Objectives for today’s bike ride: ride 24 miles to make a 200 mile week, ride 36.2 miles to reach my 799 mile goal for April, and see other cyclists. The first one wasn’t a problem as I rode my Canyon Endurace CF 7 bike on the Atascocita – Huffman – Walden route which averages 32 miles. Riding at least 36.2 miles meant adding streets to the route. Riding through Kingwood villages I followed some streets I normally leave out of this route. A good indication came at 11.1 miles as I turned onto W. Lake Houston Parkway with some extra distance compared to the usual position. To get to where I usually see cyclists on Saturday early I too Kings River Drive and Atascocita shores Drive to FM1960. Now the question, would cyclists ride in the MS 150 or along my route. It turned out a number of cyclists rode on my route on Old Atascocita Road in particular. I completed the mileage goals biking 37.38 miles.

Wind tried to slow my ride to FM2100 from the SE at 23 mph and 33 mph gusts. Some of the gusts moved the Canyon Endurace around on the road but I held the handlebar firmly. To add more distance I rode east of FM2100 on Old Atascocita Road to the cemetery before making a u-turn. That’s when the headwind became a cross tailwind. Riding north on FM2100 took minimal effort with the tailwind. Crossing Lake Houston to the west wind gusts from the left pushed me and the Canyon Endurace towards the concrete barrier numerous times but I made it.

On the way back I added the Atascocita Hike & Bike Trail for more distance. I noticed for the first time that the trail extends east of W. Lake Houston Parkway. I will explore that on a future ride.

The 8:48 AM start was the earliest this week. I stopped watching the Tour de Romandie with about 20km to go resuming after the bike ride. An earlier start for the Tour of Turkiye meant watching the replay of the last 4km while eating breakfast. I was back home at 11:52 AM.

Weather: Start 76 degrees, humidity 83%, dew point 70.5, mostly cloudy, wind SE 20 mph; @23 miles 80 degrees, humidity 69%, dew point 69, mostly cloudy, wind SE 23 mph gusts 33 mph; Finish 81 degrees, humidity 75%, dew point 72.6, mostly cloudy, wind SE 23 mph gusts 33 mph.

Link to my AXS.SRAM.com ride report.