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

This is a special day for me. Although I bought my first bicycle on 9 August 1981, when I was 24, and although I rode around Michigan in 1982 and across Arizona in 1984, I didn't start riding in earnest until 25 years ago today: on 26 May 1985. I went out into the Sonoran desert to take my mind off a woman. The ride did me good, both mentally and physically. I did the same 40-mile ride the following week, and then again. To make a long story short, I haven't stopped! I have pedaled 63,092.5 miles in the past 25 years, which is an average of 6.9 miles per day, 48.3 miles per week, and 2,523.7 miles per year. My best cycling year, in terms of mileage, was 1990, when I pedaled 6,205.9 miles. I did 14 centuries that year. I've ridden alone and in fast-moving packs, on flat ground and over mountains, wearing cutoff shorts and fancy cycling gear, in brutal heat and bone-chilling cold. I've enjoyed every mile of it.