Today’s bike ride went to the east on what I label the “May Park Community Center – Huffman” route. I started biking at 11:29 with the goal of 35+ miles. The actual total came to 38.84 miles with a moving time of 2:39:03. Temperature was around the mid 80’s which was lower than yesterday. I could feel the air was cooler when I started the ride but once I was warmed up and spent more time in the sun I forgot about the coolness.

Riding south before turning to the east I came to FM1960 expecting the rough surface to still be there but surprisingly the center turn lane and one lane on each side of it sported a new smooth layer of asphalt. Once the traffic light changed I still had to ride over the rough shoulders and the two lanes not coated yet. Later as I exited Atascocita Shores Drive onto eastbound FM1960 I rode on the ground down and rough shoulder to reach the concrete roadway on the Lake Houston Causeway. From there the road was the usual mixture of concrete and asphalt. Maybe more lanes will be coated before I return tomorrow.

After looping south on Fairlake Drive, Old Atascocita Road and FM2100 I was back to FM1960 which I rode east into Liberty County, though just by a few feet. Making a u-turn I went back to Huffman – Eastgate Road to bicycle to the May Community Center. When it is hot I stop at the center to refill my water bottle but I skipped that today since I had not drank all of my water. It was a little over three miles to my planned rest stop at the Huffman Chevron.

I arrived at the Chevron station at 1:24 and rode under the pump canopy. This was 27.6 miles into the ride. My Elemnt screen when I stopped. The weather screen shot is while I was sitting in the shade cooling down and eating.

After about 30 minutes I got ready to resume the bike ride refilling my water bottle. For a change I bought some blue Powerade to go with the snack crackers. I almost didn’t get the Powerade though. When I first tried the fountain machine only clear water came out. I asked one of the ladies if they were out and she checked the tank in the backroom. It was full so I tried again and it was blue this time. Filling the Styrofoam cup I set it on the white counter beside the machine and a blue puddle started to form. I wiped it up and it appeared again. Lifting the cup a steady drip came from the cup so I poured the Powerade into a new cup. The drip stopped and I went to pay. Outside I sat in the shade cooling down and enjoying the light breeze and the flow of traffic.

The bike ride west went smoothly until I encountered the rough shoulder after the concreted ended on the causeway. This side didn’t seem as rough as the other side but I was still glad to make the right turn onto Atascocita Shores Drive. It isn’t the smoothest concrete street but it is much better than ground down asphalt. I hurried to best the Kingwood High School traffic at Kingwood Drive and crossed just a minute or so before the school let out. Not long after that I felt a few rain drops but they didn’t last very long. This repeated several times and then stopped. I finished the bike ride at 2:53.

During the ride I heard a squeak from my chain every once in a while so I think it is time to wax the chain. I will get that done in the next couple of days. My Stradalli now has 18,029 miles on it. That was around the mileage on my previous bike when I moved to the Stradalli in March 2014. I am not planning to replace the Stradalli any time soon.

More gorgeous weather tomorrow so bike riding is on the agenda.

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