43.39 miles today around the northern perimeter of Lake Houston and its tributaries. I label this “New Caney – FM1485 E – Huffman”. This is the third ride this week 40 miles or more. Tomorrow the weather could be raining and I wanted to get these under my belt before then. The week’s total miles is now 196.87. June miles total 441.79. This leaves 526 miles to reach my June goal of 968 miles. 2674 miles so far this year. Last year at this time I rode 2824, 150 miles more.
I tweaked the route to add about 4 miles to the last time I rode it on 5/4/2015. I wanted to be sure I rode more than 40 miles.
All went well riding north on the US59 service road and Loop 494. Going east on FM1485 went smoothly though the shoulder contained sharp gravel in places but the traffic was light and cooperative enabling me to get around this. Most of the gravel was where side streets connected to FM1485. I reached the no shoulder spot on FM1485 without any problems and riding the 2 mile section went well with light traffic and on one 18 wheeler going the same direction. Traffic going the opposite direction was a little heavier but friendly. I don’t remember any 18 wheelers coming towards me. It is always a relief to turn off of FM1485 after this section to the backs streets with little to no traffic.
Riding through The Commons of Lake Houston I had an unusual dog confrontation. On Commons Oak Lane (a short street) I approached a driveway on my right where a young man was bring the trash out to the street. Behind him and to his right two dogs ran across the yard to the street. One dog was maybe a large golden retriever and the other was a small black dog. The large dog came barking to the street while the black dog arrived too but never did bark. Normally I sprint away from dogs but this one had the angle on me and since the young man was there I stopped. The large dog kept circling me barking and the young man tried to catch him without success. The young man kept telling me the large didn’t bite but I wasn’t sure, many owners think that but when a stranger is around dogs can act aggressive. While the young man circled me I kept moving slowly ahead thinking the dog was a property guard. The black dog actually was trying to chase the large one back to the yard but did not have any more success than the young man. I heard a woman’s voice yell from the house to the young man to stop chasing the dog and I moved further towards the intersection 50 or 70 feet ahead. With the heat the large dog was panting heavily and seemed to be tiring so I clipped in and made a sprint to Commons Lake Edge Drive where I would turn left. The large dog came with me until I reached Commons Lake Edge barking about 3 feet away from me. When I turned on Commons Lake Edge he turned back and stopped barking.
To counter this confrontation, riding south on Commons Scenic View Drive I saw what looked like another small dog walking slowly across the street. As I got closer the dog was really a fawn. Looking to the left side of the street the fawn’s mother was waiting in the grass. When the fawn reached the doe they slowly walked into the brush and trees. A better encounter than the dogs. This was around the 25 mile point in the ride. I figured it was another 5 miles to Huffman where I planned to take a rest break. That turned out to be the case. I took a 35 minute break to cool off, eat some snacks and drink some Powerade. During the ride so far it had been sunny with partly cloudy skies and a light breeze.
After the rest stop it normally is 11 miles to home but I decided to go on a few different streets and added a mile to the 11.
I left home at 10:26 and got back at 2:00. Riding time was 2:50:51. Except for the first and last 5 mile lap I averaged 15 mph or higher, netting an overall 15.1 mph average speed.
Weather during the Huffman rest break
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