Winter wraps up today and spring arrives tomorrow. Winter weather pulled out of the Houston area a couple of weeks ago but today as a departing gift the wind hit speeds not normally seen: 23 mph from the SSE with 38 mph gusts. With this wind I decided the route needed to bend to my rule of riding into the wind at the start and use the tailwind for the return leg. No fancy reverse routing today so I could concentrate on battling the wind.The National Weather Service issued this alert last night:

Wind Advisory
… Wind Advisory remains in effect until 7 am CDT Tuesday…
* event… south to southeast winds 20 to 30 mph with gusts to 40 mph possible this afternoon. Only a slight drop in speeds can be expected overnight.
* Timing… through early Tuesday morning.
Precautionary/preparedness actions…
Drivers of vans… campers… trailers… and other high-profile vehicles should be alert to the danger of these winds… especially when driving along east to west oriented roads.

Until the 16.7 mile point the ride predominately headed into the wind or it came from my right side. The gusts moved me and the bike around some when I rode into the unprotected spots along the route. The most exposed occurred on the FM1960 McKay Causeway over Lake Houston going east. I looked off to my right at the water being shoved to the causeway by the heavy wind. Fortunately the east bound traffic helped counteract the wind some. I don’t know where all of the trash blew in from but the east bound shoulder of the causeway seemed to contain more than usual and the blowing pieces could get tangled in the wheels but I avoided that.

To go with the wind the clouds covered the sky, they looked thick and heavy with rain. When I pulled into my driveway I got hit by a few rain drops. So my finish time looked very timely. A few minutes later when I entered the house the rain picked some but stopped shortly leaving the pavement wet. The wind should dry it off quickly if the rain stays away. With the wind the temperature became a secondary matter but it stayed in the upper 70’s during the ride; 77 at the start and 75 when I finished. The decline probably resulted from the rain in the area. Later today and most of tomorrow the rain forecast calls for 3 to 5 inches north of I-10 which is where I live and bike.

Other than the wind the ride was uneventful. I left at 11:48 AM to beat the rain forecasted for the afternoon. With the wind I did not expect my average speed to be over 1.9 mph but I did manage to get it up to 15.1 mph thanks to the tailwind on the way back home. Max speed of 21.3 mph was on the way back home as well. My 78.2 RPM average cadence was higher than I would have guessed. When I got the tailwind I increased my gear combination and my speed went above 19 mph for some long stretches.

Some statistics:

• 1:57:32 ride time
• 29.61 miles biked today
• 344.50 miles in March after today’s ride
• 980.59 miles YTD
• 12 biking days so far in March
• Garmin Connect data link

[iframe http://ridewithgps.com/trips/551250 97% 600]

3-19-2012 Home Weather Station End