WHEEL SCARY
Houston ranks among 10 most dangerous U.S. cities for cyclists
Steven Devadanam
Jul 9, 2018, 11:05 am
Houston cyclists face myriad dangers in a car town. Photo by F. Carter Smith
This article originally appeared on CultureMap.
As local cyclists are painfully aware, as lovely as a 10-speed or mountain bike spin on a sunny day can be, the ride can come with serious risks — even fatal. A recently released report confirms that imminent danger, as Houston is listed as the sixth-most dangerous city for cyclists in the nation.
The study comes courtesy of Your Local Security, which has ranked the Safest U.S. Cities for Cyclists. To determine the safest and least safe US cities for bikers, the organization gathered metrics and data from Census.gov, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, People for Bikes, and The League of American Bicyclists to find the percentage of bike commuters, number of fatal crashes, amount of bike lanes, and what bike laws are in place or in the works in each city. Cities included had populations of 20,000 or more. A formula using a 100-point scale was then created, with fatal bike crashes rated the highest determining factor.
Houston ranks just behind Los Angeles (No. 1) and New York City (No. 2) as the most dangerous large American city for cyclists, with small town Fargo, North Dakota ahead of Houston at No. 5. The report finds Davis, California as the safest city in America for bikers — and several California cities in the top 10.
Read more at CultureMap.
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Astros stumble again as Braves complete gut-wrenching series sweep
Apr 17, 2024, 4:51 pm
Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander will make his season debut Friday night at the Washington Nationals.
Houston manager Joe Espada made the announcement Wednesday.
“Getting him back is huge because it brings a level of confidence to our team, a boost of confidence that we’re going to get someone who’s been an MVP, a Cy Young (winner) on the mound,” Espada said. “It's (good) for the morale and to get stuff started and moving in the right direction.”
The three-time Cy Young Award winner opened the season on the injured list with inflammation in his right shoulder. He made two rehabilitation starts, the first for Triple-A Sugar Land on April 7 before Saturday’s start for Double-A Corpus Christi.
Espada wouldn't say how many pitches the 41-year-old would be limited to but said they'll keep an eye on his workload.
“We've got to be careful how hard we push him early,” Espada said. “I know he’s going to want to go and stay out there and give us an opportunity to win, but we've got to be cautious of how hard we push him early in the season.”
Verlander wasn’t thrilled with the results in his rehabilitation starts, but he said Monday that those games were valuable in getting him prepared to come off the IL.
He allowed seven hits and six runs — five earned — in four innings against Frisco on Saturday. He struck out three, walked one and threw 51 of 77 pitches for strikes.
Verlander allowed six earned runs and struck out six while pitching into the fourth inning for Sugar Land on April 7.
The Astros have gotten off to a tough start with Verlander and fellow starters Framber Valdez and José Urquidy on the injured list. They enter Wednesday's games last in the AL West with a 6-13 record.
Espada hopes Verlander can be the boost the team needs to get on track.
“It’s good to get him back in the rotation,” Espada said. “With what he means to this club just to get him back on track, getting some innings from him (to) build our rotation with the pieces that we need to move forward is exciting.”