Sometimes I like to tailor a ride to explore areas, streets and construction activity. Today I went a route I don’t ride very often to see if there has been any work done on a new master planned community near Roman Forest. I started the route on familiar roads out of Kingwood, north on US59 and then over to Loop 494. When I reached FM1485 east of Loop 494 is where I turned to check out the new community. I ride FM1485 east once in awhile but I don’t think I have so far in 2013. Generally the roads east of US59 are not as wide or maintained as the ones west of US59. FM1485 east has a shoulder of about 3 feet or so with wider sections around approaches to bridges. Traffic is not real heavy but there is a steady flow with breaks. 18 wheelers use this road to get to Crosby without going through all of the traffic in Humble or Beltway 8.

After about 4 1/2 miles riding east on FM1485 I turned onto Willaby Road. This takes me through Casey Ridge and the back entrance into Roman Forest. The area I was interested in was west of Galaxy Blvd. Since I last rode this direction several lots have been cleared by individuals along Galaxy Blvd but I did not see any construction on the new community from where I rode. It might be too early. It was worth the ride though to see what might change in the future.

Exploring did not stop once I biked through Roman Forest out to US59 to head south and back home. I changed from exploring to watching once I made it to FM1314 and the Star Stop Exxon for a rest stop. Watching all of the cars and trucks streaming by on FM1314 and US59 reminded me of all people and stuff traveling to destinations unknown. Our logistics system is complex delivering goods to stores and other places. I was thinking of how other countries are not as efficient as we are. A lot of diesel fuel and gasoline gets consumed moving these vehicles around.

The sky was mostly cloudy when I rolled out at 1:10. I tried a different wardrobe this time with a short sleeve jersey under my windbreaker jacket. The thought was to counter the cool wind but not overdress. The temperature stood at 74 and this combination worked great. As the ride progressed the clouds thinned and the temperature increased to 82 when I got home at 4:39. I sweated some and I noticed dried salt on my jacket when I was at the Star Stop in Porter. The wind was not a problem generally but there were times when it seemed to be stronger than what wunderground.com showed when I got home.

This exploring route was 40.42 miles at a 15.0 mph average speed. I moved the April mileage needle up to 509.25 and the year to date now totals 1823.89 miles.  For alternate views of the data and maps go to Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com.

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