What I couldn’t ride last Saturday I completed today. Last Saturday I tried to ride to Crosby and back but a series of problems stopped me. The last time the weather was misty for the middle part of the route I ended up doing but today the sky was about as blue as it can get. The temperature was 77 as I left home at 11:07. I was going to wear the short and long sleeve jersey combination but the forecast said the high would be 88 and that amount of jerseys would be too much. I selected a bright orange Canari long sleeve jersey to block the sun. I needed something to block the wind though. As long as I rode to the east the wind was a tailwind but whenever I rode south or west I slowed down to 14 mph or so. Going east on Old Atascocita Road I stopped to take pictures. I was thinking how country it was only 17 miles from my house in Houston. This gallery has pictures from Old Atascocita Road, Ramsey Road and Crosby. I couldn’t resist the red caboose at Crosby Park.

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I cannot remember the last time I rode this route. It ended up at 47.07 miles long meeting my goal of over 40 miles. The tailwind allowed me to get above 20 mph for several stretches to offset the 14 mph into the wind. Going south on Ramsey Road I was out in the open as the wind came over the grass fields. I was the tallest thing around and the wind kept pushing me to the left side of the road. I turned left onto Louis Road and the tailwind helped me get back up to 20 mph. The next right hand turn threw me back into the wind but I reached some trees in about a half mile. The road took several turns until I was at US90 riding to Crosby. That was into the wind all the way. I stopped at the Crosby Park in Crosby for a few minutes before riding to FM2100 to go to Huffman. I pulled into a Valero station at Gum Gulley creek to refill my water bottle with ice and water. The cold water tasted good. From there it was about 5 miles to the Huffman Chevron where I took a 30 minute break. Leaving the Chevron station meant 3 miles into the wind and my legs needed a rest.

Just north of Crosby on FM2100 I stopped at the traffic light for Diamond Head Drive into Newport. Looking to the right side of the road I saw a sign for the Murfturf Turf Farm. I had to laugh at the name. There are several grass farms facing FM2100 on the way to Huffman.

Back on the bike I rode west on FM1960 and found the shoulder of the causeway to be clean. The sweeper had made a pass since my last time here. The glass and debris was gone. Monday the Tour de Rouge will be going east over the causeway on the way to New Orleans. This might have encouraged the sweeper to go on the east bound side.

I reached home at 3:02 with the temperature at 89 degrees. The ride from FM1960 to Kingwood goes among the trees holding the wind back most of the time.

Today’s weather was picture perfect for biking. The humidity was 21% drying up the perspiration almost before it could come out of my skin. The next day I might ride is May 21st. I am thinking of the time off as recovery and rest days.

So far I rode 214.4 miles this week, 111.35 miles in May and 2248 miles year to date.

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