With only 24 miles left to reach my goal for November I set out on the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman Extended” route at 9:59 AM. I rode 32.9 miles moving November to 369 miles. YTD 2017 I stand at 7,189 miles, leaving 241 miles for my stretch goal of 7,430 miles.
The expected cool front had not arrived when I started with the temperature at 77 degrees, 83% humidity under an overcast sky. The wind was moving around but I didn’t think it was too bad at the start but as the ride progressed I began to realize the wind was going to be challenge when I rode to the west. When I finished the ride at 12:26 PM and checked the weather on my phone I understood why it was so hard pedaling west over Lake Houston on the FM 1960 causeway; wind from the west at 17 mph with 28 mph gusts. At times on the causeway I slowed to 11 mph when the wind kicked up. Passing traffic wasn’t much help since the wind was parallel to them. Also the temperature had warmed up to 82 at the end of the bike ride. Maybe this front will lower the humidity some.
With the wind and overcast sky I decided to wear the long sleeve, short sleeve jersey combination and bike shorts. I probably could’ve made it without the long sleeves but it was comfortable.
I didn’t expect to see other cyclists with the start time but I saw three on the Lake Houston causeway riding west while I went east. Not long after that two more appeared around the railroad tracks on Old Atascocita Road coming to me.
Update: I forgot about the dog chase when I made the right turn from W. Lake Houston Parkway at Kings Harbor onto Magnolia Cove Drive. Passing the parking garage entrance a big white dog came towards me growling and barking in hot pursuit of me. I yelled at him but it didn’t slow him and I picked up my speed pulling away from him. After a couple hundred feet he gave up and I let out a sigh of relief. This was my sprint work for the ride!
The reason I biked the extended version of the Huffman route was to go by the Huffman post office to mail a couple of envelopes. I got there before the Saturday pickup cutoff time but I was surprised they weren’t open like the Kingwood Post Office is on Saturday.
Biking along W. Lake Houston Parkway back in Kingwood I passed Tailwind Bicycles and they had an “Open for Business” sign up with several cars parked out front. Fitting name with today’s strong wind.
Good bike ride but I was glad to not battle the wind anymore. With the cool front dropping the temperature the next couple of days I will probably rest and stay inside.
