Patched A Tire and Battled the Wind
After watching stage 4 of the Tour de France I went outside to take the garbage can and recycling bin into the garage. My habit is to check the tires on my bike when I am near it. I squeezed the front tire and it was flat. My ride was going to be delayed while I fixed it. I removed the wheel and went inside where it was cooler and quieter in case I had trouble finding the problem. Pulling the tube out of the loosened tire I attached the pump and tried to air up the tube but all I got was hissing air and a limp tube. It didn’t take long to find the hole about 15 inches away from the stem. The hole was about 1/8″. I positioned the tube against the tire to locate the spot on the tire which landed near a cut in the sidewall. The cut was big enough that something needed to be inside the tire over the hole.
Buffing the tube to patch it I opened the glue in the kit but ti was dried out. It’s a good thing the tube did not go flat when I hit something during yesterday’s ride. I remember a loud noise hitting a rim but I don’t remember when it happened. I would’ve had to call my wife to get me but thankfully I made it home yesterday. I went out to the garage to get a new kit and some duct tape to put over the hole in the sidewall. I applied the patch and checked the tire and reassembled everything. Time to get ready to ride.
With the delay I left home at 12:08 to ride the “Kingwood – Hare Cook Road – Kingwood” route. By now the temperature was in the 90’s under a partly cloudy sky. A quick look at the weather website I saw the wind was strong at 14 mph from the SSE with 22 mph gusts. This would be a tough ride on this route. Sections are riding into the wind with no protection from trees or buildings. On the 43.72 mile I paid the price riding into the wind for almost 3 miles on Ramsey Road south of Old Atascocita Road. At times all I could muster was 11 mph with a cadence in the mid 50’s.
When I reached Stroker Road I turned right and got some relief but it was only for a mile or so when I turned left onto Miller Nelson Road back into the wind. It wasn’t quite as bad there with three trees on the left side of the road absorbing some of the wind. I finally made it to Hare Cook Road where I turned right to get back to FM2100. During this stretch my average speed dropped from 14.5 mph to 14.0 mph and I was surprised it didn’t go lower. Once I was on FM2100 going north the wind pushed me along and I got my average speed back up to 14.6 mph by the time I got to the Huffman Chevron 32.1 miles into the ride.
I stayed at the Chevron about 30 minutes eating my snack and Powerade before getting back on FM1960 for the 11+ miles home. Riding west the wind wasn’t too much of a problem until I was on the causeway over Lake Houston with no wind breakers and the traffic adding to the wind. I was relieved to get On Atascocita Shores Drive amongst trees and houses. From there I pedaled home arriving at 3:58. At home I found out the wind was stronger than when I left: SSE 18 mph gusts 25 mph. No wonder it was hard riding into the wind. (These wind speeds are from the IAH airport weather station)
Tomorrow is a day off for doctor appointments. Riding 2 40+ mile days in a row my legs are requesting a rest day.
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