The last ride of July on “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” was a fitting end to the month. I needed to ride 27 miles to reach 900 miles for the month and I biked 31.72 miles raising my total miles for July to 904.84, the second month in a row over 900 miles. (The July rides summary is below) I saw one other biker as I was riding east over Lake Houston on FM1960. He was going west on the other shoulder. I waved but I did not see a response from him. Going east I had to battle the NE wind (9 mph) making it difficult to get my speed above 16 mph. On the way home the wind was at my left rear quarter helping me at 18 to 20 mph. during this stretch I was able to increase my average speed to 14.9 mph from the 14.6 mph it settled at when I stopped at the Huffman Chevron at 20.4 miles.

We’ve had 2 days in a row at 100 degrees or more and it looks like today may become number 3. I was earlier than yesterday leaving home at 11:04 and returning at 2:13. I probably avoided the heat of the day. The weather when I stopped in Huffman.

I arrived at the Huffman Chevron around 12:30 thinking the Amtrak train would pass by shortly after 1:00. I ate my snacks and drink. After 1:00 I moved to the pumps closest to FM1960 to a better position to take pictures. I waited and waited but no Amtrak train. Finally at 1:25 I decided the train wasn’t coming or took the tracks through Crosby and left. As I rode on FM1960 I listened for the train but didn’t hear any whistle. Once I reach E. Lake Houston Parkway I was out of range. While I rode over Lake Houston I looked at the train bridge to the south but nothing there.

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Today was the 26th time I biked the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route out of 119 rides this year. I have varied the route more than last year. Below is a summary of the 26 rides.

The summary of July’s rides is below. I biked 25 out of 31 days. Year to date I biked 4121 miles. Last year at the end of July I was at 4212 miles. I am closing the shortfall for this year.