Previously when I rode the “New Caney – Tavola – Valley Ranch” route I saw some heavy equipment and dust kicking up at the north end of Kelley Street along the railroad tracks. Today I decided to ride to see what was happening. The road is bumpy from all of the big dump trucks coming and going but I saw the land cleared but nothing gives an idea what will be coming. Turning around I rode back to Knox St. to cross the railroad tracks and continue the bike ride. At first I went past these two “mean” machines but I circled back and took these photos.

I am not sure what they do but getting in the woods and working seems to be the main purpose. Those tires are big. The bag on the ground is ready mix concrete partially used. Just after I took these photos a big dump truck passed with a full load of dirt kicking up lots of dust that thankfully the wind blew away before he got to me. Then a Union Pacific Railroad truck driving on the tracks pulled up causing the crossing arms to go done and stopping the big dump truck. The driver of the UP truck got out and went into a little house to look at the controls and the crossing arms went back up allowing the dump truck to go and then me.

From there the ride to Tavola went smoothly with the help of the brisk wind. The weather during the bike ride: start 86 (65% humidity), mostly cloudy, wind S 15 mph, gusts 20 mph. Finish 92 (53% humidity), partly cloudy, wind S 15 mph, gusts 20 mph.

I didn’t start the ride as early as I wanted leaving at 10:19 am but I made good time to Tavola. The ride back to Kingwood required a lot more effort with the headwind. I built my average speed up to 14.3 mph getting to Tavola but the bike ride into the wind slowly ground it down to 14.0 mph when I entered Kings Manor with about 4 1/2 miles left.

While riding south on Valley Ranch Parkway around the Azalea District another cyclist on a mountain bike was riding to the north. I waved and he waved back.

Finishing the bike ride at 12:58 pm this wrapped my May bicycling. I rode 916.1 miles during May, the most miles since August 2015 when I rode 1002.31 miles. A summary image is below the Strava summary for today’s bike ride below.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary

The two “workouts” with no data are maintenance entries.