A change of plans bike ride today. Originally I planned on riding the “Stroker Road – Huffman” route but changed from that to “Atascocita South – Walden – Huffman”. Earlier this morning the sun broke through the clouds and it looked promising but by the time I left on the ride at 12:01 the sky was overcast and looked threatening to the south. I was afraid I might get caught in rain if I took the Stroker Road route because there are long stretches of road with no place to hide from rain. The route I rode was about 7 miles shorter but I was usually near places I could get out of the rain if needed. I did get a few small raindrops riding through Walden but after that only the high humidity (71%) got me sweating wet. The humidity made it feel a cooler than the 77 to 81 degrees while I was on the bike. I ended up biking 34.77 miles.

All of the pools opened today for the first time and there were plenty of swim meets. Tents and shade covers packed the grass and any other area surrounding the pools holding parents and kids waiting to get wet. In my opinion it was a little cooler than I prefer. Cars were parked on all of the streets near the pools making riding a little treacherous weaving through the traffic. Theswim meet at the last pool I passed in Kings River was over and the traffic was trying to get away. I thought I was going to have a long wait to turn from a side street onto the Kings River Drive but a kind pickup truck honked their horn to let me out.

No pools or swim meets east of Lake Houston so the traffic was better. I stopped at the Huffman Chevron as usual arriving at 1:44 after riding 22.4 miles. In a matter of seconds I was dripping moisture as I stood to take a picture of the Edge 520. I got some paper towels and dried off some before getting a Greensheet newspaper to sit on while I took a break. The 520 screen and weather while I was there.

Now that I wasn’t moving the 76 degrees felt a little cool and when I went inside the store to use the restroom it was very cold. They had the A/C low and the moisture on me plus moving air sent chill bumps on my exposed skin. It was warmer in the restroom and I moved quickly through the store to get back outside as quickly as possible. After eating and drinking most of my water I braved the cold and went back inside to refill my water bottle before heading off.

Riding on FM1960 to the weat was easier than getting to Huffman and I slowly improved my average speed until I came to Kingwood Drive. This is where the riding slows down due to stops and traffic. The closer I got to home I noticed the overcast sky changing from a medium gray to a light gray. Now I knew I would have not got wet if I had stuck to my original route.

Sunday’s forecast shows a 50% chance of rain until late in the day. I may not get to ride.

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