For a change no wet roads or rain, not even dark clouds in the distance. I left at 11:20 after watching stage 13 of the TdF with more mountains and lots of spectators. No spectators along the “New Caney – Roman Forest – Valley Ranch” bike ride where I rode. I biked 40.8 miles pushing July to 403 miles, past the halfway point to my 800 mile goal. So far I rode 153 miles this week so 200 miles is within reach weather permitting.
It was hot during the ride with temperatures ranging from 91 at the start to 95 at the 2:51 pm finish. Scattered clouds meant plenty of sunshine and the humidity was 53% and the north 5 mph wind was not a big problem most of the time.
Biking east on Roman Forest Blvd. once you ride over the Peach Creek bridge the road slowly points up gaining 40 to 50 feet over a mile. This is a slow grind but thankfully the nice 3 foot wide marked shoulder gives enough room to not slow down the light traffic. Nothing like the hills of East Texas but for a flat lander like me it is a challenge. The return leg riding west doesn’t seem to propel me downhill fast enough to compensate for the work getting up the incline though.
A stop at the New Caney Mobil station at FM 1485 and I-69/US59 for ice and water was short. Back on the bike I looked forward to stopping at the Strips station about 5 miles away for a rest break and some Gatorade to wash down the Clif bar I brought along. At the Stripes station I went inside to buy the Gatorade fountain drink 32 oz cup and found the beverage machine was putting too much carbonation in drinks. After pouring out the Gatorade fruit punch I drew some blue PowerAde but it had the same problem. I should’ve poured it out too and drank ice water but I didn’t. Walking out to the pumps I sat on the concrete too cool down and try to enjoy the carbonated PowerAde. While I sat there a man walked by and told me he like the Stradalli bike. I thanked him and he went into Stripes. When he returned to his pickup truck we chatted about my bike, his Cannondale bike, places where we ride (he lives in The Woodlands) and the Bike Lane store in The Woodlands. He went to his truck and waved as he drove away. I finished the Clif bar and PowerAde and got ready to ride the 11+ miles to finish the bike ride. It was 29.5 miles into the ride, like yesterday when I stopped in Huffman.
I thought the carbonated PowerAde might bother me but I think I shook enough out of the drink and burped once or twice after starting back on the ride. No problem after that. I finished the ride going through Briar Tree, Oakhurst, Kingwood Place and Kings Manor before getting back into Kingwood.
The plan is to ride 32+ miles on Saturday and 20+ miles on Sunday to put the week over 200 miles if the weather permits. Maybe an early start tomorrow?
Link to Strava.com ride summary
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