Two days ago, in beautiful Grandview, Texas, I did my 10th bike rally of the year and my 482d overall. Most of my friends were busy with other things, such as hiking in Wyoming and recreating in Uvalde, so only two of us showed up. The forecast was for rain (50% probability), which was quite a contrast from a year ago, when it was sunny and hot. Randy and I decided to do the long course, which we were told was 69 miles. I could see by the map that there were two loops, one to the east of Grandview and one to the west. Randy and I rode side by side for a while, with several unknown riders behind us. All of a sudden, we were back in Grandview. I knew that it should have taken more than 48 minutes to do the eastern loop. We must have gotten off course along the way. Amazingly, we ended up in Grandview instead of in some neighboring town!
A police officer saw us staring at a map along the roadway and kindly showed us the route out of town so that we could do the western loop. We decided not to try to make up the lost miles. "Whatever we end up with, we end up with," I told Randy. At a couple of the rest stops, we were told that we were the first riders to appear. Ha! So that's what it feels like to lead a race or rally. I felt sorry for the rally organizer, because the threatening weather decreased turnout significantly, and the money was to go to a good cause. That's why rally organizers should give large discounts to those who register in advance. People who wait until the day of the rally to pay can decide to stay home if the weather turns out bad. Those who pay in advance are out of luck if they decide to stay home. Giving riders a price break for registering by mail is a kind of insurance (against bad weather) for the rally organizer.
It was a depressing ride because of the gray sky and high humidity. It drizzled a few times, which made the road treacherous. (There were many turns.) Give me sunshine any day! We also had another problem: dogs. In a typical rally, there might be two or three troublesome dogs, understood as dogs who either race toward the road, frightening everyone, or actually get on the road. I do not exaggerate when I say that there were at least 50 troublesome dogs in this rally. It was unbelievable! Every house, it seemed, had two large dogs. Even fences didn't stop them. Twice we saw dogs running toward a fence. We figured we were safe. No! The dogs slithered under the fences and came at us. It was like being in a war zone against a relentless and resourceful enemy.
We were totally freaked out (not to mention stressed out) by this show of aggression by the local canines. They obviously didn't want us in their territory. But seriously, I have no explanation for the number of dogs on the route. It was no different from any other rally, as far as the type of road is concerned. If I didn't know better, I'd say that there's an ordinance requiring every household in and around Grandview to have at least two large, menacing, unconstrained dogs. Can anyone explain it?
Statistically, I averaged 16.68 miles per hour for 48.1 miles. (Elapsed time = 2:52:56.) I burned 2,763 calories, according to my Garmin Forerunner 305. My average heart rate was 104 and my maximum 143. The average wind speed for the day was 10.1 miles per hour, which I consider windy. I told Randy at the finish that I'm usually happy to have stayed upright during a rally. Saturday, I was delighted to stay upright.
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 