I wasn’t sure I would get to ride today with an early morning trip to the Houston Medical Center and the possible rain but when we returned from the medical center no rain and time left to ride. Setting off at 11:41 am I chose the “Atascocita South – Walden – Huffman” route for a little variety and biked 36.09 miles. This makes 8 straight days of riding. Pretty hard to do with late winter weather.

The weather: start 75 (84% humidity), finish 80 (humidity 75%), mostly cloudy, wind SW 7 mph, Wet streets part ride.

The sky looked threatening but I stuck to my rule: if it isn’t raining then ride. This lasted until I entered Kingwood Greens when a light mist began to fall. The street was damp but not enough to throw water. This changed after I exited Kingwood Greens and went south on W. Lake Houston Parkway. After crossing the river the roads got wet and the mud started to spray but thankfully no rain though a mist popped up once in awhile. Then Canyon Endurace CF SLX was picking up mud and pine pollen from the road and spraying my shoes, jersey and helmet but I rode on since it wasn’t raining and I was already dirty.

Riding through Walden I made my way back to FM 1960 to ride east over Lake Houston. As I sat waiting for the traffic to pass and go onto FM 1960 I saw the road was wetter and cars were spraying water but I took off. At the other side of the lake the roads were drier and as I made the loop to Huffman they stayed that way. I expected the trip back across Lake Houston to be wet pavement and spray from the cars but when I got there the pavement was dry and no spray. Happiness!!

I biked back to W. Lake Houston Parkway for the final stretch to the end of the ride and as I crossed the bridge over Ben’s Branch a clap of thunder sounded but the sky was starting to breakup with as blue as white clouds. Not sure where the thunder came from.

From there the ride moved along and I finished at 2:18 pm. It was nice not battle the wind for a change but substituting wet roads was not very good.

After the ride I washed the Canyon for the first time since it arrive a week ago. The Canyon seems to spray mud and grit easily on everything. Maybe the absence of rim brakes allows the water to cover more surfaces. It is easy to wash though.

Update on the Wahoo Elemnt mounting tabs: I got an email this morning that replacement mounting “puck” would cost $35 plus $8 for shipping. That sound expensive but a lot less than a new computer. I thought about taking the replacement puck to someplace that does 3-D printing to see if they can scan it and maybe make one out of a tougher material. I got a tracking number and hope to have it in a few days. Maybe the new out front mount will be here waiting for it.

The weather forecast calls for a “cool” front to pass through later today or tonight. Not sure how that impact biking on Tuesday.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

Link to Strava Bike Ride Summary