Me, myself and I

After last week's big ride, Kevin and I were in the mood for something a little less organised, and we agreed to head out to Sealy if the weather looked OK.  Sadly, although the forecast was reasonable, Kevin succumbed to the bug that has taken down most of his team at work, so I had a choice between joining the Mules for an organised ride or going solo.  The ride in question had a late start (9.00am, whose idea was that?) and is notorious for poor logistics, so I opted for the self-guided tour.

It made sense to start from Zube, rather than go to Sealy, as I was a lone wolf.  There are always plenty of riders in the Hockley/Hempstead area, so in the unlikely event of a mechanical I couldn't fix, I could probably get help.  I treated myself to a lie-in and showed up at Zube at around 8.00, much later than usual. There was a big youth soccer tournament in progress so of course I couldn't park anywhere near the Pavilion.

Off I went on a grey, windy morning (the wind was out of the east, a very unusual direction for this part of the world).  The lack of sunlight made it easy to read my Garmin so of course I fell into the trap of looking at it to check speed and location (as if I could get lost on this route!) every ten seconds or so.

The wind made the run out very comfortable, and it wasn't too bad when I turned south for the Exxon.  I made the usual stop and was pleased to see that I was keeping hydrated (I'm sure you can guess how I worked that out).  I was wearing my Livestrong bib shorts and my Sierra Nevada Torpedo jersey - no need for uniform when you're riding by yourself.  The bib shorts are very comfortable but you have to take off your jersey to answer a call of nature - unless your jersey has a full-length zip, in which case only one arm needs to come out.  I was delighted by this discovery - may not sound like much to you but trust me it will change my cycling life.

Pileated woodpecker (thanks Wikipedia)

Back out by the bike and a local pulled up in a pick-up.  He nodded hi then looked at the sky and asked if it was going to rain.  I told him if it did he could please come and pick me up!

Off again, this time directly into the wind, which was getting stronger.  I was glad to make the first turn south, not least because two of these dudes flew in front of me and landed on a telegraph pole.  They won't find much to eat there.  I wonder if 

they were a mating pair, perhaps on a date?

The next few miles have some climbs, but not into the wind and I did ok.  I got to Prairie View A&M and then turned east once more and settled into a good, low position for the upwind pull.  There's a barbecue place called Brubaker's right by the school entrance and they were smoking up a storm, as always - wonderful smell of wood smoke.  One of these days I'll stop for a bite.

I made the turn south into Waller feeling pretty good.  Once through Waller I turned off Business 290 and onto a smaller road that runs parallel but across the railroad.  We don't normally ride this section because there are stops signs and dogs, but as a lone wolf it made sense to be out of the traffic.  This took me all the way back to Hockley and the last mile or so.  I was glad to turn north but was surprised to find I was actually feeling pretty strong, even managing a sprint down the home stretch.  Looks like I'm finally getting into shape.