I walked out to the garage to get my Canyon bike and start the bike ride. I pressed the Powerpod start button, spun the front wheel to wake the speed sensor, and turned the crank several times to wake the cadence sensor. Looking at the Wahoo Elemnt the speed sensor didn’t appear to be working. On previous rides I thought the battery might be getting low so I took the sensor off the front wheel and went inside to install a new CR2032 battery. Taking the old battery out I tested it and it showed as almost dead. I checked the new battery and got a full reading and put it in the sensor. Back on the patio I mounted the speed sensor on the front hub (not an easy task getting around the spokes), spun the wheel and the Elemnt reported all sensors connected. Finally I was ready to ride.

Going down the driveway I pressed “Start” at 11:26 AM to begin biking on the “Kingwood to Ramsey Road – Huffman” route to start August. I wanted to ride far enough to get August off to a good start and ride 200+ miles for the week. With today’s 37.46 miles I did both. The week now totals 145.93 miles leaving 55 miles for the next two days which should be possible.

Thanks to the rain happening in the evenings or not at all July was a weather friendly month. I hope August is the same though my yard could use some rain. Weather during today’s bike ride:start 88 (73% humidity, 78.0 dew point), partly cloudy, wind W 4 mph. Finish 94 (55% humidity, 75.0 dew point), partly cloudy, wind N 6 mph.

I planned to take a break when I got to Ramsey Road and turned left to the bridge. Riding earlier in the day there was shade over the east side of the road but today when I got there the place where I was going to sit was in the sun so I stood on the west shoulder in the shade and ate a package of Ritz cheese crackers and rank ice water. I had stopped at the Chevron station at the traffic light just west of Lake Houston to refill my bottle with ice and water for when I took my break. The water was cold and tasted good as the light breeze blew. Before leaving I took these two photos to show the puffy clouds in the blue sky. A typical Texas summer look. The first photo looks to the north and the second looks south. (Click on the photo to enlarge it)

Leaving the rest stop I rode back to FM 2100 and then north to Huffman. I pulled into the Chevron station to refill my bottle but I saw the out of order sign still attached to the fountain machine so I didn’t stop and rode to the Shell station west along FM 1960. No Fastenal Man at the pump this time. A quick refill and I was back on the bike heading home to Kingwood. I finished the ride at 2:36 PM.

I wasn’t able to get my average speed up to 14 mph today. My legs just wouldn’t power me fast enough and long enough. I would label today as a recovery one.