Since my last bike ride was February 1st I decided to ride today no matter what the temperature as long as it wasn’t raining. No rain with the clear blue sky but the wind was stout; WNW at 11.5 mph with 22 mph gusts when I started the ride at 12:01. By the time I got back home at 2:51 the wind was even stronger from the WNW at 15 mph with 24 mph gusts. The temperature was 67 at the end of the ride but it was around 60 at the beginning.

I bundled up with two long sleeve jerseys, leg warmers, shorts, windbreaker jacket and full finger gloves. I was glad I chose them with the wind chill. I even added some Burt’s Bee Wax for my lips. The sun helped negate some of the wind chill except while riding in the shade.

Choosing the “Atascocita South – Walden – Huffman” route meant riding with the wind most of the time until I made the left turn onto FM2100 from Old Atascocita Road. From that point most of the route went into the wind. I stopped in Huffman at the Chevron station to eat a couple of chewy granola bars and refill my water bottle. I stopped for about 12 minutes in order that I not cool down too much before getting back in the wind. The weather screen shots while I was at the Chevron station at the 23.83 mile point.

Today’s forecast called for the wind to die down from yesterday’s 30+ mph with the humidity around 16%. This was very unusual for Houston and brought the red flag warnings for fire. I don’t think 24 mph gusts are much of a change from yesterday though. I did not ride because of the high wind and 60 degree temperature. Today’s humidity is only 23% so again not much of a change.

On last Saturday (February 8th) I overhauled my Stradalli RP-14 road bike since I could ride because of the chilly weather. I replaced both tires because they had 6050 miles on them. I put slightly different tires back on: Continental GatorSkin 700×23 on the front and Continental GatorHardshell 700×23 on the rear. I wasn’t aware that I had different tires. I figured the Hardshell would do better because the rear tire tends to get fats more often that the front tire. Gator series of tires has been good for me with very few flats. I kept the same tubes because the front one had no patches and the rear only one patch. Next I replaced the chain with a KMC XL11SL chain waxing it before putting it back on the bike. The chain had been on the bike for 7570 miles. To go with the new chain I replaced the rear cassette with a Shimano CS-6800 11×28 one, just like the one I removed. I had a little problem with the chain slipping off the small front chainring and getting stuck between the chainring and the downtube. Before I realized it I move the crankarm and messed up the paint on the downtube. It is not easy to see but I can can see it.

This coming Saturday (February 13th) I will ride the Humble Lions Bike Rally. The weather looks good with the temperature at the 8AM start in the 50’s and the high in the low 70’s with a clear sky. Hopefully the wind is a lot less than today.

Here is what the weather looked like when I got back home today.

Notice the wind and fire weather warning. The weather is at the big airport about 10 miles from where I was biking.

This is the second ride for February. My mileage goal is 346 miles. I am at 68.82 miles leaving 277 more to go. I plan on biking tomorrow. then I have to take a couple of days off for other things. Saturday I will ride the 55 mile route. This should help me reach my goal for the month.

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