A few spots of blue sky among the many clouds at the beginning of the bike ride but that is better than yesterday. I rode to the north following the “Kingwood – SH 242 – Kingwood” route for 34.78 miles. September is now at 322.05 miles. I rode out the driveway at 11:31 am, a little later than I wanted due to watching stage 18 of the Vuelta a Espana where the breakaway stayed away and one of the two remaining riders won. Well worth watching as I waited for the clouds to settle down some.
Weather during the bike ride: start 86 (74# humidity), mostly cloudy, wind NE 13 mph. Finish 84 (78% humidity), overcast and breezy, wind E 23 mph gusts 27 mph. I didn’t realize how windy it was while biking north to SH 242 because of the trees to the right of the road but when I turned to the east along the way the watts shot up to around 400 to maintain my speed into the wind. The ride back to the south was with the wind mostly except when I returned to the south service road from Valley Ranch Parkway. The wind was a brute as the watts went up and the speed went down. Back on the I-69/US59 service road bicycling south the wind was from my left rear quarter and mostly helped me.
Some people have new bike days but today I had a new jersey day. This week I got three new jerseys to replace some stained ones and today I wore one; the Primal Wear Flash Art. Today’s joke in the Houston Chronicle goes with a new jersey day: What does Delaware? A New Jersey.
I like the fit, fabric and wear of the Primal Wear jerseys and usually buy them.
Early in the ride I almost collided with another cyclist on the trail as I emerged from the underpass on Northpark Drive. I was carrying a large envelope on the way to mail it and my hands were not on the brake levers as they should be. It is rare to meet anyone, biker or walker, at that intersection but this cyclist was moving at a fast clip from y right as I made the turn onto the east bound trail. There is a large bush that blocks the line of sight and I slowed some before making the turn. Fortunately the biker swung wide to his right to avoid me. I dropped off the envelope about 2 miles later and felt a relief to be able to control the Canyon bike with both hands.
The rest of the bike ride went smoothly with a stop at the Circle K/Valero station at Northpark Drive to refill water and ice for the last 7 miles to the finish. Exiting the station and crossing Northpark to the curved access road I saw land being cleared for a new shopping center which will feature a HEB grocery store. So much for the traffic pattern when it opens next year. I rode on and finished the bike ride at 2:10 pm.
Rain is still an issue for the next few days so biking may be too.
SportTracks Bike Ride Summary
