Glen Rose

This morning, in beautiful Glen Rose, Texas, I did my 22d bike rally of the year and my 443d overall. At this time of year in North Texas, you can get any type of weather, from heat and humidity at one extreme to cold rain at the other. Luckily for those of us who rode today, the weather was superb. Several hundred riders showed up at Glen Rose High School to ride. There were four courses, with 80 miles being the longest. I wanted to get home at a reasonable hour, so I decided to ride 60 miles, as I did a year ago. The only rider I recognized was my friend Randy, who lives in nearby Granbury. Randy wanted to get home in time to watch the Texas/Oklahoma football game, which started at the insanely early hour of 11:00, so his plan was to ride 45 miles. Judging from the course map, it looked as though we would be together for many miles.

I didn’t know until later in the ride that Randy and I should have parted ways almost immediately. I was supposed to go straight at a turn, while Randy was supposed to turn right. Somehow, we missed the sign. When I realized my mistake, I had to decide what to do. I wanted more than 45 miles, so I did the 12-mile loop that was for 80-mile riders. Confused? You should be. To make things worse, I made a wrong turn when Randy left me. I rode two miles in the wrong direction on Highway 67 before realizing that I was off course. I rode back and got on course. To make a long story short, I ended up with 61 miles. A year ago, evidently, Randy and I missed the same turn early on and ended up with 57.3 miles. I swear I’ll pay attention next year!

This was not the only untoward event of the day. At the start, when the riders were sent out, a woman veered into me, sending me to the pavement. I landed on my right elbow. As we lay there, she asked, “Are you all right?” I said, “I guess!” I said it in such a way as to make her feel guilty, which she was. My elbow was fine, and so was everything else, apparently, so I caught up to Randy and joked about the incident. I’m glad I fell on my right side rather than my left side, which is still sore from my accident in Crowley on 6 September. I don’t want to aggravate whatever isn’t healed in my left shoulder.

Despite these incidents, and despite the many hills on the course, I had a wonderful time. There is nothing like being on a bike in a scenic area such as Glen Rose. I wish I had pictures to show you, but I didn’t take my camera. There were canyons and mesas that reminded me of Colorado or New Mexico. There were houses built on hills. There were narrow country roads. There were pastures full of grazing sheep. There were buildings made of stone and rock. There were trees galore. I haven’t been to all of Texas, but I can’t imagine any place prettier than Glen Rose. If you ever get a chance to visit the place, do so. You won’t regret it.

I’ve done rallies in dozens of Texas towns during the past 19 years, but no rally has a hill like The Wall. A year ago, I didn’t know what to expect. Randy warned me about it, but I wasn’t sure whether to believe him when he said it was extremely steep. He wasn’t lying. This year, I was ready. Imagine standing atop a mountain and seeing another mountain across a valley. We flew down a steep hill at breakneck speed. As soon as we reached the bottom, we were climbing an even steeper hill. From the top, it looks like a hole in the trees. Once the climbing starts, you hold on for dear life. If you stop pedaling, you’re a goner. I was in my next-to-lowest gear (of 14). It was all I could do to keep my bike moving. My heart rate reached 159 near the top, just as the gradient became less steep. I lowered myself onto the saddle for a couple of seconds, gasping for air. I didn’t want to write down “159” for the day, so I got back out of the saddle and hammered to the top (where there was a rest stop manned by Boy Scouts). I reached 161 beats per minute, which is one beat less than I saw earlier this year. (My maximum heart rate, according to the formula of 220 minus one’s age, is 169.)

The entire course was hilly. The Wall was just the steepest hill. It was also windy. Depending on which direction I was traveling, I was either flying or creeping. Some of the roads were rough, which slowed my pace and discouraged me. At one point, with just a few miles to go until the finish, two women in matching jerseys got on my wheel. The one closest to me asked whether the road was that rough all the way back. I told her it was. The rough road probably slowed our pace by two miles per hour.

I passed an interesting tourist attraction along the way. There was a large building set back from the road. Out front, there was a sign that read, “Creation Evidence Museum.” I wonder what was inside. Any guesses? There were quite a few vehicles in the parking lot.

On the way home, I listened to the second half of the Texas/Oklahoma game on my car’s radio. It was the Oklahoma Sooners network. There were three announcers. One of them sounded old, and he had a drawl. He said two things that cracked me up. The first involved an injury to an Oklahoma player. The announcer said, “That fat Texas player fell on him.” How’s that for a description? Later, while discussing the Texas offense, the man referred to “that Texas player whose name I can’t pronounce.” I’m laughing just thinking about it.

I had no need for speed today. I knew the course would keep my average speed down, and I wanted to talk to Randy and have fun instead of hammering. We rode only 15.1 miles the first hour. I rode 15.4 the second. Once Randy and I parted, I fell in with two fast riders. We had a tailwind. We cruised at well over 25 miles per hour for about five miles, on narrow, winding, undulating roads. I rode 18.8 miles the third hour, which raised my average speed to 16.4 miles per hour. I averaged only 15.95 miles per hour for the final 44:00, which gave me an overall average speed of 16.33 miles per hour for 61.0 miles (elapsed time = 3:44:00). A year ago, Randy and I averaged 16.68 miles per hour for 57.3 miles.

My maximum speed for the day was 38.5 miles per hour. My average heart rate was 115, which is low. It shows that I didn’t work very hard. I did, however, burn 1,942 calories. You know what that means, don’t you? Food!

Comments

[kendra copeland]

at least you got in your 60 miles you wanted, i would have just done 45 and went home like your friend!!! thats funny about the description of the "Texas football player" !!! Everything is bigger in Texas!!! luv yas