Timing can be very important when biking. Today was a case in point. I started the ride at 9:34 am after checking weather radar. To the north and east of my home maybe 100 miles away a big glob of heavy rain showed. I figured it would come my way but according to my phone it would not get here until 12:45 pm. That was enough time to ride the route I planned with some time to spare. But as I rode south and then east the sky kept getting darker and rain looked close so I changed my route to the “Atascocita South – Walden – E Lake Houston Parkway” shortening it by 3 or 4 miles.

When I reached the turn around at E. Lake Houston Parkway the sky was heavy with dark clouds and I could feel the temperature dropping and the wind picking up. I had to ride into the wind to get to this point but when I made the turn back to the west the tailwind propelled me much faster than the ride to the east. That was good news because from the look of the dark clouds I was going to need all of the speed I could get to race the rain to home and win.

All went well as I biked west and then north on Pinehurst Trail with the temperature dropping a few degrees more. My wet jersey and shorts (from sweating) felt cold now and I pedaled even faster trying to get ahead of the rain and maybe put out more body heat to offset the chilly wind. A few sprinkles hit me on Kings River Drive before I got to W. lake Houston Parkway but stopped. Bicycling north on WLHP the sprinkles stopped but the ride through Kingwood Greens was on damp streets with a light rain. As I made it to Town Center the streets were wet and the light rain continued. It stayed like this until I turned onto Deerbrook and the street was dry. I was only about a mile from home so I thought I would get there not get caught by rain and it was so but after finishing the ride at 11:48 am and walking from the street to the garage I heard rain hitting the patio cover at a faster rate. By the time I put the Canyon away the rain was coming down harder. This is where the timing comes in. A few minutes later and I would have been soaked. I don’t know if it would have made any difference because I was soaked already from sweat and cool wind.

Weather during the bike ride: start 82 (89% humidity), mostly cloudy, wind SW 6 mph. Finish 76 (90% humidity), light rain, wind W 6 mph. A rare bike ride in July where the starting temperature is higher than the finishing temperature with a morning start.

Canyon Endurace CF SLX / 4,304.6 miles after today’s bike ride. Not bad since putting the Canyon into service on February 27th of this year.

Recapping July biking I surpassed my 800 mile goal with 909.28 miles, the second highest month total this year following short of the highest by 7 miles. I bicycled 26 days out of 31. Year to date I am at 4,909 miles. This leaves 1,891 miles to reach my 6,800 mile goal. I am ahead of the total of all my monthly goals by 841 miles. If I reach my remaining goals for each month I will ride 7,641 miles for the year, the most I have ever done.

The rain should be gone by tomorrow (Wednesday) so August riding should begin. My goal is 800 miles.

SportTracks Bike Ride Summary