First February Bike Ride
I kept waiting for the temperature to get above 60 degrees and finally the wheels went down at 1:00 PM. For the first ride in February I wanted to ride at least 10% of my 345 mile goal for the month. I chose the “Kingwood to Ramsey Road – Huffman” route and rode 36.42 miles, almost 11% which is a good start.
Weather during the bike ride: start 63 (86% humidity), overcast, wind E 8 mph. Finish 68 (79% humidity), mostly cloudy, wind SE 8 mph. Those extra couple of degrees at the start happened while I got dressed. I decided to wear my new Bellwether long sleeve thermal jersey as part of my chill avoiding wardrobe. Photos, front and back.
To go along with this new jersey I added a regular long sleeve jersey over top, shorts, leg warmers, windbreaker jacket, and full finger gloves. Until I warmed up around 18 minutes into the ride I felt a little chilly with some prickly skin sensations as the body got use to exercising after several days off. Once I warmed up it didn’t feel quite as cold. I am a temperature wimp.
When I got to the closed bridge on Old Atascocita Road I thought maybe I wouldn’t be able to complete the route but the base asphalt was down and it was strong enough for bike traffic but not vehicles plus the big concrete barriers blocked the road. Photos of the bridge.
After taking the photos I continued riding east to FM 2100 and then to Ramsey Road where I turned around and headed back to Huffman. At Huffman no need for a rest stop so I biked west with the wind at my back most of the way to Atascocita Shores Drive. The clouds thinned somewhat and sunshine warmed the air a little.
Back in Kingwood at Town Center Park a number of sellers manned tents/canopies to show their goods as people walked around. I rode through without any trouble but had to wait several minutes to cross Kingwood Drive. From there it is a little over 2 miles to finish the ride at 3:50 PM.
Average watts: 124, max watts 385. Heart rate average: 135 (77%), max heart rate 157 (90%). The wind wasn’t particularly strong and I tried to keep a steady pace. This route has numerous starts and stops and only a few continuous sections to build up speed and keep it.
The next several days weather will warm up and I plan on taking advantage to ride.
SportTracks Bike Ride Summary
Strava Year Progressions Graph
Slightly ahead of most previous years except for 2017 which must have been bike ride friendly.