This evening’s ride was literally cut short by a sharp object while I was riding over Lake Houston on the FM1960 McKay Causeway. Whatever I hit did the damage quickly. Due to the traffic and wind noise it is almost impossible to patch a tube on the causeway. I inspected the tire but did not find the damage until I looked at the sidewall. The slit was about 3/8″ long and the cords were cut so patching the tube would not have fixed the problem for very long. So I only managed to ride 11.8 miles and walked about 1.5 miles back to the Chevron service station to wait on my wife to come get me. While I was walking back another biker came over to see if he could help. I told him what the situation was and we talked about the debris that was accumulating on the causeway bridge due to no rain. While I was walking I saw a bunch of stuff that could kill a bike tire and wondered how I made it as far as I did.

When I got home I decided to replace the Continental tires with new Hutchinson Fusion 2 Ultra 700×23 ones. I had been waiting to put these on when I got to 3,000 miles so I made the change 21 miles earlier than planned. These new tires have a gray sidewall so they match the Motobecane Le Champion paint scheme better than the black wall Continentals. According to the Hutchinson package the tires have both performance and resistance to puncture. The test will be on the Lake Houston McKay Causeway.

Tomorrow marks the turning point for the length of daylight as the first day of Summer arrives. Hopefully some rain arrives with this. Wildfires are starting to crop up in East Texas. There has been a 15,000 acre one in the Davy Crockett National Forest northwest of Corrigan and near Carmona. My wife’s family has many people buried at the Carmona Cemetery so I hope the fire does not spread.

With today’s shortened ride I may not ride again until Thursday. Tuesday is a rest day although today could qualify as one. Wednesday it is supposed to rain and I have a meeting. So June miles are now at 463.40 and year to date miles are 2641.11. I averaged 14.9 mph but only managed a high speed of 19.9 due to going into the wind. I usually raise my average speed when I have the tailwind.

6-20-2011 Bike Ride Data and Route Map

6-20-2011 IAH Weather Start