Weather Lessons

Hurricane Dolly is beginning to approach the southern Texas coast and is causing some questionable weather to roll in. Pete has taught me the benefit of weather.com and the hour-by-hour forecast. We may actually be able to hold off the rain this afternoon, but the wind is predicted to be 17 mph.

I swing my Mom and Dad's to change into my bike clothes. Seeing how strong the wind is, Pete agrees to start from Specht store today rather than the park so we don't have to ride uphill into a 17 mph headwind. As I drive the four miles to the parking lot, big rain drops begin to fall. Not a big rainfall, but some big drops that if the clouds truly open up we could get drenched quickly. By the time I reach the parking lot, the drops are no where to be found and I can't even figure out which cloud they came from.

I had started to psyche myself up to not ride and now I'm almost disappointed not to get rained out. We walk our bikes across the parking lot and hit the road. I decided to try the route backwards. Erica pointed out she prefers the route this way because you get more of a warm-up before heading up hills and that's much more my speed. Pete takes the lead and tries to help me through the cross wind. Sometimes I keep on his wheel and in some spots (usually where there are no trees blocking the wind) I fall off the back and then push myself to catch up.

I begin to feel the effects of today's weather as I ride. I didn't think about it and left my bike clothes in the car while I was at work today. Suddenly, the heat in the chamois of my shorts is burning me from the saddle upwards. Meanwhile, the bottoms of my feet are beginning to burn. It's then that I realize it's not my riding, it's not the new bike, it's the heat my gear absorbed all day long sitting in my car in the 98 degree temperature. But, I can't decide what is bothering me more. All of that, or the pain in my hands. The palm of my hand between my thumb and forefinger on my left hand hurts and the heel of my thumb and palm on my right hand ache.

We decide to stop at the bakery and rest. I hope to cool off a bit and get the feeling back in my hands. Pete and I discuss if we should continue on or turn back. I decide we can make it the whole way and push us to the school. Once we get that far, we're half way and can make it the rest of the way. I knew we had some climbing to get to the school, but it's a slow incline, so I just keep pedaling and we get there in no time.

I'm feeling better and we keep on rolling to the next parking lot. We take another quick break and now I'm all smiles for the rest of the ride. Coming from this direction, the long incline that I always slow down on is waiting for me and this time I'm going to gain speed as I'm going downhill. In addition, I have a weight advantage that makes me gain on everyone as I go downhill. The last third of the ride is all down hill. I sit in the top gear and pedal now and then to keep myself moving at a good clip. (I still haven't perfected looking at the Garmin for my speed and I haven't pulled the data yet to know my average speed down the hill.)

We got back to the parking lot. I successfully have found yet another way to shorten this route. I think I'll have to do at least the 19 mile route next time we head out to Bullis Park. We managed to not have any rain and the wind didn't totally kill us.

Goals
Today's Miles: 9
Total Miles Achieved: 497.9
Financial Investment: $1781.14
Total Weight Loss: +1.2