Just past the 25 mile point I rode into the Stripes station on FM1314 west of Porter. After walking inside for a Diet Pepsi I grabbed a Greensheet newspaper and sat down outside. The sun was nice and warm which was a big contrast from earlier in the week. Today the temperature varied from 42 at 6:30AM to 77 when I finished the ride at 4:02. I wish I could put some of this in a bank to draw on. Tomorrow would be a good time to do that when I ride the Humble Lions Bike Ride. The overnight low is 43 and the high is 65 degrees. With the ride starting a 8:00AM I suspect it is going to be closer to 43 than 65.

The route today went north so I could get 34+ miles to help move toward the 370 mile goal for February. I am still playing around with the recently found exit from Kingwood and I wasn’t sure how far I would ride. I ended up riding 37.32 miles at a 15.1 mph average speed. The average speed is low because of the wind and my out of shape legs. As I left home at 12:51 the wind was 18 mph from the SSW with 29 mph gusts. This accounts for the warmer temperature today and my slowness. On FM1485 going west to Gene Campbell Road I managed to stay above 15 mph but when I turned onto Gene Campbell Road the headwind got me. For the 5 miles to FM1314 I pedaled hard at 11 to 12 mph. Occasionally I stood up on the pedals to get some speed but as soon as I sat down I drifted back to 12 mph. Interval 4 averaged 13.5 mph which was this section of the ride.

Getting onto FM1314 riding to Porter the wind was more of a friend coming from the right rear quarter. Interval 5 average speed jumped to 17.1 mph and my pedaling was not as hard. The rest at Stripes was well needed and the timing allowed me to dodge the school buses headed to the two schools in Briar Tree; there must have been 10 of them. By the time I got there the traffic was gone. I wasn’t as fortunate in Kings Manor with a multitude of parents lined up to get their children. I inched through the bottle neck.

With the nice weather I did not need a jacket today. My wardrobe consisted of a long sleeve jersey, short sleeve jersey on top and shorts. I wore a new pair of gloves to celebrate the sun.

Update on February: 114.35 miles. 256 to reach the 370 mile goal. Year to date: 443 miles.

Click on the image to enlarge it.

[iframe http://connect.garmin.com:80/activity/embed/445177077 470px 570px]

[iframe http://ridewithgps.com/trips/2238767/embed 95% 700px]