My jersey choice for today’s ride probably could have been better: a blue jersey with a white lightening bolt. I knew I was taking a chance of riding in the rain when I left home at 12:14 but the rain activity on weather radar was widely scattered with no particular direction. It was 91 degrees at the start of riding the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route. While riding south out of Kingwood I saw some dark gray clouds gathering to the east but I hoped to ride away from them. I shortened the ride by a couple of miles to 30.89 miles hoping this would get me back home before any rain arrived.

Riding past Kingwood High School I passed a man with an umbrella walking towards me on the sidewalk/trail and wondered if that meant rain ahead. It did but just sprinkles which stayed with me until I turned south on W. Lake Houston Parkway. I took my usual route through Kingwwod Greens exiting back on W. Lake Houston Parkway. On the bridge the shoulder showed signs of a recent rain but no standing water. Off the bridge I rode through Atascocita and Walden without rain. Coming to FM1960 to ride east over Lake Houston I saw more gray clouds but not over me nor where I was headed.

I reached the Huffman Chevron around 1:35 19.2 miles into the ride for a rest break. After going inside for a Powerade I sat under the canopy to eat snacks, cool down and look at the sky. Not too much later I started hearing thunder to the west where the sky was dark followed by lightening. Checking the weather on my phone I saw this:

I decided to wait at the Chevron store for the thunder and lightening to stop. Cars coming from the west had their windshield wipers on. I didn’t want to ride in the rain but it looked like I would. While waiting I could feel the temperature going down and my soaked jersey accentuated the drop. After the thunder and lightening stopped I left thinking I would leap frog from one shelter to another up to the causeway over Lake Houston. I made it to the Exxon station at E. Lake Houston where the rain was a little harder. I waited there again hoping the rain would stop or let up. Finally after waiting the clouds west of Lake Houston started to move north and I left the Exxon station even though it was raining lightly.

FM1960 was wet and passing traffic sprayed me with mist but I didn’t get too wet. Riding into Atascocita Shores the rain let up some and I got relief when I went under trees. By the time I got to W. Lake Houston the rain stopped. From there to home it didn’t rain but the streets were damp. After I got home at 3:53 I washed my bike and put it in the garage as a few more sprinkles fell.

With this ride I am closing in on my goal for September with only 21 miles needed. More rain on Friday in the forecast but Saturday and Sunday look dry. Today was the 32nd time riding this route in 2015. A summary of the rides is below.

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