At the start of today’s bike ride I had some doubts that I would ride the route I planned. The sky was heavy and I felt a light mist and rain drops as I headed out at 11:32 AM. The plan was to ride what I call the “Stroker Road – Huffman” route. I selected this route because of the miles and I needed to make up for missed days. With the 42.59 miles today I am caught up on the pace to reach 585 miles this month. That works out to 18.9 miles per day. At 159.3 miles so far this month I am at 8.42 days, just slightly ahead. No more missed days if the weather will cooperate!
As the ride progressed the weather slowly began to improve with the heavy clouds giving way to some thinner ones and brightening sky. The mist stopped by mile 3 and I was encouraged that I could ride my planned route and not get caught in the rain.
It was warmer than yesterday so I dressed lighter: shorts, long sleeve jersey, short sleeve jersey, and half finger gloves. This was quite comfortable except when I rode west on FM 1960 over Lake Houston. The temperature felt like it dropped about 15 degrees with the strong wind getting cooled as it blew from the south. That was a long two miles riding across the lake.
Weather during the whole bike ride: start 76 (82% humidity), overcast/mist, wind S 10 mph. Finish 82 (71% humidity), overcast, wind S 12 mph, 21 mph gusts.
As I reached the 5 mile point biking through Kings Forest in Kingwood I stopped and took photos of the azaleas in front of a house. They are blooming in many yards along the route.
So far I had not noticed how strong the wind had become since starting the ride. Later this would really become evident.
Making my way through Walden I rode back to FM 1960 to ride east over Lake Houston. Going east the temperature drop was as significant as riding west, maybe because I was close to the concrete guard rail on my ride and it shielded me from a lot of the wind.
On Fairlake Drive riding south I got a taste of the wind but it decreased when I turned left onto Old Atascocita Road. Riding over the railroad tracks I spotted a flashing red light in the distance. At first I thought it was the mail truck and then maybe a work truck of some sort. It moved slowly and I gained on it a little by the time I got to FM 2100. I could see it in the distance ahead of me on Old Atascocita Road as I crossed FM 2100. The wind was from my right and not a headwind but it still required strong pedaling. I got a little closer to the flashing light and now decided it must be another cyclist. I watched as the rider turned right onto Ramsey road and I made out the shape of a bike. When I also made that turn the biker was still ahead but not quite as far. This is when the wind really took a toll. My speed dropped below 10 mph and shifting to a lower gear didn’t help much but I was gaining on the biker. As the other rider neared the Perry Road dog leg turn I now was close enough to see the bike. The rider continued but when I round the turn I could see the were stopped on the side of the road. As I got near the tall bright red socks made me think it was a lady biker. Riding up she turned eating something and we exchanged hellos. I pedaled on slowly but thanks to some trees on the left I got shelter from the full force of the wind until I made the turn onto Stroker Road. From that point the wind wasn’t such an issue. Back on FM 2100 riding north to Huffman I glanced down at the Elemnt computer to check the power output and at times it was 0 because the tailwind was so strong.
At FM 1960 I began riding west and didn’t have to pedal too hard thanks again to the trees on the south side blocking the wind. As i wrote above crossing Lake Houston was chilly. Once on the other side of the lake I rode through Atascocita and the houses provided some windbreak. Winding on the streets I got to W. Lake Houston to begin the final 5 miles and the tailwind helped move me along. Finishing the ride at 2:51 PM I realized the temperature was 82 and understood why I felt a little overdressed. That’s okay after the cold earlier in the week.
I will watch the Strade Bianche race from Italy on floBikes.com Saturday morning before biking. The weather is undecided if it will rain or not.
SportTracks Bike Ride Summary
Miles 22 through 24 was when I rode into the strong headwind. The red line shows the watts needed to just ride at under 10 mph.
Strava Year Progressions Graph
I am still trailing several years YTD miles but closer to their numbers. 2017 is way ahead.
