Two days ago, in beautiful Mineral Wells, Texas, I did my 23d bike rally of the year and my 469th overall. I know it sounds old, but the weather was gorgeous. It was cool at the start (low 50s), which meant it would not be oppressively hot later; the sun was out; and there was little wind. Believe me, the course is hard enough as it is; completing it in inclement weather only adds to the difficulty (and misery).
Two of my friends showed up: Randy and Bryce. Randy wanted to get home in time to see his beloved Texas Longhorns play, so he opted to do the 37-mile course rather than the one I chose to do (66 miles). There was a 100-mile course as well, but it's too late in the season to be riding that far. Also, I wanted to get home in time to watch football and baseball games.
The area around Mineral Wells (which is 58.3 miles due west of my Fort Worth house) reminds me of New Mexico or Colorado. There are mesas in every direction. While these topographical features make the place visually interesting, they also make the riding hard. Up and down we went, almost from the start. Only one of the climbs—the inaptly named Cherry Pie Hill—is steep, but there are many of moderate difficulty. These climbs always keep me from attaining a high average speed. This year's rally, in fact, was my fastest ever (of six) at a mere 16.66 miles per hour. I can't blame Randy and Bryce for slowing me down (much as I would like to), because, when we parted ways in Palo Pinto, about 25 miles into the ride, my average speed was 16.4 miles per hour. I didn't go much faster than that while riding alone, though I put a lot of effort into it. I did no drafting during the ride.
My heart-rate monitor, which has worked fine all year, stopped working at the Palo Pinto rest stop. I have no idea why. I thought it might start working again, but it never did. This cost me certain data, such as average heart rate, maximum heart rate, and calories burned. Everything else on the computer worked fine, so it must have something to do with the chest strap.
I climbed Cherry Pie Hill for the fourth time this year. The previous three times were on training rides with Phil, Randy, and Bryce. Saturday's climb wasn't as bad as the others, since it wasn't nearly as hot. I took my time going up. Had my heart-rate monitor been working, I might have worked harder just to see how high I could get my pulse. When I reached the foot of the climb, one of my favorite songs came on: "Who My Friends . . . ," by Eddie Jobson and Zinc. I couldn't have asked for a better song for the occasion.
Statistically, I rode 66.5 miles in 3:59:28, for an average speed of 16.66 miles per hour. I reached a top speed of 37.3 miles per hour on one of the early descents. As usual, I had a great time, both with my friends (we laughed and carried on) and while riding alone, with my music.
Addendum: The image in this post shows a profile of the course I rode. Someone used a computer to plot elevation. Cherry Pie Hill starts at mile 51. See what I mean?
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 