I considered riding the Polk County Crime Stoppers Spirit Ride in Livingston but when I checked their website I missed the early registration and the cost today would be $45. Also the weather forecast showed the temperature might be in the upper 40’s to low 50’s at the start time. Plus I would drive about an hour so I opted to ride the “Stroker Road – Huffman” route and start later when it warmed up some.
Starting the bike ride at 11:08 AM the sun burned most of the clouds away and the temperature was 71 degrees. With the from the SE at 12 mph I knew to wear a long sleeve thermal jersey and a short sleeve on over it. Shorts would be okay without leg warmers. It was a little chilly at the beginning but as I warmed up I was just right.
With the later start I figured all of the other cyclists would be gone but I saw 4 starting at the turn from Fairlake Drive onto Old Atascocita Road and FM 2100. Later on the way back into Kingwood I saw another on the W. Lake Houston Parkway bridge. Maybe they waited on the temperature to warm up some.
Nothing unusual about the ride until I reached FM 2100 on Old Atascocita Road where I heard loud music from the south. Normally the only sounds are traffic rushing by. I figured it must a restaurant having a party.
Battling the wind riding east and south on Ramsey Road the music disappeared as got farther away from FM 2100. It was a relief to reach Stroker Road and head west with the wind at my left rear quarter helping me bike back to FM 2100. Once I turned north on FM 2100 I saw a sign with an arrow pointing straight ahead for the Austonio Trail Ride. Getting near Saddle Creek Farms Road the traffic was stopped. I slowed down but rode on the shoulder. Now I could tell where the loud music was coming from. In a large field to the right many horse trailers and RV’s were parked. I couldn’t see anyone because the trees blocked my view but around Spanish Cove a gravel road came to FM 2100 and horses and riders were moving from the field to FM 2100. A man was in the road stopping traffic and I came to a stop. A lady walked towards the man telling him to let the traffic go but he stayed in the road. After a few minutes a man on a horse rode out and took the place of the traffic stopper and the lady again told him to let the traffic go. He moved his horse to the shoulder and traffic started up; I did too. I thought I might catch up to the trail ride but they starting turning right onto Old Atascocita Road and by the time I got there everyone was off of FM 2100. I am glad I wasn’t going that direction with the riders and wagons filling both lanes of the road.
Riding past where the trail ride turned I made my way to FM 1960 in Huffman. Because I stopped for several minutes waiting for the trail ride to move and the cool weather I didn’t need to stop to refill my water bottle so I kept biking west on FM 1960. The wind continued to help as long as I wasn’t going south. I saw my average watts was 110 and average speed was 14.7 mph. The higher watts was from fighting the wind earlier and the average speed from the tailwind now.
Bicycling through Atascocita Shores and Kings River I was back to W. Lake Houston Parkway. Rather than ride through Kingwood Greens I stayed on W. Lake Houston Parkway. When I got to the shopping center strores between Ryan’s Cleaners and Asplaughs Hardware I saw someone was working outside of the Tailwind Bicycle shop so I rode over. Another man came out of the store and then another. We talked about the flood and how it delayed their opening. They have the store almost finished and will have the grand opening next Saturday, November 18th. The hardware store will have their grand opening (from the Harvey flood) the same day so people could see Tailwind Bicycles too.
From there I rode home to finish the ride at 2:10 PM. The temperature had moved up to 74 by then with a partly cloudy sky. I was still glad I wore the thermal jersey.
I now stand at 7,033 miles YTD, 213 miles for November leaving 400 miles for my year goal and 147 miles for November. The weather forecast for next week looks like it will be dry and in the upper 70’s. More biking should happen.
