There was no bike rally yesterday, so, since my friends were busy with other things, I rode by myself. I actually enjoy riding alone. I rode tens of thousands of miles in the Saguaro Desert between August 1983 and August 1988, almost all of it by myself. It's good to be out in the middle of nowhere with just your thoughts (and music). Yes, something could go wrong on these solo outings, and occasionally it did; but I always looked upon it as an opportunity to test my resourcefulness.
I left Mansfield Timberview High School at 9:02, with the goal of riding 70 miles. I had a new course mapped out, some of which I had never ridden. The wind was oppressively strong from the outset. Because of it, I decided not to worry about my average speed. "Just work hard the entire way and let the speed take care of itself," I rationalized. (The average wind speed for the day was 20.4 miles per hour, with a maximum of 45. There were times when I could barely keep the bike going straight. I consider it windy if the average is 10 miles per hour or higher.)
As sometimes happens, I got lost. I was looking for Dunn Road, but never saw it. I rode for a few miles on gravel. (The gravel was sporadic rather than continuous.) The route was scenic and enjoyable, with many twisting turns and a few sharp hills. There were pastures, barns, and lakes in view. The road sometimes shrunk in size to little more than a cowpath. I saw hawks and buzzards overhead. "You're not gonna get me," I yelled.
I knew that if I followed the road long enough, I would run into something familiar, and I did. I ended up in Waxahachie along Interstate Highway 35. You're not supposed to ride bikes on interstates, but I had no choice. Okay, no reasonable choice. After three or four miles of riding alongside fast-moving vehicles, I exited onto Highway 287 and rode back to my car the usual way, skirting Midlothian. If you click the image in this post, you'll see some Texas prairie. I'm a sucker for a "view." I had lots of pleasant views yesterday. I can't wait to take my friends Phil and Randy on this route.
I ended up with 69.33 miles, which is close to what I wanted. My average speed was 15.17 miles per hour. To show you the effect of the wind, I averaged only 12.98 miles per hour for the first two hours. I averaged 16.88 miles per hour for the final 2:34:06. I was on the bike for 4:34:06. If you add the two stops, which totaled 14 minutes, I was outside for 4:48:28. It was warm (and still ridiculously windy) by the time I got back to my car. I was fried, but in a good sort of way. The official high temperature for the day was 89º Fahrenheit.
My average heart rate for the ride was 110. My maximum was 145. I burned 3,718 calories, which I duly replenished with food and drink when I got home. My maximum speed was 35.7 miles per hour. The ride was my longest in nearly eight months, since the 2010 Hotter 'n Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls. I hope my friends got as good a workout as I did, or else they'll fall behind!
Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D. 