I rode to the north today going up US59 to New Caney and then turning south on the service road until I went west into Valley Ranch. The legs were not as strong today probably from the effort in yesterday’s ride. Leaving home at 1:01 helped me to avoid most of the traffic from schools until I got to White Oak Middle School in Briar Tree. I was going to go around the traffic backup but decided it was better to wait my turn when the parents moved into the school parking lot. This was a good idea when one impatient driver came around a bunch of cars in the left lane getting stopped by the turning cars and almost veering into my lane.

At this time of the year I don’t expect to see too many other bikers but today I came across two. The first was a lady in Oakhurst riding a road bike with aero bars. She pulled past me quickly and I watched as she turned onto a side street. I was dressed in a lot more clothing than she was. I had two jerseys (short and long sleeve) and a windbreaker. She wore a tank top and shorts. I skipped the leg warmers today and generally this was okay once I got warmed up. The temperature did not quite get as high as forecast with 68 at the start and 67 when I finished at 3:46.

The next biker almost was a collision with me. I was returning home on the trail along Kingwood Drive. The one narrow section is the bridge sidewalk just east of the Houston Fire Department station. As I approached my side I could a rider coming my way but I thought he was far enough from the other side of the bridge that I could get through. All was well until I exited the narrow sidewalk. The sidewalk dumps into a gravel street and I knew he was coming but he didn’t see me. I stopped to let him pass me. He came off the trail on the other side of the street and realized I was there. He braked his mountain bike and a cloud of dust came up. To make things more interesting, this side street almost never has any traffic except today when I pickup arrived as we did. Fortunately the driver was paying attention stopping for the other rider. Once he passed the driver waved me on. Based on previous encounters at this place I watch to see if anyone (biker or pedestrian) is on the bridge or approaching. The east exit has some tall bushes which block the view so I stand to get a better view.

Going on this route came to 32.25 miles. When I started the wind was a light breeze but by the time I finished it was 16.1 mph. I noticed going south in New Caney the pedal effort increase and my speed dropped. The southbound service road did not offer much protection from the wind. My average speed was a paltry 15.2 mph according to the Golden Cheetah program. Garmin Connect was not quite so generous reporting 14.7 mph. I almost made it to 6200 miles for the year but came up short at 6197 miles. December miles moved over 200 to 211 miles.

Thursday weather looks promising with 72 degrees and overcast sky. Rain arrives Friday.

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