When I got ready to leave on today’s ride (10:54) I checked the weather radar since the sky was cloudy in places. The rain was to the southeast and appeared to be moving to the east. I decided to ride the “Fairlake Drive – May Park Community Center – Huffman” route (3rd time on this route this year) because it offered some places to get out of the rain. As I rode south into Atascocita the curb area puddles started to appear. Riding through Walden I looked to the south and east and the dark clouds were in the distance but still no rain on me. I made my way to FM1960 to ride east over Lake Houston. The shoulder was dry but the low places had standing water. I turned south on Fairlake Drive and the sky over Crosby was getting darker. I made it to FM2100 and went to the left moving away from the dark clouds and looking at less stormy weather to the north.

FM1960 east was next on the route to the Liberty County line where I turn left on Huffman – Eastgate to begin the return to Huffman. By now the sky was darkening and I could hear thunder once in awhile. So far no rain though. Willy Lane is where I turned right to head to the May Community Center. I stayed on that road until I got to the center and turned left on Wolf Road. At this point I started to feel a feel scattered rain drops or drizzle. It wasn’t much; I was sweating more than the drops produced. Now the thunder increased and the sky was getting darker as I raced to FM2100. The traffic light at FM2100 and Wolf Road doesn’t trip for bicycles so I rode into the Texaco station to get on FM2100 north of the light. Traffic was heavy of course since I was in a hurry to get to the Huffman Chevron and shelter. There were other places I could pull into between the Texaco and the Chevron stations but I wanted to get positioned for riding home if the rain caught up with me.

I got across FM2100 and rode the shoulder to Huffman in a light rain drizzle. I still was sweating more than it was raining. The east wind was starting to be cool and the sweat was cooling me down more than I liked. Around 1:00 I rode into the Chevron at the 28.5 mile point. I went inside to get a drink after wiping some of the rain/sweat from my arms and legs. It was ice cold inside with my wet jersey and shorts. I got back outside as quickly as possible. As I sat eating and drinking the thunder and lightening to the south and east picked up and I figured I should start home quickly. The weather screen shots at the Chevron station.

In the image on the right I am at the little blue dot and the thunder and lightening is the yellow orange blob below and right of the blue dot. I need to ride to the area where the 85 is. The wind is my helper in this case coming from the SSE at 11 mph with 23 mph gusts. I got back on the bike and left the chevron. For the first time in months I was actually chilled as I rode west on FM1960. Between the cool wind and the wet jersey I was cold but by the time I reached Lake Houston I warmed enough.

My goal was to ride 41 miles. I almost got there riding 40.92 miles today. For the second time this week I had to wash my bike when I got home. Though I didn’t ride in the rain once I left the Chevron station the shoulder was wet all the way to Atascocita Shores Drive and the streets were damp from there to West Lake Houston Parkway. Once I was on West Lake Houston Parkway the road wasn’t as wet and eventually dried the closer I got to home. I arrived home at 2:26 with dark skies to the south and east.

Rain is possible this evening and maybe during the night. A “cold” front is supposed to arrive sometime Thursday. Not sure how that will affect my biking.

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