I tried to bike yesterday (Monday) but the rain came down. After I was dressed in my kit I walked outside to check on the dark clouds and not long after the wind kicked up and large rain drops starting coming down. Back inside the rain picked up and I was glad I was not biking.

Today was different. For a change the sun broke through the clouds and the temperature moved upward to 89 degrees when I rolled out at 11:42. I didn’t get far though. Looking at my Elemnt computer the cadence sensor was not working. After trying to get it to connect I circled back home and removed the sensor to replace the battery. That did the trick. I attached the sensor on the left crank arm with a cable tie and got back on the bike resuming the ride.

After missing yesterday’s ride I wanted to bike more than 40 miles today. I came up with a new route by combining two other routes: “Walden – FM686 – May Community Center”. The new route is made up of the “FM1960 – FM686 – back” ride and the “May Park Community Center – Huffman” ride. I thought this might be around 50 miles but it came up to 47.29 miles which moved my August miles to 540, 260 miles away from my goal. If the rain will cooperate I could reach my goal. Since this route was on roads I normally ride there wasn’t any surprises or new sights. I did stay a little longer at the turnaround at FM686 to give my legs a little time to recover. Pictures while I was there.

Lots of clouds but I didn’t see any rain, yet. The humidity was high from all of the rain and I was sweating up a flood. I tried to soak some of it up with paper towels but that was a losing battle. Back on FM1960 riding west the wind was more friendly than the ride to FM686. At Huffman – Eastgate Road I turned right for the May Community Center portion of the ride. The wind was behind while I rode north on Willy Lane and Scott Road on the way to the community center. Normally I stop at the center for water but I had plenty for the ride to the Huffman Chevron. Riding on Wolf Road to FM2100 the pavement turned wet from rain. It must’ve not been too long before I got there. The road grime didn’t take long to splatter my bike. On FM2100 riding south the road was wetter and dirtier making it worse. Earlier when I was riding west on FM1960 I thought the clouds looked like there might be rain ahead but my route took me around it I guess. When I reached the Chevron station in Huffman I could see all the dirt on my bike from the wet road. I would hose it down when I finished the ride.

At the Chevron station I used more paper towels to soak up the sweat but it flowed heavily. It was 35 miles into the ride and 2:29 when I arrived. I had guessed I would get there by 2:30; not a bad guess it turns out.

The weather screenshot shows 52% humidity but I think it was much higher. I went inside for a large blue PowerAde fountain drink to cool me down and replenish some energy. Today I brought two packages of snack crackers for fuel. They didn’t take long to consume. I felt better after food and drink. The first batch of paper towels couldn’t hold any more water and I went to the pumps for more. When I stood up the Greensheet newspaper was soaked like it fell into a puddle. That is why I think the humidity was higher. While I was there my wife sent me a text message that our internet wasn’t working. I tried to diagnose the problem from there but I didn’t succeed. I told her to take a break until I got home in about an hour. It was about 3:18 as I rolled away from the Chevron onto FM1960 west.

Getting closer to Lake Houston the sky looked dark ahead to the southwest and I wondered if I might ride in the rain before I got home but I didn’t. I finished biking at 4:13 looking like someone who just came out of a pool. A quick hose down of the bike and I went inside where it was much cooler and drier. I checked the internet and powered the router off and on to fix the internet.

The weather looks favorable for biking tomorrow but there is a chance of rain. My last three rides have each been 40+ miles and if I am going make my goal tomorrow’s ride needs to be that long or more.

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