{"id":58052,"date":"2021-12-15T16:51:02","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T22:51:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/?p=58052"},"modified":"2021-12-15T16:51:05","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T22:51:05","slug":"stinging-encounter-almost-met-a-pickup-up-close","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/2021\/12\/15\/stinging-encounter-almost-met-a-pickup-up-close\/","title":{"rendered":"Stinging Encounter, Almost Met A Pickup Up Close"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-embed-handler wp-block-embed-embed-handler wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Stinging Encounter, Almost Met A Pickup Up Close\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/aU7u1yxj39I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Warm December continued for today&#8217;s bike ride but the wind went crazy. Rolling out at 11:17 AM on the Lynskey R300 bike I headed north with a nice tailwind but I knew I would pay the price on the return south back to Kingwood. I rode my &#8220;New Caney &#8211; Tavola &#8211; Valley Ranch&#8221; route covering 35.95 miles. With these miles I doubled my 150 mile road goal for the month with 301.1 miles. Eighteen times I&#8217;ve biked this route in 2021. One of the rides I do most weeks. Each of my two bikes have done it 9 times. That&#8217;s unusual.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Wind was the challenge today. A steady 17 mph from the south propelled me to Tavola adding in 24 to 25 mph gusts. On the way back the headwind was stiff. As I rode south on the service road the passing traffic shielded me from the wind some but when there was a blank space I got the full puff. No need to add clothes today with the temperature in the mid to upper 70&#8217;s by the time I finished at 2:31 PM. Overall weather conditions: tart 77 (humidity 81%, dew point 71), mostly cloudy, wind S 17 mph gusts 24 mph; finish 78 (humidity 77%, dew point 70), mostly cloudy, wind S 17 mph gusts 25 mph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Riding to Tavola I stopped at the cemetery to visit my wife&#8217;s grave site. Walking back to my bike I saw an urn with flowers laying on it&#8217;s side and reached down to stand it back up. Unbeknownst to me it was resting on a fire ant mound. In an instance my hand was covered by a bunch of those stinging little varmints. I started brushing them off and escaped with only a few stings. That was the stinging encounter. As I rode away a couple of ants crawled out of my glove and were dispatched quickly before they could inflict pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Back in Kingwood I decided to stop at the new bike shop 29ERS Bike Shop on Chestnut Ridge. I talked with Johnny for several minutes and gave him a Texbiker.net business card. Riding away from there I turned onto Stonehollow Drive. As I approached Kingwood Nursery a black pickup pulled out in front of me. I grabbed the brakes and the pickup spun wheels or we would&#8217;ve collided. That is one pickup I didn&#8217;t want to meet up close.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With all of the warm weather the colorful flowers at Valley Ranch Parkway and Texas 99 caught my eye. I circled back and took these photos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-2 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"58051\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/12-15-2021-lynskey-r300-valley-ranch-at-tx-99-1\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-Lynskey-R300-Valley-Ranch-at-TX-99-1.jpg?fit=%2C&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"[]\" data-image-title=\"12-15-2021 Lynskey R300 Valley Ranch at TX 99-1\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;12-15-2021 Lynskey R300 Valley Ranch at TX 99-1&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;12-15-2021 Lynskey R300 Valley Ranch at TX 99&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-Lynskey-R300-Valley-Ranch-at-TX-99-1.jpg?fit=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-Lynskey-R300-Valley-Ranch-at-TX-99-1.jpg?fit=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-Lynskey-R300-Valley-Ranch-at-TX-99-1.jpg?w=1200\" alt=\"12-15-2021 Lynskey R300 Valley Ranch at TX 99-1\" data-id=\"58051\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/12-15-2021-lynskey-r300-valley-ranch-at-tx-99-1\/\" class=\"wp-image-58051\"\/><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">12-15-2021 Lynskey R300 Valley Ranch at TX 99<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"58050\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/12-15-2021-lynskey-r300-valley-ranch-at-tx-99-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-Lynskey-R300-Valley-Ranch-at-TX-99-2.jpg?fit=%2C&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"[]\" data-image-title=\"12-15-2021 Lynskey R300 Valley Ranch at TX 99-2\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;12-15-2021 Lynskey R300 Valley Ranch at TX 99-1&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;12-15-2021 Lynskey R300 Valley Ranch at TX 99&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-Lynskey-R300-Valley-Ranch-at-TX-99-2.jpg?fit=600%2C450&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-Lynskey-R300-Valley-Ranch-at-TX-99-2.jpg?fit=800%2C600&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-Lynskey-R300-Valley-Ranch-at-TX-99-2.jpg?w=1200\" alt=\"12-15-2021 Lynskey R300 Valley Ranch at TX 99-2\" data-id=\"58050\" data-link=\"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/12-15-2021-lynskey-r300-valley-ranch-at-tx-99-2\/\" class=\"wp-image-58050\"\/><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-item__caption\">12-15-2021 