Two days ago, in Mesquite, Texas, I did my eighth bike rally of the year and my 454th overall. Some of you may recall that I cut this rally short in 2008. I was sick (with food poisoning) and couldn't finish. I ended up with 19.6 miles. This year, fortunately, I felt better. The turnout was stunning. Vehicles were pouring into the parking lot of the Mesquite Championship Rodeo long after I parked my car, and even long after I returned to my car from the registration area. It's great to see so many people excited about cycling. I've been doing rallies for nearly 20 years. There is as much enthusiasm for the sport now as there ever has been.
The rally brochure said that there was an open start between 8:00 and 8:30. Unbeknownst to me, the rally website said that the open start was from 7:45 to 8:30. As I made my way through the crowd of cyclists at the start, I heard someone say go (or shoot a gun) and saw riders leaving from the front of the pack. It was only 7:46! Since I hadn't yet found my friends, I didn't know whether they were in front of me or behind me. I guessed in front, since that's where most of the people were. I reasoned that if I rode at a brisk pace, I'd catch them. Several miles out, one of my friends, Troy, came by in a pack. I asked where the others were. He indicated that they were behind. This was good to know. I rode to the first rest stop, pulled over, and waited. Five to 10 minutes later, there they were.
We rode the rest of the way together. We caught up to Troy eventually. The weather was beautiful: sunny, warm, and not too humid. The average wind speed for the day, I later learned, was 13.8 miles per hour, which I consider windy. Thank goodness the wind was out of the south, which meant headwind for the first half of the ride and tailwind for the second half. Also, the wind tends to pick up as the day wears on, so it's in a cyclist's interest to fight the headwind first. (The official high temperature for the day, which we reached in the afternoon, was 93º Fahrenheit.)
I covered 19.5 miles the first hour. The course is flat (as rallies go), so it was easy to sustain a good speed whether riding in a pack, riding at the head of a pack, or riding side by side with someone. I can tell that my legs are getting stronger by the week. I'm also building endurance with each ride. Before long, I'll be able to ride 100 miles without suffering. I did three centuries in 2008 and hope to do the same three in 2009. My friends and I stopped about 90 minutes into the ride. I like rest stops. They're bustling with activity. Usually, there are two or three port-a-potties. Volunteers have tables set up on the side of the road. Some are covered with canopies. There are five-gallon containers of water and sport drink on the tables. Typical fare includes bananas, sliced oranges, cookies, and salty foods such as pretzels. Sometimes there are additional fruits, such as plums, pineapples, or watermelon. Sometimes there are energy bars, muffins, or dill pickles. Riders appreciate the goodies. As you stand at a rest stop, you hear people shout "Thank you!" to the volunteers as they resume riding.
I got stronger as the ride went on. This is probably because I don't warm up. My "warmup" is the first 10 or 15 miles of the rally. It also takes a while for my lungs to open up. It's hard to explain what that means. Suffice it to say that it takes a while for my breathing to become smooth and efficient. I covered 18.8 miles the second hour, which gave me an average speed of 19.15 miles per hour for two hours. By this time, we were on our way back to Mesquite—with a tailwind. Joe, Julius, Dave, Troy, and I were having fun. Most of the time, there were other cyclists around us. Some would share the work at the front; others would hang on for as long as they could before dropping off. We caught people and were caught by people. I typically say "Howdy" to those I pass. It's a greeting I learned during my year of teaching at Texas A&M University.
I rode 20.7 miles the third hour, which gave me an average speed of 19.66 miles per hour for three hours. I was happy with this, because it shows that I'm in good shape (or getting there). I hammered during the final half hour or so. Only Julius and a couple of strangers in their 20s or 30s could stay on my wheel. I averaged 18.11 miles per hour for the final 15:14 of the ride, ending with an average speed of 19.54 miles per hour for 63.6 miles. What a difference a year makes! I went from sickness to hammering in one year.
My maximum heart rate for the day was 158, which occurred on flat ground while pushing the pace near the end. Until then, I had seen only 153. My average heart rate was 125. My maximum speed was 32.9 miles per hour, which shows that the course wasn't hilly. I burned 1,942 calories. Afterward, my home boys and I sat in the air-conditioned exposition building eating, drinking, and comparing notes. There were no accidents and no mechanical problems. In other words, it was a perfect day.
