I broke my “below 60 degree” rule this morning to ride the Bike Through the Forest and the Hills ride in Coldspring. When I left home at 6:10AM this morning the temperature was 51 degrees and in Coldspring it was 51 as well. I was wanting to get an organized ride for January which I have never done before. In the past the first ride has been the Puddle for the Ducks or the Humble Lions club ride, both in February. The weather man mentioned that another cold front might arrive late next week and the temperature on Saturday February 5th might not get out of the 40’s. This is below my tolerance level even when I am really motivated to ride. So I may not make the Puddle for the Ducks ride in Katy. The ducks will have to paddle around the pond to keep the ice from forming on their own.

When I arrived in Coldspring the riders were still few so I did not have to stand in line for the portable toilets or to register. I thought the cost was going to be $40 but it turned out to be $35. The Kingwood High School Phillies were greeting all of the riders at the court house. Daylight was starting to come up but the clouds were holding back the sun though. By the time we started at 8:04AM the clouds were breaking some and the sun was shining through but the temperature was not moving upward by very much. I am amazed at how some riders can ride in much less clothing than I require. I had two long sleeve jerseys, windbreaker jacket, leg warmers and full finger gloves. I saw riders with a short sleeve jersey and no leg warmers. Others had long tights but short sleeve jersey and half finger gloves.

After the Star Spangled Banner finished the ride marshals gave a yell for riders to pull out. The first 6 miles were hilly but in a favorable manner, mostly downhill. This was good but the route returned this way so I thought the hills could be tough coming back. I did not realize how tough the hills would be until I was pedaling back up them in my small chainring and 3rd largest rear cog with an occasional shift to the 2nd largest rear cog. I passed a few riders walking up one particular hill that was about 2 miles from the finish. I was wondering if I would be joining them but I gutted it up to the top and on to the next one.

Generally the road surfaces were smooth except for the section on SR150 west of Shepherd which was the infamous chip’n seal. Granted, the main road surface had been well worn by the traffic but not the shoulder. Once we were in Shepherd the shoulder was very smooth asphalt, thank goodness. the other roads were good asphalt.

At the 30.5 mile point I had my first flat on the Motobecane Le Champion. Actually I it was two punctures on the rear tire. One was a piece of glass and the other was the mystery wire that appears on the roadways. Thanks to a ride marshal I was able to patch the tube and get going again. I was not aware that the tire had a wire bead and my FlickStik could not get under the bead to get the tire off of the rim. The ride marshal (I did not get his name) had a set of pointed tire tools so I got the tire off and the tube out. The next challenge was to find the hole(s). At first we thought it was just one but when I patched it there was still a leak. Finding the second hole was not as hard as the first. I got to use my Lezyne frame pump for the first time and it worked great once I threaded the rubber extension tube onto the Presta valve.

The rest stops were well stocked and the people were pleasant and helpful. I stopped at each one on the 46 mile route. Speaking of the 46 mile route, I am glad that was the maximum length because I am not in good condition yet to tackle a longer one with all of the hills this ride has. I might have tried a longer route and probably not finished it. I am pleased with this ride but last year the temperature was 36 degrees so I cannot predict that I will ride this every year.

So after this ride my miles for January and the year: 217.99. The ride data from my Garmin Edge 305 is below. Look at the charts picture gallery below the Garmin data to see the elevation chart.

1-29-2011 Ride Data

Select pictures from the ride.

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Additional charts, weather and map.

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