neighbors down.

4 lane road through a natural area.

For years people called this Honda Hills.

Honda Hills defoliation to add Baker Road extension

Clear out everything above ground to put this underground.

I suggest we use this mowed containment area below the Fred Hartman Bridge

The current construction on Cedar Bayou replacing natural habitat.

Barkuloo Road closure to tie in the new Baker Road.

SH-146 & Hwy 99

SH-146 & Hwy 99

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Barkuloo road and Baker road intersection 7-28-13

Barkuloo road and Baker road intersection 7-28-13

Barkuloo road and Baker road intersection 7-28-13

Nurture Nature Bike tour April 6 in Baytown!

Looking for a unique way to spend Saturday morning on a spring day? Look no further than the Baytown Nature Center this Saturday, April 6, when the monthly Nurture Nature Series presents a bike tour with naturalist, Crissy Butcher and Superintendent of Natural Resource Programs, Tracey Prothro.

“Biking Around Baytown Nature Center” gives participants the opportunity to hit the trails in the interior of the park to discover some of Mother Nature’s spring wonders. The morning adventure begins at 10 am at San Jacinto Point near the Children’s Nature Discovery Area with a short talk on bicycle safety, before heading out for the two-wheel excursion. All ages and levels of experience are welcome. Parts of the ride will be along nature center trails so a trail/mountain bike would be helpful. The flat route assures a low level of difficulty; however all participants are asked to wear helmets. At the end of the morning, each participant will receive a bike light.

The Nurture Nature Series is the first Saturday of each month from 10 am –noon. The program is free with the $3 regular nature center admission for adults and children 13 and older.

For additional information, contact: MaryAlice.Trumble@baytown.org or call 281-420-7128.

Baker Road Extension Update January 2013

Baker Road is being extended across N. Main and Barkuloo Road all the way to Sjolander Road.  I live in the back of Chaparral Village and directly behind my house, the land has been defoliated and bulldozed to accommodate a giant detention/retention pond.  Since there is no stopping it, I am petitioning our City leaders and planners to make it attractive, rather than just another loss of habitat and something that is ugly.  The good news is they are listening and contrary to what is commonly assumed and written on the local Baytown Talk section of Hotpursuit.cc, which I routinely contribute to and mine for information.

The heavy use of our parks trails prove that developing walking, jogging, and biking trails around the cities bayou and various fingers of Goose Creek, along with micro trail systems will benefit the city and upgrade it to match newer developed areas. People need places to ride their bicycles, jog, and walk and although we have a good start and a very active Parks staff, we need more.  Here is the most recent email discussion and I started it off with a few questions.

Before the detention/retention pond clearing and after

While geocaching in most of the surrounding cities, I've noticed many of the detention ponds are are being reforested.  As you remember, I am very concerned about the giant pond being put in behind my house in .  It appears the State of Texas is planting trees everywhere along our highways.  I have a few comments and questions.

1.  I do not know what the future plan is concerning the detainment pond behind my house.
How deep will it be when completed?
What is the time frame concerning its completion?
Will it be replanted with trees? (bald cypress trees are natives and thrive in wet areas)
Will the city or county own it?
Will a trail be installed from Barkuloo Park to Jenkins Park utilizing the existing pipeline and future berm of the detainment pond?

2. Can the City petition the State to pick up the cost of the trees in and around Baytown?

3. Gene Green Park in Channelview has done remarkable things with a giant detainment pond there, using self-draining walls and buildings.  See photos.  Baytown Bert Marshall

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The pond will be owned and maintained by the City.

The State only provides landscaping along their rights of way. We have applied for this landscaping and received some along Spur 330, at I-10 and Spur 300 and a joint project is underway along Hwy. 146 between Main and Garth. The financial pressures facing most governmental entities have hit funding for items like landscaping especially hard. We are on track to receive landscaping at Hwy. 146 and Spur 330 in 2015.

Bob Leiper   City Manager   City of Baytown

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From Parks:

We plan to develop the detention/retention pond as a park.  We will have an area that will be designed similar to the East LL fields at the 10th street detention pond, which will be practice soccer/football/softball fields including a small parking area.  The extent of the development of the area depends on future funding.

We have also been looking at the possible extension of Barkuloo Park to Baker Road.  Not sure we could afford to square the park off with Barkuloo, but maybe get some access to Baker Road to help open up Barkuloo Park.

