I probably could have selected an easier route for today’s bike ride with the wind so strong but I stuck with my choice of the “Stroker Road – Huffman” route for a total of 42.64 miles bumping up this week’s mileage to 77.36 miles. The wind was a brute on sections of this route with the toughest on Ramsey Road beside the grass farms. I geared down and my speed did as well staying below 12 mph and dropping below 10 mph at times.
Stopping on Old Atascocita Road before getting to Ramsey Road I took these two pictures. You can’t see it in the photos but the barbed wire fence is moving from the force of the wind and after taking the photos I could barely walk up from the bottom of the ditch to get back on the road.
I wanted to get the cows in the photos to show the farm setting. Unfortunately the plastic bag stuck on the bush shows the city is not too far away. This spot is about 3 miles from the Houston city limit. About a half mile more to the east at the intersection with Ramsey Road I took this photo.
When I leaned the Canyon against the pole the wind was so strong the front wheel kept getting turned around the pole. Finally I made a grove in the gravel and broken asphalt to get the wheel to stay put. Again walking back to the road was hard since I was going straight into the wind. Behind me when I took this photo is flat land where a pasture and grass farm land don’t slow down the wind.
I started the bike ride at 11:29 am and finished at 2:59 pm. The weather during the bike ride: start 81 (58% humidity), clear, wind S 17 mph, gusts 22 mph. Finish 84 (42% humidity), clear, wind SW 14 mph, gusts 23 mph. The wind influenced my wardrobe some. I wore shorts, long sleeve jersey and a short sleeve jersey. I was comfortable during the ride but the wind might have been a bit chilly if I only wore a short sleeve jersey. The weatherman calls this wind an “onshore flow” meaning it comes from the Gulf of Mexico which is not very far away.
After battling the wind biking around the grass farms and getting back to FM 2100 the tailwind propelled me quickly back to Huffman where I took a break to rest my legs for the ride on FM 1960 going west. This was at the 31 mile point leaving 11+ miles to the finish. Riding west meant the wind was coming from my left and over the Lake Houston I had the usual buffeting without anything to break the wind except passing traffic which was light. Reaching the west side of the lake I turned right onto Atascocita Shores Drive and began the last 8 miles with mostly a tailwind which my legs really appreciated by then. The last 8 miles were much easier and made good time to Kingwood Drive. Traffic was backed up at the crossing but after a few minutes I was able to get across and finish the bike ride.
Wednesday weather forecast shows a couple of degrees cooler, partly cloudy and hopefully less wind. I plan on biking and this could push the week to over 100 miles.
SportTracks Bike Ride Summary
