Another bike ride where I worked around rain, well almost. I waited until 11:36 AM to start the bike ride to allow rain areas to move farther to the east so that I could ride the “Kingwood to Ramsey Road – Huffman” route.

The overcast sky looked dry and stayed that way until I made the return on FM 1960. Up to that point the rain held off. Overall the weather during the bike ride: start 79 (83% humidity, 73 dew point), mostly cloudy, wind SE 10 mph. Finish 82 (72% humidity, 72 dew point), overcast, wind S 12 mph 17 mph gusts.

With today’s 39.12 miles my June total stands at 771.41 miles, 29 miles short of my goal. The week totals 78.32 miles. Due to some appointments I will need to be creative to get to 200+ miles this week. YTD I am at 3,952 miles.

As I rode the streets contained some damp places but overall were dry. I kept an eye on the clouds looking for changes or rain coming my way. While I rode east on Old Atascocita Road at the railroad crossing another cyclist came over the tracks and down the incline as I went up. We exchanged hellos as we passed. Later on the east side of FM 2100 I stopped and took these photos.

In the background the overcast sky looks non-threatening but not long after that as I sat on the guardrail by the bridge on Ramsey Road looking south the sky was getting darker so I didn’t linger longer than it took me to eat the Clif Bar and drink some water. As I got ready to leave I noticed a metal plaque in the concrete of the short bridge commemorating the 1989 opening of the bridge with the Harris County commissioners listed and other officials.

Riding back to Old Atascocita Road another cyclist arrived from the west and before he turned south on Ramsey Road we exchanged waves. I wondered if he would avoid what looked like rain where he was headed. I picked up speed riding west and felt a few sprinkles myself but they went away.

I stopped at the Huffman Chevron to refill my water bottle but the fountain machine was out of service. My bottle was empty so I stopped at the Shell station on FM 1960 as I rode west. The sky to the south was getting darker and closer but I thought it would not come my way. Wrong as I approached the traffic light at E. Lake Houston the rain started and I took cover at the Exxon station there. Waiting 25 minutes or more the rain slowed and I decided to ride. The road was wet but as I moved I didn’t feel any rain.

What I did get though was spray from the passing traffic. This wasn’t too bad and I kept riding. As I got over Lake Houston the wind got stronger from my left and I held the handlebar tightly and pedaled harder. It let up a little bit once I passed the section of the causeway where the water goes through but still stronger than I wanted. I kept going and got some relief when traffic passed me. The closer I got to the west end of the causeway the wind let up a little more and the pavement got drier. I was not comfortable biking over the lake and was glad when I made the right turn onto Atascocita Shores Drive. Not too long after that the streets were dry like it never rained and stayed that way until the finish.

Back home at 3:10 PM I washed the Canyon again. As I washed my shoes off I looked at the cleats and noticed they needed to be replaced which explains why I had trouble clicking in during the ride. I will do that before the next ride.

Wednesday the rain should be rare and I hope to get a ride in after noon.