I shifted the starting location south for today’s bike ride to get passed the bridge repair area on W. Lake Houston. The bike ride covered roads I rode but with the different starting location I wasn’t sure how long the ride would be. It ended up at 30.61 miles which put the week’s total at 191.35 miles, putting 200+ miles for the week within reach. The label for today’s ride< “Kings River to Hare Cook Road to Kings River”. I parked the Jeep at the pool on Kings River Drive.

Driving to the pool I passed a biker riding south on W. Lake Houston Parkway headed to the detour over the river. Later as I unloaded the Canyon Endurace from the Jeep he rode by on Kings River Drive. I understand riding south on the shoulder over the bridge but I wonder how he will go back north with the narrower shoulder.

Weather during the ride: start 78 (75% humidity, 69.7 dew point), partly cloudy, wind S 10 mph. Finish 85 (58% humidity, 69.0 dew point), mostly cloudy, wind S 9 mph. I decided to wear a long sleeve jersey, a short sleeve jersey, and shorts. Starting the ride at 9:19 AM the temperature and wind made me think the long sleeve jersey would be necessary but I it was not needed. By the time I finished at 11:37 AM I knew the long sleeve jersey was not needed. While the wind didn’t register that high it was hard pedaling south on Ramsey Road but helpful when I started biking north on FM 2100 to Huffman. It helped me raise my average speed to 15.1 mph. Cutting out the streets in Kingwood allowed to get my average speed to 14+ mph from the start. That way I was not trying to overcome the slower speeds.

FM 2100 construction is getting underway to widen it to 4 lanes from Crosby to Huffman. When I made the right turn from Hare Cook Road onto FM 2100 I was concerned about the shoulder. When I approached Foley Road concrete barriers on the right side of the road began but were far enough to the right to leave space for me to ride. Dirt and construction stuff made for a rough surface at times though. By Stroker Road the barriers ended and the shoulder width widened but in the future riding on FM 2100 south of Spanish Cove will be a problem. Road construction is playing havoc with my routes!

From Huffman to the Kings River Pool was about 6 miles. Biking west on FM 1960 the wind from the south made for hard pedaling whenever the traffic was absent. Once I turned onto Atascocita Shores Drive and to the pool pedaling was easier except for the short climb just before the pool.