Riding to the south today and then east to Huffman in the quest for 900 miles this month. I am getting close. We are supposed to be in the peak of summer according to the SciGuy in the Houston Chronicle. The next 10 days are the time when the average temperature is the highest. No rain in the forecast for that time will help the heat stay up there. During today’s ride it was 86 to 95 degrees with humidity 65% dropping to 43% when I got home at 1:27. I started a little later than I planned rolling out the driveway at 10:43. I should have hit the road around 10 AM but the great legs of yesterday were not so great today.

The route was 33.03 miles long so it wasn’t enough to get to the 900 but I am oh so close with 889.90 miles. I should make the 900 on tomorrow’s ride. I am wondering what route I should ride to cross this big threshold. There are several hours before I have to decide.

Today I stopped at the Huffman Chevron for a Diet Pepsi break and while I was there I saw evidence a sticky situation I biked into yesterday. I rode into the Shell station at the corner of US59 and FM1314 and ran over some gum. It stuck to my front tire and proceeded to send fine threads of gum on the frame. I thought I got all of this off but today I spotted some threads I missed. The gum was real soft from the heat so it was messy. Today thanks to the dirt getting on the gum threads it turned from light green to black and it would not wipe off. I ended up getting a wet towel from the restroom with soap on it and that finally got rid of it. Just like gum on a shoe, gum on a bike tire causes a big mess.

The weather for tomorrow’s record attempt is forecast to repeat today: 97 degrees and partly cloudy.

Links to Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com maps and metrics.

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