When I went out to the garage to leave on my ride I remembered that I better check the rear tire pressure. The rear tire was firm. Yesterday on the return leg home as I rode onto the W. Lake Houston Parkway over the San Jacinto River I suddenly heard this loud clicking sound. I quickly stopped thinking maybe one of my tires picked up something or something got caught in one of my wheels. Looking at the front tire I did not see anything but when I turned to look at the rear tire just behind my rear brake this brown thing about 1 1/2″ long stuck out of the tire. The protruding end had a ball on it and a rust metal stem. I hesitated on pulling it out thinking if I did the tire would go flat and the traffic noise on the bridge would make the repair difficult but I pulled it out anyway. I put my finger over the hole to feel if any air escaped but nothing seemed to come out. So I started riding home to finish the route.

I should have checked the tire last night in case the object did some damage so that I would have time to make the repair but no need; the one on the rear was firm, filled tight with air. Thanks to the Continental GatorSkin tire the puncture did not make it to the tube. I can’t remember such an experience before. I like this kind of an ending.

The weather continues to be amazing: bright blue sky without a cloud in sight, 77 – 83 degrees start to finish, and a light NW 7 mph breeze. No need for extra clothing today just a short sleeve jersey (my University of Cincinnati one) unlike yesterday when I wore a long sleeve and short sleeve jersey. Tomorrow some clouds arrive but the temperature will get up to 80 or so.

Starting out into the NW wind my legs did not seem too willing to turn the cranks but they loosened up somewhat so that by the 10 mile point my average speed almost reached 15.0 mph. Once I turned southerly at the 11 mile mark the wind helped from my rear and right rear quarter so I could get the speed up enough to push my overall average speed for the ride to 15.0 mph. I shortened the route by about 3 miles in order to get back home in time for cleaning up, lunch and then to take my niece to Special Olympics cycling practice. The route totaled 26.58 miles. Max speed hit 22.3 mph and average cadence 78.7 RPM showing my leg speed down from a typical ride.

Some ride data:

• 1:46:12 riding time
• 5:12 stopped time
• 4:00 minutes per mile on average
• 150.5 miles this week
• 493.31 miles in April
• 1712.67 miles YTD
• RideWithGPS.com data link

[iframe http://connect.garmin.com/activity/170854112 98% 725]

4-22-2012 Home Weather Station End