Humidity, Sahara Dust, That Must’ve Hurt, Oh Those Tires, Splendora Bike Ride
Two days of not biking was enough. The stopped and I began today’s bike ride at 10:03 PM. The Canyon Endurace CF SLX bike and me headed north on the “Kingwood – Splendora – Kingwood” route hoping to avoid getting soaked. Today I biked 44.06 miles to get closer to my 800 mile goal for June. I now stand at 758.28 miles but this week will not be a 200+ mile one; my streak ends. This is the 3rd time this year to bike today’s route to Splendora, and the longest of the three rides.
Weather during the bike ride was warm, humid, and windy. Saharan dust lurked in the air tinting the clouds somewhat. My dark sunglasses made it seem even gloomier. Occasionally a tray rain drop hit me but not many fell; probably a humidity build up more than rain. It is bad when the humidity is a bigger number than the temperature. After finishing the ride at 1:18 PM removing my bike shorts felt like I just got out of the pool, even my socks were wet from sweat running down my legs. Bike ride weather recap: start 83 (90% humidity, 79.9 dew point), overcast with haze, wind S 13 mph. Finish 85 (84% humidity, 79.5 dew point), dust, wind S 12 mph gusts 22 mph.
Biking to Splendora helped by the tailwind made for easy pedaling. After making the turn back to the south in Splendora I expected the headwind but until I got home I didn’t realize how strong it was. I managed to improve my average speed while riding south to 14.5 mph though. The long stretches without interruption helps the average speed.
Around 39 miles after making a right turn onto Crown Haven Drive in Kings Manor a squirrel darted from the right curb startling me, hit my front wheel’s spokes, spun around the wheel, and got run over before I knew what happened. I tried to look back in my mirror to see the squirrel to determine if it was okay but nothing was there. I think the squirrel survived and ran somewhere. That must’ve hurt. Many years ago a squirrel ran into my front wheel and got flipped in the air, landed and ran off.
Yesterday during the rain I inspected the tires on the Canyon Endurace. The tires biked 7,000 miles so far and I expect to replace them soon but the wear dots still show though the center of the tread sports numerous tiny cuts. I removed a couple of tiny pieces of glass but they were not threats. The tires are Continental Gator Hardshell 700×28. They handle all of the road debris with almost no flats. I installed them 6/4/2019.
Year Progression Mileage Graph Comparing Previous Years
