The days of blue sky ended today but the warm temperature didn’t. Rotating the bike direction to the south and east I started at 11:09 AM. I rode my Lynskey R300 bike as I set out on my “Atascocita – Walden – FM 2100” route. Monday I tired to ride this route but traffic was backed up on Fairlake Lane when I got there. No such problem today. The bike ride went 34.13 miles boosting my week total to 98.63 miles and the month to 447.11 miles. I need 53 miles to reach my combined goal of 500 miles though this will not be the breakdown I planned. In February 2020 I biked 644.11 miles. I can get closer to that number but not beat it. Last year I rode the Jalapeno 100 on the 29th which made a big contribution to the 644 miles that won’t happen this year. Maybe 2023. Today was the second time riding this route in 2021.

I rode east of FM 2100 to add to the ride distance to get over 34 miles which is longer than usual for this route. I altered the early part of the route to increase the distance.

Once we got rid of the winter storm from last week this week’s weather is trying make up for the cold with spring like weather. Weather conditions today: start 74 (72% humidity, 64.3 dew point), overcast, wind SW 8 mph gusts 17 mph; finish 78 (64% humidity, 65.2 dew point), overcast, wind SW 7 mph gusts 17 mph. Much more wind to contend with on today’s bike ride. With the warm temperature I was tempted to alter my kit but thankfully I resisted and wore shorts, long sleeve jersey, and a windbreaker jacket. The jacket kept me from getting clattering teeth both times I cross Lake Houston today. The wind was very chilly as it blew off of the lake water unlike Monday. The gusts tried to work me over but the route turned to the east just in time for my legs to recover. The ride back to Kingwood spent less time with a headwind. Before the ride I stopped as I walked out the gate and aired up the tires on the Lynskey to 80 psi. This improved the rolling resistance reducing the pedaling effort some. I could feel the difference as each pedal stroke moved the bike forward and the bumps were crisp.

I found a website that creates a Zwift like photo from any photo you upload. Zwiftirl.com. Here is one from today’s bike ride.

Bike ride summary from Golden Cheetah.

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Time spent in power zones 1 and 2 totaled 53% of the ride time, up slightly from yesterday. My max average speed was 13.8 mph, max power 425 watts, and average power 106 watts.

Strava assessment of the bike ride, “This was consistent with your usual efforts.“