I checked the airport weather before leaving on today’s bike ride at 12:20 and wasn’t surprised to see the wind from the south at 20 mph and 30 mph gusts. I knew it would tough bicycling on the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route until I made the turn north at Old Atascocita Road and FM 2100. It lived up to that thought. I fought the wind most of the way with tired legs managing to keep my speed at 16 to 18 mph unless I was out in the open where the headwind could get at me. The 31.18 miles I biked moved me to only 94 miles left to hit my March goal of 586 miles.

The temperature dropped a few degrees from yesterday as a front approaches from the northwest later today. I decided to wear a light long sleeve jersey under a short sleeve jersey in case the wind chill was cooler than I like. Generally that was a good choice when I rode into the wind and a little warm with a tailwind. The overcast sky probably contributed to the cooler temperature.

Excitement arrived as I rode south on Fairlake Drive just before the left turn onto Old Atascocita Road. I ride these roads several times a week and never had a dog chase but today a man was sitting out front of the house on my left with a dog. The dog saw me and started racing from the house towards me with the man calling the dog’s name but the dog ignored him setting his gaze on me. I started pedaling faster and was concerned about turning the corner because two City of Houston pickup trucks were driving slowly to the intersection possibly blocking me and giving the dog a chance to catch me. The first truck moved through the intersection and I went in front of the second pickup which had slowed with me making the turn beside the truck. By now I could not hear or see the dog but I kept pedaling fast until I reached the railroad track and crossed it. I hope the dog is not outside tomorrow morning when the Clay Walker Band Against MS bike ride comes on this road.

After that cycling east on Old Atascocita Road with wind coming from my right seemed not so hard. Making the left turn onto FM 2100 the wind became a tailwind and my speed jumped. I stopped at the Huffman Chevron for a couple of minutes to rest my legs, wipe my brake levers off and drink some water before pulling back on FM 1960 for the 11+ miles to finish the bike ride. Crossing Kingwood Drive wasn’t hard as I beat the Kingwood High School dismissal by 10 minutes or so. The bike ride ended at 2:43. The wind held me back at times but I made it. When I went inside I looked at the airport weather and saw the wind from the SSE at 31.1 mph.

I went to Bike Werks yesterday to see about my rear wheel bearings. The set I had would not fit so Jeremy will order the bearings. They should arrive on Tuesday and I will take my wheel back to replace them. He tightened the bearings some to reduce the side to side movement in the meantime.

A front is supposed to pass through later today and this may impact biking on Saturday.

Links to RideWithGPS.com and Strava.com metrics and maps.

Home weather at the start and airport weather at the end of the bike ride.

SportTracks ride summary (click the image to enlarge it).