Tour de Houston returns April 13 with new westward route and expanded distances; proceeds fund city tree-planting

Mayor John Whitmire, Houston First Corporation and title sponsor Apache Corporation announced at a news conference that the 2025 Tour de Houston will be held Sunday, April 13, will begin and end at Avenida Plaza in front of the George R. Brown Convention Center, and will direct registration proceeds to the Houston Parks and Recreation Department’s Replant Houston urban reforestation program.

The announcement said the ride will include a new westward route and three distance options to make the event more accessible: a 10-mile family route, a 20-mile intermediate route and a 45-mile training route intended for avid cyclists and MS 150 riders. Registration opens now at tourdehouston.org; organizers said the entry fee is $45 and includes a commemorative T-shirt and access to the post-ride celebration at Discovery Green.

“Registration starts at $45. All proceeds benefit Houston Parks and Recreation’s Replant Houston urban reforestation program,” said Matt Musil, communications director for Houston Parks and Recreation, at the news conference.

Michael Heckman, president and CEO of Houston First Corporation, said the route will head west for the first time in several years to showcase neighborhoods not recently included in the ride and that organizers updated distance options “to make the ride more accessible for a wider range of cyclists.” He added that the event will include expanded pre- and post-ride experiences, a riders’ village, live entertainment and upgraded rest stops.

Mayor John Whitmire said he intervened last year after the event faced cancellation and that city support and corporate sponsorship helped preserve the ride. “Not on my watch,” Whitmire said, describing a decision to “hit the restart button and make it bigger and better.”

Clay Bretches, executive vice president of operations for Apache Corporation, said Apache is the title sponsor for a twelfth consecutive year and highlighted the company’s tree-grant work. “Since 2005, Apache, through its tree grant program, has granted over 5,000,000 trees across our areas of operation — over 460,000 right here in the greater Houston area,” Bretches said.

Houston Parks and Recreation Director Kenneth Allen said the Replant Houston campaign is a multiyear effort to protect and expand Houston’s urban canopy and thanked corporate and community partners. Allen and other speakers also encouraged volunteers to participate in upcoming tree-planting events the city and sponsors organized.

Organizers gave a route overview: the ride will travel west from downtown through Memorial Park, Tanglewood, Piney Point Village, Bunker Hill Village, Bridal Forest and to Highway 6 before returning downtown. Rest stops will be staffed by professional bike mechanics, medical personnel and offer bike storage and refreshments; one rest stop will mark the 5-mile turnaround for the 10-mile family route, another the 10-mile turnaround for the intermediate route, and a third at the halfway mark of the 45-mile course.

No formal board votes or government actions were taken during the news conference; the event was an announcement and promotional briefing.

For more information and registration, organizers directed the public to tourdehouston.org and encouraged participation in the Arbor Day planting at Maxey Park and a planting event at Greenwood Park mentioned during the conference.