If you need to get some wind tunnel practice this is the place. I knew it was windy outside with the trees moving around but when I looked at the NWAA app it surprised me with 36 mph gusts. I chose the “Atascocita South – Walden – Huffman” route for some variety for the first time since March 19th. Any direction with an “S” in it was a headwind. The start was at 10:52 AM.

The ride went 34.01 miles boosting May to 550.75 miles, 83% of the way to my 660 mile goal.

Other than the wind the weather agreed with biking: start 84 (74% humidity), mostly cloudy, wind S 28 mph 36 mph gusts. Finish 87 (71% humidity), overcast, wind S 15 mph 24 mph gusts. I wore shorts, short sleeve jersey, and arm sleeves. This was a good test about how hot the arm sleeves would be and they were comfortable with the wind moving through and around them.

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I got a sense of the wind when I stopped waiting for traffic at Old Atascocita Road and FM 2100. I put my right foot down like I usually do and a gust hit me almost pushing me over to the left. I moved my right foot out another 12″ to counter the wind. The next challenge was riding west over Lake Houston on FM 1960. The wind was so strong I shifted down one gear to push through the wind and the gusts from my left pushed me to the right. When traffic went by there was a brief relief and then I got slammed with another gust.

Finally making the right turn onto Pinehurst Trail Drive the wind shifted to a tailwind and my legs got relief. This stayed with me until I finished at 1:29 PM.

Some physical data:

• average heart rate 123 bps
• max heart rate 151 bps
• average power output 133 watts
• max power output 482 watts

Wind on Wednesday is supposed to go down some. Good biking weather.

2019 trails 2018 by 42 miles, leads 2017 by 323 miles, and trails 2016 by 10 miles.