Route Selection Plays A Part
Selecting a route plays a big part on the average speed. I rode to the north on my “New Caney – Gene Campbell Road” route with a slight modification on the streets I used to exit Kingwood. Getting out of Kingwood does not offer a lot of choices so I rode through Elm Grove Village and Sherwood Trails Village before heading for Mills Branch Drive and then Ford Road. Because the number of starts and stops is low on this exit route I was able to build my average speed without the need to offset slow riding with more stops. On Mills Branch Drive and Ford Road there are no stops until Loop 494. Here is where the wind direction also factors in. A 15 mph from the SE provided help getting to Loop 494. Once I was on Loop 494 I was able to increase my average speed into the 15 mph range again with some help from the wind direction.
At New Caney I changed direction some riding on FM1485 and I continued to improve my average to 16 mph. Once I was on Gene Campbell Road the average was 16.3 which was the maximum for the ride. Turning left onto FM1314 I was riding into the wind. Sometimes the wind picked up and my speed dropped to 13 mph. By the time I got to the Stripes store at Valley Ranch my average fell to 15.8 mph. I was fighting to keep my speed up but the wind won.
After a 25 minute break at Stripes I was back on the bike riding south into the wind through Briar Tree and Oakhurst. I was able to improve my average speed to 15.9 mph for a portion of this but the wind kept beating at me whenever I turned into it. At the end of the 35.12 mile ride I averaged 15.4 mph.
19 of my 153 rides this year have been on this route.
My legs feel like they put out a lot of effort today. Adding the average speed to the front screen of my Edge 510 deserves the “credit”.
Today’s weather during the ride: 92 degrees, 76 degree dew point, 58% humidity, scattered clouds, 15 MPH SE wind at IAH.
Miles for the week are now 102.89 (for the month as well). Year to date I am up to 5384 miles.
Today marks the 1 year anniversary of my crash into the car that pulled in front front of me at Atascocita High School on Will Clayton Parkway. I believe I am recovered from that incident. For a few minutes I thought I should ride that route again but changed my mind.
Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS maps and metrics. Click on an image to enlarge it.
