Strong South Wind Couldn’t Keep Me From Reaching My January Goal
No Zwift bike ride today. A real bike ride outdoors started at 10:29 AM after I waited for the temperature to go up a few more degrees. I rode my Canyon Endurace bike headed south and east on my “Atascocita – FM 2100 – Walden” route. An overcast sky and strong wind awaited as I rolled out; 67 degrees with the south wind at 16 mph and gusts to 24 mph. It didn’t take long to feel the wind as I rode through Sherwood Trails Village in Kingwood. I dressed warm with shorts, leg warmers, a long sleeve thermal jersey, a windbreaker jacket, and my new Pearl Izumi half finger gloves. For the first 15 minutes I felt chilly but when my body heat increased I was comfortable for the rest of the bike ride.
At the beginning of the ride I needed to bike 7 miles to reach my goal for January. I biked 30.3 miles so the goal has been secured. Last January up to the 30th I rode 602 miles and I am at 635 miles this year. Maybe I will add to it tomorrow.
A couple of days ago I replaced the carbon Lezyne frame pump with Lezyne Lezyne Sport Drive HP Hand Pump Black. The carbon resin was coming off and the new pump put out a bigger volume per stroke and the size was easier to hold. Now I hope I don’t need to use it anytime soon.
With the late start I didn’t expect to see any other cyclists but they were out biking too. I saw two before I left Kingwood and more as I rode east over Lake Houston. They rode to the west. Then I saw two more on FM 1960 at Atascocita Shores Drive when I turned south they went north. Biking north along W Lake Houston Parkway three more passed me. So I wasn’t alone in wanting to ride outside.
The road construction on FM 2100 meant a u-turn when I got there rather than biking north. The headwind then changed to a side wind until I made the right turn onto Fairlake Lane to FM 1960. Biking west over Lake Houston required a firm grip on the handlebar because the wind pushed the front wheel unexpectedly numerous times. The traffic sometimes can break the wind but not today.
Strava reported this ride was harder than my usual efforts probably from fighting the wind. My max watts in Golden Cheetah was 519. higher than normal.
