March wind played havoc with today’s bike ride. It all began at 11:25 AM as I rolled away on the Cervelo Caledonia. I chose the “Atascocita – Walden – Huffman” route going south and east. The sun was out and the temperature hung at 67 degrees. The wind was friendly getting to FM 2100 mostly but getting back to Kingwood was a battle. After riding 33.68 miles my legs were toast from fighting the NW 14 mph wind and 24 mph gusts. Whenever I got out in the open the wind pushed me whatever direction it wanted. I finished at 2:02 PM one tired cyclist.

299.9 road miles so far in March, 46% of the way to my 650 mile goal. Making up lost miles from last week’s chilly weather.

This marked the 5th time biking this route in 2022. Today’s ride fit the average of the other 4 times. Not sure if the other 4 rides endured the March wind like today.

A big surprise when I made the turn onto Fairlake Lane as you can see in the video. Rough road for about a mile. I’ll need to give the repairs some time to fix it. Almost like gravel without gravel.

Not the only cyclist out today. You can see him in the video.

A pleasant surprise at Atascocita Shores Drive and FM 1960. Check the video.

I dressed warmly with shorts, a new Bellwether Charcoal Alterra long sleeve jersey under a Bellwether wind jacket. In the beginning my legs were chilly but after a couple of miles and some sunshine they warmed up. The wind jacket made a difference. Weather conditions: start 67 (humidity 46%, dew point 45), fair, wind NW 12 mph; finish 71 (humidity 40%, dew point 46), fair, wind NW 14 mph gusts 24 mph.

Looking at the AXS.SRAM.com activity report for the ride I shifted the RD 26 times. The most used gears were 35×15 for 1:15:55 and 35×13 for 1:05:51. The 35×15 was on the way back to Kingwood into the wind. A tailwind allowed me to shift to the 35×13. I think I am shifting more because it is easy to.