On our own this week

So, this week, we had a choice to make. We could repeat the ride we’d done three weeks in a row or we could make up our own ride. The choice was pretty easy for me. I was bored with Katy. I think it was also pretty easy for Stephen. I explained to Nathan that we wouldn’t have SAG support or rest stops. He informed me that we didn’t need SAG support. All right then. We mapped a 20 mile out and back route from our house out to Fry Road (which is in Katy – but it’s not as far out as all the other riders were going to be – and it was on the hike and bike trail that we like so much.

Erin was fighting a bad cold and had an opportunity to attend an AP test prep session for Biology. So, this week, it was just me and Stephen and Nathan. Nathan had last ridden on Wednesday night when Stephen and he did some interval training in the neighborhood. I’d last ridden on Thursday morning before work (which made for a very long Thursday). While Stephen and I had logged 36 miles last weekend, Nathan had been playing baseball. So, his longest ride so far had been 28 miles. This weekend we were hoping to do 40 miles.

We set out from the house around 8AM. We rode up through the neighborhood and onto the bike trail. On Thursday, I’d gone out as far as Highway 6, a 10 mile out and back route. We continued on past the dam at Highway 6 and paralleled I-10 for a few miles. Then we headed south into George Bush (the less disastrous one) Park. This was the windy leg and Stephen and I worked to keep Nathan protected and spinning along as best we could. Stephen really did most of the work on this leg. I don’t think I was in front more than a mile or so. Then we headed back west. We rested at the FFPS soccer fields, where Nathan had some of his custom-made trail mix (cashews, plain m&ms and goldfish). I was glad I had my camelback (a purchase a couple weeks back). The day was the warmest we’d had for riding thus far. All four of us were in single layers by the time the ride was over.

Once we got out to Fry Road, we turned back and headed toward home. We witnessed a bike-dog accident shortly into our return trip that was SO preventable that it made me boil. The dog was on a leash attached to a kid (maybe 10, no helmet) on a bike. As the cyclist approached, the dog saw something on the other side of the trail that just had to be investigated. So, the leash tripped up the cyclist and she went pinwheeling. She ended up with a flat, a very sore leg and a REALLY achy week ahead. I confess that I scolded the child’s mother when she appeared.

When we got back to the north-south leg, the wind was at our backs, so I pushed Nathan to ride in front of me and told him he had to go between 15 and 18 mph for the whole leg. He LOVED it. Unfortunately at the end of that leg, when the wind was on our side and pretty strong, we still had about 13 miles to go before we got home. So, we reorganized and Stephen took the brunt of the wind for the team.

We made it home some time around noon. It was a great ride. Pretty scenery, (great company) and 40 miles accomplished. Nathan has another baseball commitment this weekend, so it’s Erin and Stephen and me out in Sealy, Texas. The long ride is 41 miles. We’re planning on doing that one. The short one (30 miles) is for wimps! Shoot, now I’ve set myself up, haven’t I?