Wet Roads and I Get Muddy
I suspected Montgomery County Precinct 4 had not laid any asphalt on Adams Street. Because of this I exited Kingwood via Kings Manor to ride north on my New Caney – Gene Campbell Rd. route. Exiting Kings Manor I rode north on Loop 494 to verify my suspicions. I found that the asphalt is not down and it looks like they are adding a street or two to the project. I expect it will be another week before any change in the roads.
After checking on the resurfacing I rode on E. Knox to the US59 north bound service road and onto Porter. The closer I got to Porter I started to see the concrete wet near the curb. When I turned onto F1314 to go east to Loop 494 the road was wet but no rain was falling. I estimate the rain was 15 minutes in front of me. Once I was on Loop 494 the road was wet all the way to Eagle Drive by New Caney High School. I took Eagle Drive back to the US59 service road and as I approached the service road it started to rain big drops but not too many of them. I got on the service road and headed to New Caney thinking if the rain increased there were a couple of places I could stop. The rain didn’t increase until I passed those places and stayed with me until I was about 1/2 a mile from FM1485 and some places to get out of the rain. One spot on the service road was really muddy from the Grand Parkway construction. As I went by I could see many concrete trucks and a concrete batch plant. Of course it stopped when I was near those places. I took the u-turn under US59 at FM1485 to get to the Chevron station. The rain started back again and I waited there about 10 or 15 minutes. When it stopped I went out to FM1485 and rode to Gene Campbell Road. FM1485 was wet and so was Gene Campbell Road for the first mile or so. Then it dried out and the rain left all the way home. Not too long after I turned onto Gene Campbell Road a black pickup/SUV came toward me going the opposite direction. A bozo in the passenger seat put his arm out of the truck and flung something my direction but his timing and aim were not so good missing me.
Reaching the Stripes station on FM1314 I took a break to dry out some, eat some and drink. Also I was remembering the last time I rode through Briar Tree I had a dog sprint. I wondered if the dog would be out today. Finishing the break I wiped down my bike some and got on Old Sorters Road to see if the dog would be in place. Entering Briar Tree I turn to the left. The first mobile home on the left is the usual place I see the dog but he is not there today. This spot is difficult because I come around the corner sometimes after stopping for traffic and the distance is not long enough to get up to speed. The second place is further along the road where I can go faster but today I saw no dog. There was a large truck and a car passing so this might had played a part.
Weather was all over the place. Mostly cloudy at home when I started at 11:10, 87 degrees, 54% humidity and gusty wind. Raining in New Caney. Returning home at 2:34 the sky was still mostly cloud, 92 degrees and 41% humidity. The wind picked up: SSE 17 mph gusts to 25 mph.
The Stradalli got the first brush wash to remove all of the grit and grime. It is now shinny again. My shoes were coated, my jersey has mud up the back and my socks were brown around the top.
Tomorrow the weather is forecast to be partly cloudy and 92. A good day to bike. I am watching live Tour de Suisse on BeInSport on Dish at 8:300 AM.
Mileage standings:
- 38.3 miles this week
- 534.96 miles for June (350 miles left to reach the June goal)
- 2939 miles year to date
- Links to Garmin Connect and RideWithGPS
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