Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

8-12-89 . . . Yesterday’s disappointment at missing a speed record by three seconds was short-lived. Today I shattered Thursday’s mark of 19.41 miles per hour with an average speed (for thirty miles) of 20.33 miles per hour. That’s four minutes, twelve seconds faster than my previous best time! The funny thing is, when I set out this afternoon, I had no intention of trying for a record. It puts too much pressure on me. But I pedaled hard for the first ten miles anyway, and was pleased to see that I had averaged over twenty miles per hour. There was little wind. I resolved to maintain the effort in case I felt good at the twenty-mile mark and wanted to make a run for the record. Sure enough, at the one-hour mark I had ridden 19.95 miles. My sights soared. In fact, since I’ve been averaging between twenty and twenty-one miles per hour during the third ten-mile segment all week long, I knew that I had a good chance to break the twenty-mile-per-hour mark for the first time. From that point on, there was no stopping me. It could be ages before I get another chance at this coveted figure. I hate to say it, because it makes me appear to be arrogant and uncivilized, but I have a killer instinct on the bicycle. There’s nobody in College Station who could have stayed with me during the third ten-mile segment. I was a cruising machine. My average speed for the third segment was 21.13 miles per hour—on a windless day! I’m tickled to have broken the magical “twenty barrier”. Also today, I passed the 15,000-mile mark for all-time riding (15,008) and reached 2000 miles for 1989 (2000.8). Tomorrow’s fifty-mile ride will be my last in College Station.