I looked out the kitchen window as I ate a snack before leaving on today’s bike ride and heard the wind blowing in the trees and bushes. I knew the ride would be hard. I chose the “Stroker Road – Huffman” route for miles and because it would be the first time this year. I biked 41.32 miles, the longest ride this year replacing the ride on Monday. This put me within 27 miles of my February goal of 345 miles.
Out the door at 11:36 am the wind was all that I figured. I checked the weather on my phone and saw south wind at 16 mph with 30 mph gusts. The weather for the ride: start 77 (humidity 80%), wind S 16 mph gusts 30 mph. Finish 80 (71% humidity), wind S 9 mph gusts 21 mph, overcast.
I battled the wind all the way to turning north onto FM 2100 from Stroker Road. At the church on Fairlake Drive south of FM 1960 another cyclist was start his ride from the parking lot. I lead him to FM 2100 where we stopped to cross. I was ahead of him for a short time and as he pulled beside me to pass he told me the wind was tough and I said it was a killer. At the time we rode east with the wind from our right and I held onto the handlebars to keep the bike straight. As he rode away from me I dreaded the right turn onto Ramsey Road where the wind would be very strong riding into it. Another cyclist rode west on Old Atascocita and I waved as we passed in opposite directions.
Once I was on Ramsey Road I put my head down, shifted to the 36 x 14 gearing and watched the speed go from 17 – 18 mph to 9 and 10 mph with some time lower than that. Slowly making my way south to Peters Road when I got close to the intersection a group of 5 or 6 cyclist sped around the turn and one shouted “How did I like the headwind?”. I waved and faintly said I did not like it. They were by me in a few seconds with the tailwind helping them while the headwind side was stomping on me.
Finally getting to Stroker Road I turned right and the wind let up some since it was from my left. It wasn’t as bad as Ramsey Road and I made decent time to FM 2100. I kind of rest while riding on Stroker Road but riding on FM 2100 was much better with the strong tailwind helping me get to Huffman.
After all of the hard pedaling I stopped at the Huffman Chevron for a 10 minute rest. When I went inside for a Greensheet the lady behind the counter said they have been missing me and wondered if I was okay. We chatted about the lousy weather so far this year. She said she saw me ride by yesterday and figured I didn’t need to stop. I told her today’s ride was longer and the wind much harder. I went outside sitting on the Greensheet paper to eat a fig bar and drink some water. Resting my legs I hoped would make the rest of the ride not so hard.
I headed west on FM 1960 and the ride wasn’t to hard until I got to the causeway over Lake Houston. The wind was from my left but it seemed to be as strong as Ramsey Road and my speed dropped to about the same level. Thankfully this lasted only 2 miles and the right turn onto Atascocita Shores Drive meant the tailwind was back. The 8 miles from there to the finish was easier and I finished at 2:57 pm, 3 hours and 21 minutes after the start.
Sunday’s weather looks wet and I will take the day to rest my tired legs from today’s bike ride.
SportTracks Bike Ride Summary
Link to Strava Ride Summary
