On Saturday, January 24, San Jacinto County Sheriff Greg Capers joined forces with San Jacinto County Precinct 1 Constable Roy Rogers to provide safety and security for the “Bike through the Forest & Hills” bicycle ride in Coldspring.
The event, sponsored by the Kingwood High School Dance Team – The Kingwood Fillies, is an annual event. Constable Rogers requested support from the Sheriff’s Office for this year’s event. Sheriff Capers along with 17 Sheriff’s Deputies, including Chief Deputy Schultea, Command Staff members, the Sheriff’s Office Reserve Bureau, and Patrol Deputies to provide safety and security to the Courthouse and the 46+ mile route for bicyclists. San Jacinto County Precinct 4 Constable Alvin Wyatt and the Texas State Guard also provided traffic control assistance and security at the rest stops.
Beginning at 8am, after a short ceremony, approximately 400 bicycle riders began their trek from the San Jacinto County Courthouse. Leaving in ‘waves’, they began on FM 1514 to FM 3128 to FM 222. At this point the riders could head to Shepherd or back to Coldspring. There were 3 “rest areas” spread throughout the routes. There were 4 different routes; 12 mile, 25 mile, 33 mile and 46 mile. Including State Highway 150, all routes led back to the Courthouse in Coldspring.
This event was published in the news and signage placed on the roadways for approximately 1 month prior to give notice to this upcoming event. Getting this information out to the public was important to reduce the amount of difficulty on our roadways. Traffic, for a Saturday, was remarkably light and with 9 Sheriff’s Office patrol units controlling speed on the various roadways and the Constables working 4 different intersection traffic control locations, the ride went extremely well with no injuries or traffic mishaps. Other than the occasional flat tire, there was only 1 incident where a rider fell at FM 222 and SH150, however, he quickly remounted his bike and continued his ride. Coldspring-Oakhurst ISD had a UIL event in progress at the Intermediate School which produced a traffic safety issue. Sheriff Capers assigned deputies to work the resulting traffic situation to allow uninterrupted merging of the school traffic with the traffic surrounding the ride. Other than being tired, the bike riders seemed to have a great time. By 1pm, all riders had returned safely and had departed Coldspring.
Agencies involved:
San Jacinto County Sheriff’s Office
San Jacinto County Precinct 1 Constable’s Office
San Jacinto County Precinct 3 Constable’s Office
San Jacinto County Precinct 4 Constable’s Office
San Jacinto County Fire Marshall’s Office
Various San Jacinto County Fire Departments
San Jacinto County EMS
