There was a slight threat of rain in today’s forecast but it wasn’t supposed to be where I was biking. I chose the “FM1960 to FM686 – Back” route to ride more than 40 miles to put me over 600 miles for the month. I biked 43.04 miles pushing July miles to 606.

Since it was a TdF rest day I started the ride at 10:18 ( early for me) under a sunny sky. The temperature was in the low 90’s and the wind wasn’t too bad so I thought. Not much happened until I pulled onto FM1960 to begin riding to FM686. That was where I found out the wind was from the E or ENE. I am not sure of the speed but it was enough to make pedaling very difficult. I had shifted to the gears I use (34 front, 13 rear) and about half way over Lake Houston I maintained a 16 to 18 mph speed but then my legs started sending messages that this was not going to last very long. The effort was too much. As I rode past the Cedar Landing restaurant I saw the flag was almost straight out indicating the wind was above 10 mph. I changed the gearing to 34 x 14 to give my legs some relief. It was about 8 miles to FM686 and the railroad overpass awaited too. It was heating up too. I pedaled along but around 22 miles I pulled over and stopped in some shade for a few minutes to rest and drink cold water. This helped refresh my legs and I resumed biking east on FM1960. I made it through the chip’n seal section and then tackled the overpass. Coasting down the other side of the overpass I rested my legs for the 2 miles to FM686.

I was doing okay. Up ahead I saw a man on a riding lawn mower between the shoulder and the property fence. As I approached him two dogs came running from the yard, under the fence and starting chasing me. I moved from the shoulder to the traffic lane and yelled at the dog that was staying up with me. My legs had enough power to stay even with him but not get ahead. Part of the problem was the gears I was in. I should’ve shifted to the 34 x 13 for more speed. Finally the dog tired and veered over into the grass and slowed down. All I needed was a dog chase into the wind with leg muscles complaining loudly. I pedaled on to FM686, pulled into the Dayton Food & Fuel Shell station. I went inside to refill my water bottle. Outside I leaned against a red traffic pole by the front door to rest and drink ice water. As I stood there I noticed rain drops starting to appear on the hood of the pickups nearby. Not a lot of drops though. After a few minutes I moved over to the pumps, got a paper towel and wiped some of the sweat around my eyes. Behind I could see some dark clouds over Dayton and to the west I though I heard thunder.

Leaving the station I pulled onto FM1960 riding west. The wind I had to fight all the way there was now a tailwind. I was ready for that. About a 1/4 of a mile from the station I felt the first rain drops. It didn’t rain hard but a light rain. The guy on the mower was still working but as I got closer he darted up the driveway. As I passed the scene of the dog chase on the other side of the road I looked to see if the dogs were interested in another chase but they weren’t visible. With the help of the wind I was going 18 to 21 mph until I went over the overpass but on the way down I was back up to speed. All of the time I was in a light rain and I could see dark clouds ahead. I figured it was raining harder in Huffman but about a mile from FM2100 the rain tapered off and stopped. I was wet not not much more than I was from sweating.

The rest stop at the Huffman Chevron was a long one. I wanted to rest up for the final segment home and I also heard thunder to the west and I wanted to allow some time for the rain to move on. I got some blue PowerAde and sat down under the canopy. I rinsed out my wrist bands and wrung out my gloves putting them some paper towels to help dry some. This is the Elemnt screen when I arrived.

I took some weather screen shots but the conditions where I was didn’t match the screen. It was hotter and drier where I was. Eating my Clif bar and whole grain fruit bar while I rested I could still hear thunder to the west and see dark clouds. I checked the weather radar on my phone and the rain was west of where I would be biking so I felt better. As I prepared to leave I gathered the soaked Greensheet newspaper and multitude of paper towels I used. I kept some of the wet towels and wiped off my bike. After refilling my water bottle I got back on my bike and left. I resumed my good pace with the tailwind again until I was over Lake Houston where the wind turned against me for some reason but I pedaled on. I could still see the dark clouds to the west but I wasn’t getting close to them. The roads were dry so the thunder must have been beyond.

I made my way through Atascocita Shores and Kings River to W. Lake Houston Parkway. Still no signs of rain. I rode north on WLP and finished the ride at 2:23.

This week I biked 83 miles so far. Tomorrow I will only have time for a short ride. The weather looks favorable.

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