As I got ready for today’s bike ride I plotted the streets I would go on for the “Kingwood – SH 242 – Kingwood” route. It’s one thing to decide on the destination but the devil is in the details on which streets and roads will get you there. I wanted to ride at least 32 miles and I accomplished that with the ride coming in at 34.5 miles. I am now up to 586 miles for August leaving 214 miles to reach the goal of 800 miles. My plan is to ride about 32 miles each day this week.

Eclipse hysteria should be receding now. While I was biking I thought about the eclipse and whether it would be noticeable. I started biking at 11:06 am with the peak for the Houston area at 1:15 pm and completed by 2:45 pm. I didn’t notice any difference in the light until about 1:00 pm when the sunlight had a strange look on the ground (not looking directly at the sun). The sky had lots of blue and the clouds scattered about widely. I didn’t see anyone watching the eclipse until I was riding on Rockmead Drive in Kingwood where a man beside a landscape truck had something in front of his eyes looking towards the sun. At the start of the ride the temperature was 93 and when I finished at 1:45 pm it was 91. I wonder if the eclipse blocked enough sunshine to cause the lower temperature. The sun was bight but not full strength.

Other than the eclipse the ride went well. The wind was from the east at 12 mph and since I rode north and south mostly it wasn’t a big factor. I was able to get a top speed of 23 mph and keep my overall average at 15.0 mph from SH 242 until I entered Kings Manor and slowed for the residential streets and traffic.

I made a short stop at the New Caney Mobil station for ice and water to tide me over until I made it to the Valero station on Norhtpark Drive and I-69/US59 where I took a 20 minute break to eat a couple of fruit and grain cereal bars and drink more water. This was at the 27.4 mile point just a few minutes after 1:00. This is where I noticed the sun light change intensity and the shadows have a different look. After resting I rode on for the last 7 miles of the bike ride.

More great bicycle ride weather on Tuesday and I paln on taking advantage of it after I watch stage 4 of the Vuelta a Espana. I watched stage 3 before leaving on today’s ride. They climbed several mountain while I rode the flatland around Montgomery County.

RideWithGPS.com map and metrics

Strava Ride Summary (click on the image to go to Strava)