I try not to start off writing about the weather on the bike ride but today I can’t delay that. Early this morning a cool front pushed through the Houston area dropping the temperature to around 60 degrees. This isn’t too bad for April but it is not is at the very bottom of my comfort zone for a bike ride. By the time I start biking at 11:49 the temperature fluctuated around 67 degrees going up and down a degree or so. I made the decision to not wear leg warmers because the forecast said the high would be around 75 and I didn’t want to over dress. I did choose to wear a thermal jersey but instead of a jersey over top I opted for a cycling windbreaker jacket with lots of vent mesh. This was a good choice and I was comfortable after I warmed up.

Now here is what made the ride challenging: a strong NW wind.

The 21 mph wind slowed my cycling to Tavola at Roman Forest Blvd. enough that I stayed in the 34 x 14 gear instead of the 34 x 13 gear I usually use. I don’t think I could’ve pedaled into the wind higher than 12 mph trying to push the higher gear. Once I made the turn back to the south I shifted to the 34 x 13 gear upping my speed. The 29 mph gusts pushed my bike around when I rode out of the wind breaks making me grip the handle bar tightly. I watched the watts on the Elemnt move around as the wind required more effort or a tailwind pushed me along. There were times as I rode south into Tavola that I pedaled and no watts registered because the wind was pushing so much.

Riding south on the I-69/US59 service road the wind wasn’t quite the tailwind I expected but it was easier bicycling than going north. Turning right onto Valley Ranch Parkway the wind hit at full strength and the watts jumped up while the cadence dropped. I changed the route somewhat by biking through the parking lot for the just opened Kroger and other stores. I missed the road to exit the parking lot and looped back to get on the exit street back to Valley Ranch Parkway. The wind was so strong I stood up pedaling to the left turn where the wind was more to my right rear quadrant. From there to the finish of the ride (2:29  PM) the wind was mostly from my back side.

Link to RideWithGPS.com.

Home weather station at the start and finish of the bike ride.