I wasn’t sure what to expect when I got to FM 2100 on today’s bike ride. I also didn’t know if I would see any other bikers. The bike ride began at 7:54 AM as I rode away on my Canyon Endurace bike. I thought the route would be “Atascocita – FM 2100 – Walden” if Old Atascocita Road was closed like the flashing sign warned on my Thursday ride. Possibly the “Atascocita – Huffman – Walden” route could be an option if there was a way around concrete work.

I saw the same two bikers from the beginning of last week’s bike ride as they rode north on Hidden Pines Drive. I wasn’t prepared and fast enough with the GoPro to catch them on video. I thought they might be the only bikers I saw today. But later as I rounded the curve on Fairlake Lane 3 lady bikers came from the east. One yelled that I could walk around the closed area to get across FM 2100. The video shows the construction area. Later I saw 2 other bikers on FM 1960. I think they didn’t know they could walk around the closed section.

With the early start the temperature had not hit the 80’s yet but the humidity and dew point were high to make it muggy. By the 10:31 AM finish the temperature went up but the humidity dropped some. I still was soaked with sweat at the finish and whenever I stopped or bent my head down a stream of droplets fell to the road. Overall weather conditions: start 76 (99% humidity, 75.8 dew point), mostly cloudy, wind calm; finish 88 (63% humidity, 73.9 dew point), partly cloudy, wind SE 5 mph. cold water from my CamelBak tasted good.

The bike ride went 32.33 miles making it a 218.24 mile week. With one day left I may add to that number. Surprisingly 2021 YTD miles and 2020 YTD are equal at 6,026 miles.

Checking SportTracks I found that I only rode today’s route 3 times in 2021. I ride the similar ” Atascocita – FM 2100 – Walden” route more often due to the construction on FM 2100.

Near the end of the ride on Deerbrook Drive the rear tire developed a thumb on each rotation. I thought something stuck in the tire but a quick glance didn’t show anything. I hope it wouldn’t turn into a flat so close to home. I kept pedaling and finished the ride without a flat. At home I turned the rear tire to find a big glob of chewing gum stuck to the tire. It was sticky. I tried ice cubes to make it easier to get off but that didn’t help much. A squirt of WD-40 and a putty knife got most of it off. I followed up with a wipe and removed the remnants of the gum.

My TickrFit heart rate monitor stopped around the 4 mile point. I decided not to mess with trying to get it working and continued riding. After about a minute it started showing BPM on my Bolt computer. Good thing I ordered a replacement.