Yesterday, in beautiful Granbury, Texas, I did my 15th bike rally of the year and my 461st overall. Granbury is 49.6 miles from my house in Fort Worth. There has been a rally there in April for several years, but this year it was canceled because of construction in and around the medical center where the rally starts. I assume it will be back in 2010. Yesterday's rally appears to have no connection to the April rally except a common starting area. The starting time was insanely early (7:00), but I wanted to do a rally rather than a training ride, so I rose at 4:25 to make it in time. (It cost $30.) I saw only one person I knew: George Chapman. He was in my bike club for many years.
The forecast was for hot, humid weather, with a small chance of rain. I thought it might clear up during the ride, but the opposite happened: dark clouds moved in. When I reached the rest stop in Stephenville (about 30 miles from the start), I saw the clouds behind me and asked a rest-stop volunteer whether they were coming our way. He said no, then added that I would be riding into them as I made my way north out of Stephenville. That's when I wished I had brought my new rain jacket. It wasn't going to do me any good in my car.
Miraculously, I avoided the rain. I kept looking at the windshields of the cars coming toward me, to see whether their wipers were on. If they were, then I would know that I was about to get wet. I saw no wipers. After a half hour or so, the sky before me began to lighten. To make a long story short, I didn't feel a single drop of rain in more than four hours of riding. The sun tried to peek out a few times, but for the most part it was dark and spooky. I had to curse when I left Stephenville, because I had fought a south-southwesterly wind for 30 miles. I figured it would help me on the northerly stretch. Nope. The wind shifted from the north, which meant I had headwind for the next 25 miles as well. Talk about depressing!
Despite the wind, the heat, and the humidity, I rode hard. There were many rolling hills. I got up them as fast as I could (usually out of the saddle) and then cruised down the other side. There were other riders on the long course, but I rode alone for about 95% of the time. During the second half, by which time the threat of rain had subsided, I listened to music on my Zune music player. I have my entire music collection of over 7,500 songs on this device, and I keep it set to random play. I never know what is coming up. The songs that came up were perfect for the terrain. When I needed uplift, an uplifting song (such as this one) came on. It was uncanny.
I finally got relief from the wind after about 50 miles. Once the dark clouds dissipated, the wind, which had accompanied the storm, let up. Unfortunately, the road got rough at about that time. That increases rolling resistance and reduces speed. Still, I rode hard. I kept thinking about the Taco Bell bean burritos I would eat on the way home. The final few miles were south, which meant I was riding into a headwind. I was beginning to tire by this time, so it was difficult. I wanted to keep an average speed of 18 miles per hour. I had had an average speed of 18.3 miles per hour through four hours. Luckily, there were only about three miles of southerly riding. I ended up with an average speed of 18.11 miles per hour, for 78.0 miles. (Elapsed time = 4:18:24.) That's riding time; it doesn't include my three stops. (I ate spicy peanuts at the first stop, a PowerBar at the second, and a PowerBar Gel at the third. These are things I carried with me. I also ate dill pickles and other food items at the rest stops, which were well stocked with goodies.)
My hourly splits were pretty consistent. I rode 18.0 miles the first hour, 17.4 the second, 19.0 the third, and 18.8 the fourth. I averaged 15.65 miles per hour for the final 18:24, when I was fighting the headwind. My maximum heart rate for the day was 160, which is about as high as I can get it these days. (When I was in my 30s, I could hit 190.) My average heart rate was 132. That ties a record. If you multiply 132 by 258.4 (the number of minutes I rode), you get 34,108.8. That's how many times my heart beat during the ride. Had I been resting all that time, at 46 beats per minute, my heart would have beat 11,886.4 times. No wonder I burned 2,806 calories! My engine was revving!
In case you're wondering, I ride a 2001 Douglas Titanium bicycle. I bought it from Colorado Cyclist and had my friend Joe put it together for me. I've never been happy with it, to be honest, because it rattles in various places, but it holds up well to the rigors of rough roads and inclement weather, so I suppose I shouldn't complain. I plan to buy a new bike next spring, before the rallies begin. I was going to buy one this year, but decided to wait until 2010.
Addendum: Here is the course I rode. Notice the profile at the bottom. The hills aren't nearly as steep as they appear to be on the profile. They were more like long, gradual ascents and descents. My maximum speed for the day was only 31.8 miles per hour. You can be sure that if there had been any steep descents, I would have gone into my tuck position and reached a speed of well over 40 miles per hour. I love going fast, despite the danger.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 