I waffled back and forth on which route to take today. I wanted to ride at least 37 miles in order to reach my March goal when I ride the LBJ100 on Saturday. I decided to ride to the north on a route I haven’t done in awhile: Loop 494 north to FM1485 to SR242 to FM1314 and then back home. I knew this route would be over 40 miles and it ended up at 45.26 miles. I averaged 16.2 mph with several 5 mile intervals 17 mph to 19 mph averages. Biking to the southeast would have been around 38 miles. The wind for the first 10 miles was in my face and I struggled to ride above 15 mph at times. When I reached New Caney and turned left onto FM1485 westbound the wind moved to my right rear quarter and I was able to pickup my speed. (see intervals 3 & 4) By the time I got to SR242 the road angled a little further south and the wind moved to my back. Intervals 5 to 7 I biked on on SR242 and FM1314 back to Porter. On FM1314 I expected some wind resistance but it wasn’t that much I was able to keep a high pace.

Stopping at the Stripes station on FM1314 at Valley Ranch Parkway I sat in the nice warm sun. The temperature was 68 when I started the ride at 12:27. The wind was not too strong coming from the north at 13 mph. I did not wear leg warmers thinking the temperature would warm up and the sun would keep the chill off the legs. The temperature did warm up to 73 by the time I returned home at 3:59 but the wind increased to 16 mph from the NNE with 23 mph gusts. My choice of a short and long sleeve jerseys under a windbreaker jacket was the correct one. I was comfortable most of the time except when I went into the shade for an extend time. The wind had a chill to it. There is a cool front moving through tonight bringing a 60% chance of rain tomorrow and a high of 60. I don’t think I will be biking tomorrow which is the reason I wanted to bike 40 miles or more today. Thursday warms up to 74 but there is a 100% chance of rain. Friday is a travel day to Fredericksburg for the LBJ100 on Saturday.

Mileage standings:

• this week 45.26 miles
• March 452.96 miles
• miles to reach March goal 53
• year to date 1158 miles

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

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