Today I finished the ride I wanted to do on Monday, “Stroker Road – Huffman”. It wasn’t without challenges though. I knew it was going to tough biking when I looked at the airport weather to see the wind was out of the southeast at 12 mph with 24 mph gusts. The ride would be into that wind most of the time until I made the right hand turn onto Stroker Road and headed to Huffman. Before that the other challenge was the railroad crossing on Old Atascocita Road. When I got there the road was closed with the Union Pacific repair crew replacing the crossing bed between the tracks. I did not remember seeing a road closed sign. To turn around and go back to FM1960 and then to FM2100 would add 3 or 4 miles to the ride. Looking at the workers from a distance I decided to approach the crossing and then walk my bike around the work and back onto Old Atascocita Road. When I got close one of the workers motioned be to go around and stopped the backhoe man for a minute so I could walk around him. This saved me a lot time and energy. At the FM2100 intersection there was a big sign telling everyone the road was closed.
Leaving home at 12:36 I got a later start than I wanted. I hoped the sun would come out and warm things up a little. My home weather station showed 71 degrees but the other weather stations by Huffman reported 67 or 68 degrees. With this in mind my wardrobe choice was shorts, a heavy long sleeve jersey, windbreaker jacket and half finger gloves. This was good except when I stopped longer than a minute or so. The wind had a chill to it, probably from the front that passed through during the night, and quickly cooled me down.
The toughest section was east of FM2100 on Old Atascocita Road. The flat fields provide no cover from the wind. My speed dropped to a crawl, 12 mph and when I turned right onto Ramsey Road it went to 10 mph. There was no where to hide from the wind. Good thing the dogs either don’t live along these roads or behind fences, I was easy picking if they wanted to chase me. At one point there was this lone tree on my left and as I rode by it I could feel the slight drop in the wind but it didn’t last long.
On Stroker Road the wind was at my left rear quarter and my speed picked up dramatically. On FM2100 I rode north and the wind was at my right rear quarter and I rode faster yet. I was able to boost my average speed from 13.4 mph up to 14 mph.
Crossing the railroad tracks in Huffman I knew I needed a break at the chevron station. The problem was the wind. Sitting down where the sun could warm me if it came out from behind the clouds also exposed me to the brisk wind cooling me down from all of the sweat I generated getting there. I went inside, filled my water bottle, bought some Little Debbie donuts and went outside. I tried a couple of different spots to get out of the wind but returned to my usual one by the canopy pole. I kept my jacket zipped up and ate the donuts while trying to ignore the wind chilling me. I looked across FM1960 and saw another biker waiting to cross over. He made it and rode through the station close to FM1960 going west but on the other side of the cars at the pump. He pulled back onto FM1960 and rode off. He wasn’t the temperature wimp I am, he wore shorts and a short sleeve jersey. I was at the 28.54 mile point at the station. Before I left I took these screenshots on my phone.
Riding the last 11+ miles home I mostly had the wind helping me other than keeping me chilled for the first 3 or 4 miles. Riding across Lake Houston the traffic didn’t block the wind as much as I wanted it too. The sun never did make it through the clouds enough to provide any warmth. I got back home at 3:58 with the ride totaling 40.27 miles. Surprisingly I wasn’t too sore from riding so much into the wind. Tomorrow morning might be different though. The airport weather at the end of the ride. Note the wind and cooler temperature.
airport weather end of ride
This is the first time riding the “Stroker Road – Huffman” route in 2016 so nothing to compare it to. I am making progress on my goal with 74.47 miles towards the 631 mile March goal. I will miss biking tomorrow. Friday and Saturday look like good riding days weather wise.
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