Cycling

Yesterday, in Fort Worth, Texas, I did my sixth bike rally of the year and my 500th overall. I did my first rally on 30 September 1989, shortly after moving to the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex to take a teaching job at UTA. I have done as many as 31 rallies in a year (in 1990) and as few as 16 (in 2000). My goal, as I have said in this blog many times, is to do 1,000 rallies; so I guess you could say that I'm half done. If it takes as long to do the second 500 as it did the first, I'll do my 1,000th rally when I'm 75.

The rally is known as the Cross Timbers Classic. I think of it as the Flower Mound rally, because it started and ended in the city of Flower Mound for many years; but for the past few years it has started and ended inside the Texas Motor Speedway, which has a Fort Worth address. I have done the Cross Timbers Classic 21 times in the past 22 years.

When I arrived at the Speedway at 6:35, it was foggy. It wasn't cold and it wasn't raining, so I didn't mind. We started promptly at 7:30 and did one lap of the 1.5-mile track. Then we were sent into the countryside. First we did a 31-mile loop to the east of the Speedway, and then we did a 31-mile loop to the west. The first loop had many turns and a few hills (though none steep). Much of it was residential. The second loop was essentially out and back in a rural area. I preferred the second loop, though we had a headwind for the final 18 miles.

The fog lasted about an hour, during which time my glasses became covered with droplets of mist. I could barely see. Luckily for me, a train stopped the pack I was with. This gave me time to clean my glasses with my handkerchief. After that, I had no problem with mist. In fact, the sky began to brighten and by the time I got back to the Speedway after the first loop, the sun was coming out. Maybe that's why I enjoyed the second loop more!

I pedaled 17.30 miles the first hour, 18.06 the second, and 18.19 the third. My average speed for the final 40:48 was 15.97 miles per hour (thanks, headwind), which gave me an overall average speed of 17.50 miles per hour for 64.41 miles. (Elapsed time = 3:40:48.) In my first rally, in 1989, I averaged 18.65 miles per hour for 70.98 miles (in Seagoville). My maximum speed yesterday was 30.8 miles per hour. I burned 3,832 calories. My average heart rate was 108 and my maximum 141. After climbing many hills a week ago in Saginaw, it was nice to ride on mostly flat roads.

Here is what it looked like at the start (click to enlarge):

Here is a view from the track (note the steepness of the embankment):

Here is a rest stop (with cookies to die for):

Here I am at the finish, tired but happy:

My friends missed a good rally.

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Cycling