Another ride over 45 miles. I rode the “Kingwood – Hare Cook Road – Kingwood” route for 47.09 miles today. My legs and body were not at my usual strength though. I struggled to ride at 14+ mph until I was riding north on FM2100 after coming from Hare Cook Road. The wind was not that strong but my legs didn’t have any extra power to overcome what resistance the wind put up. I left home at 11:11 and it didn’t take too long to know this ride was not going to be a high power one. Maybe yesterday’s ride took more out of me than I thought. I usually eat some fruit and a Clif bar before starting the ride and today I followed that same ritual but my stomach was a little upset as the ride unfolded. Drinking water helped some.

The weather was partly cloudy at the start with the temperature in the upper 80’s. The humidity wasn’t too bad but whenever I stopped beads of sweat quickly gathered on my arms. On the southern portion of the route the sky turned more cloudy but the heat didn’t drop down much.

As I was starting to ride on FM1960 west of Lake Houston I spotted a Ghost Bike chained to a telephone pole. I ride this direction several times a week but this is the first time I saw the Ghost Bike. I remember seeing some men gathered around the pole a ride or two ago but I couldn’t see what they were doing. I rode by but circled back and took these pictures.

The signs say the Ghost Bike is memory of Glen Matthews dated January 30, 2016. The only other Ghost Bike that I have seen was near Waller, TX when I was on a ride around there earlier this year. I do not remember the circumstances surrounding Mr. Matthews death. This is probably the information on Mr. Matthews.

Not long after the began my Edge 520 beeped a phone disconnected message. I was riding without LiveTrack testing to see if that might have something to do with my Edge 520 problems. Apparently it doesn’t. I went to the status page and it showed searching for the Bluetooth connection to my Nexus 6P phone. I deleted the pairing and went back to the main screen. Since I wasn’t using LiveTrack there was no need for Bluetooth and the ride data would sync when I plugged the 520 into my computer. No more 520 problems the rest of the ride. Sadly, the reason I bought the 520 was for the features that use Bluetooth. I could stayed with the Edge 510 and got the same data. Hopefully the Wahoo Elemnt doesn’t have the same issues.

Riding south on Miller nelson Road a trio of tiny dogs tried to chase me. Two of them couldn’t get across the water filled ditch but one of them figured out the angle to me using the driveway over the ditch and arrived near where I was riding. Even with slow legs I rode away from the yipping black and white dog. He was maybe 12″ tall but he was barking like he was 3 feet tall. That is the first time any dog has chased me on that road.

I slowly made my way to the Huffman Chevron where I planned on taking a longer than usual break hoping this would help my lack of power. I sat under the canopy eating and drinking slowly. This is the 520 screen when I arrived and the weather while I was resting.

Those 35 miles were hard to ride but the shade and breeze blowing through were comfortable. The sweat dried up and the Greensheet newspaper absorbed the moisture from my shorts. I arrived at 1:50 and didn’t leave until 2:38. I was somewhat refreshed for the 11+ miles to home.

Before I left a woman wearing shorts and a top carrying a large nylon rectangular bag walked up to where I was sitting. I saw her walking along side the road on the other side of FM1960 and I was wondering how far she was going. As she got close to where I was sitting she told me her husband had thrown her out of the car and spit on her. She asked if she could sit down on the curb and then asked which direction was Walmart. She told me more about how bad her husband treated her and then got up to leave and then a black Mercedes drove up and she started yelling at the driver, I guess her husband. She threatened to throw something at the car and starting walking to FM1960. As she was leaving a Harris County deputy sheriff pulled in and I thought about telling him what had happened but I didn’t. He went inside and then came back out when I did after refilling my water bottle. He drove in the same direction the lady went. I figured if her story was true he would see walking. I left not long after that expecting to see the lady walking along FM1960 but she was gone.

The last 11+ miles to home went better than the 35 miles to the Chevron station. I managed to move my average speed up to 14.3 mph while riding to home. I arrived back at 3:31 with tired legs and other body parts tired too.

Tomorrow is a no ride day which should allow me to recover some. Friday’s weather forecast has late afternoon rain chance at a little over 50%. I hope to ride that day.

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Month to date progress.