When I started the ride today I could feel the difference in the air temperature. The promised “cool” front must have arrived. It was pleasant to ride with a wind that was not searing hot. By the time I got to 5 miles I was warmed up enough that the cool air was not noticeable. I biked up US59 using some side roads where needed to Roman Forest Blvd. When I got there I saw the Tavalo clock tower is coming together. The sections are now stacked up and the stone work is getting installed around the base.

Getting to Roman Forest Blvd. took extra effort today with the NE wind trying to slow me down. Loop 494 does not have enough trees to break the wind. I did not ride in the normal gears until I made the turn around at Roman Forest Blvd. going south on the US59 service road. I was able to ride at 20+ mph then. The route came to 33.45 miles long and I averaged 15.4 mph.

With all of the construction south of FM1485 the service road shoulder is littered with lots of dirt and gravel. Throw in a few warning signs standing in the shoulder area and I have to pay close attention. I noticed at the Valley Ranch Parkway and Valley Ranch Bend intersection it is now blocked off to the right. The construction has begun to extend Valley Ranch Parkway north to the Grand Parkway. There is a big sign there with a map showing the future development and I stopped to see what is coming up. They made a few changes from the last time I read it; deleted the wrong New Caney HS label is one.

A stop at the Stripes station at FM1314 was in order to take in the blue sky and breeze. This what I saw:

Flag at the Stripes Station on Valley Ranch Pkwy. Looking NE

I got some Gatorade and sat out by the pumps to eat some granola bars. The shade was welcome as I watched the people come and go at the station. This was at the 22.25 mile mark in the ride. The last leg is about 11 miles to home. After about 30 miles I headed out to Briar Tree and Oakhurst on the way to Kingwood.

No other bikers today although I did follow an older man riding an e-bike on the trail along Kingwood Drive going east. I passed him before getting to the BBVA Compass bank.

I need to lube my chain again soon. It makes some noise and the Chain-L #5 oil quiets it. I plan on changing the chain when I get to 4000 miles which is 348 miles away. Then I will switch to paraffin was which not as messy.

The Garmin Connect Like Tracking feature is working as it should. My wife said she checked the website a few times and saw my riding route.

My mileage markers:

• 129.43 miles this week
• 454.55 miles for August (390 miles left to reach my goal)
• 4667 miles for the year to date

Yesterday I was having a problem with my Acu-Link weather center updating to the web on both my personal weather page and Weather Underground PWS. For some reason at 1:29PM my Asus router port # stopped working. At the time I couldn’t figure out what was causing the problem until I moved the cable to another port. All is working now.

Thursday looks great for riding: 93 degrees and clear.

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Link to RideWithGPS.

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