The 16 mph southeast wind pushed the flags straight out. The route I chose started to the north and continued that general direction until the 10 mile point. Then I rode west to US59 and turned into the wind going south on the service road. I guess I forgot the gear combination I used while I went north but I noticed the pedaling into the wind required a big effort. When I stopped at the Texaco station at the entrance into Valley I looked at the rear cassette and realized I needed to go up one gear. The effort dropped significantly but I still maintained the same speed. When I got to FM1314 and Valley Ranch I checked the Garmin for my averaged speed and found 16.3 mph but it dropped to 16.2 mph just as I looked at it. The average speed ended up at 15.7 mph by the time I got back home.

The route to New Caney and then Valley Ranch totaled 27.45 miles. I covered that distance in 1:45:09 plus 3:46 time stopped. So after today’s ride my mileage stands at 119.6 miles this week, 318.50 miles for October and 5615..35 miles YTD. Another 35 miles and I will equal my total miles for last year, the most miles I ever rode in one year. Other data and map links: Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com.

When I got home I realized that my wrist bands were not soaked with perspiration. The temperature during my ride was 85 to 90 so the wrist bands should have been soaked. The only difference is the sun screen I used today. I think that is the reason. In the past I used Banana Boat Sport 50 but the bottle is almost empty so I used the WalMart Equate Sport 50 spray on sun screen. I will continue to monitor this.

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