I had high hopes for today’s bike ride following the “Stroker Road – Huffman” route but by the time I rode to Atascocita the dark clouds hovered overhead and drizzle started failing. I altered the ride a little to find some cover at the Atascocita Country Club but by the time I got there the drizzle stopped. I paused a minute and resumed biking and got back to the route. Some drizzling as I approached FM 1960 but I could see the dark clouds moving north behind me and kept riding. Circling through Walden and back to FM 1960 the drizzle changed to rain so I stopped at the Chevron station at FM 1960 and Atascocita Shores Drive. Again the rain stopped a couple of minutes after taking shelter.
The road was wet but the rain stopped and I headed east along FM 1960 to Fairlake Drive. It looked like the road was going to be wet but maybe the rain would leave. Rounding the curve on Fairlake Drive the pavement turned dry encouraging me to ride on. Earlier as I biked past the church on Fairlake Drive I saw two cars parked with bike racks indicating at least two other cyclists were braving the unpredictable rain. I never did see them though. At FM 2100 I continued east on Old Atascocita Road but the dark clouds were coming to greet me. Rain did not fall until I made the right turn onto Ramsey Road and almost made it to Peters Road. At the stop sign while I stood there deciding to go right or left a car pulled up beside me and I waved as the driver went left. I followed him and about a hundred yards later the sprinkling stopped. I rode past a Comcast crew working on wires on the utility poles hoping the rain was behind me for good.
It didn’t last too long as I made the turn onto Stroker Road a few more drizzles hit me but I left them behind after a few tenths of a mile. Biking by a house on my left two German Shepherds behind a nice chainlink fence barked menacingly even after I was out of sight. The rest of my time on Stroker Road was dry. The route turned right onto FM 2100 north for the ride to Huffman. Those pesky dark clouds were ahead of me but the road was dry. Passing Spanish Cove I could see the road ahead and rain was falling but for awhile the rain moved north at about the same speed I was going. Just south of the Old Atascocita Road intersection a teenage looking girl was walking south on my side of the road and I wondered if the rain had caught but she looked dry when we came together. A half mile north of the intersection I caught the rain and within a few yards was soaked. My plan now was to ride on and take a break at the Huffman Chevron to dry out some and give the rain time to leave.
At the 30.5 mile point I rode under the pump canopy at the Chevron station. Prior to arriving at the railroad crossing the rain stopped which was good because I had to stop for the traffic light to change. Getting a few paper towels I dried off some of the dripping water and went inside for a Greensheet newspaper to sit on while I ate some snack crackers and let the breeze evaporate some of the water in my jersey and shorts. I stayed there about 25 minutes and before leaving refilled my water bottle with ice and water for the trip back home.
FM 1960 was still wet but the closer I rode to Atascocita Shores Drive on the west side of Lake Houston the drier the road got. No more rain but the clouds looked threatening behind me to the south and off to the north beyond where I would finish. I made it back home at finished the ride at 2:07 after starting at 10:29. I washed the Stradlli and heard some distant thunder. This was the second ride towards Huffman with rain. Sunday I attempted to ride there and turned back when I encountered rain.
Maybe tomorrow’s ride to the north will be dry.
Strava Extended Statistics
