The week or two while out biking I run into these small clouds of tiny black bugs, smaller than gnats. After today’s ride my wife told me I looked dirty but in fact my arms were covered the tiny black bugs probably held there by sunscreen and sweat. Trying not to breathe while riding through the cloud is my first reaction and thankfully the cloud is not large, about the size of a basketball. I rode through several such clouds on today’s bike ride on the “Kingwood – SH 242 – Kingwood” route. The ride was 36.62 miles improving October to 150.77 miles, 22% of the way to my 700 mile goal.

Weather conditions improved over yesterday with plenty of sunshine and only some clouds. Weather during the bike ride: start 87 (69% humidity), partly cloudy, wind SE 5 mph. Finish 90 (61% humidity), partly cloudy, wind SE 5 mph.

Start time today was 10:41 am positioning my time through school zones when traffic was light. I finished at 1:30 pm.

To add some distance I biked through Tavola and then stayed on the road that parallels the railroad tracks on the east side. There several patches of bright yellow flowers so I took this photo.

The location was south of the Woodbranch Village city hall and police station on the east side of the road. I am not sure what flower they are but they look like small sunflowers.

Biking north the wind assist helped me pedal along. At the SH 242 turn around I expected the wind to become a problem but instead I still maintained my 16 to 18 mph speed with some help from the occasional passing cars and trucks. Riding on Valley Ranch Parkway the wind still didn’t pose much resistance and at the Stripes station on FM 1314 I made a quick stop to refill my water bottle for the remaining 11+ miles to the finish.

While I biked I thought about the upcoming bike ride in Livingston on Saturday. The last time rode there was November 16, 2013. Since then the ride moved up a month with the chance of better weather. As of today the weather forecast looks great for bicycling so I am planning on being there. In 2013 I rode 42.1 miles and I think i will try that route again. The 2013 ride at RideWithGPS.com. Check the Texbiker.net Event calendar for ride information.

With Saturday’s bike ride in mind and the Astros playing the Indians at 1:05 pm on Friday I need to start early and not ride too far tomorrow. The weather looks good for biking.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary