With fall 2/3’s over the weather changes with each day. Yesterday it was chilly (by my standard) and today warmer and much windier. I wanted to ride farther than yesterday so I chose my “New Caney – Gene Campbell Road” route. This is usually around 37 miles and today I biked 37.67 miles on my Lynskey R300 boosting my November total to 242.65 miles. The last time I biked this route was October 8th and the road construction along Gene Campbell Blvd. approaching the Walmart distribution center progressed to asphalt covering the dirt from October. The video shows this. Today was the 7th time riding this route in 2021.
I started the ride at 10:58 AM and finished at 1:58 PM. Watch the video to see the big turkey.
A nice tailwind pushed me to north to New Caney and then to Gene Campbell Blvd. I wasn’t sure how the wind would treat me riding west on Gene Campbell but mostly it felt like a tailwind. The headwind waited for me at FM 1314 and the ride to the SE back towards Porter. On FM 1314 the trees to my right reduced the wind some but when I was out in the open it was strong. I don’t know if the ICAN Cycling Alpha 50 Disc wheels make a difference but I was able to pedal strong and maintain my speed with the headwind. Maybe its just in my mind. At the start of the ride the wind was from the south at 15 mph and when I finished it was from the SE at 15 mph with 19 mph gusts. I almost made a mistake with my kit choice. I was going to wear shorts, a short sleeve jersey and arm sleeves but at the last moment I decided to wear shorts, a long sleeve jersey, and a short sleeve jersey. The temperature was 73 during the ride and the wind chill made my kit choice feel comfortable.
On Rock Creek Drive in Oakhurst I rode the greenbelt sidewalk as I approached Northpark Drive. Since my last ride there construction removed a section of concrete leaving about 8 feet of mud. I didn’t want to get off and walk through the mud so I rode through it. Fortunately it was dry enough not sink too far in giving me a taste of cyclocross. I stopped to scrap the mud off the tires so to not throw it on the frame. I am not a fan of mud.
