Today’s ride started out rather foggy but not so much that I could not see all of the squirrels running around in the yards and crossing the streets. I almost hit one when he could not make up his mind which direction to go once he was in the middle of the street. I think I saw over a hundred squirrels. The same might be said for other bicyclists. I started to see them when I was east bound on the McKay Causeway over Lake Houston on FM1960. For the next 6 or seven miles a saw group after group of bikers. My guess is that they were from the Lifetime Fitness Club on W. Lake Houston Parkway.

The ride was going well as the fog burned off and the temperature heated up. On Crosby Eastgate Road I had to sprint past a couple of dogs. As I got out of their range another biker was heading toward them. I was winded so I could say much more than hi so I am not sure if I just warmed the dogs or wore them out for his approach. Not long after that at the 22.82 mile point I turned onto another road and I could see this furry dog in the yard of a house on the right and he was moving to the driveway and the street. As I approached the driveway he ran out and ran toward me. My first thought was that was going to run into my front wheel and take me down so I was trying to ride faster to get out of his range but I did not make it and I hit him. This caused my bike to veer suddenly to the right and down I went. I think I ran over the dog, he was not more than a foot tall. When I went down he ran off. I unclipped from my left pedal and tried to see the damage to my body. Severe road rash on my right knee, right elbow and later at home I found some on right buttock. My long sleeve jersey had a spot ground off from sliding on the asphalt but my bike shorts show no scars. The bike had no damage but my right Ultegra pedal has the outside edge ground down to the bare aluminum. When I got home I noticed my right shoe strap ratchet lever is ground down to the bare medal as well. So my new bike has the first crash out of the way and I think I got off rather lightly considering the options. I almost did not take the right hand turn towards that dog but I have went that way several times before and never had a dog problem.

Tomorrow I will not be able to ride due to other commitments so this will be some time to heal.

March mileage update:

• March miles 237.09
• YTD miles 726.62

3-19-2011 Ride Data and Map

3-19-2011 Home Weather

Additional charts and weather.

[nggallery id=187]