This morning I got up early (for me) and drove to Atascocita High School for the Ride Like An Eagle bike ride. The sun wasn’t up yet as I pulled into the parking lot but it wasn’t long before it was. I preregistered for the ride and walked over to get my ride number and packet. On the way I saw Chris and his wife that I met at Houston Jeep People many months ago. We talked about the ride and caught up since our last meeting.

This was the first time for the ride and I wasn’t sure how many people would attend. I got number 23 and looking at the preregistered sheet at the table I guess 60 to 70 people signed up. How many showed up might be different. It was chilly (62 degrees on the Jeep’s thermometer) but the worst part was the NE wind. I estimate the wind was 12 to 15 mph.

At 8:00 we got our instructions and lined up behind the Harris County Precinct 4 cruiser and rolled out to Will Clayton Parkway to begin the ride. Prior to the start a young man on the PA mic lead us in the Star Spangled Banner a-Capella and then a prayer for a safe ride. The cruiser lead us all the way to FM2100 and Old Atascocita Road. From there we were on our own. I forgot to take weather screen shots at the start but at the first rest stop I grabbed these.

Don’t believe the wind speeds. It was gusty and I rode hard on Old Atascocita Road east of FM2100 to stay at 16 mph. Once I reached the turn and the rest stop the wind was from my back left side and much friendlier.

One of the challenges organized rides have is marking the route. Today the route was marked with orange (52 mile) and blue (40 mile) tape arrows on the road and signs at turns. This worked good but there were a few times when I would have liked to see arrows between route changes or intersections to reassure I didn’t make a wrong turn. I was familiar with many of the roads we were on but south of Crosby I have gotten lost on another bike ride because I missed a turn. Not today though. I stayed on the route all of the ride.

Traffic was friendly and gave me a wide berth. I encountered 2 dogs but I rode away from them. Other riders said they had more dog encounters than that. Chris said he had 8 dog chases. Before the ride I told a Texas National Guardsman about a particular house on Ramsey Road and Lord Road with a big German Shepherd and he radioed a person who said they would check it out. When I got there the dog wasn’t outside.

I was in and out of the wind as the route progressed. A nice stretch was on US90 from Crosby to Pineland Road. I sped along at 20+ mph but I was passed by another biker on his aero bars. He didn’t have a number so I think he was on his own. Along the route I saw a number of other riders who were probably on their own as well. Generally they were going the opposite direction and I didn’t see any ride numbers. These roads are popular to ride on.

Once I passed Sheldon Road on US90 it was new roads to me until I reached Aqueduct Road. Riding through Eisenhower Park was a first time for me. The roads were good and the traffic nonexistent. I stopped at a rest stop just before exiting the park and chatted with the people there. At that point I had about 7 miles to the finish. By then I was warmed up and the wind wasn’t quite the problem it was earlier. I finished at 11:45 at Atascocita High School.

Pictures I took at the start and along the ride.

The weather at the finish.

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