The clouds made it feel cooler than the temperature indicated. I dressed warmer than I probably need to with shorts, long sleeve jersey and a jacket. For the first 20 minutes or so I was glad I had made this choice. By then I started to warm up and it wasn’t so cool. It was 71 when I left home at 1:16 under cloudy skies with a light wind from the ESE. The forecast called for 78 degrees and it got there by the time I was back home at 3:41.

I rode the Atascocita – Walden – Huffman route with a change to the section through Atascocita. I went south on Kings Park Way to FM1960, crossed over that and went to Atascocita Road. After a few hundred yards on Atascocita Road I turned into one of the Atascocita subdivisions and made my way to Aerobic Drive; a fitting name for exercising. Crossing W. Lake Houston parkway I entered Walden to make my way to FM1960 and Lake Houston. From there I followed the normal route to Huffman and back home for a total of 32.13 miles. I made a short stop at the Huffman Chevron to rest my tired legs and eat a trail mix bar. After a few minutes I was back on FM1960 headed west. I hoped the wind would be at my back and it was kind of, at least it wasn’t the headwind I seemed to battle all the way to Huffman.

As I crossed Lake Houston on the way back home the clouds thinned enough to allow more brightness which stayed with me most of the way back home. This was when it felt warmer and my jacket got wet with sweat.

My legs are feeling the effort from three riding days in a row. When I call for more effort they don’t deliver as much as I would like. My top average speed was 15.1 mph but it only lasted for a couple of miles towards the end of the ride. The final averages speed was 15.0 mph.

No dag sprint today. I had a couple bark at me from behind fences. The pine pollen was not so evident today but the front edge of the Garmin still had a light yellow collection.

The weather is supposed to hold for another day before rain may come back. I hope to ride on St. Patrick’s Day. A green jersey could be in order.

RidewithGPS map, metrics and charts.

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