This must be the year of the dog sprint. I had three dog sprints on today’s ride on roads I normally don’t even see a dog outside of a fence.The first sprint on FM3083 just north of Grangerland pitted me against three dogs though one was elderly and appeared to be barking instructions to the other two. I sprinted for all I was worth to get away from them, which wasn’t as much as normal. I worked in the yard before the ride and the legs weren’t fresh. Later on I altered my route to avoid riding back past this spot. It didn’t do much good though.

After a rest stop at the Valero Corner Store on FM3083 at Creighton Road I headed off on Creighton Road to FM1314. It’s been a long time since I sprinted away from a dog on this road but after the left turn a big brown and white dog spotted me from his front yard. I had a slight advantage because he had to run to the gate rather than directly toward me. Again I got away and he gave up with a lot of barking. I hoped this was the last one but not true.

Whiel Iwas resting at the Valero store I talked to the same woman from the Valero store earlier this week. She asked how many miles I was biking and I said 40 or so. Across the intersection from the Valero was a field of bluebonnets, the first ones this year.

I debated on which roads to take from FM1314 back to New Caney. I decided to not take SH 242 and stay on FM1314 to Gene Campbell Road. Thankfully I was riding with the wind on Gene Campbell because my legs were tired. About a mile past the Walmart distribution center on my right were two dogs in waiting in a abandoned driveway as I rode past and they gave chase. Somehow my legs responded and I rode away from them. At this point I was about 3 miles from Brookshire Brothers and I needed to get there.

Starting in New Caney I rode to Splendora,on to Grangerland and to the Valero. I hadn’t done this route for awhile. The ride totaled 41.70 miles. Average speed topped out at 16.4 mph but once I turned into the stiff SW wind (14 mph with 22 mph gusts) the average speed went down to 15.4 mph but I improved to 15.7 mph by the end of the ride.

Weather was ideal: 83 degrees with a clear sky. The only bad mark was the wind.

Starting weather

End of the ride

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