Where do I begin? First I put on sunscreen but needed water repellant. Second I ran into rain around the 3 mile mark but did not turn back. Third I really prefer to ride on dry roads especially on my birthday. Even with these I did manage to ride 18.38 miles but the average speed was really low at 12.3 mph, a max speed of 20.6 mph, average cadence a low 70.1 RPM. I stopped at the 4.86 mile point to wait for the rain to stop. After about 15 minutes the rain did stop so I got back on the bike. The rain held off until about the 10 mile point when the sprinkles resumed with some thunder in the distance. As usual when the rain began shelter was not readily available so I pedaled on. Reaching a dry place I again waited about 10 minutes but I needed a “nature” break so back on the bike to the closest option, the Atascocita Library Branch. From there the ride was in light rain all the way home. Once I got home I wiped my bike down. The prize for this ride: grit and grime plus a stripe up my back.

Thankfully I chose a long sleeve jersey even though the temperature was 73 degrees at the start, 70 degrees at the end. So I did not chill out when I did stop. One of the weather slides below shows the rain on the radar at the start but I thought it would not have enough momentum to get to the ride area before I got back home. The slide at the end of the ride shows the rain still south of where I biked but the rain fell anyway. Rain is forecast for tomorrow so the plan to ride in Katy at the Puddle for the Ducks will probably not happen for me.

February mileage standings:

• 47.83 miles
• YTD 315.07 miles

Garmin Connect data link                              RideWithgps.com data link

2-3-2012 Bike Ride Data and Route Map

2-3-2012 Home Weather Station End