I was one of the lucky ones to be spared by Hurricane Harvey. The flood waters crept up my street and into my friends and neighbor’s homes, but not mine. As the controlled release of the reservoirs commenced and I watched the flood line rise and fall and rise again, I was uncertain of what would happen next. While the waters never made it into my home, my vehicle was immobilized by situation. The floods left cars stranded in the streets. Those who dared plow through the water damaged their vehicles and left them inert.

Blessed with two legs, I bypassed the headaches and the heartaches my neighbors endured and walked to my HEB for supplies. Those short excursions revealed to me the desperation that my neighbors were experiencing. It was only a day after the storm and hustlers were already trying to sell me water on the sidewalk. The lights were out. There was a lingering tone of lawlessness creeping at night. I didn’t want to be out when I didn’t have to be.

There were countless streetwalkers. “These are my neighbors” I thought to myself, as though it was my first time ever seeing them. In a very real sense, it was the first time. Harvey disrupted our routine and had us confronting our humanity.

One of the most salient observations I made was the comparison of the haves to the have-nots. When your city is under water, your automobile may not necessarily be an asset. If you are lucky, you have two legs and the ability to walk. If you prepared ahead of time, you have cash on hand and a ration plan for drinking water.

On the streets, the only people I felt were in a better situation than most were the people on their bikes. They did not have a hard time navigating around waters. They had their blinkers, their helmets, their backpacks and their own agendas. Some of them even seemed to be enjoying their ride as they witnessed the aftermath of the storm.

Since then, I stepped my game up. I bought a used hybrid cruiser on Facebook and relived the joys of my childhood that only a bicycle can provide. Biking became a part of my life. It wasn’t long after that a friend of my introduced me to the Liquor & Wood Bike Crew. These party people meet every Thursday for their social rides. They participate in civic engagement and are generally a blast to be around.

As of writing this the Liquor & Wood Bike Crew Facebook page has 1,588 follows on Facebook. Their fan page membership currently stands at 1,564 members.

LWBC represents only a microcosm of the Houston Bike Scene. There are lone-wolf riders and crews everywhere, at all different skill levels that I have yet to discover. We all ride for different reasons. The goal of this site is to cultivate a community for riders to connect in Houston.

We aspire for HoustonBikeScene.com to not only be an Social Network for you to connect with other riders, but a resource for information, events, news, bike routes, paths and road conditions that all bikers in Houston need. We aspire for HoustonBikeScene.com to be an asset to your biking experience in Houston.