Yesterday, in beautiful Greenville, Texas, I did my 20th bike rally of the year and my 466th overall. I went to Greenville for the first time in 1989, just a month after I bought my Schwinn 564. I have many great memories of Greenville. In my first rally, I hammered so as to average 20 miles per hour. Two men stayed on my wheel for many miles. At the finish, one of them said, "You were hurting us." I laughed. The next year, I had a flat tire in the final couple of miles. A decade or so ago, we got caught in torrential rain. Police officers pulled riders off the course because of lightning. One year, it was bitter cold and windy, so I rode a short course of 45 miles.
I told myself before yesterday's rally that I would take my time and have fun. No suffering! But, as often happens, I got caught up in the moment and hammered. I went out reasonably hard, riding in packs or pacelines most of the time. When my friends Julius and Marc caught up, I went with them and their pack. We had a slight headwind, but the pace was high. I made sure that I did my share of the work at the front, if not more than my share. I felt good. I had 19.4 miles at the one-hour mark. Some time in the first hour, we caught the female racers, who left before the rally riders did. This happened a year or two ago as well. It was pretty impressive to see one large pack catch and pass another. The women must have wondered who we were.
I knew I couldn't sustain this furious pace the entire way, but then, I didn't intend to. My plan was to stop in Leonard. Julius stopped with me. This rest stop had ice-cold cantaloupe, which was delicious. There were also purple grapes and watermelon. I gorged myself with fruit, used the portable toilet, chatted with our friend Don, and headed out with Julius. I told him that I had gotten my workout for the day and was ready to "take it easy." He wanted to do the same. I should mention that Julius is 62 years old. He rides like a 30-year-old. I hope I can ride that well in 10 years.
Julius beat me up one of the steep hills north of Leonard and I never saw him again. I thought I'd catch him, but I never did, even though I kept up a good pace. By this time, it was starting to warm up. I chatted with other riders as I passed them, or they me. One woman had an interesting accent. I guessed that she was a Kiwi (from New Zealand). She laughed and said she's Canadian. I told her that I'm from Michigan, "which is almost Canada." Later, I talked to a woman who had just done her first Hotter 'n Hell Hundred. I told her that I've done 20 of them.
I put my earphones in about halfway into the rally. This made the miles go faster. I stopped again in Bailey, where I ate my spicy hot peanuts and gorged again on cold fruit. About 10 miles later, I turned south with a tailwind. Even though the roads were rough for much of the way, I hammered. The music helped. I watched my average speed rise from 18.7 miles per hour to 18.8 to 18.9 to 19.0. Once I reached 19.0, I was determined not to lose it. You have no idea how much I suffered just to be able to write "19"-something in my log. I got out of the saddle on every hill and tried to stay over 20 miles per hour on flats. Sometimes I went 23 miles per hour, and even saw "26" for a few seconds. It was like a time trial.
When I reached the finish line, in downtown Greenville, I turned off the computer. I ended up with 19.03 miles per hour for 63.0 miles. (Elapsed time = 3:18:34.) Yeehaa! Having suffered as much as I did, for over an hour, it would have been painful to have to write "18.99" in my log. Two years ago, I averaged 19.08 miles per hour on the same course. A year ago, riding with an injured shoulder, I averaged 18.77 miles per hour. In 1989, which was my fastest Greenville rally, I averaged 20.19 miles per hour. I was 32 then; I'm 52 now. Who's getting old and slow?
My maximum speed for the day was 34.1 miles per hour. My maximum heart rate was 159 and my average heart rate 131 (one beat below my record). I burned 2,154 calories. During the first two hours of riding, I averaged 18.65 miles per hour. During the final 1:18:34, I averaged 19.62 miles per hour. All of the latter was done alone, with music. Yesterday's rally was my third fastest of 20 this year. The official high temperature at DFW Airport was 86º Fahrenheit. It was probably in the high 60s at the start and in the 70s throughout the rally. The average wind speed was 5.2 miles per hour. All in all, the weather was terrific. I had fun and stayed safe. To me, that makes it a successful rally.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 