Determined to go biking today I broke one of my rules: do not ride if the temperature is below 60 degrees. My home weather station reported 59.5 degrees. I figured rounding up and the rule was satisfied. To counter the chilly temperature I assembled a heavy duty wardrobe: shorts, leg warmers, thermal long sleeve jersey regular long sleeve jersey, wind breaker jacket and full finger gloves. I needed all of it.

I chose the “New Caney – Tavola – Valley Ranch” route heading north into the light 4 mph breeze. The wind had a bite to it and I felt the chill even with my layered outfit. By around 5 miles into the ride my body heat got to a point where I didn’t notice the chill quite as much. I started the ride at 12:09 pm hoping by then the forecasted 70 degrees would arrive during the ride. It didn’t!!!

Weather during the bike ride.

For some reason when I filled my water bottle before the ride I added ice cubes, probably more out of habit than logic.

The main reason I rode was to record miles towards my monthly goal. I did that biking 33.39 miles and increasing October to 566.28 miles, only 134 miles short of the goal.

No rest stops today. Movement and keeping warm was more important.

Biking south from Tavola back to Kingwood changed the headwind to a tailwind and helped me set a pace fast enough to improve my overall average speed to 14.1 mph. I held that until mile 30 when I got back into Kingwood and the streets slowed me down. I finished the bike ride at 2:36 pm, avoiding school traffic by a few minutes.

Tuesday weather forecast: 80% Precip. / 0.46 in., AM Rain. High 62F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Biking looks difficult but maybe it clear out some.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary