My original route plan was to ride north and around Lake Houston and down to Huffman. As I was getting ready to get dressed I checked the weather radar because there was a 30 to 40% chance of rain. To the south there were numerous patches of rain on the radar so I decided to ride north to Splendors and then back home with the intent of getting home before the rain moved north of where it was.

I laid out the route In my mind going north to New Caney, through Roman Forest and up to FM2090 east of Splendora. From there I would head west to US59 and then south to Kingwood. Things were going as planned and as I biked up the street beside the railroad tracks before Roman Forest Blvd. I saw another bicyclist crossing the railroad tracks headed into Roman Forest. I sped up and caught up with him on Roman Forest Blvd. His name was David and I asked him where he was headed. David said he had biked this twice before and was on the same route I was planning on through Roman Forest to Tram Road north to FM2090. We rode together and chatted. He was from Conroe and he mentioned a website he kept up with from time to time: Texbiker.net to my surprise. I introduced myself as Texbiker. David said he was unemployed and rides in the mornings to avoid the heat and keep his afternoon free to look for a job. Later I learned he works with Solidworks, a 3 dimensional design software program.

We rode up Tram Road and David said he needed to take a break when we reached a store. There was one at the corner of Tram and FM2090 so we stopped there. When we did I started to notice how dark the sky was getting behind us and to the east. After 10 minutes or so we started up again going west on FM2090. A couple of gusts of wind hit us and I could feel the temperature drop from earlier. The wind caught the rear wheel on David’s Trek which had a four spoke rear rim. The Trek was one of the models like the Softride with a beam from the headset to hold the seat, not a triangle frame like my Motobecane Le Champion CF but still carbon fiber material.

With the help of the wind we made good time to US59 where we parted ways: he stayed on FM2090 to Conroe and I went south on US59. I could see the dark clouds had thinned a little but the wind was strong as I rode into it. Approaching Roman Forest Blvd. I could the rain soaked road from that point going south and figured I would be riding in the rain at some point before I got home. I stopped at the Chevron station at FM1485 & US59 to fill my waterbottle and let the road dry out some. While I waited it started raining again but didn’t last long. About 10 minutes after it stopped I got back on my bike and rode south. The road was wet but it was not raining and it stayed that way until I got to FM1314. After that point the road had patches of wet and dry.

Now that the rain stopped the humidity must have skyrocketed so I was pouring perspiration. I think I would have been drier if it was raining. I know it would have been cooler. I finished the ride going through the streets of Kingwood pulling into the driveway at 12:56. While I was riding I got a text message from CenterPoint Energy alerting me that our electricity was out. While I was stopped in New Caney my wife called to check on me and said it was off so when I got home I had to fix the garage door opener. My wife had gone shopping and had to open the door manually to get out of the garage. As I prepared to clean my bike I noticed I was soaked with perspiration so much it was running down my legs. Inside the house with the electricity now back on I really felt how soaked I was. A towel absorbed large amounts of sweat as I worked to get my computer network back on to write this report.

My ride ended up being 38.83 miles long and the average speed was 16.4 mph. I think the higher average speed came from riding with David at a good pace and maintaining a solid pace going south on the US59 service road from Splendora. The wind did not get in my way surprisingly. August miles moved up to 284.79, the week’s miles are now 177.61 and year to date I am at 4536. These numbers will stand until at least Monday since I have a church meeting on Sunday. Next week’s biking will be interesting since we are starting a remodeling project and I am not sure how that will affect my riding.

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