The bike ride started with such great promise with nice weather. I started a little later than I should’ve rolling out at 10:28 AM on my Cervelo Caledonia bike. Because of the later start and wanting to possibly see other cyclists I chose the Atascocita – Spanish Cove – Walden route. I rearranged the streets in Kingwood moving the streets I ride at the start of the route until returning back in Kingwood. This would get me to FM 1960 quicker and increase the likelihood of seeing other cyclists. I didn’t hold a lot of hope but wanted to do my best. On the typical Saturday ride when I get to FM 1960 it is around 14 miles into the ride. Today it was 8.2 miles.

All was going according to plan until about halfway across Lake Houston on the causeway the front tire went flat. I inspected the tire and found a small piece of glass stuck in the tire. I don’t like to fix a flat in that spot because of the traffic noise and no place to sit. The choice: walk back to Atascocita shores Drive or walk east to Lake Houston Brewery. I chose Lake Houston Brewery. You see a lot of things on a bike that you miss driving a car. Well you see even more walking compared to biking. All kinds of things: a box of Scott shop towels, turtles sitting on a log in the lake, a seaplane flying over the lake, and way too many screws and nails waiting to puncture a tire. I was glad I headed east when the flat happened. The Strava segment name is Lake Houston Bridge – EB versus the west bound segment name of Bridge of Death.

I made it to Lake Houston Brewery. Found a shady spot with a piece of wood to sit on and proceeded to fix the flat. I had some trouble getting the tire bead off the rim to get the tube out but overcame that. I found the tiny hole the glass shard made, roughed up the tube, applied glue and waited a couple of minutes for that to dry. My patching skill is not the best but I got the patch in the right spot, aired up the tube to check my work and put the tube back in the tire. I was all set. When I reached Fairlake Lane I noticed the front tire seemed to have a flat spot and each revolution it bumped. I suspected the tire bead wasn’t seated properly but couldn’t tell for sure. When I got home I used a wheel truing stand to locate the flat spot. I marked the area with blue painter’s tape and inspected the bead. The section I marked appeared to not be seated fully on the rim lip. I released the air from the tire, massaged the bead and aired it back up. This took several tries before the bead looked to be seated. I checked the tire with the truing stand and the flat spot seemed to be gone. The next ride will tell.

All of this overshadowed reaching 200+ miles for the week with the 34.51 miles from today’s bike ride putting me over the line. I rode this route 5 times in 2023 before today and today’s distance is about average. I saw 6 cyclists which exceeded my expectations. The weather was great: 78 degrees, humidity 57%, dew point 61.4, mostly cloudy, wind W 3 mph; Finish 89 degrees, humidity 35%, dew point 58.1, mostly cloudy, wind variable 6 mph. No need for an additional jersey. It was in the upper 50’s when I got up though.