I could’ve picked an easier day to ride my “Stroker Road – Huffman” route (actually “Huffman – Stroker Road” as I explain in the video) but I didn’t. I knew when I started the bike ride at 10: 31 AM it was going to be windy bike ride but not to the extent it turned out. The Cervelo Caledonia was up to it but time would tell if my legs were. This was the first time to ride this route since September 20th, 2021. Road construction on FM 2100 south of Old Atascocita Road kept the route off my potential route list. I found out how the construction progress was going today and you can see it in the video.

At the start the wind was “only” from the south at 15 mph with 29 mph gusts. The temperature under an overcast sky was 76. By the 1:59 PM finish the temperature moved up to 81 and the wind increased from the south to 23 mph with 32 mph gusts. Every time I rode in a direction with a “S” in it I battled the wind. The other directions east and west were tough too with north being the best direction. I dressed with shorts, a long sleeve jersey, and short sleeve jersey over that. Long sleeves for a chill and sun protection proved wise. I didn’t really notice the chilly wind both times I rode across Lake Houston. A place where the wind was most challenging came while riding south on FM 2100 and moving to the left turn lane at Old Atascocita Road. I had to stand up and pedal to increase my speed the wind was so strong.

Riding east on Old Atascocita Road the wind came from the right trying to push me to the opposite side of the road once I moved from behind the trees. I stopped at the bridge on Ramsey Road to prepare for the ride south to Stroker Road. I think I set a record for the slowest speed for that part of the ride. The headwind was so strong I struggled to keep my speed up to 8 mph and briefly hit 11 mph when some trees blocked the wind some. A couple of photos from the stop at the bridge.

Making the right turn onto Stroker Road brought some relief from the headwind. It wasn’t quite so hard to ride to FM 2100. At FM 2100 I walked from the asphalt to the sidewalk because there was a drop off from the FM 2100 concrete. Now came the time to enjoy the wind, and I did, biking north to Old Atascocita Road. I switched from the sidewalk to the closed north bound land and back to the right lane behind the barrels. It was easier turning left onto Old Atascocita Road than it was turning left. I looked forward to the smooth road on Fairlake Lane. I was saddened when I saw the damage the dump trucks did to the recently laid asphalt from the “S” curve to FM 1960. My comments in the video tell why it happened.

Biking west over Lake Houston was hard, especially where the openings under the causeway allow the wind to blow through both above and below the road. On the west side traffic was kind enough to move to the left lane to let me ride where the barriers block the shoulder to Atascocita Shores Drive. From there to Kingwood a tailwind prevailed.

With all of the wind my gear combinations from AXS.SRAM.com were limited with only 19 RD changes. I spent 1:46:05 in the 35×15, mostly into the headwind and then changed to the 35×13 for 1:12:43 with the tailwind or side wind.