When I went out side to get the newspaper this morning I felt a light rain mist which prompted me to think that the Houston Cycling Club ride I was leading today would not happen. I checked about 8:15 to see if the mist was still in the air and it was but lighter so I decided to drive up to the meeting point in front of Sears Hardware to see what the weather was like there. I put my road bike in the back of my Jeep Wrangler and went. No mist was falling at the meeting spot so I waited for the RSVP bicyclists to arrive. About 5 minutes before 9:00 Ron pulled up but the other two did not.

After an introduction I explained the route we would take mentioning that I know some places we can duck into if the rain comes down. I punched the timer start on my Garmin Edge 500 at 9:07 and the two of us rolled out on the ride. Ron followed me since he had not ridden this route before. We rode north on the US59 service road to SR242 into a light breeze under the overcast sky. Turning left on SR242 the breeze no longer came straight at us and we kept a nice pace until I needed to stop at FM1485. In front of us in the distance was another biker, probably from The Woodlands. Getting back on our bikes we continued on SR242 to FM1314. On this stretch another biker was riding in the opposite direction and we exchanged waves. Reaching FM1314 we waited in the left turn lane for the signal to change and the ride to Porter. We were still keeping a good pace and made it to Porter in good time. The final leg was on the southbound US59 service road to Kingwood Drive and then back to our start point. This route totaled 36.40 miles at a 16.1 mph average speed. Ron said he had not ridden that fast before and felt good at the end.

With today’s ride my March mileage now totals 516.87 leaving 64 miles to hit the 581 mile goal. I have 8 days left so I should reach my goal but the weather for the next two or three days will be cooler than I prefer. Year to date I rode 1198.45 miles. During March I rode 17 days out of 23. Other looks at today’s ride at Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com websites.

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