While I ate breakfast, read the paper and watched the Tour of Poland my smartphone would pop up a notification to expect rain at 11:45 am but when I got ready to start the ride at 10:46 am I checked the radar and the rain was well to the north and south. I thought the ride would be over before the rain arrived, if at all. I chose the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route since it would take me away from the rain to the north and because I rode to north yesterday.
All went well on the ride. While riding in Elm Grove Village not long after exiting the greenbelt trail another cyclist passed me on the left and we exchanged hello. He was going faster than me and disappeared when he round a corner.
Weather conditions were good with the temperature 90 degrees but the sky to the north looked threatening. I kept and eye on it as I rode. Arriving at the Huffman Chevron at 20.6 miles into the ride I stopped to refill my water bottle and lingered a few minutes. A man going into the store said I might get wet and I replied the time might be short to avoid it. He asked how far I was biking today and I said around 32 miles (it ended up at 32.3 miles). I got on the Stradalli and rode to FM 1960 to head west. That was when I could see the dark clouds to the west. At the station the trees blocked this. The closer to Lake Houston I rode the darker the clouds got and to the NW, where I was riding to, it was darker.
Once I crossed the lake I turned right onto Atascocita Shores Drive. Not too much later I felt the first raindrops. The rain was light and staying close to the curb and under the trees I avoided the rain. But When the trees ended I started to get wet and by the time I got to the Kings River pool it was rain hard and the trees didn’t help. I made the turn onto the greenbelt trail to avoid traffic and stay under the overhanging trees while riding north on W. Lake Houston Parkway. It was raining harder now and about in the middle of the bridge a loud clap of thunder and lightning sounded. My glasses were so wet I could barely see so I decided when I reached Kings Harbor I would duck into the parking garage.
I made it into the garage and was dripping wet. I took my glasses off to get the fog cleared and waited for the rain to slow down. I dripped a lot of water on the garage floor and the wind was giving me a slight chill with the wet clothes. After a few minutes the rain slowed, glasses unfogged and I rode out to finish the ride. At first it rained lightly but after a mile or two it stopped though the streets were wet.
Waiting to cross Kingwood Drive I could feel the temperature was lower than at the start and by the time I finished the ride at 1:26 pm and looked at my home weather it was 78 degrees, unusual temperature change for August.
Rinsing off the Stradalli I parked it and went inside dripping wet. Maybe next time I won’t dismiss the smartphone notification so quickly. There is more rain in the forecast for Thursday but spread out and not as high a percentage.
