I started my September riding off with my Motobecane 700HT MTB on the Kingwood Trails. Starting at 11:41 the temperature stood at 92 degrees under scattered clouds and a 10 mph SW breeze with 16 mph gusts. It felt hot but the tree shade on the trails held most of the sun back. The problem was the trees blocked most of the breeze as well. I wanted to get on some dirt. I decided on two sections: Northpark Drive to Kingwood Drive along the drainage bayou. The berm was dried out from no rain for several days with plenty of ruts. I came around a corner to find two large dead trees across the trail so I dismounted and walked the bike through the limbs. Once I got back on the bike I continued to Kingwood Drive. A single jogger passed in going the opposite direction.
After leaving that dirt trail I rode the greenbelt trails for 8.7 miles to the next dirt trail starting at Mills Branch Way to W. Lake Houston Parkway. I rode this trail before but not in this direction. In the past this sported lots of grass but the lack of rain and other traffic removed most of the grass where I rode. I aired my tires up before leaving home and the ruts and limbs reminded me that i was on a hardtail mountain bike. The trail ride ended up at 16.32 miles, about half of a typical road bike trip. Average speed likewise dropped to 11.9 mph but I did manage a decent 22.5 mph max speed. Riding time totaled 1:22:20.
Last year I did not get many miles or rides in September because we were on vacation almost the entire month. We are not vacationing this year in September so I should get many more miles than I managed last year (184.53 miles).
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