I rode to work all 5 days again this week. It was 100+ degrees every afternoon on the ride home. If that wasn’t tough enough, the wind really kicked up yesterday and today. With this afternoon’s gusts close to 40 mph, it was a challenge just keeping the bike right side up.

I love riding to work.

2011 days ridden to work: 99
2011 commuting mileage: 2408.7

Commute route

I joined Greg and two tandems on my Crowley Cricket Crunch permanent today. It’s a fun route, and I enjoyed the company today. We started at 6:00 am, so weren’t out in the afternoon heat too long. I rode to and from the start, and ended up with 102.7 miles.

Crowley Cricket Crunch route

I rode to work all five days this week. It was a nice break from the wind early in the week, but it started picking up again the last couple of days. The afternoon rides home were pretty hot.

2011 days ridden to work: 94
2011 commuting mileage: 2286.1

Ok, so it was only the Burleson-Crowley Connection, the small free once a week newspaper they toss onto my driveway on Tuesdays, but I still thought it was cool. The photo was taken during the Burleson Honey Tour ride.

There was no article, only the photo and caption, and I found nothing online, so here’s a scan of the front page. Click the image for a full size image.

I rode this permanent with Steve, Peggy, Shellene, Bryan, Mark M, and Sharon today. There is some great scenery on this route, and we added lots of chatter. This is always a fun group to ride with.

The heat and hills wiped me out though, and I ended up with no strength, just turning the pedals, for quite a few miles. My Garmin showed 127.3 miles and 3700 feet of climbing. It sure felt like more on a day this hot.

Red Bandana route

It won’t be a good commuting mileage week this week. I rode to work yesterday and today, but Monday was a holiday and I have doctors’ appointments on both Thursday and Friday and will be driving to work. So on Saturday I should be well rested and ready for Steve and Peggy to rake me over the coals.

2011 days ridden to work: 89
2011 commuting mileage: 2163.6

Commute route

I rode the Burleson Honey Tour today. I did the metric century (which was really only 59.4 miles). I’ve ridden all the roads before. I liked the ride and route. Traffic control was good for the closer part of the route. Alvarado and south, you were on your own.

The wind was brutal going out and the hills slowed me coming back. I ended up with a 17.3 mph average, not a great average for me for this route, a reminder that I’m still dragging around an extra five pounds. I rode to and from the start for a total of 72.6 miles. That gives me 195 miles for the week, so not a bad mileage week. I think I’ll battle the wind from the deck of my boat tomorrow, rather than on my bicycle.

Burleson Honey Tour route

It was 50 degrees with light winds on the ride in Wednesday morning. The usual south wind had returned by the afternoon, making sure I had a headwind for the ride home.

I veered off my commuting route on the way home to go 3 miles west for a stop at the Performance Bike store. I picked up a SRAM quick link there, then pedaled down the block to Half Price Books to pick up something to read on this weekend’s DC trip.

Then I did some bonus miles south of Crowley, ending up with just over 51 miles for the day.

I rode to work the last four days. I was going to do some extra miles on the way home again afternoon, but my legs were tired, the wind was fierce, and there was a dishwasher at home waiting to be installed. So, I just rode straight home.

I’m flying to DC in the morning, so no bike rides for me for the next three days.

2011 days ridden to work: 82
2011 commuting mileage: 1992.1

I joined Susan and John, Diane and Mark, Mark M, and Chuck and did my Peachy Keene 200k permanent today. I hadn’t ridden a 200K since last fall, so figured I’d better keep an easy pace. That’s exactly what the two tandems did. Mark M and Chuck took off ahead of us at the Maypearl control, but I stayed with the tandems and their easy pace the entire ride. We finished in 9:37.

Peachy Keene route

I rode to work this morning (hey, a 50% chance of rain means there’s a 50% chance that it won’t rain, right?) The heavy thunderstorms hit here at 2:00, about an hour and a half before I get off work. At 2:30, Rose sent me this text, “I’m at home. Do u want me to come get ur a$$?” LOL

The rain was moving east fast enough that I thought it might be mostly past by 3:30, but it started training more to the northeast, and rained for hours more in Fort Worth. But at least the worst of the lightning seemed to be past, so I decided to give the ride home a go.

I made sure not to try and stop too fast anywhere, and made it home fine. As usual, the rain really wasn’t that bad until I reached Crowley, then it was a downpour the rest of the way. The bike’s fairing keeps the rain off my legs pretty well, and my hooded rain jacket keeps most of it off the rest of me.

Still, after riding in this kind of downpour, my clothes were wet enough that I just left them hanging in the garage. The good news is that Rose still rejoices at the sight of a naked man walking into the house.