Sitting on the sofa this morning before 8 AM I picked up my tablet and started scrolling through the Texbiker.net event calendar. I did not realize how many rides were on today’s agenda. As I was looking I thought maybe I should’ve gotten up earlier and went on a ride but the 54 degrees outside reminded me of my 60 degree rule: I usually don’t bike when it is below that mark. I am a temperature wimp.

So I waited 12:08 before starting from home. I wanted to ride to the north but I remembered the new Kroger Marketplace store opens today and my route goes up the service road past the entrances. Then I decided to take the back route out of Kingwood. This would put me north of the Kroger by a couple of miles on Loop 494. Then I recalled the Community Drive US59 overpass was torn down at the beginning of October. Should I try riding west on Community Drive to the US59 northbound service road? Curiosity got the better of me when I arrived at the stop light on Loop 494. Biking on Community Drive I could see the dirt mound of the approach to the removed overpass. As I approached the service road from Community Drive I saw the shoulder was reduced to allow the two lanes through the construction area. When I reached the driveway to the East Montgomery County Improvement District the shoulder returned to the normal width. This was about 300 yards or so. From then on the roads were like they used to be.

My body was sore after yesterday’s ride. Two weeks off the bike lets the muscles go weak. My butt lost some saddle conditioning as well. At the beginning of October I adjusted the handlebar and brake levers to reduce the stretch. I thought I fixed this but with the sore muscles I felt stretched again. For the last 12 miles or so I did not put my hands all of the way on the brake hoods. I even looked at the mark I used to position the handlebar to see if it moved but it was where I set it.

Heading to the north to New Caney and Gene Campbell Road the wind was generally favorable. There were a few sections that I slowed down but not for long. The wind became a problem after I left the Stripes station on FM1314. The roads were to the south and the SE wind provided plenty of resistance. I was glad I did not go on an organized ride because it would have been more miles. A pain reliever may be needed.

When I came to the Northpark Drive intersection out of Oakhurst three Houston Police cars blocked the street to the right. In the grass among several trees a Chevrolet pickup rested. I think the side was dented up and I saw some scrape marks in the street where the truck may have hit the curb. Another pickup with a trailer was past the one in the grass and several tow trucks hovered around. Instead of riding in the street like I normally do I took the bike trail down the median around the scene on Northpark.

This route took me 35.57 miles at a 15.3 mph average speed. Until the Stripes station rest stop I averaged higher than that. October miles now total 260.23. I hope to get close to 400 but the weather will need to be nice. Rain could be in the picture tomorrow.

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