A little earlier start today (10:44 am) because I stopped watching stage 7 of the TdF with 50.5KM to go with the plan of rejoining it after the bike ride. I chose the “New Caney – Tavola – Valley Ranch” route and rode 33.99 miles. I should’ve went a little farther to get 34+ miles but the Elemnt computer showed 34 miles so I thought I went enough. For the week I am at 180.47 miles and 396.88 miles for July. My goal for July is 800 miles.

Saturday (tomorrow) I plan on getting up and leaving on the bike ride by 7:30 am which will takes lots of effort on my part. The TdF will be on NBC instead of NBCSN and I have the DVR set to record and I will watch after my ride.

Weather during today’s bike ride: start 89 (64% humidity), partly cloudy, wind W 5 mph. Finish 90 (58% humidity), mostly cloudy, wind NW 5 mph. Before I paused watching the TdF there was a section where the peloton was split by 15+ mph wind and some top GC riders had to work hard to close the gap. No such problem on my ride with the wind a gentle breeze. Since I started earlier the temperature wasn’t up to the mid 90’s yet.

Biking through Woodridge Forest I had to work my way through the construction activity. A backhoe had a street almost blocked while they dug a hole for some utilities. Next a dump truck was depositing a load of dirt in the street in front of a home. And then a forklift was unloading bricks and mortar at a house under construction. The streets had mud from rain yesterday which we didn’t get though we are only 3 or 4 miles away.

Once I got my overall average speed up to 14.4 mph at Tavola I was able to maintain it until I got back into Kingwood at around 32 miles into the ride. I made a stop at the Checkout station in Porter at FM 1314 to refill my water bottle but they didn’t have a fountain machine like they did several years ago. I altered the route some and didn’t ride by the Stripes station on FM 1314. I did stop at the Circle K store at Northpark Drive and refilled the bottle with ice and water for the 7+ miles to the finish. Leaving there I rode west on Northpark Drive which I haven’t done in awhile. Normally I ride onto Northpark as I exit Oakhurst. Traffic can be heavy on Northpark at times as trucks go to the sand pits. From there I made my way to the finish at 1:16 pm, the earliest I finished this week.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary