For the first time Since April 25th I rode a route to the south from home. Last Saturday I drove to the Kings River pool and biked from there. I decided the work area provided enough space to bike through and chose the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route for today. The ride began at 11:14 AM later than I prefer for a Saturday ride because of a cool front. The temperature slowly moved up from the upper 50’s to a level I could wear shorts, a long sleeve thermal jersey, and jacket and feel comfortable. Below is a summary of the 15 bike rides on this route in 2020.

Weather during the bike ride: start 69 (53% humidity, 51.4 dew point), mostly cloudy, wind E 12 mph. Finish 71 (51% humidity, 51.7 dew point), mostly cloudy, wind NE 15 mph gusts 21 mph. The forecast called for a high of 75 but it didn’t get there by the 1:51 PM finish of the ride.

Approaching the W. Lake Houston Parkway bridge riding south the right shoulder is the same as before the repair work began with a slight reduction in the traffic lane where the northbound traffic veers right back to the normal lanes. At the south end of the bridge the lane narrows slightly where the northbound traffic enters the northbound lane but not affecting my space. On the return trip the shoulder is not as wide riding north with about 3 feet between the yellow lane dots and the curb. Traffic did not crowd the dots as they passed and at the north end the shoulder space ends as the lane transitions back to the right. As I approached this spot a pickup truck slowed to allow me to get around this spot and into the traffic lane. After today’s ride I feel comfortable biking through the work area. The work crew was busy as I rode by each time. Maybe they will finish early.

With the later start I did not see any other cyclists along FM 1960 or east of Lake Houston though I did see 2 vehicles parked at the church on Fairlake Drive where some people start biking. I did see numerous “casual” bikers though. Some are in today’s ride video.