Another gorgeous day for biking rolled in. Mostly cloudy sky but not enough to block out the sun. The temperature stayed in a tight range with 79 to 81 during my ride. After yesterday’s ride my wife and I worked in the backyard moving some rose bushes around and another plant I can’t remember. The reason I mention this relates to today’s 15 mph southeast wind. I did not notice that I used any different muscles working in the yard but today when I headed into the wind the leg muscles could not deliver the power I usually can call upon. To vary the ride I decided to bike in reverse on the route I use most often. It almost seemed like a new route when seen from the opposite direction.

Biking in reverse presented some interesting traffic changes since one of the reasons I ride the direction I do minimizes crossing over roads without traffic lights or make right hand turns instead of left ones. This required some extra thought as I approached the intersections. The cars and trucks did not present an issue. I will need to repeat this route direction again in the near future. The old route is pretty automatic so going in reverse I needed to plan the turns and streets. I don’t think I left anything out except for a 2/10 portion in the last 2 miles.

At around the 13 mile point I stopped to refill my water bottle at the Chevron station in Huffman. A Harris County deputy sheriff was removing all of the contents in the trunk of his car so that he could change the right rear tire. I did not realize all of the stuff they have back there. There were two big pieces of 3/4″ plywood and numerous other equipment. He read the instructions and proceeded to jack up the cruiser. He said the county maintenance service kept “banker’s hours” and had already closed so he needed to do this so he could return to patrol. A nail caused the tire puncture, he said. Without a good spare he said the next flat would put out of business.

Some of today’s ride numbers:

• 30.40 miles
• 14.8 mph average speed
• 2:00:03 biking time
• 21.7 mph max speed
• 77.5 RPM average cadence (reflects my tired legs?)
• 136.51 miles this week
• 284.2 miles in March
• 920.29 miles YTD
• Garmin Connect data link

The map below is interactive. You can select metrics and other tabs as well as play the route.

[iframe http://ridewithgps.com/trips/546574 95% 600]

3-16-2012 Home Weather Station End