Bike-sharing in The Woodlands makes for a pretty smooth ride
It’s been said that one never forgets how to ride a bike.
After recently downloading the MoBike app on my phone, I straddled a bike for the first time since I was 13. The first 30 seconds were a bit wobbly, but after that, muscle memory kicked in, and it was smooth sailing.
MoBike, one of the world’s largest bikesharing companies, now has 50 bicycles stationed in The Woodlands for residents and tourists to use via a smartphone. It’s simple: A user downloads the app, enables Bluetooth and scans the QR code of a bicycle to unlock it. When done riding, you lock the bike, and a fee is deducted from the account on the app.
In my case, though, the app and I didn’t get off to a friendly start.
A 30-minute ride costs $1. I wanted to pay the $1 fee to test and see whether I liked the dockless bike-sharing idea. The app, however, only allows a minimum payment of $5, and the money must be paid before you can unlock a bike. (Other payable options are $10, $20 and $50.) On the plus side, the more you pay, the more free rides are offered. If I were to pay $10, I would receive two free rides; if I were to pay $50, I would receive 20.
But I also had to drive around for 45 minutes before I even found a bike. The locator map on the app wasn’t working, even though I logged out and logged back in three times. I even tried turning my phone off and back on. (Two weeks later, when I decided to log back on and use the remaining $4 on my account, the map was working.)
I did like that the app tracked my distance and calories. According to the app, in 30 minutes I traveled 3.4 kilometers (2.11 miles) and burned 297 calories.
Because the system is not based in the U.S., the distance is tracked in kilometers, and I’m not sure I can trust the calories it said I lost because the phone was in the basket on the front of the bicycle and not in my pocket.
The baskets on each MoBike provide a great place for personal belongings, including a ring to keep water bottles in place. However, the ring is not adjustable, and my water bottle jumped out twice when I went a little too fast over a crack in the sidewalk.
As for the ride itself, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I rode along The Woodlands Waterway on a sunny afternoon in late January. The bicycle was easy to maneuver on the slight ups and downs and turned effortlessly.
It also fit comfortably into the elevator on Waterway Avenue when I decided to take my ride up to the streets.
Overall, I would rate the experience as not too shabby. The system isn’t something I would use on a regular basis, but for someone who wants to ride occasionally, it’s a great fit.