Dustin and I also plan to ask for MDD dollars in next year’s budget to redevelop Barkuloo and to remove the piles of dirt and glass that surround two sides of the park.

There is a trail planned to connect Barkuloo to the Baker Road Trail/sidewalk as part of the Road construction.  Hopefully we can figure out how to connect to Jenkins Park over the RR tracks.   Scott  Johnson

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Bert, we have been doing some brainstorming related to Barkaloo Park.  What do you think the neighborhood would think about extending El Rancho Drive to the new Baker Road extension?  It would give homeowners at the back of Chaparral an additional entrance/exit and provide a new entrance to Barkaloo Park while opening the park up to more traffic instead of a dead end.  What are your thoughts?  Of course, this is just parks brainstorming, no funding, no land etc; we’re just bouncing ideas around.  Thanks, Scott Johnson

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I think Councilman Bob Hoskins and the planner should go door to door and ask the folks that live here.  Then you will have your answer.  As for me, I like the fact that El Rancho and Buffalo Trl have limited access.  Scott, my wife summed up my feelings exactly when I told her the plans for the detention pond.  We have ball diamonds and soccer fields.  What this city needs is more hike and bike trails.  I would love to see that detention pond replanted with bald cypress trees galore and a hike/bike trail around it, connecting it too the existing trails in Jenkins park.  those trails are used heavily.  Today my wife and I were in Jenkins walking and even though it was 44 degrees and raining, people were walking, jogging and using the dog park.  Baytown Bert Marshall

Day Trip to Brazos Bend State Park

I don't even know where to begin. My Bride and I have decided we are going to start spending a lot more time together doing things we should have never stopped doing. Make sense? This does not include watching American idol while holding hands and singing kum-by-uh, or whatever that song was called.

I have a Jeep, kayak, and mountain bikes. We have a 9X17 foot tent and camp stove. I have 3 GPSr units. Heckfire, we can go and see and do. All we have to do…is do. This past Thursday, I took my newly acquired $70 Texas Park pass to Brazos Bend State Park with my bride and a protein-lovers picnic lunch and rode the trails. Well, we tried to ride the trails. More on that in a minute.

I loaded the geocaches in the park into my Garmin Oregon 450 and with my Bride's blessing, found 16 and all 16 were off the trail in the woods. To put it bluntly, I earned each one of them. She even came with me a few times and made the profound observation of: "I just don't see the fascination." I answered with, "Hey! There's another one 489 feet that way!"

You can tell by the photographs that I enjoyed each and every cache I found. The last 5 years I've been going to this park it's been so dry, it looked almost like the park was dying, but not this past Thursday. the trails I've hiked on foot were muddy and we rode, or tried to ride up the Big Creek Loop Trail only to have the brake calipers get clogged with mud, small rocks, and leaves.

We had to stop many times while I cleaned them off enough to ride. It was cloudy and a bit rainy, but we wouldn't let this stop us from enjoying the day. We saw many alligators and coots, egrets, herons, and some whistling ducks, but nothing like what will be in the park in 2 months. Brazos Bend State Park has more wildlife in it than you will see the rest of the year any place else.

We chatted with a retired school teacher from Canada then ate cheese, apples, and peanuts to refresh ourselves. Then my bride led me on a 3 mile hike on the White Oak Trail! I grabbed as many geocaches along the way as was acceptable to her. Noting her patience was nearing an end; I finally gave in and just hiked.  What a great start for the years adventures. We have a 3 day camping reservation in April for Pedernales Falls State park, one of my favorite parks and I am anticipating a great time there as well.

See more of the PARK HERE!
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/brazos_bend/

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_br_p4504_0110x.pdf

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/pwd_br_p4504_0110r.pdf

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/publications/pwdpubs/media/park_maps/pwd_mp_p4504_0110w.pdf 
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Letter to City Manager Garry Brumback

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Hello, Mr. Brumback! I'm trying to find the plan for the development of a trail system in and around Baytown, but can't seem to find it. While geocaching (and you may have heard me comment in my videos) I am continually impressed with the large scale development of trails along Fairmont Parkway, Red Bluff Road, and now along McCabe Road in La Porte.

McCabe Road and Fairmont Parkway trails are cement and very wide and this has to have cost a fortune, but where and how are they getting funding? I think it is imperitive if Baytown is to attract higher income families, we push the trail system forward asap.

