I can’t believe it, I started the bike ride before 9 AM punching the start button on my Elemnt at 8:47 AM. I skipped watching stage 8 of the Tour until after getting back, quickly read the newspaper while eating breakfast and got ready quickly. My plan was to ride and take some photos of the Bike Barn riders as they returned along the route. A number surprised me before I got my phone out but managed to capture these. (click on the image to enlarge it)

I estimate 3 dozen or more bikers passed me. Most were on FM 1960 over Lake Houston but some passed in Kingwood, on W. Lake Houston Parkway and in Atascocita before I got to FM 1960 to cross Lake Houston. I rode fast to get in position knowing they start to return around 9:30 am looking east on FM 1960 and around corners on Fairlake Drive.

Another goal was to ride 40 miles and I ended up at 40.6 miles riding the “Stroker Road – Huffman” route. This week I rode 164.6 miles and 224 miles for July towards my 800 mile goal. I participate in the National Bike Challenge and currently am 84th in Texas and 1609/27,686 for the national ranks.

With the earlier start the partly cloudy sky and very light breeze were not quite as hot until later in the ride. Temperature ranged from 83 at the start to 94 when I finished at 12:18. Many days I start about the time I finished today.

For about a week I can hear a clicking noise while moving on my Stradalli Red Pro 14 bike, my main bike. The noise persists even when not pedaling making me think it is a wheel bearing. The rear wheel bearings were replaced 3/28/17 at 20,458 miles (22,362 miles now) making me think that is not the source. The front wheel bearings have never been replaced so I think that could be the source. I have another front wheel so I will use that and see if the noise goes away. 22,362 miles without any bearing maintenance is probably way too long.

The rest stop at the Huffman Chevron was at 28.8 miles around 11:01 am. It felt good sitting in the shade, eating a Clif bar and drinking ice water. I stayed about 25 minutes giving my legs some recovery and drying off some of the sweat in my clothing. The wrist bands are doing their job, keeping my gloves much drier. I refilled my water bottle with ice and water before heading off for the 11+ miles to the finish. No more riders passed by.

Sunday’s weather will be bike ride friendly and I plan on riding. At 164.6 miles for the week I probably won’t ride far enough to hit 200 for the week but I will get close.

Link to RideWithGPS.com

Strava ride summary (click on the image to go to Strava)