Wheels down at 7:55 am this morning to get biking before the weather heats up. Weather forecast calls for 102 degrees this afternoon and while I don’t mind the heat I think it is wise to avoid it when possible. In order to ride more than 30 miles I chose the “Kingwood to Ramsey Road – Huffman” route and biked 35.3 miles which put the week total at 205.85 miles and 638.45 miles for the month. Only 162 miles to reach my goal for July. The Canyon Endurace CF SLX now has 4,033.8 miles. Not bad since the first ride was February 27th, 2018.

Within a half mile of the start I passed another cyclist going the opposite direction on Meadow Springs Drive and we exchanged waves and hi. At the Amegy Bank on W. Lake Houston Parkway the next biker was riding up the trail from going under WLHP and I said hi and waved. I wasn’t sure if I would see more bikers during the ride because the Katy Flatland is tomorrow and riders might be saving their energy. But not to fear, by the time I made the right turn from Atascocita Shores Drive onto FM 1960 east I started seeing bicyclists one at a time over the lake. After turning onto Fairlake Drive the riders stopped appearing but once I was on Old Atascocita Road the gates opened. A photo gallery of some of the bikers I passed.

While I stopped on the side of the road to take the pictures several of the bikers asked if I was okay and I replied that I was okay and only stopped to take picture. One cyclist with a bright headlight circled back after he went by as I took his photo. He wore a Bike Barn jersey and as he rolled up asking if I was Rick as he recognized my Texbiker.net jersey. We chatted for a minute or two and then we both resumed riding in opposite directions.

After the turn around at Ramsey Road I didn’t see any more cyclists. That was also when the wind moved from a friendly tailwind to a tough headwind. It was hard pedaling into the wind but it helped cool me after the build up of sweat from the tailwind.

The Huffman Chevron was a welcome rest stop for a few minutes to refill my water bottle with ice and water, mop some of the sweat on my arms and then head out for the 11+ miles to the finish. I battled the wind from the Chevron station, across Lake Houston until I turned right at the traffic light into Atascocita Shores. From there the wind wasn’t so bad with the trees and homes blocking some of it. Biking to WLHP I stayed on it all the way to Kings Crossing before turning left and riding the back streets to finish the ride at 10:46 am. Mission accomplished for beating the 102 degrees.

Weather during the bike ride: start 80 (90% humidity), overcast, wind W 7 mph. Finish 88 (64% humidity), mostly cloudy, wind W 8 mph. Starting early means the humidity is high resulting in lots of perspiration.

With 205 miles for the week and a late start after going to church Sunday will be a rest day to watch stage 15 of the TdF.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary