I wanted to ride far enough today to put my weekly mileage over the 200 mile mark. When I left home at 11:35 it didn’t look like it would be too difficult to do that. The route was going to Atascocita and then on to Huffman. I rode 28.56 miles today.
The weather looked good. The mostly cloudy sky, 85 degrees and 73% humidity was not a problem although the humidity could’ve been lower like yesterday. By the time I rode to FM1960 the sky had turned a blue-gray that could threaten rain. I pressed on to Huffman and when I got there I took a short break at the Chevron station to take a screen shot of the weather on my phone, drink some water and look at email. While I was sitting there a big white Chevy or GMC pickup pulled under the pump canopy and lowered the passenger window. The driver asked if I was okay saying he was a bicyclist too and was afraid maybe the heat had got to me. I told I was good and just taking a short break. He waved and left. I went inside and filled my water bottle for the journey back home.
I rolled out of the station to the edge of FM1960 and looked to the west. The sky was darker than before and I hoped I could get home before any rain. Riding on west on FM1960 as I approached the causeway a big bolt of lightning came down west of the causeway followed by a loud crack. I watched the traffic coming toward me as I rode west. Most had their lights on but the windshield wipers were not on. Hoping this was a good sign I started across the causeway. Once I am on the causeway there is no shelter. I made across and turned right onto Atascocita Shores Drive. All was dry until I got to the swimming pool and a few rain drops started. As I rode to W. Lake Houston Parkway the rain came down and I got soaked.
Once I was on W. Lake Houston Parkway riding north the first shelter is at Kings Harbor. By now I am wringing wet so the shelter doesn’t really do any good but I pull into the parking garage to get out of the rain for a few minutes and the rain slows down some. Leaving there I ride to the Wells Fargo Bank on W. Lake Houston Parkway. Stopping there I let the water run off of me for a few minutes then continue north to Ryan’s Dry Cleaning and the cover there. A couple of minutes and I am off again. No more stops after that until I get home. The closer to home I get the rain becomes a light drizzle.
Returning home at 1:47 I ride into the driveway and lean the Stradalli against the fence. I walk into the garage and remove my helmet. I take my shoes off and wipe them down, wring my gloves and socks out not surprised by the amount of water coming out. rolling my bike to the hose I spray off the dirt and put in the garage. Walking inside I see the temperature has dropped to 79 which I noticed back when I was riding toward the rain. It felt comfortable at the time. The rain wasn’t that cold and the grit and grime wasn’t too bad so riding in the rain was tolerable. I am glad I just rode through the rain rather than waiting and doing nothing. With all the rain still managed to average 15.3 mph.
Mile markers:
- 220.67 miles this week
- 171.41 miles this month (545 miles left to reach my goal)
- 3546 miles year to date
Biking tomorrow better be early with a 50% chance of rain in the afternoon. No waiting for the Tour de France to be over. DVR will be on duty.
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