After fighting the wind almost all the way to FM 2100 I said to myself, “finally a tailwind”, as I turned left onto FM 2100 after waiting for a lot of traffic to pass. After waiting until 1:05 PM to start the ride strong wind wasn’t what I expected.
I planned on riding to the north to Tavola but changed my plan after reading on Twitter that traffic was backed up from the scene in Humble where an 18 wheeler crashed and burned killing the driver earlier this morning. Riding to Tavola would put me riding back in the traffic area so I changed to the “Atascocita – Huffman – Walden” route. Also there was some rain clouds to the west of Kingwood and before I got ready it rained for a few minutes at home.
It turned out the new route didn’t get away from the traffic trying to get around that wreck. As I made my way south on W. Lake Houston Parkway to Kings River Drive the traffic backed up from the signal light to almost halfway across the bridge as drivers waited to get through the signal. I rode into the entrance to the gated community and used the green light to ride across W. Lake Houston Parkway onto Kings River Drive. The route goes on streets I ride all of the time but in the opposite direction. Good thing I chose this route because biking on WLHP to where I normally turn would have been risky.
That wind I battled on the way to FM 2100 was from the south at 17 mph with 24 mph gusts. Whenever I was out in the open the wind tried to push me around. It was almost as bad as riding my previous bike, the Stradalli Red Pro RP14 which had 50mm tall rims. On the Stradalli biking across Lake Houston on FM 1960 sometimes was challenging with the wind hitting the wheels and pushing me to the side. The Canyon wheels are not as large a rim height at 41 mm. Still when a 24 mph gust hits the wheels from the side the bike wants to move. Surprising what a mm difference can make in handling in the wind.
The weather during the bike ride: start 75 (73% humidity), mostly cloudy, wind SE 13 mph. Finish 79 (63% humidity), mostly cloudy, wind S 17 mph gusts 24 mph. With the temperature a few degrees warmer than Thursday I change my attire to shorts, long sleeve jersey with a short sleeve jersey over it. The wind brought a slight chill with it but all the energy I put out biking into the wind warmed me up enough to not notice the chill.
From Huffman I rode west with the wind helping some to Atascocita shores Drive where I turned south to ride through Walden. this put into the headwind again but not for too long. Exiting Walden the rest of the ride enjoyed a tailwind among houses and trees. I finished the ride at 3:44 PM with tired legs after biking 32.21 miles.
Saturday weather will change at some point with some rain possible and I am not sure about biking. As of today I stand at 762.31 miles for March and 189.62 miles for the week. Sunday looks to be below my temperature threshold of 60 degrees. Spring needs to warm up!
SportTracks Bike Ride Summary
Strava Year progressions Graph
2019 YTD miles leads 2016 and 2018 but I am 58 miles behind 2017.