Baytown native, Larry Houston and I have now successfully placed a large number of geocaches (23) along Goose Creek trail to attract out-of-towners and hopefully they will stop in for a bite to eat while here and as a side benefit, use our trail making it inherently safer. It took the Jenkins Park (Cary Bayou Trail) a long time before it felt safe, but now there are a lot of people using it. Incidentally, there are also 12 geocaches hidden in Jenkins Park/JC Holloway.

Rumors are Lee College wants to become a 4 year college and this further pushes the need for an extensive bike/hike trail system, especially along Goose Creek and its tributaries. Our city's streets and lack of shoulders are literally dangerous to bicyclists and desperately needs better biking trails of distance.

Next is the Jenkins Park trail expansion and the continued development of the Bark Park. The trail expansion should be carefully planned so a 5K distance is achieved, instead of an arbitrary plus or minus that amount. This will allow runners to know their exact distance, making it a perfect place to train for 10k races, etc. The sooner the overall plan is developed, the sooner trees can be planted.

What is the plan concerning the 3 bridges across Cary Bayou? I believe I heard Scott Johnson say they would be replaced.

Concerning the Bark Park: The city should light this park. Next, a flea and tick spray schedule should be placed outside the park and updated monthly.

Black Duck Bay trail system?

Recently while once again hiking the Goose Creek Trail, I made my way to the top of the Fred Hartman Bridge, on the Hog Island side of the Houston Ship Channel. While enjoying the expansive and elevated view, I looked downward and what isn’t apparent to motorists, is a winding dirt road. On the opposite side of the bridge, the road splits and envelopes two giant retaining ponds.

By the way, folks repeatedly ask me about my safety and the legality of walking across the Fred Hartman Bridge and I tell them the truth; it is scary to have cars going past you at seventy-plus miles per hour, with no place to avoid being ran over, but perfectly legal to walk across the bridge. You can’t park on the bridge, but you can ride a bike or hike across it. I'm willing to take my chances up there, but use your own best judgment.

Seeing the road below the bridge, I thought how wonderful this would be for Exxon-Mobil to open it for jogging and cycling. It is a beautiful ready-made trail, meandering along the ship channel and Black Duck Bay, which a runner, hiker or bike rider could enjoy. I would love to expand my hiking distance and walk it. Birders, binoculars in hand, would have yet another place to observe the many shore birds our area affords.

Access to the roads would necessitate the building of a bridge to span the divided area that used to lead to the Baytown/La Porte tunnel. The Bayland Park parking lot could be used as a staging area for those who wished to use the new trail.

The more I thought about this possibility, the more excited I became, so much so, that I pecked off an email to City Manager Garry Brumback and our honorable mayor, Stephen DonCarlos. I told them I thought it would be a wonderful extension of the Goose Creek Trail, maybe as much as 5 miles.

That very day Mr. Brumback responded: "I think this is worthy of asking ExxonMobil. I am happy to put the question to them; as long as everyone understands that this is not City property and that we are not resourced to police or maintain it should ExxonMobil agree to open it up. Would a citizens group be willing to adopt it and be responsible for its upkeep"? Our Mayor also agreed it was worth looking into.

I assured Mr. Brumback that I would take on the project of raising support from local biking and running clubs, if ExxonMobil agreed to open the trail for us.

Within a few days I was contacted via telephone by ExxonMobil Human Relations person, Russ Roberts to discuss the possibility of making this project a reality and was told he would look into it and get back with me. He also pointed out that the wheels of decision making move very slowly on community projects commitment and to be patient while they study the impact and liability issues concerning opening it up to the public.

That was about a month ago and although I am patient, I couldn't keep from taking yet another hike on the Goose Creek Trail and this time walking up the opposite side (the side we use to go to La Porte) and taking a closer look at the improved dirt roads on the refinery side of the bridge. What I saw and photographed is an aerial view of beautiful dirt roads which wander around the giant ponds, Black Duck Bay and the Houston Ship Channel and collectively cover maybe as much as 5 or 6 wonderful miles.

This trail, if opened to the public by ExxonMobil, would draw riders, birding groups and joggers from the entire South East Texas area, as a favorite place to train, run, jog, hike, cycle and stage foot and bicycle races. It could be a major plus to our community; major as in something to brag about and not just for ExxonMobil, but our city and populace also. ExxonMobil could use this as a giant public relations and local community coup and rightly so. This could just be the shot in the arm the marina area needs to realize expansion also.

