One year ago today my wife, Hazel Marie, of 43 years passed away from breast cancer. During those 43 years she sometimes tolerated my biking, accompanied me on some trips to bike rides out of town, and mostly encouraged me to enjoy biking. The last trip we took for me to bike was February 2019 to Harlingen where I rode the Jalapeno 100. While I biked and got lost she shopped for craft and decorating items. I remember when I finished the bike ride and she came to pick me up I got upset because the back of the Jeep Grand Cherokee was full and getting my bike inside looked impossible. We worked it out and the bike went inside and I apologized. Later that evening after we ate dinner she got very sick. We stayed until Monday when she felt like riding home. I felt so bad for her. That was our last road trip.

Since her death biking has been one way to rebuild my life without her. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss and think of her. On my kitchen counter a Google Nest shuffles photos of her or us among other random photos. Later today I will drive to the cemetery.

Today’s bike ride offered time for me to think about all those years. I rolled out on my Lynskey R300 bike at 10:23 AM thanks to the Tour de France stage 6 ending earlier than previous stages. I chose the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route planning on riding about 32 miles. I think I rode about that far but my Bolt computer went nuclear at 30.42 miles (more on that below). On the way back from Huffman I rode in the rain starting around mile 26 stopping at the Kings River Pool for a few minutes until it almost stopped.

Earlier in the ride on the east side of Lake Houston the streets were damp from rain that preceded me. That was okay until I turned onto FM 2100 going north to Huffman. The rain moistened the dirt on the shoulder in the construction zone just enough to stick my tires. As the wheels turned the mud started coming loose coating the Lynskey and me. When I reached FM 1960 I went right, found some puddles and rode through them slowly to wash off the mud.

I was relieved at the start of the ride that the temperature was “only” 89 after being in the 90’s for so long. An overcast sky helped hold the temperature down but the dew point at 80 degrees meant a muggy ride. A few times the sky parted and sun came through. Wind was light but my legs were tired so no bursts of speed. My average speed never reached 13 mph. As I headed back to Kingwood on FM 1960 I saw several lightning strikes off in the distance and hoped the rain would hold off but as you know it didn’t. Weather for the ride: start 89 (77% humidity, 80.9 dew point), overcast, wind S 5 mph. Finish 89 (77% humidity, 80.5 dew point), overcast, wind S 8 mph.

Now about my Bolt computer. As I rode on Tree Lane in Kingwood I looked down and saw a screen blink “N/A” in all of the places where data appears. Then some strange sound came out of the Bolt followed by the LED’s turning red across the top. Next the screen went blank and then lots of text came on the screen showing various ride and computer data. I left it alone until I finished the ride at 1:06 PM and then pushed a couple of the buttons. The ride history screen came up but the computer wouldn’t respond to any button pushes. After washing the Lynskey I went inside and called Wahoo. The person who answered asked a few questions and I tried various sequences of button pushes to no avail. He said it looked like a warranty replacement would be the solution. I now wait to hear from Wahoo on what to do next. I will use my phone until the problem is resolved.

In spite of the Bolt problem I continue to make progress on reaching my 700 mile goal for September. A recap of where I stand.

Strava activity page says today’s bike ride was easier than my usual efforts.

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