I could not make up my mind on which route to take today until I reached the decision point at FM1485 and Loop 494. The goal was to ride at least 33 miles so that I have 140 miles for the week (now at 140.81 miles including today) and then ride the 66 mile route at the Hotter’N Hell Hundred to get over 200 miles for the week. As I arrived at the decision spot I opted for the New Caney – Gene Campbell Road route which totaled 33.58 miles today. My other options might get to the goal but I wasn’t sure (should have checked before I left home) and the light 7 mph east breeze would have been a headwind if I went FM1485 east and then to Roman Forest. Another option was to stay on Loop 494 to Roman Forest Blvd. and then into Roman Forest, take Tram Road to FM2090 and then to US59 south. The last route probably would meet the 33 mile goal but I thought it was longer and when I looked it up at home it was 38 miles. The 38 miles would work but take longer than I wanted.
Today was shake down ride number 2 of the lever/cables/adjustment changes made on Tuesday. After yesterday’s ride I waxed the chain. All of the parts continue to operate smoothly. The chain runs quietly and shifts quickly. The Lizardskin tape looks sharp and repels my sweat so far. It finally donned on me where all of the sweat is coming from: my arms. Whenever I stop for a extended rest period I notice water runs down my arms and I use paper towels to sop it up. If I stop long enough the sweat stops. So my plan is to get some wrist sweat bands to see if they will help keep my gloves drier and the sweat out of the levers. Once I get the bands I think I am ready for Wichita Falls on Saturday. Now we just need to drive there tomorrow. The hotel room awaits.
Speaking of sweat, I stopped three times today to wring out my gloves. Each time I left a big wet spot on the road. I wash my gloves after each ride to freshen them up but I notice they develop an aroma near the end of the ride. Anti-bacterial soap must not be the right one or the sweat is strong. The water that I wring out is cloudy. Surprising the many washings have not hurt them except my red pair faded to a pale red. I thought the milder temperature today (80 – 89) might reduce the moisture production but not so. Even the mostly cloudy sky did not help. When I turned onto FM1314 from Gene Campbell Road I could see the dark clouds far to the south and wondered if that moisture might also get me but it did not.
My average speed held up good today. I checked at 17, 25 and 30 miles and it was 16.2 mph. The final average speed was 15.8 mph, slowed by the residential stops and starts in the last 5 miles. If you look at the Splits-Time picture below you can see that all of the 5 mile splits averaged 15 mph or more except the last one. Riding time totaled 2:07:41 plus 8:36 time stopped. My other goal this week: no long rest stops. I met this one as well. My max speed was 20.4 mph at 81.0 RPM average cadence. August miles total 558.00, YTD miles stand at 4492.96. See the ride map and data at RideWithGPS.com.
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