Up hill into a strong headwind! What a way to start May bike rides. The ride started at 11:02 AM as I set out to ride the “New Caney – Tavola – Valley Ranch” route. Getting May off to a good start I rode 36.16 miles toward my 660 mile goal for May. Before the ride sitting at the breakfast table with my wife I put on my shoes and got ready to leave. I said to my wife, “Let me check the weather to see if it is windy outside”. Looking at the NWAA app on my phone I wasn’t shocked when I saw it was indeed very windy. Wind was from the S at 20 mph with 29 mph gusts. Fortunately the first 17 miles of the ride was to the north so I enjoyed a tailwind most of the way to Tavola.

Weather during the bike ride: Start 85 (71% humidity), mostly cloudy, wind S 20 mph gusts 29 mph. Finish 86 (69% humidity), mostly cloudy, wind S 16 mph gusts 27 mph. My attire was shorts, short sleeve jersey with sunscreen. I am finally starting to thaw out now that the temperature is in the 80’s.

Leaving Tavola on Roman Forest Blvd. I knew the headwind was waiting for me on the trip back to Kingwood. Once I truned onto the I-69/US59 south bound frontage road the wind whipped around but held back some by the tall trees on the east side of the highway. At the FM 1485 traffic light the trees are gone and from that point on the wind was stiff. Glancing down at the Elemnt computer I saw my watts jumping to 470 and on the chart it goes to 655 as my max. I held my average speed at 14.3 mph as I rode into the wind some how. That uphill headwind happened on Valley Ranch Parkway as I rode south of the Grand Parkway. The hill isn’t steep but the headwind made it seem like it was.

After the hill the road flattens out but when I turned left onto Azalea Blvd. to go back to the frontage road I got another blast of wind all the way and my legs struggled to get power to the pedals. On the frontage road riding south the wind let up some because of the change in direction and entering Auburn Trail I was back among trees and houses.

From there to Kings Manor I had a tailwind or a headwind depending on which direction I rode. I kept my average speed at 14.3 mph until the 31 mile point when the residential streets and stop signs took their toll. I finished the ride at 1:43 PM which avoided any school traffic.

Thursday’s weather looks like more of the same and I will be on the bike.

I am starting to put some distance between 2019 YTD and 2016 and 2018. 2017 still leads 2019 though.