Lawn Chair in the Shade
Sitting in the shade at the Huffman Chevron I started thinking with the wind and shade this would be a great day to grab a lawn chair and enjoy the weather. The wind and shade were more than enough to counter the 93 degrees. Lots of blue sky only adds to the pleasure. Then I had to get on the bike and ride home. The wind was from the SE at 24 mph with 30 mph gusts which explains why I had to put out so much effort getting my average speed above 15 mph. The highest I could get my average speed was 15.5 mph on the 32.82 mile ride. Once I hit the residential streets it dropped to 15.4 mph overall.
I wasn’t sure I would get to bike today but things worked out and I headed out on my “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route. With today I biked this route 45 times out of the 154 rides this year. (See the slide below) I did see one other biker today while I was on Fairlake Drive. We exchanged waves as we passed.
So far this week I rode 135.71 miles. Year to date stands at 5317 miles.
As I left the Chevron station in Huffman I spotted the Action Sign time and temperature ticker. The first time I read 160 degrees and the next pass it dropped to a much cooler 136 degrees. Apparently the sensor is in the sun. It was hot but not quite that hot. Sweat was dripping from about all of my pores when I was resting at the Chevron. I soaked a bunch of paper towels and the Greensheet newspaper I was sitting on. Thanks to the strong wind it didn’t take too long to evaporate all of that moisture.
Riding today and watching my average speed reminded me of the old Avocet bike computers. They had an arrow that would indicate if you were biking above or below your average speed. It was like a nag if you fell below the average speed but I found it helpful. My legs are still adjusting to my new found attention on average speed.
Friday weather could repeat today. I plan on biking if it doesn’t rain. There is a possibility in the afternoon.
Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS
