Today’s ride was on the “SR242 – FM1314” route. I wanted to ride 40+ miles and ended up riding 48.04 miles. I forgot the last time I rode (7/11/2016) this route that SH 242 was being resurfaced west of FM1485. As I crossed FM1485 I was hoping the work was done or advanced enough that the shoulder would not be the very rough one. At first the shoulder looked like it might be partially done but as I rode west there were only spots with nice new smooth asphalt. When traffic disappeared I moved into the main lane west bound until I saw traffic approaching in my mirror. Overall I would say of the 5+ miles from FM1485 to FM1314 about 70% was rough shoulder. I will wait at least another month to see if they finish or ride around it.

Southeast Texas is in the grip of hot and dry weather. This is good for biking as long as I drink plenty of water. Today I used 3 large water bottles plus 32 oz. of blue PowerAde at the Cumberland Shell rest stop. I was 33.4 miles into the ride at that point arriving at 12:56. I stayed until 1:31 when I left for the 14+ miles to the end of the ride. What my Elemnt screen showed when i arrived at the Shell station and the weather.

As I was resting at under the pump canopy the light breeze felt cooling even with the heat. By the time I left the sweat on my arms had stopped dripping and my jersey was almost dry. Standing up the Greensheet newspaper absorbed a lot of moisture from my shorts. I ate a Clif bar and some snack crackers to recharge my energy for the rest of the ride. Wind was not a big deal today and I was able to keep a steady pace of 16 to 18 mph most of the time. I had my overall average speed up to 14.8 mph most of the ride.

I finished the ride at 2:38. Checking the airport weather it showed 100 degrees.

The heat will be around for several more days. I plan on biking tomorrow. I am up to 298 miles for August; my goal is 800 miles. Year to date stands at 5,152 miles. My home weather station went off line at 12:56 today because the smart hub failed after I migrated to a new firmware. I called support and no one else has had this problem and they will get back to me with more information.

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