Lynskey R300 Valley Ranch at TX 99<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Notice all of the scrapes on the pole. This intersection has had numerous wrecks and I think they caused the marks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I&#8217;m back to the local legend on this Strava segment: <strong>Local Legend<\/strong>\u00a0on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.strava.com\/activities\/6388403336\/segments\/2906298463051701442\">Briar Willow to Lodge<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-layout-grid alignfull column1-desktop-grid__span-6 column1-desktop-grid__row-1 column2-desktop-grid__span-6 column2-desktop-grid__start-7 column2-desktop-grid__row-1 column1-tablet-grid__span-4 column1-tablet-grid__row-1 column2-tablet-grid__span-4 column2-tablet-grid__start-5 column2-tablet-grid__row-1 column1-mobile-grid__span-4 column1-mobile-grid__row-1 column2-mobile-grid__span-4 column2-mobile-grid__row-2\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-layout-grid-column wp-block-jetpack-layout-grid__padding-none\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.strava.com\/activities\/6388403336\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"662\" height=\"600\" data-attachment-id=\"58049\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/12-15-2021-strava-bike-ride-summary\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-Strava-Bike-Ride-Summary.png?fit=946%2C858&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"946,858\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"12-15-2021 Strava Bike Ride Summary\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;12-15-2021 Strava Bike Ride Summary&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;12-15-2021 Strava Bike Ride Summary&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-Strava-Bike-Ride-Summary.png?fit=496%2C450&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-Strava-Bike-Ride-Summary.png?fit=662%2C600&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-Strava-Bike-Ride-Summary.png?resize=662%2C600\" alt=\"12-15-2021 Strava Bike Ride Summary\" class=\"wp-image-58049\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-Strava-Bike-Ride-Summary.png?resize=662%2C600&amp;ssl=1 662w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-Strava-Bike-Ride-Summary.png?resize=496%2C450&amp;ssl=1 496w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-Strava-Bike-Ride-Summary.png?resize=529%2C480&amp;ssl=1 529w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-Strava-Bike-Ride-Summary.png?w=946&amp;ssl=1 946w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 662px) 100vw, 662px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>12-15-2021 Strava Bike Ride Summary<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-jetpack-layout-grid-column wp-block-jetpack-layout-grid__padding-none\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><a href=\"https:\/\/ridewithgps.com\/trips\/80002702\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"746\" height=\"600\" data-attachment-id=\"58048\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/12-15-2021-rwgps-bike-ride-route-map\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-RWGPS-Bike-Ride-Route-Map.png?fit=1469%2C1182&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1469,1182\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"12-15-2021 RWGPS Bike Ride Route Map\" data-image-description=\"&lt;p&gt;12-15-2021 RWGPS Bike Ride Route Map&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;12-15-2021 RWGPS Bike Ride Route Map&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-RWGPS-Bike-Ride-Route-Map.png?fit=559%2C450&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-RWGPS-Bike-Ride-Route-Map.png?fit=746%2C600&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-RWGPS-Bike-Ride-Route-Map.png?resize=746%2C600\" alt=\"12-15-2021 RWGPS Bike Ride Route Map\" class=\"wp-image-58048\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-RWGPS-Bike-Ride-Route-Map.png?resize=746%2C600&amp;ssl=1 746w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-RWGPS-Bike-Ride-Route-Map.png?resize=559%2C450&amp;ssl=1 559w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-RWGPS-Bike-Ride-Route-Map.png?resize=597%2C480&amp;ssl=1 597w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/12-15-2021-RWGPS-Bike-Ride-Route-Map.png?w=1469&amp;ssl=1 1469w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 746px) 100vw, 746px\" \/><\/a><figcaption>12-15-2021 RWGPS Bike Ride Route Map<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Warm December continued for today&#8217;s bike ride but the wind went crazy. Rolling out at 11:17 AM on the Lynskey R300 bike I headed north with a nice tailwind but I knew I would pay the price on the return <span class=\"excerpt-dots\">&hellip;<\/span> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/2021\/12\/15\/stinging-encounter-almost-met-a-pickup-up-close\/\"><span class=\"more-msg\">Continue reading &rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[22],"tags":[212,5383,5287,1424],"class_list":["post-58052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bike-ride","tag-bicycling","tag-lynskey-r300-titanium-bike","tag-new-caney-tavola-valley-ranch","tag-road"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4tok-f6k","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58052"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58052\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58054,"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58052\/revisions\/58054"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.texbiker.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}