I got off to a slow start leaving home at 10:52 I decided to add a couple of miles to the “May Park Community Center – Huffman” route by taking the greenbelt north to Sherwood Trails. The problem was I got slowed down and stopped by the trail maintenance crew cutting limbs and grass. Their ancient Ford Ranger is narrow enough to fit the 4 foot wide trail. There are two gas powered blowers on the back of the truck blowing the cuttings to the side. This meant I couldn’t pass them but the driver saw me and stopped, turned down the blowers and motioned for me to pass. After passing I caught up with a lady walking her dog. Her earbuds meant she couldn’t hear even though her dog kept trying to get her attention. After 100 feet or so a branch of the trail turned left and I went that way while she went straight. with all of this slowness my average speed was less than 6 mph when I exited the trail. If I had selected another trail to the right I would have avoided all of this. Normally in the first couple of miles I average 10 mph or more. In order to bring the average speed up I rode faster than usual on the way south to exit Kingwood but it took a while to make much of a dent in the average speed due to stops and traffic.

W. Lake Houston Parkway southbound through Kingwood Greens repair crews moved further south for the next panel replacement helping the traffic near the YMCA where I turn into Kingwood Greens and make a long U shape back to W. Lake Houston Parkway just north of the bridge over the San Jacinto River. Starting on August 24th the bridge will be repaired until mid-December but at night so this shouldn’t impact my biking during the day, I hope!

Riding south wasn’t a problem once I was on W. Lake Houston Parkway at the bridge. The NE wind was helpful and my legs seemed to have the energy for the ride. But when I turned to the east in Walden my legs weren’t able to keep my speed up into the wind. I thought the wind was around 6 to 8 mph but when I got home and checked the Bush IAH weather it showed 12 mph with 17 mph gusts. No wonder my legs bogged down whenever I rode into the wind. It wasn’t until I got to the IT May community Center on Wolf road and turned south to FM1960 that I escaped the wind. I was able to pickup my speed and slowly build up my average speed. Riding the roads to FM1960 reminded me of the roads I will be on in Wichita Falls on 8/29 for the Hotter’n Hell 100; smooth with numerous patches and seams. Once I was back to FM1960 it was 2 1/2 miles to Huffman and FM2100.

At 27.0 miles I stopped at the Huffman Chevron for a break. It was almost 1:00. During the ride it seemed to feel slightly cooler than it has lately. The sky had a few more clouds interrupting the sun. The sign company time and temperature scrolling showed 89 and 90 degrees, much less than the 100 of days past. I checked my phone weather app and got this

This looks like the recent days’ weather on the right but the breeze blowing through the gas canopy at the Chevron station felt nice. It didn’t take too long for me to dry off some thanks to paper towels and the breeze. I ate a couple of snacks and substituted a Sunkisk 10 drink for the “out of product” Powerade in the fountain dispenser; not as much sugar as the Fanta Orange soda from the fountain machine. About 1:30 I left the Chevron for the 11+ miles to home section.

With the wind at my back I built my average speed up 14.4 mph riding east on FM1960 before turning right into Atascocita Shores and back into the wind among the houses. I kept it there until I was slowed by the rolling “hills” approaching W. Lake Houston Parkway. My legs were too tired to power up them enough to not lose speed.

I pulled into the driveway at home at 2:22 after biking 38.76 miles. This was the 3rd time I took this route in 2015 and each time the distance varied. See the ride comparisons below.

Progress is being made towards my 956 mile goal for the month. I am at 514.52 miles so far, leaving 442 miles. This week I rode 186.32 miles. This is the 19th day in a row of biking. I am averaging 36.74 miles for each August ride.

The weather when I finished the ride. Several degrees cooler than previous rides.

[iframe https://connect.garmin.com/activity/embed/865530053 465px 500px] [iframe https://www.strava.com/activities/368988799/embed/a2d3ec94447e61275453b838774eccd135af4bb1 590px 500px]

Comparison of the 3 rides on this route in 2015.