After my ride on Wednesday I must have breathed in too much pine pollen. My sinus stopped up and I sneezed a lot. So I did not ride yesterday to give my sinus a chance to recover which they did almost. I was surprised that they dried up so quickly. Usually I am off the bike for 5 to 7 days. I still do not have all of my voice back so I am whispering some.

With that in mind I thought today should be an easy day to be sure I was well enough. I selected a northerly route going to Community Drive and then Valley Ranch, Briar Tree and Oakhurst. I tried some new streets in Oakhurst without knowing for sure where I would end up but I found my way to the usual exit. To add some miles I went on Sorters Road past Lone Star College and then turned towards the back of Kingwood Medical Center. All was going well until I approached the railroad tracks at Kingwood Drive and Loop 494. It looked like something unusual might be going on with a Houston Police cruiser sitting in the intersection but the traffic on Loop 4494 was going through. Not long after I stopped to wait for the light to change the crossing arms came down and a slow moving train appeared. The train engines went past and a bunch of cars and then it stopped. Not too long after that the HPD cruiser moved out of the intersection leaving everyone to wait. I saw a couple of sheriff deputies drive south on Loop 494 and then another HPD cruiser with red lights flashing came along. Waiting for about 5 to 10 minutes the cars in front of me started turning left onto Loop 494 probably thinking they could around the train. I went with them but only to the Kings Manor crossing which was blocked as well. As I was waiting amongst the cars a lady driving by had her window down and told me the conductor said it would be another 30 minutes before the train would get moving. I don’t know if she told anyone else but a few of the cars standing in line to go into Kings Manor left. I got off my bike and sat in the shade listening to the crossing alarms constant ringing. About 3:47 the rain started moving so I got on my bike to get ready to cross the tracks and get on my way. This is a major problem with Kingwood. Trains can block all of the western entrances and exits leaving only one way in on W. Lake Houston Parkway to the south. This doesn’t happen often but it ties everything up when it does. It is a problem for the Houston Fire Department so they are going to build a fire station west of US59 for access.

My route today was not exactly what I planned ending up at 29.46 miles at a 14.9 mph average speed. The weather was picture perfect with 78 degrees at the start and 83 when I finished. The sky had a few small white clouds and the 9 mph south wind did not present any problems. I wore a long sleeve jersey under my short sleeve jersey mostly to keep the sun off my arms. Nice to have that reason rather than the chill. Links to Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com data and maps.

[wppa type=”slideonlyf” album=”108″ size=”auto”][/wppa]