After the debacle of a week ago, I was ready for an uneventful training ride yesterday. It was already hot when I got rolling at 8:03 from Mansfield Timberview High School. The wind was stiff from the south-southwest, so I girded my loins for some hard pedaling the first two hours. I usually ride in the big chain ring, but I decided to do most of my headwind riding in the small chain ring, figuring that this would save my legs.
My average speed after two hours was a miserable 13.31 miles per hour. The wind was relentless. When I reached the 41-mile mark, I ran into an old friend, Dan Driscoll, who was 71 miles into a century ride. Dan and I did Pedal the Peaks together in Colorado in 1994 and the Bike Binge in Colorado in 1995. Both were weeklong "planned ordeals." I hadn't seen Dan in several years, since he no longer does bike rallies. He does long-distance riding with the Lone Star Randonneurs. After talking for a few minutes, our courses diverged, so I said goodbye.
Within 10 miles of this chance meeting, I had to stop at a Shell station in Ovilla for water and Gatorade, since I was running low and getting dehydrated. As I sat on the curb drinking, I saw a man approach. Referring to the heat, he said, "Not a good day for cycling." I laughed and said, "It is pretty hot." Little did he know that I was enjoying myself. I wanted to tell him that I've been riding in the heat (Arizona and Texas) for 28 years. The body gets used to it.
Since my course was new, I didn't know how far it would be. I estimated 65 miles. It turned out to be 71.85. I averaged 16.00 miles per hour after the first two hours, which brought my average for the day up to 14.89. That's embarrassingly low, but I wasn't out for speed. I just wanted to put in the miles and burn some calories. All told, I was outside for 5:23:47. (Riding time was 4:49:30.) The official high temperature for the day at DFW Airport was 102º. The average wind speed was 12.9 miles per hour, with gusts to 24. I weighed six pounds less after riding than I did before.
Addendum: The image in this post (click to enlarge) was taken at the two-hour mark. I stopped on the side of Old Buena Vista Road to eat a PowerBar and take a picture.
