After yesterday’s bike ride I decided to wash my Jeep JKU Rubicon because of the mud I picked from the rain and wet streets on Friday. I should’ve know better. Yesterday I drove my niece to Walmart to pick up her new glasses and it rained on the Jeep. Today on the way to church it rained on the Jeep and on the way home from church it rained on the Jeep. I struggle to keep a vehicle I wash clean for more than 24 hours it seems.

That transferred to my bike ride today. Because of the rain I drove through after church I delayed the start to 12:56 PM thinking this would give the rain time to disappear and the streets to dry. I set out to bike what I call the “Oakhurst – Valley Ranch” route with the sky looking gray to the south and southwest but I was optimistic that the rain was finished.

I made it to Kings Manor when it started raining so I took cover at the Rocking Horse Day Care for about 5 minutes until the rain stopped. The streets were wet but I was committed to riding by then and wanted to get the miles in. Riding south on Loop 494 and west on Kingwood Drive the road was wet but like a curtain when I went under US59 the other side was dry like it never rained. I was optimistic again but the gray clouds were still around.

Bike through Oakhurst and onto Briar Berry Drive I stayed dry. This continued while I rode west on Old Sorters Road but once I made the right turn onto Sorters Road (two roads with similar names) the rain came down lightly and I made a dash to the Circle K at FM 1314. I got there just as the rain increased and took a spot under the pump canopy. I noticed most of the pumps had bags over the nozzles and people drove in and then out without getting fuel. I think the pumps were broken or the tanks empty. I stayed there for 45 minutes or so until the rain stopped but the road was soaked. Before leaving I went inside to buy some food since I did not eat much before I started the ride but the store was freezing and I couldn’t find anything that looked good. I think the shelves had been picked over during the rain storm Thursday and Friday and not restocked yet.

In times past I might have called my wife to come pick me up but I can’t do that anymore so I had to wait and ride the wet roads.

As I was leaving the Circle K riding east I saw that my PowerPod did not restart even after I pushed the start button. I messed with it some until I reached the Stripes station at Valley Ranch Parkway where I pulled under the pump canopy and tried it one more time. This time it started and I was back on the road.

Valley Ranch Parkway was mostly dry as were the streets the rest of the way back to Kingwood. The sky cleared some and the gray clouds disappeared to the west. Back in Kingwood the streets were so dry and my weather station showed no rain while I got wet out biking as I finished the ride at 4:15 PM. I planned on watching the Texans football game live but now the DVR will be the way to watch it.

I wanted to bike at least 30 miles and ended up at 30.1 miles. The week totaled 176.43 miles and September now totals 430.01 miles toward my 700 mile goal. YTD crossed 6,000 miles to 6,028.