Independence Day Ride

It was late in the morning when I hit the road, about 11:45. The first part of my ride, about 5 miles, took me to the Kingwood boat ramp. As an avid fisherman, I always like to see what's going on at the lake. Unfortunately, most users of the ramp on weekends, especially holiday weekends, are wake boarders and the jet ski crowd. That was obviously true today from a glance at the parking area. The trailers and tow vehicles were almost all large behemoths meant for pulling that big wake boat or the little jet ski trailers. Surprisingly, there was very little action on the water front. I guess most were on down stream burning fuel.

Sadly, our ramp will be overrun this summer with those craft. With the cost of gas as high as it is now, those who formerly would have made the 50 or so mile drive to Lake Conroe are staying close to home. Lake Houston for Kingwood residents has become a substitute. In spite of the ramp being only seven miles from the the farthest point in Kingwood, most preferred the long drive to Conroe and its more aesthetic environment. Poor old Lake Houston, with its siltation problems and off-color water caused by upstream sand mining that's unregulated, just wasn't good enough.

For some of us, though, we found much on the lake to love. I've paddled my kayaks and canoes over much of the upper end of the lake. Its full of wildlife. I seldom fail to see deer on the islands in the lake. There is at least one pair of nesting bald eagles residing on the lake, and plenty of Osprey. During the winter, there are a couple of rookeries of Turkey Buzzards, one of which, to the chagrin of one affluent gated communty, is withing close pooping distance. Then, there are the flocks of white pelicans that winter over on the lake. These huge birds have great grace. I love to watch them land and take off. Even more interesting is their feeding behavior. Unlike the brown pelican I was more familiar with, the whites don't seem to be a diving bird. Large groupings of the birds herd the prey bait fish in a circular fashion and scoop them up.

Back to the infernal boats and jet skis, while, for the most part, they don't, as on some lakes, go out of their way to annoy fishermen and small craft, their wakes do not make for a pleasant day on the lake, unless your love to surf the wakes in a kayak or canoe. I guess, though, they get at least one blue star. By staying close to home, they burn less gas...or do they? That means they also get more time on the water and the boats burn a lot more fuel per hour than even the largest SUV.

After a short time in the ramp area, during which I talked to a guy trying out his new one man flats boat...nice rig powered by a trolling motor...and a couple of kayakers, I moved on. As I left the ramp area, I noticed dark clouds in the southwest. After about a mile ride, the winds picked up and the skies darkened. Still 4 miles from home, I continued on my ride. I switched from the road to a multi-use trail...Kingwood has 75 or so miles of those...and followed it to go under Kingwood Drive, one of the major thoroughfares. The wind picked up more, with pine needles blowing everywhere, even getting stuck between my helmet and glasses. I made it to the shelter of one of the subdivison pool houses to wait out the rain. It came in buckets, lasting about 30 minutes. I had a good talk with one of the lifeguards at the pool, a high school freshman and learned that the pool wasn't used much by residents. Its small and in a neighborhood of relatively affluent homeowners,many of whom have their own pools.


After the rain slacked off to a drizzle, I headed the three miles to the house, cutting short an intended 15 mile ride. The total mileage for the day was almost 11 miles, not bad for a rainy 4th. My old Nishiki performed well. Guess I need to check the chain lube before heading out on the 5 th.