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Ride on: thanks to miles of new trails and an ambitious plan to revitalize the neglected trinity river, the metroplex is slowly pedaling toward a bike-friendly future. (on the great outdoors).

Article Excerpt
ON A MILD SATURDAY AFTERNOON IN JANUARY, I'M riding my bicycle along the Clear Fork of the Trinity River just southwest of downtown Fort Worth. It's an easy ride through a primarily urban landscape, and the river itself is mostly tame--it gambols sedately over man-made stone dams and between broad sloping levee walls. Still, there are a number of hints pointing to the natural setting that once existed here. The water is clear, revealing a limestone riverbed that is the signature of so many great Texas rivers, and cormorants, ducks, and egrets congregate along the banks. Once I pass Forest Park, woods and open spaces on both sides of the river make it easy to forget that I am in the middle of Texas' sixth-largest city. I surrender to the thrum of the spokes through the air and the rhythm of the tires on the concrete.

Believe it or not, I came to Fort Worth to ride my bike. While most tourists come to visit the now world-renowned Modern Art Museum or see the Stockyards, a rumor that you could cycle from Fort Worth to Dallas along trails following the Trinity River is what inspired me to make the 200-mile drive up Interstate 35 from Austin. I soon discovered that the rumor was too good to be true--for the moment, at least. As I write this, all the major municipalities between Dallas and Fort...

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