Bike Friendly Richardson

NOTE: I just realized that the pictures I took tonight make Richardson look kind of ugly, so I promise next time I’ll take lots of scenic pics!

I’ll be posting various versions of this article on several blogs. God, I love this whole blogging addiction thing.

OK, I went for a casual Richardson ride tonight. Rather than my usual 18 mile ride on the Fuji, I decided to go toodle around on the Townie. Just kinda giving my legs a rest. Feel like I’ve been blowing them out a bit.

Anyway, I rode from my house down to Richardson Heights Shopping Center, after a brief stop at the old Methodist church/current Buddhist temple/organization, where I did a little deep breathing-meditation in their garden.

I rode around the shopping center parking lot for a while and took this picture of what for many years was the JC Penney store. Man, this place has been empty for a long time, which is a bummer. Most of the other spaces in the shopping center are occupied, which is great. My family used to shop here a lot, and I got many winter coats at the Penney store. This was before nearly all the big stores had moved to malls. Things were better. Malls have ruined so much. They suck.

As long as I’m being nostalgic, this 7-Eleven has been in the same place forever. I know it’s just a 7-Eleven, but I like it that it is still there.

OK, enough nostalgia. Let move on — there is more excitement to come!

I proceeded in an easterlyish direction, under Central Expressway, and moved into glamorous downtown Richardson. I rode around a bit, checking out the activity in local businesses. It’s pretty amazing what kind of small businesses you discover if you’re just farting around on a bike. I knew there were some hookah shops and bars, down there. I discovered a custom plus-sized dress shop, a hip-hop clothing company, etc.

But since this was a leisurely ride, I decided I had exerted myself a little too much. Refreshment was required, and what better place to obtain them than Dell’s Hamburgers, on Polk Street. I locked the Townie up (I just realized I need to come up with a cool name for the Townie, kinda like the Bike Snob has his cool name for his bike), and entered the establishment, and ordered up one of their awesome homemade root beers. Aaaaaah…muy delicioso!

So, I hope all this makes the point that Richardson is really a great town to ride bikes in. After about 7pm, it is fully and totally chill, with lots of great little spots to hit for eats and drinks.