Sunday was supposed to be the first ride using my new Wahoo Elemnt computer but it started raining as I drove home from church and didn’t stop until late in the evening. That meant today would be the shakedown ride for the new computer. I chose the “New Caney – Roman Forest Loop – Valley Ranch” route to the north since my last ride was to Huffman southeast of here. I checked the weather radar for rain and a distant patch was northeast of Cleveland (TX) drifting away. The overcast sky and the rain cranked up the heat and humidity for today’s ride. I rolled out the driveway at 11:52, pressed the start button on the Elemnt and it sprung into action. It took a few hundred feet before the cadence sensor reported RPM’s and all of the other data was showing on the screen. After my recent Garmin Edge 520 problems I didn’t know what to expect with the Elemnt so I kept an eye on it. It worked flawlessly for the entire ride. My wife checked the LiveTrack when I was less than 4 miles from home and it worked. Not one time did I get a phone disconnect message. I am very pleased but one ride doesn’t prove the Elemnt yet. I had single rides with the 520 where it worked okay but rarely two in a row.

The ride to Roman Forest went well with some assist from the wind. Riding into Roman forest the headwind made it a little difficult and the small incline before I turned onto Magnolia Bend is always tough for a flat lander like me. The Elemnt reported the percent of incline as less than 2% but it didn’t last long. This was around the 18 mile point. Following Magnolia Bend around to Appian Way the wind was not much a problem. I did some mental calculations on how long the ride would be as I rode west on Roman Forest Blvd. back to US59 and figured it would be 39 miles or so. It ended up being 39.97 miles. When I used the 520 a desktop program I record my rides in, SportTracks , shows the ride mileage less than Garmin Connect or the other website I use but today it was only .01 mile less. This is good, now my ride data will be closer to agreeing.

Back at US59 riding south on the service road the wind was in my face and my speed and pedaling slowed until I turned right on Valley Ranch Parkway. But the relief was short lived as the road turn south back into the wind. I rode to the Stripes station at FM1314 where I stopped for a break, refilled my water bottle and ate. The screen of the Elemnt when I arrived and the weather a little later as I was resting.

Sweating a lot while I was resting was a result from the 59% humidity. The paper towels and Greensheet newspaper soaked up a lot of sweat and the breeze did help too. I noticed whenever I rode in the shade the perceived heat dropped which was greatly appreciated. Somewhat recovered I got back on the Stradalli for the 11+ miles to home. I arrived back home at 3:21. The last 3 miles were slow. My energy was low and the heat was high. My muscles were not enthused about pedaling those last few miles.

The Elemnt uploads automatically to the three online websites I use but I had to work to find the ride data on it to import into the SportTracks desktop program. Once my computer recognized the Elemnt I backed up the ride data and then imported into SportTracks.

Tomorrow’s weather forecast calls for 91 degrees and a slight chance of rain. Another ride to use the Wahoo Elemnt.

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