Yesterday we had heavy rains in the Houston area. At my home we got 7.75″, much less than the 18″ some places received. The weather forecast said rain was possible again today but it seemed to be holding off. Before I got dressed to ride I got a call from the Weather Channel asking if I would like to be interviewed tonight about the rain and what I saw. This is because of the Personal Weather Station I have on wunderground.com. I finished getting ready and left the house at 1:22 planning to ride the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route. Since my Edge 520 has worked with any issues the last 2 rides I decided to not use my backup Ride With GPS app. This was a bad decision. More on this later. As I was riding through Town Center Park I got a call from the person at the Weather Channel telling me they would not interview me tonight after all because other events/news more important had come up. I think the Houston flooding was now considered “old” news. Maybe someday I will make my network debut.

Riding through my village in Kingwood I could see lots of leaves and small limbs laying in yards and streets. My house had water overflow from the street during early Monday washing debris and my newly installed mulch into the street and neighbor’s yards. It was strong enough to move a bunch of big plastic bags with plant trimmings around too. Continuing on to the south I stopped along Kingwood Drive at a bridge where I could the effects of the high water that was now gone down a lot.

I crossed Kingwood Drive riding south on Bens Branch Drive when it started to rain. I hoped it was an isolated shower but as made my way to W. Lake Houston Parkway it increased. I stopped under a tree to wait for the traffic to pass and ride to the other side of WLHP and some shelter at the YMCA. I got there and waited until the rain slowed. Then I resumed the route going south through Kingwood Greens. The rain slowed and stopped before i got back to WLHP. As I passed one of the holes on the golf course I saw how high the water was and too this picture.

The log in the water at the back of the photo is floating to the left. Normally I cannot see the water from this spot. From there I rode on the WLHP bridge over the San Jacinto River and too these pictures.

Just to the right edge of this photo is the log/tree in the picture above. The water is much deeper here than normal. These are more pictures as I rode across the ridge.

Those are boat house roofs peeking above the water. They normally are well above the water and on the shore.

At this point because of the rain delay I decide to shorten the ride to the “Kingwood-E Lake Houston Pkwy” route. One of the streets in Walden backs up to Lake Houston and as I ride by I can see the back yards of some of the houses. Water has encroached in to them swallowing play equipment and boat docks. The streets are dry now and I head to E. Lake Houston Parkway on the east side of the lake. The Cedar Landing Restaurant has water over the pier and into the outside eating area and part of the parking lot.

Turning around I head back home through Atascocita to home. Up to this point my Edge 520 had recorded the ride but after crossing Kingwood Drive and passing Creekwood Middle School the 520 froze. I tried to save the ride but froze on the screen saying it was saving. I was about 1 1/2 miles from home and I decided to not mess with it until I got home. Before the freeze I got 2 phone disconnected messages as cars passed me, making me think stray Bluetooth signals caused the problem. When I got home I washed the Stradalli and went inside to figure out what went wrong with the 520. I managed to get the data from the 520, uploaded it to RideWithGPS.com, export the data file from there, import it into SportTracks, export it from SportTracks and upload it to Gramin Connect and Strava. This is what drives me crazy when the 520 freezes. Now I have decided to turn Bluetooth off on the 520 and see if that makes a difference. This will stop the Live Track feature which I really like.

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