I should have paced my ride a little better today. The ease of riding north with the wind behind encouraged me to ride faster than I should have because when I turned into the wind my legs were not going to be able to push the pedals as hard and fast as I wanted. I chose the “New Caney – Gene Campbell Road” route not because of the wind but to rotate the direction and add variety to biking. Today I rode 38.06 miles, slightly longer than this route usually goes. In Oakhurst I added a “U” to the right where I usually turn left on Mills Branch Drive.
That wind I enjoyed until riding on FM1314 back to Porter was from the SE at 11 miles when I checked at the Cumberland Crossing Shell station on FM1314. Before leaving home at 12:18 the airport reported the wind from the SE at 21 mph and when I got home it had dropped to 14 mph from the SSE with 17 mph gusts. The mostly cloudy sky allowed the sun to peek through some and the temperature was around 85 degrees at the end of the ride. At the beginning the sky was overcast but gradually the clouds broke up as the forecast said they would. Do I write too much about the wind? It is a major force a bicyclist has to overcome. I see this when watching the pro races. Sometimes it breaks the peloton and teams use it as a strategy.
I set a nice pace until the wind interrupted it. On Gene Campbell Road riding west toward the Walmart Distribution truck entrance I stayed in front of an 18 wheeler for about 3/10 of mile before he reached the entrance. I was riding 18 to 20 mph and there was just enough oncoming traffic that he couldn’t go around me and make the turn. I was relieved when he turned and he was probably glad to get away from me too.
Not much excitement on today’s ride. No sirens, fire trucks or emergency vehicles. I did notice when I stopped at the Cumberland Crossing Shell station for a break that I saw more Harris county Sheriff cars (3) than Montgomery County Sheriff cars (0). The station is well within Montgomery County. This is what my Edge 520 showed when I stopped at the Shell station.
My timing wasn’t very good. If I took a 30 minute break this would put me in the midst of the Briar Tree school traffic which was about 4 miles away. I took a little longer break thinking this would let the traffic disperse by the time I got there but my timing was wrong there too and I had to work my way through the school buses, day care buses and parents’ cars. While I was waiting at the Shell station I drank some Gatorade and ate some snacks. The weather from my phone while was there.
Once I got past the Briar Tree schools the Kings Manor school traffic was long gone and the Bear Branch school traffic was too. I got back home at 3:44.
It looks like the Edge 520 problems are resolved. I did get a phone disconnected alert 54 feet from where I pushed the start button but the phone connected alert came not too long after that. From then on the ride data accumulated. My confidence is high enough that I don’t use the Ride With GPS phone app as a backup. I hope this doesn’t bite me. I do keep an eye on the 520 to see if the mileage is increasing during the ride.
Thursday’s weather forecast looks like a repeat of today with a chance of rain. More biking on the agenda. Friday’s forecast calls for a 75% chance of rain starting around 2 pm. This can change though.
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