Slow Tumble
A couple of days ago I was wondering to myself, when will I have my first crash on the Stradalli? Well I don’t have to wonder any more. About 4 miles into the ride today as I rode beside Kingwood Dr. on the trail I approached two teenagers from the back. As I got closer I called out but suddenly the one riding a skateboard (talking on a phone) stepped off the board into the middle of the sidewalk. The other teenager rode a BMX bike slightly behind the skateboarder. When the skateboarder stepped off the BMXer passed and then one of those front wheel wheelies turning the bike across the trail and blocking my passing. I wasn’t going that fast but too many things happened and I didn’t unclip from my pedals. Over I went on to the concrete. A slow tumble. I stopped at the McDonalds in Town Center to wash the scrapped knew. The pictures show the damage:
I took these pictures while I was stopped at the Huffman Chevron about 19 miles after the crash. Before I left Huffman I washed up the dripping blood. Stopping too long allowed my knee to get sore when I started pedaling but it loosened by the time I reached the Lake Houston causeway. I never considered going back home after the crash since my knee had no trouble pedaling.
Speaking of the Lake Houston causeway. Many times riding on the causeway can be tricky due to the wind exposure. Today was one of those days even though the wind was not real strong: from the NE at 10 mph with 17 mph gusts. The tricky part is when I ride over the sections where the water goes under the causeway. The wind currents move the bike around and the traffic sometimes adds to the problem. Going east was tricky while the return leg going west was not. While I was going east on the causeway I saw the Houston Police river patrol boat beside what appeared to be an empty pontoon boat not too far from the south side of the causeway. They looked like they were inspecting the boat and three or four other boats were in the area. Not sure what was going on. When I came across later I did not see the boats although there was a slow moving boat headed to the railroad bridge south of the causeway.
My route plan was going south more than usual through Eagle Springs on to Walden and then across the lake to Huffman before returning home. I biked 34.92 miles averaging 15.6 mph. The weather was picture perfect with an almost clear blue sky; a few clouds wisps dotted the sky. The temperature started at 74 (12:20) and ended up at 84 (3:24) by the time I got home.
Four other bicyclists passed my way as I rode, all going the opposite direction. I suspect the Good Friday holiday freed some people up.
I plan on biking tomorrow. The weather looks better than today.
Click on an image to enlarge it.
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