Two Rest Stops on a Hot Bike Ride
This was the first time riding the “SR242 – FM1314” route this year. I rode portions of it this year but have held off because of the Grand Parkway construction crossing FM1314. I braved passing through the work zone again with better results than Monday’s ride. I still didn’t get to ride through the actual work zone but this time when I was biking the narrow east bound lane no cars or trucks were behind me. I got through the narrow section with time to spare before any cars came through. The last time I rode this route was July 28, 2014.
45.35 miles helps me get closer to June’s 968 mile goal. This ride puts me at 781.79 miles leaving 187 miles to go. I am taking Thursday as a recovery day which will leaves 5 possible riding days. I will need to average 37.4 miles per ride to reach my goal. Doable if the weather cooperates.
It was hot today but the light breeze actually had a coolness to it, thank goodness. It was 91 when I left home at 10:19 and 100 when I got back home at 2:29. These are from my home weather station which was higher than the Houston IAH airport weather station. I took an extra break at 19.5 miles when I reached FM1485 and SR242. The gas station has small cubed ice and a nice shady spot. I got a Greensheet newspaper and sat in the shade. As I was arriving two of the giant windpower turbines were leaving with their wide and high load caravan of trucks and police motorcycle officers. My timing was good so I didn’t need to watch for them on SR242 on the way to FM1314. The sweat dampened the concrete below my elbows as I slowly cooled down. This week I started wearing wrist bands to keep the sweat from soaking my gloves as much. It works. Over time the sunscreen stains the bright white bands though.
From that rest stop I estimated it was 14 miles to the next stop at Stripes on FM1314 and Valley Ranch Parkway. It turned out to be 15 miles. With the variable breeze I maintained a steady 16 to 17 mph pace (my legs couldn’t pedal any harder or faster which is why tomorrow is a recovery day) getting my average speed up to 15.2 mph. Arriving at Stripes at 1:00 I got some paper towels to soak up some sweat, parked the Stradalli in the shade and got a 32 oz Gatorade. The ice machine is still not working on the Gatorade dispenser but the one next to it worked. Sitting in the outside shade I ate and drank and slowly cooled down. I was there almost 45 minutes, longer than I usually stop but I wanted to be hydrated and rested for the push home on the last 11 miles.
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