Chilled Lake Water Wind Bike Ride
The bike ride started with cautious optimism. Last Saturday and Sunday the temperature fell into the 20’s well below Houston typical winter weather. Today the temperature was 76 when I started the bike ride on the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route. The cautious part is my wardrobe selection: a long sleeve thermal jersey, short sleeve jersey over top of that and shorts. Most of the ride I probably over dressed but riding west over Lake Houston I could’ve used a jacket to shield me from the chilled air blowing off of Lake Houston. The radiator effect was in full force today. My damp jerseys did their job wicking away moisture from my body but unfortunately the wind was chilled coming off of the lake.
I battled the wind riding west on FM1960 over the lake because of the 14 mph SW wind with 26 mph gusts. Entering the causeway on the east side I rode about 18 mph but once I was over the water and the wind got hold of me it dropped to less than 15 mph especially when a gust blew through or the traffic left me all by myself. It was a relief reaching the west side of the lake and turning north where the wind didn’t have a straight shot at me.
My home weather station didn’t record the wind conditions as high as the airport did. My home weather at the start (11:49) and finish (2:08).
I wore new shorts today. Being the new year I decided to replace my shorts. In the past I wore Bellwether Forma shorts but it looks like those are discontinued so I bought Bellwether Endurance Gel Shorts. In the past I tried gel shorts but the pad was too much gel but these appear to have the right amount. More rides are needed to get an opinion but the first ride was comfortable. The pad shape is slightly different so my bottom needs to adjust to the creases and placement.
More warm weather tomorrow and I plan on taking advantage of it.
Link to the ride data on Strava.
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