Local running clubs and cycle groups could adopt portions of the trail for routine clean up and ExxonMobil's roving patrol could close access at dusk and open it at dawn. It would also be very nice of them to provide occasional receptacles for removal of trash and debris picked-up by citizens and the groups charged with maintaining the cleanliness of the trail.

While security on the trail would certainly be an issue, citizens who hike, ride and jog would take the same precautions they do on any other trail or county road. Access to the trail could be accomplished by parking at Bayland Park and the city could improve the cement barrier feeder road portion to accommodate foot and bike traffic.

The Black Duck Bay Trail System combined with the Goose Creek Trail could effectively give Baytown a ten mile (estimated) trail and it would be a win-win for all concerned.

The Intrepid Baytown Cycle Hiker

Baytown can be a tough place to get outdoor exercise if you are a bicycler, jogger, walker or an urban trekker. Sure, we have a few places to do these activities, but they require an automobile to get to them. Here in America, using an automobile to get to your place of exertion has never really been an issue, but it sure is now and in the future, it will become even more so.

This past Friday I decided to grab my camera and take a walk around town instead of driving to Jenkins Park or the Goose Creek Stream Trail head. (I don't particularly like the idea of parking my vehicle and leaving it while I exercise, only to come back and find it vandalized or missing).

What this meant was walking in the street or in someone's yard for 6 of the 7 miles I eventually traveled. The problem is we are not a bicycle or foot-friendly city and since we are a "city on the move", the lack of sidewalks and road shoulders will get worse before it gets better.

Every step taken or pedal pushed brings a risk of stumbling and falling or getting ran over by an unforgiving public in 3 to 5000 pound moving vehicles. The obvious question many would ask is why not just remain on a known path and then there is little chance of being injured? Well, for those of us who regularly hike or ride bicycles we need greater distances to reduce monotony and to get a change of scenery.

You see, a 2 mile foot path may appear adequate to people who do not regularly use them, but to a trekker, 2 miles is nothing. The beautiful Jenkins Park trail is hopefully going to be expanded to a 3.1 mile trail when the park expansion takes place and this will give runners a true 5K or 5 kilometer trail with markers. This will be a major improvement to runners who can make 8.45 laps and log in a complete marathon distance. It's my hope that the city of Baytown will sponsor a 5 and 10K fun run here in the future, like the old Baytown Heatwave we used to have on July 4^th.

The Goose Creek Stream Trail is very nice, but it should be expanded north all the way to Rollingbrook Drive, which incidentally has beautiful flowers growing alongside of it. I know, as I walked from my home in Chaparral Village down Massey Tompkins, to Rollingbrook and down the east fork of Goose Creek to the trail head at Garth and Decker. It was my intention to walk all the way to Bayland Park, but at this point the delicious smell of Mexican food coming from El Toros wafted over me and I decided to return home by the shortest distance.

This meant walking the roadways and negotiating business and lawn frontage for the most part (a tricky and rough way to walk) since there are no sidewalks. By the time I made it to HEB I had a 4 hour walk behind me and I made my way to the feeder road of SH146 and turned onto one of the few countryfied paths left in this city, albeit not exactly legal…the path by the RR tracks. Yes, it is private property and I am guilty. I won't even argue about it.

I love to ride my modified beach cruiser bicycle out to Beach City on a 33 mile bike ride, but it has become too dangerous in my estimation. Note here: I'll probably do it again anyway. What this means is leaving CV down Massey Tompkins (shoulder-less) to SH146 and then turning right onto 565 (very shoulder-less) to 3180. This is very dangerous and I don't recommend anyone doing it. 3180 has a nice shoulder for a ways, but then it too becomes just a two lane at about 2354 and cars really fly out there, so you have to be very watchful and ready to bail off the road.

I like to stop at the little store out there close to 1405 and support them and frankly, the old legs are ready for a break at this point. I take 1405 to 99 and make my way (usually to Kilgore road) and eventually back to CV. It's always a great ride and on a 30 pound cruiser-type bicycle, a great rewarding ride.

I envision this city with a network of paths and trails, suitable for hiking and bicycling that will allow residents to get from one side of the city to the other on nothing more than a bicycle seat or a pair of sneakers. Am I asking too much? I don't think so and I was told one time that if I ever go fishing for whales – I should take along the tarter sauce.