Yesterday, in beautiful, historic Cleburne, Texas, I did my 12th bike rally of the year and my 484th overall. The rally is known as Goatneck, though nobody knows why. Yesterday's was the 23d edition. I've done 18 of the past 21, missing three in the early 1990s because of vacations. The rally course has not changed since I started going, with one exception. There used to be an old-fashioned bridge over the Brazos River. It was bumpy and dangerous. This bridge was replaced by a modern bridge about a decade ago. When a rally course doesn't change, you can compare your speeds over the years to see whether you're getting faster or slower. I've had four fast Goatnecks in a row.
Several of my friends showed up, plus many acquaintances. There's a fellow named Keith who's about a year older than I am, so naturally I call him "Old Keith." He gets a kick out of it. The forecast was for sunshine and heat, and the meteorologist didn't disappoint. The official high temperature for the day at Dallas/Fort Worth Metropolitan Airport was 102º Fahrenheit. I was done riding before the high was reached, but that doesn't mean it wasn't scorching during the ride. When you add wind and hills to the mix, you get one difficult rally.
The first hour was fun. We talked to each other at over 20 miles per hour, watching for accidents and road imperfections ahead of us. I pedaled 19.81 miles. The second hour was also fun, especially riding through Glen Rose. This town has many stone buildings and fences which make it quaint and rustic. If you're ever in the area, check it out. Katherine and I drove there for lunch on 2 January, when the air was clear and cool. I pedaled 18.17 miles the second hour.
By then, we were feeling the heat. I pedaled only 16.82 miles the third hour, much of which was either into a headwind or on hilly roads. My average speed for the final 48:19 was 18.19 miles per hour, which gave me an overall average speed (for 69.45 miles) of 18.25 miles per hour. (Elapsed time = 3:48:19.) My maximum speed for the day was 39.1 miles per hour. My average heart rate was 115 and my maximum 157. I burned 4,076 calories. This rally is my third-fastest of 12 in 2010, so I'm happy with it.
We saw one bad accident along the way. Before we reached it, we heard a siren behind us. An ambulance flew past as we hugged the right shoulder. When we crested a hill, we saw that the road was all but blocked by vehicles, two of which had lights flashing. Riders were being stopped and then allowed through in single file. As I passed through the gap, I noticed two riders down on the right side. One was already secured on a stretcher; the other was sitting up in the grass with technicians attending to him. I don't know what happened, but someone must have done something wrong. Perhaps it was a touch of a wheel brought on by inattention. Bicycling is not for the faint of heart.
My friends and I made it in safely, having stopped for a total of 58 minutes at rest stops and to fix a flat. We talked a bit afterward under an awning before going our separate ways. Long live Goatneck!
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 