Summer End and Florescent Orange Jersey
According to Eric Burger, Houston Chronicle weather man, the front that passed through yesterday is the end of summer. I don’t know if I would make that claim just yet but today was cooler than before. I donned my florescent orange long sleeve jersey and shorts to hit the road on the “New Caney – Gene Campbell Road” route. I hoped the bright colored jersey would help me stay warm. It was 73 degrees when I left home at 11:50 under a very clear deep blue sky. The shade trees that kept me cool in the past and I enjoyed, today kept me cool but not so enjoyable with the sharp NW 12 mph wind and the 22 mph gusts. I was glad to get out of the heavy trees onto the roads with more sunshine.
After weaving around Kingwood I rode west on Adams St. to Loop 494 to ride to New Caney. The wind fought me all the way to New Caney slowing me to 15 mph or less most of the time. Turning onto FM1485 and going west helped a little bit but I wasn’ able to speed up until I started riding on Gene Campbell Road. The trees along the road held the wind back some plus I was not going into the wind as much. Once I reached FM1314 the wind moved to my back and I pedaled at 20+ mph. This enable me to increase my average speed from 15 mph to 15.6 mph. The 15.6 mph average lasted until the 31 mile mark of the 34.05 mile long ride.
By the time I got home at 2:26 the temperature had edged up to 76 degrees and my efforts had warmed me up as well.
My stop at Stripes was brief today because I need to be back home by 2:30. I was there just long enough to eat a trail mix bar, two cookies and refill my water bottle. Standing in the sun was nice. I forgot to put sunscreen on my face though, probably because of the long sleeve jersey making me think I didn’t need it.
The weather is supposed to repeat for several days this week. I look forward to biking in it.
Links to Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS metrics and maps.
