The Action sign time and temperature board kept flashing 81 degrees in Huffman. The cloudy sky did not stop the warm temperature and the wind did not cool it down either. when I left home I knew I would battle the wind on the this south and east route to Huffman and back. The IAH weather station on wunderground.com showed 15 mph from the south with 33.4 mph gusts (see the slide below). Pedaling was labored when I went into the wind and I really appreciated turns away from head on wind. Later tonight the wind is supposed to shift to the northwest and get much cooler maybe down to freezing Thursday night. The 70’s and 80’s will disappear for at least a few days. I will be staying inside those days.

I varied to the route to Huffman by not riding on Fairlake Drive and Old Atascocita Road. Instead I opted to go north on E. Lake Houston Parkway from FM1960 then east on Smith Road and then south on FM2100 to FM1960. The ride south on FM2100 moved slowly as the wind hit me straight on. I hoped the ride west on FM1960 would not be into a headwind but the side wind might as well been one. The 81 degrees did not make the wind coming off of Lake Houston feel warm. I was glad to get to the west side of the lake and away from the wind chill. The wind was so strong the cars with the elf ears and reindeer antlers on their side windows had them pinned down on the car when they were stopped. This route was 29.26 miles long and with the stiff wind my average speed dropped below 15 mph to 14.9 mph.

All of the slides and metrics for today’s ride come from the Golden Cheetah program. I am trying to learn all of the features and options. SportTracks is still in the picture while I try out Golden Cheetah. Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com still have my rides as well.

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