Today I had to look at Google Maps to refresh my memory of the streets to turn on when I got to The Commons of Lake Houston. The last time I rode this route was about a year ago and I think I got lost then. The route took me around Lake Houston north of FM1960. I started out on US59 north after exiting Kingwood. The light 4 mph breeze ws not much of problem no matter which direction I biked.

When I got to FM1485 I turned east and the sun started hiding behind some clouds which kept the heat down some. During the ride the temperature ranged from 89 to 93. I maintained a good pace during the entire ride. At the 40 mile point I checked my average speed to find 16.2 mph. The route totaled 42.39 miles and the final average speed was 16.1 mph thanks to all of the residential streets in the last 3 miles.

Overall the surfaces of the roads are good. Except for a section on FM1485 from mile 19.8 to 21.4 there is a shoulder. During this short section the first 300 yards has a steep drop off where the shoulder would be. After that the dirt levels up with the road in case you need to exit the road. There was a dust storm in the same section today. The dryness combined with a pipeline construction site to stir up the dust. The worst dust happened when the trucks hauling wooden road pieces covered with dirt drove by me. The dust was so thick it almost obscured the road for a short time. I stopped for a minute when a flagman held us up to let two trucks back into the construction area. Once I passed this place the trucks and dust went away as I turned into the side streets to go through The Commons of Lake Houston. One of the reasons I took this direction was the lack of shoulders on FM1485 until it meets FM2100. Traffic is not too bad since this road shortens the distance getting from FM1960 to US59 north. Back in the 1990’s I biked this route frequently and the log trucks traveled it a lot. I never had any problems though.

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These two maps are interactive if you want to see more metrics.

[iframe http://connect.garmin.com/activity/337077363 95% 700px]

[iframe http://ridewithgps.com/trips/1462475/embed 95% 700px]