Bayou trails? Nice. Bayou loops? Way better.

Idea guy: John Haba, studio director at the design firm Gensler.

Idea: Hike-and-bike trails next to bayous are nice. But multi-purpose loops around our bayou system, with few stoplights or traffic crossings, would be even better.

Where the idea came from: As a cyclist and runner, Haba has logged 15,000 miles on the Buffalo Bayou bike trail alone. He doesn't like cycling on the street. It's not a fair fight: "Cars are huge, averaging 4,000 pounds. My bike and I are in the neighborhood of 175 pounds. The math is against me."

He's never been involved in an accident, he says, but "I've had enough problems with water on the street, gravel on the road, and I don't like to play the odds."

His favorite bike route these days is a six-and-a-half loop along Buffalo Bayou. He starts at the bridge at Shepherd, then bikes downtown to the Wortham Theater, crosses to the other side of the bayou and bikes back. Only once, at the crossing near the Wortham, does he have to deal with cars.

"It's phenomenal," he says. Such car-free loops don't just promote safety. They also make it possible for a pedestrian or biker to relax. When Haba is cycling on the street, he is hypervigilant. "I'm really good at managing large meetings at work," he says. "I'm hyper-aware of what everyone wants and needs. My mind can't be slightly vigilant."

In contrast, when he is cycling a loop, he relaxes: "The simplicity of a loop makes it peaceful." Yet he doesn't get bored: "You don't have to occupy your brain with navigation, and your mind can be peaceful while your body is active."

"It may not be well recognized in cycling circles," he says, "but there are some cyclists like me who are looking for a meditative experience cycling."

Next steps: Houston is fast becoming a far more bikeable city. The $480 million Bayou Greenways project will create 300 miles of continuous all-weather hike-and bike-trails -- trails are not laid out in loops, but roughly in the form of a web.

But it would be easy, Haba says, to turn many of those trails into loops. Around bayous, such as Brays and White Oak, Houston could form looped natural trails by completing a trail on the other side of the bayou and adding pedestrian-and-bike bridges. Those loops could even be interconnected, like links in the chain of a necklace around the city.

Haba travels a lot for his job. In only three cities has he found traffic-free cycling loops that compare to the one he bikes on Buffalo Bayou: in New York (around Central Park), Tokyo (the Imperial Palace) and in San Francisco. An entire network of bike loops would be unique -- and difficult for other cities to duplicate.

Urgency: People in Houston are starting to appreciate the outdoors more. "We are at a point in our city's development where we can go down one path or another," Haba believes. By building these loops "to rejuvenate and refresh us, we could build a stronger culture."