Rain tried to muscle it’s way into to my ride today but the drops only lasted a few minutes. With the 84 degrees the effect did not amount to much. After eating lunch I hit the road to mostly cloudy skies. With 84 degrees at the start I thought it would get warmer by the end but it actually dropped 2 degrees. Wind was another story. At the start the southeast wind stood at 17.9 mph with 29 mph gusts. This probably reflected some of the stormy weather forecast for later in the day. I think the stormy stuff has been dropped now. The sun increased as the ride progressed.

The bike repairs to remove the persistent tapping sound was successful. Not one tap happened during the ride and the tightened headset noticeably improved my steering feel. I seem to get a burst of motivation when my bike is tweaked by new stuff or repairs so today I repeated this although the starting 5 mile lap average speed was only 13.6 mph. I managed to increase this on the following 5 mile laps at 15 to 17 mph. Only the last 4.69 mile lap dropped back due to the stops and traffic as I make my way through the Kingwood residential area.

Along the route I stopped at the house in Oakhurst of the man who stopped me last week to ask about my biking schedule and routes. He happened to be in the driveway so when I stopped I handed him my card personally.

Earlier today I watch the Vuelta al País Vasco (Tour of the Basque Country) live via streaming video. Their skies were as cloudy as ours. The video was up close from a motorcycle following the breakaway for many kilometers. More tomorrow. You can catch the streaming video at www.steephill.tv.

Today’s ride numbers:

• 1:56:34 riding time
• 15.3 mph average speed
• 20.6 mph max speed
• 80.8 RPM average cadence
• 29.65 miles today
• 46.03 miles in April
• 1265.38 miles YTD
• Garmin Connect data link

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4-3-2012 Home Weather Station End