I rode to the north on today’s bike ride enjoying mostly a tailwind to Tavola. Before I started the ride I watched the UAE tour. Today was the team time trial. The winning team beat out their challenger by 1 second. I watched while I ate breakfast. The teams inspired me to ride my bike but without a team.

Before today’s ride I needed 23 miles to reach my 300 mile goal for February. Today’s ride was long enough to get those miles. I rode 36.16 miles which also moved my Cervelo bike to 6033 miles since I bought it last February.

Today’s route was New Caney – Tavola – Valley Ranch. I rode through several Kingwood villages, Woodridge Forest, Brooklyn Trails on the way to Tavola. Checking the weather before starting at 10:49 AM the wind was from the SW at 10 mph and the temperature was 79, nice and warm for late February. The weather forecast said the wind would pick up during the day and it did. When I finished at 1:45 PM it was 82 degrees and the wind was from the SW at 12 mph with 25 mph gusts. I wore a long sleeve jersey and a short sleeve jersey, no jacket needed.

On the way to Tavola there were spots where I rode into the wind and my legs hurt pushing the pedals. When i reached the northbound US59 frontage road the wind was from my left rear side and my speed went up and my legs stopped complaining. When I rode into Tavola on Via Principal Parkway I went east and the wind helped me get to Aregoste Parkway. The ride to Roman Forest ended the helpful wind part of the ride. From there back to Kingwood Drive I battled the wind. At times I shifted to the 35×13 gears and when the wind was blocked I went to the 35×13 gears but not for long. My legs bogged down as the headwind pushed against me on the southbound frontage road from FM 1485 to Valley Ranch Parkway. Valley Ranch Parkway changed directions affording some let up of headwind. It was hard pedaling up the little incline from the TX 99 overpass to Valley Ranch Bend Drive. I was afraid I would have to stop at Valley Ranch Bend if the newly operational traffic lights turned red but they stayed green as I rode through. From there to FM 1314 the trees on the right blocked the wind some and I could pedal the 35×13 gears.

Back in Kingwood the houses and trees lessened the wind some plus I rode to the east and the wind was from the SW. My legs will need some recovery time after fighting the headwind.

When I looked at Strava I was surprised to see I captured 3 local legends: Local Legend on Briar Willow to Lodge, Local Legend on KPHS Sprint, and Local Legend on VR Drag. It is rare for me to get one on a ride let alone 3. In Strava I marked this as a hard ride because of the headwind.