After enjoying a rest day yesterday I felt invigorated during my bike ride today. I wanted to get at least 43 miles today and ended up at 47.08 miles. I did get an early start (for me at least) rolling out of the garage at 8:43 AM. Part of the reason for an early start was to get a jump on the heat which could hit the upper 90’s in the afternoon. It was 81 when I started and 94 when I finished. With a light 10 mph westerly breeze the air was feeling dry with 47% humidity. This didn’t slow down my perspiration too much but I could tell a difference when I rode with the wind. The sky was almost clear except for a few small cloud puffs spread around. I sometimes wonder what people think about a bicyclist riding on a weekday morning. Doesn’t this guy have a job? Well, no, I am retired.

The last time I biked most of this route was last month on June 2nd. I only biked 42.69 miles on that occasion turning onto Old Houston Road rather than going all the way to where FM1314 intersects SR242. I also took a different exit route from Kingwood then going out Mills Branch and Ford Road. Today I went out what I thought would be a longer way but it doesn’t appear to be that much longer comparing the distances. My average speed was 15.6 mph today (15.7 mph on June 2nd) with a max speed of 23.4 mph and average cadence of 79.1 RPM, almost reaching my preferred level of 80+RPM. The long stretches of road without stops helps keep the speed up as this table shows.

68.7% of the distance was at 17.1 mph to 21.4 mph. Many of the 5 mile splits averaged 17.1 mph or more. Riding time totaled 3:00:36 plus 35:13 time stopped. I stopped at the Valero station on FM1314 at Sorters Road for the first time in many weeks. This was about at the 35 mile point. I did not see any other bikers along the route until I was about 1 mile from home going through the residential streets. He did not see me though because I just rounded a curve on a side street as he went by the intersection.

As July nears the end my miles for the month total 589.28. I plan on a 30 mile ride tomorrow so I should go past 600 for the month. YTD totals 3902.7 miles. So I rode 18 days in July. View today’s ride at RideWithGPS.com.
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