I didn’t ride yesterday so I thought a longer ride (more than 40 miles) was in order for today’s bike ride. Thinking of possible routes I looked up the Kingwood – Stroker Road – Kingwood route in SportTracks. This route is very similar if not the same as the Stroker Road – Huffman route. Checking the maps for each looks the same but there are variations in the distance from 42 miles to 46 miles. On March 25th I rode the Kingwood to Ramsey Road – Walden route which goes to Ramsey Road then back to Kingwood while the Kingwood – Stroker Road – Kingwood route turns right onto Ramsey Road heading south and then turns right onto Stroker road to get back to FM 2100 and then north to FM 1960. The “U” shape from Old Atascocita Road at Ramsey Road and back to Old Atascocita Road at FM 2100 is the difference. After all of that I rode the Kingwood – Stroker Road – Kingwood route today covering 44.21 miles in 3:12:54. The ride history from SportTracks shows 5 previous rides varying from 42 miles to 44 miles. Strava matched 2 other rides with today’s ride. At the 8 mile point I reached my 650 road mile goal for March. I’m at 686.5 miles for March now.

Normally on Thursdays I rode the Cervelo Caledonia bike but since I didn’t ride yesterday I rode the Lyneksey Helix bike. This is the only time I rode the Lynskey on this route. Time to break out of the rut. I started the ride at 11:23 AM after waiting for the temperature to go up a few degrees. I remind myself that the “real” standard time is an hour earlier and the day needs another hour to reach the temperature. Checking the weather I knew it was going to be a windy bike ride but it’s March and windy days are the norm.

The wind was a problem from the start until I made the turn onto Stroker Road. I thought the wind was stronger by then and it was confirmed when I finished the ride at 2:42 PM and checked the weather. Wind was from the SE at 16 mph, up from 13 mph at the start, with 27 mph gusts. No wonder my legs complained until Stroker Road. Once I was riding west on Stroker Road the wind became my friend most of the way back to Kingwood. Even riding west over Lake Houston with nothing to get in its way the wind helped me keep my speed at 17 to 19 mph. My overall average speed increased from 13.2 mph before Stroker Road to 13.9 mph when I got on FM 2100. Weather conditions: start 69 degrees, 84% humidity, dew point 64, overcast, wind SE 13 mph; finish 72 degrees, 85% humidity, dew point 67, overcast, wind SE 16 mph gusts 27 mph. I wore a long sleeve jersey and wind jacket above my shorts keeping me comfortable.

Riding north on FM 2100 from Stroker Road the construction has mostly cleared away and I didn’t need to weave from work zone to open shoulder like I did back on the 10/22/2022 ride. The south bound lanes from Old Atascocita Road to Stroker Road are open and the wide shoulder going north meant no need to ride behind barriers. The shoulder could be cleaned though with dirt and debris in some places.

Looking at my AXS.SRAM.com ride report the 35×13 gears were used the most at 2:08:23 out a total moving time of 3:15:34 (different from Strava’s time). This was for 31.4 miles. I stopped at a farm entrance to take some photos and when I got back on the bike I used the 35×15 gears because of the strong wind. I don’t think I shifted to the 35×13 gears until I turned to the west.