Starting today’s bike ride after 9 AM put me in the convection oven with the temperature already 89 and the wind from the SW at 12 mph gusts to 18 mph. It has been awhile since the wind was double digits. One of the riders I follow on Strava commented on my Zwift ride yesterday that it is even hotter in Fort Worth. I can remember when I lived in Terrell and worked in Dallas the summer temperatures hit triple digits with regularity. One evening on the drive home from work I got stuck in traffic for a couple of hours on Stemmons Freeway and a bank T & T sign kept flashing 103 degrees. My Ford Pinto had no AC.
I rode north today mostly following my Kingwood – SH242 – Kingwood route. The first couple of miles reversed my usual start but that didn’t impact the totals miles too much. The last time I biked this route was June 26th on the same bike I rode today, my Cervelo Caledonia. Lately my energy seems to wane about 3/4 of the way in the ride so today I brought two granola bars and Ritz cheese crackers with me. also I used the CamelBak for water. On the way back to Kingwood I stopped under the TX 99 overpass on Valley Ranch Parkway for a 15 minute break to eat the snacks and drink cold water. I felt refreshed after the break and my legs pedaled better than I expected. I was afraid I drank too much water during the break and not have enough to finish the ride but it was just enough. When I emptied the CamelBak at home there were still ice cubes in the bladder along with a little water. The last drink I had before finishing at 12:39 PM was nice and cold.
Not many bike rides on this route in the last 12 months. Today’s average speed at the end is the lowest of the rides but it was 13.4 mph until I rode into Kings Manor. From my AXS.SRAM.com ride report I used the 35×13 gears 1:58:59 or 27.2 miles out the 37.01 total miles of the bike ride. The wind slowed down by the time I finished. Weather conditions: Start 88 degrees, 70% humidity, dew point 77.4, mostly cloudy, wind SW 12 mph gusts 18 mph; Finish 94 degrees, 54% humidity, dew point 74.3, partly cloudy, wind SW 8 mph.
