As I rolled the bike out of the garage and attempted to clip in my right shoe it would not click into the Ultegra pedal. I kept trying as I rolled out the driveway and into the street. I started the Elemnt at 11:00 and slowly moved down the street to begin the “New Caney – Gene Campbell Road” route. I stopped at the second intersection and got off the bike to look at the cleat. It was worn pretty bad on one side and the front yellow part was soft. Fortunately I got a new pair of cleats yesterday along with a pair of too small Shimano R107 shoes. I sent the shoes back this morning but kept the cleats. I had no idea I would need them so soon. After the stop I got the cleat to click in and it worked the rest of the ride but it didn’t click in with the same sound as the left cleat. I replaced them when I finished the ride after getting home at 2:16.

The ride went well with no real surprises except for the cleat issue. The weather was hot, it is July now. Below is the weather from my home weather station at the start and finish.

Ride start

Ride finish

Though it was in the 90’s I didn’t feel that hot thanks to the slightly lower humidity. Once I was relieved that the cleat would connect and disconnect I enjoyed the ride. Going north the wind was not much of a problem and shifting over to FM1485 the wind still was friendly. It didn’t become an issue until I was riding SE on FM1314. The rest stop at the Cumberland Shell came about 2 miles after I turned onto FM1314 and I was ready for the break. I took these screen shots of the Elemnt data when I arrived at the Shell station.

My average speed shows 14.9 mph but just before slowing down to cross FM1314 to the station it was 15.0 mph. I went inside and refilled my water bottle with ice and water, bought a Gatorade fountain drink and picked up a Greensheet newspaper to sit on under the pump cover. The wind was gently moving away from the building and the sweat started to dry up after I used a bunch of paper towels to dry off. The snacks and Gatorade refreshed me. Near the end a young man walked over with his bike and we chatted about riding and bikes. He said he was from Russia and 24 years old. As I got ready to leave we shook hands and wish each a safe ride. He rode off to the homes north of the station while I prepared to ride out to FM1314. It was 1:10 when I clipped into the pedals (the right cleat cooperated). From there it was about 13 1/2 miles to home. The wind felt good as I rode to Old Sorters Road to begin riding through Briar Tree, Oakhurst and then Kings Manor. I wove my way through Kingwood’s streets with my average speed decreasing as I stopped, started and rode slowly on some trails to get around traffic.

Back home I put the Stradalli in the garage and grabbed some weed shears to cut a errant small tree growing in the front flower bed. I noticed that when I got the newspaper this morning. The ride was 38.33 miles long.

My mileage goal for July is 765 miles. I set this goal to put my YTD miles at the end of July at 4,800 rather than the usual last three year average for July. Looking at the average miles for July the last three years the goal calculation:

• July 2013 925 miles
• July 2014 834 miles
• July 2015 902 miles
• goal would be 887 miles

Saturday will be interesting for biking: Tour de France starts, my niece has swim practice at 9 AM to 11, Astros are on TV at 3:10 and I would like to pick blueberries in the evening. Weather will support these activities. I will see how they come together. During swim practice I hope to watch the TdF on my Chromebook.

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