On Saturday bike rides I look forward to seeing other cyclists. Today I saw many more than usual on Old Atascocita Road east of FM2100 (see the video). Getting an early start at 8:12 AM on my Canyon Endurace CF 7 bike I rode through Elmgrove Village, Sherwood Trails Village, North Woodland Hills Village, Bear Branch Village, Kings Forest, and Kingwood Greens to get to W. Lake Houston Parkway. On the way to FM1960 I saw the first cyclists. As I turned left onto FM1960 the orange barrels were gone and new road stripes too their place. The shoulder was narrower for a couple hundred yards the back to normal. The wind was manageable riding east over Lake Houston. Fairlake Lane and Old Atascocita Road to FM2100 had a couple of cyclists. Crossing over FM2100 cyclists coming towards me looked like the usual ones. After I made the u-turn at Shelton Services I was surprised to see a large number of cyclists headed east followed by another smaller group. That is unusual. I’m not sure where they came from but it was great to see so many.
The route back to Walden was the usual Saturday one. Exiting Walden I rode on a new short section of the Atascocita Hike & Bike Trail to Farmingham Road. Crossing over Farmingham Road I took the Hike & Bike Trail towards W. Lake Houston Parkway. Thursday I checked on the mud under FM1960 and it was gone. I was hopeful that was still the case though it rained several times since that ride. No significant mud as I went under the bridge and up the other side. With that success I created a new route: Atascocita – Huffman – Atascocita Hike & Bike Trail. The rest of the ride went as planned and finished at 10:58 AM.
Humidity was high at the start and I was soaked with sweat when I finished. Not much wind to dry up the sweat either. Weather: Start 78 degrees, humidity 96%, dew point 76.7, a few clouds, wind variable 4 mph; Finish 88 degrees, humidity 63%, dew point 74.1, a few clouds, wind E 10 mph.
