I just ran 3.1 miles in 104º heat, but the subject of this post is another of my sports, cycling. Thirty years ago today, on 9 August 1981, I bought my first bike, a blue Sears Free Spirit. It cost $125, counting sales tax. I rode 30 miles the day I bought it, according to my journal. My average speed was 12 miles per hour. (Whether that included stops, I don't know.) The fastest I've ever gone on a closed loop (average speed) is 25.34 miles per hour, during a 35.2-mile bike rally in Dallas on 6 May 1990. I have averaged over 20 miles per hour many times in the past 30 years, including at the Hotter 'n Hell Hundred in Wichita Falls.
In 30 years, I've pedaled 68,884.9 miles. That's an average of 2,296.1 miles per year, 44.0 miles per week, and 6.28 miles per day. The Earth is 24,901.55 miles in circumference at the Equator, so you can say that I've pedaled 2.76 times around the Earth.
I've had four bikes: the Sears Free Spirit mentioned above; a bike that was put together from parts by a Tucson bike shop; a red Schwinn 564; and my current bike, a Douglas Titanium TI. The Douglas is more than 10 years old now, so I'm due for a new bike in the next few years.
I began running (in earnest) in September 1996, which is almost 15 years ago, so I've been a cyclist twice as long as I've been a runner. I love both sports dearly and can't imagine life without them. In case you're wondering, running is much harder than cycling. (After running the 2006 New York City Marathon, seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong described it as "without a doubt the hardest physical thing I have ever done.") I have fun on the bike. I have never had fun while running. Indeed, it's fair to say that I hate running; but I love having run.
