It’s been 10 days since my last ride. I wanted to ride to the north for a change but to make the ride possible I drove to New Caney and parked in the Brookshire Brothers parking lot. Driving there I was wondering if I dressed warm enough (short sleeve jersey over a long sleeve jersey and shorts). The thermometer in my Jeep insisted on 68 degrees while I had 74 degrees on my home weather station. By the time I got to Brookshire Brothers the Jeep increased to 71 degrees plus the sun was shining nicely and I was warm enough once I got moving. I got out and started to unload my bike and another biker rode by on the service road and I waved. He waved back. A good start to riding.

There wasn’t anything new on the route I took except I have not started at New Caney in many many years. I planned the route in my mind but I wasn’t sure how many miles it would be. It ended up at 33.33 miles. When I was in Roman Forest I decided to take the long way to Tram Road by Appian Way, Country Club Drive (no country club along the road though; la ong story) and Roman Forest Blvd. Where Appian Way crossed over Galaxy Blvd. it narrows to two lanes and the road surface goes to pot. Most of the other streets in Roman Forest have been resurfaced but not here, Country Club Drive or Roman Forest Blvd east of Tram Road. It was bumpy and I had to dodge bad spots.

Once I was on Tram Road I watched for the dog that chased me the last time but he wasn’t around. Instead another one waited for me at Rio Blanco Road on my right. He was big with a strong bark. Thankfully he couldn’t reach me by running from the porch to the road but had to run beside the water filled ditch giving me time to speed up to 23+ mph. By the time he got to a driveway to get to Tram Road I was beyond his desire to chase and he turned back. I was hoping the Montgomery Precinct 4 Constable that was stopped at Rio Blanco would notice the dog chasing me but not happening.

The rest of Tram Road to FM2090 was free of dogs but I needed to recover from the sprint effort. My unused legs are not up to these sprints. I had built up my average speed to 16.2 mph by the time I turned west on FM2090. On FM2090 I rode into the 9 mph WSW wind and my speed dropped down to 13 or 14 mph except for an occasional burst of speed or slower when I went up an incline. I looked forward to FM3083 in Grangerland where I would turn left and hopefully have a tailwind. At FM3083 my average speed was down to 15.5 mph. With the help of the somewhat tailwind I picked up my speed and moved my average speed up to 16.0 mph.

With all of the effort I took a short break at the Valero station at the corner of FM3083 and FM1485. I ate a trail mix bar and a fruit bar with the last of my water. I refilled the bottle and headed back to New Caney on FM1485. The wind continued to help me and I rode 19+ mph. East of Firetower Road I saw three Montgomery Deputy Sheriffs on the shoulder with lights flashing. They were looking over a small car and a Jeep JK Unlimited. Not sure what was going on. The Jeep driver was talking on his cell phone. From there to Brookshire Brothers was about 3 miles. I missed the turn into the parking lot but was able to get back through Walgreens and Chase Bank. I started riding at 12:29 and finished at 2:52.

The weather was great compared to what we have had lately. It was 75 when I finished under partly cloudy skies. Driving home my Jeep showed 82 at one point. Sunday could be slightly cooler but no rain. I hope to ride again.

RideWithGPS map, metrics and charts.

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