Sometimes an unexpected situation turns into a happy one. Normally I stop at the Huffman Chevron to refill my water bottle but today the fountain drink machine was out of order. I filled my bottle with cool water from the restroom to get me to the Exxon station at E. Lake Houston Parkway and FM 1960. Since I rode the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman Extended” route this took me north on FM 2100 and then west on Smith Road to E. Lake Houston Parkway. At the Exxon I went inside and fill my bottle with ice and went outside to the pumps to get a paper towel to wipe the bottle off and my lips too. As I rounded the pumps to the side with the paper towels there was a man filling up his pickup truck. He said my name and told me he recognized me from Strava where he follows me. I forgot to ask his name so he is the Fastenal Man. He had a blue Fastenal polo shirt and the truck had Fastenal signs on it. He lives in Tarkington and rides around there, mostly early in the day before sunrise. We talked about dogs and roads and biking. When he finished filling up the truck we said goodbyes as we went our way.

The rest of the ride was the usual with summer heat and sun. Weather while I biked: start 92 (66% humidity, 79.4 dew point), partly cloudy, wind SW 10 mph. Finish 97 (53% humidity, 77.0 dew point), mostly cloudy, wind SW 8 mph. The heat index was 110 or so but as long as I was moving I didn’t really notice it. The arm sleeves really help keep me cool with wicking and wind flowing through them. Below is the airport weather at the end of the ride.

With today’s 34.01 miles I am starting the week in a way to reach 200+ miles which is good. July now totals 923.44 miles, the most in any month in 2019. The last month I rode more was August 2018 with 949.55 miles. I have one more day to bike in July which might put me higher than that. Year to date stands at 5,012 miles. Yesterday my Canyon Endurace CF SLX pass 12,000 miles and now sits at 12,046 miles.

The ride started at 11:17 AM and finished at 2:05 PM.

This wasn’t the fastest bike ride but Strava says it consistent with my usual efforts.