My legs gave out at 23.5 miles into the bike ride on the “New Caney – Tavola – Valley Ranch” route today and thankfully the Stripes station was there to help me recover. The 17 mph south wind was the cause of the leg fatigue. Biking north to Tavola that wind helped me but I knew I would pay the price when I turned to the south. Looking to my right while riding to Tavola I saw a dark cloud that seemed to be tracking my progress. I felt some drizzle but nothing serious. Loop 494 was damp north north of FM 1485 warning me of the possibility of getting rained on again. The rain stayed away but as I rode east on Roman Forest Blvd. to Tavola the roads were very wet. My washed Stradalli was going to get dirty again. The loop I use in Tavola was wet all the back to Roman Forest Blvd. and for a short distance heading back to US59 but once I got on dry pavement no more drizzles or wet roads. But the dirty work had been done.3

Cycling south on the US59 service road the wind was stiff and the right turn onto Valley Ranch Parkway came at the right time to give my legs a breather. Valley Ranch Parkway winds in various directions putting the wind at odds with my movement until the rest stop at Stripes. After filling my water bottle and resting I got back on the Stradalli to battle the wind for the final 11+ miles to the finish somewhat recovered though my speed did not get as high as before. Into the wind and riding through Briar Tree I looked at the power reading on my Elemnt computer and saw stretches of 300 to 370 watts. That is a high range for me unless I am going uphill.

Fortunately I started the ride a few minutes later (11:00 am) than I planned which helped me to avoid the rain and finished at 2:07 pm. The temperature ranged from 92 to 94 which produced lots of perspiration.

Wrapping up June I biked 880 miles, exceeding my 800 mile goal. Year to date I am up to 3665 miles with a goal of 6800 miles. A summary of June biking is below.

Link to RideWithGPS.com

Strava Ride Summary

June Biking Summary