At first I thought may be my optimism about the temperature over ruled my better judgment but as I biked along the “Atascocita South – Walden – Huffman” route I warmed to the idea. Starting a little later than I wanted the Canyon Endurace rolled down the driveway at 12:12 PM to ride 34.8 miles before returning at 2:49 PM.

Weather during the bike ride: start 80 (64% humidity, 66.9 dew point), mostly cloudy, wind SW 9 mph. Finish 85 (56% humidity, 67.6 dew point), mostly cloudy, wind SW 14 mph gusts 21 mph. The 80 degrees at the start convinced me to leave the long sleeves at home and celebrate I wore my new Primal Men’s Helix Virtes short sleeve jersey. The only hint of coolness came as I rode over Lake Houston.

At the beginning of the ride the headwind getting to Walden provided resistance. Making my way through Walden put the wind at my back most of the time which I enjoyed. Biking east over Lake Houston a tailwind helped cross quickly and the trees along Fairlake Drive blocked some of the wind. When I got to Huffman on FM 2100 I still thought the wind wasn’t too bad but turning west I changed my mind especially exposed to it over Lake Houston. Once I rode west of the lake along FM 1960 some of the trees and buildings lowered the wind’s effect. Pedaling became easier after making the right turn onto Pinehurst Trail Drive with the now tailwind. Generally I enjoyed a tailwind from that point until the finish.

Friday the forecast lowers the temperature a few degrees so long sleeve may return as I bike.