The last two days Tropical Storm Bill rained on my biking parade. Today it looked like it was going to continue but around 11:30 it brightened up some and biking was on. I rolled off at 12:27 heading on the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route. 88% humidity felt like swimming and the temperature was 80 degrees. There wasn’t enough of a breeze to help either.

I wanted to test the rear wheel axle slipping in the dropouts against the star washer I added to the derailleur side of the skewer. At the Huffman Chevron rest stop I loosened the rear quick release and the wheel shifted every so slightly which I think means the star washer helped. I tightened the skewer a quarter of a turn and I will checked it again during the next ride.

The rest stop in Huffman was a time to dry off some of the perspiration. With the high humidity it was flowing like a river. While I was standing beside the bike before going into the store I bent my head down and the water started dripping from my soaked headband. My arms were covered with drops and a paper towel didn’t help much. After coming out of the store I sat on a Greensheet paper to protect my shorts and absorb some of the moisture. Standing up after eating and drinking the paper was soaked. My arms stopped perspiring while I rested thanks to the paper towels I rested them on. Trying to dry my gloves some I laid them on a couple of paper towels during the stop. It helped some. I checked my phone for the weather and saw a big rain spot west of US59 and hoped it stayed there until I got home.

Leaving the Chevron I rode to the west. As I approached the traffic light at E. Lake Houston I could see the oncoming traffic had their headlights on. This might mean it was raining on the other side of the lake but it wasn’t when I got there. I hurried across the lake and into Atascocita Shores where the clouds to the north looked dark enough to mean rain. This was about 25 miles into the ride with another 8 or so to go. I tried to keep a fast pace to beat any rain. I was largely successful until 2 miles to go when I felt a few drops. From there to home it rained lightly but I was already wet with from sweat so I couldn’t really tell the difference.

I added a couple of streets to the usual “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route and it ended up being 34.2 miles. Average speed topped out at 15.4 mph and ended up at 15.2 mph after weaving through the residential streets the last two miles.

Weather when I stopped in Huffman

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