No biking yesterday due to the remodeling project. I stayed home while my wife ran some errands. Today though I was able to ride while she stayed home with the workers.

The weather man said today was going to be cooler and it was by a few degrees. My home weather station recorded 102.4 yesterday late in the afternoon. Compare that today’s 97.2 when I finished the ride then it was cooler but 97 is still plenty hot. At least the humidity was low (for Houston ) at 37%. I looked at the forecast for Wichita Falls for next week. Unless there is a big change the heat for Saturday will not get to 100. The sky was partly cloudy today and the wind was calm. Earlier today I watched the Eneco Tour from Belgium where the wind caused a major split in the peloton at one point. None of that here.

Before I rode today I waxed the chain on my Motobecane Le Champion CF. I noticed some rust from riding on the wet streets last Saturday. I also wanted to get this done before going to Wichita Falls. I installed this chain on 7/8/13 and since then I rode over 1,000 miles so it was time. The chain has been running smoothly and quietly.

The route took me north to New Caney and then south through Valley Ranch. The goal was to get over 30 miles and I biked 32.4 miles at 15.9 mph average speed. I stopped at the Stripes station on FM1314 for my usual Diet Pepsi break. When I came out of the store I noticed something on my rear tire. At first I thought it was a thread or maybe some gum but it turned out to be one of those tiny wires stuck in the tire. I pulled it out and fortunately it was not in far enough to cause a leak. Probably one flat averted!! My resting spot is getting smaller as the sun intrudes further into it. If I go late in the day (12:54 today) the sun takes most of the shade away and as summer fades the sun goes down more.

Leaving Stripes I biked home with a slight tailwind helping me keep a fast pace. Traffic was light. I did go through some road work on the northbound US59 service earlier. The Grand Parkway construction will be in that area until 2015. I am not sure how this will impact my routes.

Tomorrow the temperature is forecast to be 91 and 40% chance of rain. I should be able to bike if the weather permits. Links to Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS.com for today’s ride.

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