Why Hanna, Why? A Stormy Relationship
When I got up this morning I checked the weather for bike ride conditions. It didn’t look great but rain had not moved into my area yet. When I went to sleep last night Tropical Storm Hanna was in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Texas but by morning Hurricane Hanna loomed. The projected landfall is around Port Mansfield well down the Texas coast between Corpus Christi and Brownsville. Checking the radar as I ate breakfast I decided to wait before riding. The weather looked stable with no rain nearby and I made the decision to ride.
Starting at 9:24 AM on my Canyon Endurace I planned to ride the “Atascocita – Huffman – Walden” route like I do most Saturday’s but I knew rain might alter my plans. I wanted to ride at least 10 miles which makes it an official bike ride for me. The sky alternated between cloudy and threatening as you can see in the video. I ended up turning back when I almost made it to FM 1960 as rain began to come down, not a lot but enough to get me wet. I didn’t want to get in the middle of the Lake Houston causeway to get caught in the rain with no place to go. That has happened to me in the past. The became “Kingwood to FM 1960” and back for a total of 20.65 miles which is better than no miles. The week now totals 170.75 miles making it possible for a 200+ mile week if Sunday’s weather permits. July stands at 766.39 miles only 34 miles away from my 800 mile goal.
I already wrote some about the weather. The start and finish weather conditions: start 83 (87% humidity, 78.6 dew point), mostly cloudy and breezy, wind NE 22 mph gusts 29 mph. Finish 79 (94% humidity, 77.4 dew point), light rain/mist, wind E 13 mph. When I finished at 11:01 AM light rain starting coming down as I rinsed off the Canyon Endurace for the second time this week. The weather radar after the ride.
Up to turning around my legs were doing much better than yesterday. Power came when I needed and I was improving my average speed. My Strava bike ride summary.