A Tailwind Followed by A Headwind
Saturday and Sunday weather gave me a reason not to ride with Saturday’s high in the low 60’s and Sunday morning the low was 41. Later in the day it warmed up to 70 but by then I had a church meeting to attend. Today the weather was much better with 76 degrees. I was on the road at 12:08 under mostly cloudy skies. I wore a long sleeve jersey in case the 12 mph SE wind was chilly. It turned out to be a good choice not because the wind was that cool but the sky got cloudier as the ride progressed.
I went north on the “New Caney – Gene Campbell Road” route so I could vary the ride and take advantage of the SE wind. The wind was favorable helping me get my average speed up to 16.1 mph at the Gene Campbell Road and FM1314 intersection 20.2 miles into what ended up being a 36.55 mile long ride. I figured the wind would be in my face once I turned left onto FM1314 heading to Porter. I was able to keep my average at 16.0 mph for a couple of miles but the wind took its toll and it started to slowly fall. While I was waiting for the traffic light to change another biker rode by heading NW with the wind pushing him. We waved at each other.
A rest stop at Stripes on FM1314 helped me to get some energy back before riding the 11 miles home. While I was at Stripes I watched the large US flag stand straight out all the time I was there. Even sitting in the sun the strong wind felt cool and my jersey dried out. I didn’t want to stay too long at the Stripes store because of the two schools in Briar Tree would be getting out at 2:45. I left Stripes at 2:14 and made it past the schools without any problem. When I got home I looked at the weather and saw the wind had increased to 20 mph from the SE. No wonder pedaling was so hard.
It was good I took the rest at Stripes with the wind battling me all the way home from there. I was slowed enough to change my route back into Kingwood to avoid the school in Kings Manor and the dismissal traffic. To not lose some mileage I added a short semicircle on Kingwood Place Drive. There was one more school to get past in Bear Branch Village and I got there before they let out though a few cars were lined up.
With two days off I wanted to get a ride in before the rain arrives on Wednesday. Our daughter and son-in-law are visiting and I want to spend time with them before they leave on Wednesday.
Today’s miles is both the week to date and November to date numbers. Year to date I biked 6208 miles. 292 miles to reach the goal for the year, 6500 miles.
Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS metrics, charts and maps. Click on an image to enlarge it.
