Bike Friendly Richardson

It’s time for another installment of the I Bike Richardson series, where we put a face on Richardson cyclists. We’d like to introduce, Bill Johnson, who is also helping us test out a different format. He took the time to answer a few questions about biking. Enjoy:

Name:
Bill Johnson

How long have you been riding?
Years ago in Junior High and early High School, I used to ride a single speed coaster brake bike everywhere in Forth Worth, then I got a car. Somewhere along the way in the late eighties, I decided to Bike again so I got a 10 Speed and road that thing for a long time until I just didn’t have the time (I always comptemplated Commuting to work, but had too many faux excuses). In 2003, a friend at work wanted to go try out mountain biking so we both went to WalMart and bought $125 Bikes and put them together at Arbor Hills on August afternoon. That got my biking juices flowing again. I finally bought a commuting bike and remove those excuses and ride pretty much everywhere.

How often do you ride?
I commute almost everyday I go to the office near the Galleria (from Pearce area of Richardson). I make exceptions when the temps drop below 30 degrees because ice made by people who still want their lawns watered in dead winter and for days where it is going to rain all day. Weekends are for Mountain Biking or exploring Dallas area if the trails are muddy or I have someone that wants to explore the streets with me.

What’s your favorite route?
I love that you can ride all the way from 121 to Baylor Hospital in Dallas with only a few blocks on the street. Park Lane and Northhaven roads in Dallas are a couple of my favorite exploration Biking roads, I never know who I’ll see or what streets will draw me to ride.

Why do you cycle?
I ride for fun, if it wasn’t fun I wouldn’t do it.

What is your perspective on riding – in general or in Richardson?
Richardson is a great city to ride. Lots of neat neighborhoods, loads of friendly people, lots of businesses that are friendly to cyclists.

Tell us about your bikes.
Mountain Bike is a 2004 Specialized Stumpjumper FS.
Commuter and general purpose street bike is a 2006 Trek 7.5 FX Livestrong Edition that has more than 10,000 miles of use so far.

We want to thank Bill, for sharing his perspective on Richardson cyling.

We’d also like to extend an invitation to any cyclist who lives and/or rides in Richardson to share their story as well. You can either answer the questions (above) or send in a story – along with some pics to bikefriendlyrichardson(at)gmail.com.

Filed under: I Bike Richardson, Bill Johnson, I Bike Richardson, Local Bike Riders