Preparation
In Washington, DC for the Transportation Research Board conference in the first part of January, I started riding at night on the trainers in the hotel. I decided to train for PBP, essentially with zero mileage as a training base. I hadn't ridden in several weeks after injuring my knee in an attempt to start a running program. I had increased mileage too quickly and had to stop everything for two weeks. Anyway, I was able to ride every night while I was in DC and decided to get back in shape for a try at PBP.
Once I got back home to central Texas, I started doing rides on weekends again, together with a few rides in the middle of the week. From my home in College Station I rode to Navasota and around to Carlos (a local 50 mile loop ride) a few times, although I was really nervous when I rode at night. Although no trouble during the daytime, at nighttime the passing cars bothered the heck out of me, especially around the bridges over the Navasota River where there is no shoulder. The Texas custom of pulling off on the shoulder to let others pass using the main lane was always in the back of my mind, also. I persisted in riding, though, and had built up a base of a little over a thousand miles by the time the first brevet rolled around on March 13.
Scheduling the brevets presented me with some choices. Unlike some other states, Texas has two different series of brevets to choose from. With this set of choices, you'd think that one would be close by. Both series were roughly the same distance, however, at a little over 200 miles. I started out by corresponding with Russell Hahn in Austin, Texas, regarding their rides. They were spaced very close together (in time), however, and conflicted with several of our kids' activities. He got me in touch with a friend of his in the Metroplex (the Dallas/Ft. Worth metropolitan area), Dan Driscoll, who was also putting on a brevet series. Dan contacted me and I decided to ride on his series because of the timing of the rides. Dan runs his brevets in an area centered on Mineral Wells and Palo Pinto, circling around that area. Depending on the ride, they extend as far north as Graham, may circle Possum Kingdom Lake, and go south to Hico. The countryside is generally rolling hills with a slightly lower amount of climbing per mile than PBP. Few climbs are very long, however.
200 km Brevet, 3/13/99
The first brevet, the 200 km ride, rolled around very soon, and I found myself in Mineral Wells, Texas for the start. I had been training for riding the brevets for about 3 months.
It was very, very cold and windy as we lined up ready to go. I had put on my shell parka (a Goretex knockoff long jacket with hood), a turtleneck, long-handled underwear, my fleece gloves, and new shoe-covers (purchased at great expense the evening before at REI in Fort Worth). Dan Driscoll, Rany, Scrub, and others were at the Hojo motel starting line. As we left the hotel I was very cold. I expected to warm up but the wind kept it cold all day. It was exhausting taking off into the headwind, and we were riding at 10-11 mph for the first few hours. I was quickly left behind, although I stayed with Rany and some of the others for part of the ride; it also turned out that another small group was behind me, but I wasn't aware of it during this part of the ride.
We reached the first control point with 30 minutes or so in hand, and warmed up in the laundry of the gas station. Everyone was there, sheltering out of the wind. The temperature was still hovering in the mid-30's F, and the wind was blowing hard. I finally took off after the first group left. I rode by myself most of the rest of the day, only rejoining some of the other riders briefly around mile 100. Once I turned the corner on the wind in Graham it got somewhat better, although I never really recovered much speed; I guess too much got sucked out of me in that first 3 hours of struggle against the wind and cold. I stopped at a small trailer/restaurant in a little bitty town (had a demolished mill across the street) and had a hamburger. It really was good, although I probably waited too long to eat.
The rest of the ride wasn't too eventful until I rejoined the other riders. We dropped down into some beautiful canyons south of Palo Pinto. I really regretted it when we took a really long downhill with truck warning signs, knowing we would have to regain all of that altitude. Sure enough, I hit that climb at about dark and had to walk most of the way up. I really hated to walk, but it was the only way to get up. I was too tired to do anything else. This was the first time in memory that I had walked up a hill on my bike! Oh well, I made it. 11 hours finish time, with a 13.5 hour deadline. I ended in Palo Pinto at the official completion point, and hitched a ride with the others and their support vehicles back to Mineral Wells (9 miles away). It was too cold and late to even consider riding the rest of the way. A little drizzle, a little sleet, some wind and cold and we just totally wimped out.
300 km Brevet, 4/17/99
This ride was much different from the 200 km. We rode through really nice weather, and finished at about 13 hours. I met John Haste, an Englishman who was living in Houston. We kind of fell in together, riding at almost exactly the same pace throughout the day. Had a really nice time on this ride, talking and visiting as we went. The ride was beautiful, again beginning and ending in Palo Pinto.
400 km Brevet, 5/1/99
The most memorable aspect of this ride was the long time in the saddle. I finished in 22.5 hours, out of a 27 hour deadline. We rode in to the end at 4:30 in the morning, waking up Dan Driscoll at the hotel to record our finish time. John and I rode together for most of the ride, getting lost at the end together. Somehow we missed two different turns, adding 10 km or so to the total. We also rode all the way up to the main highway in Weatherford rather than taking back roads around. We doubled back and found it, though, finishing on time. Discovered a lot of parts of country that I hadn't seen before, even though I had driven many of the major roadways in that area before.
600 km Brevet, 5/29/99
The brevet began well, with John and I again riding together. It was the first really hot weekend, though, and eventually the heat became too much for me. I had forgotten my Camelbak, and had to rely on water bottles. I didn't drink enough, and became dehydrated. When we got to Hico at around 6 pm I finally had enough and wanted to drop out. John stayed with me for an extra hour, though, and talked me into continuing. When I got to Langleville I had had enough, being dehydrated (losing 10-12 lbs), feverish, and nauseous. After finally finding a phone and talking John into going on, I called Mom and Dad. I found out from them that Aunt Nancy and Uncle Carl lived just a couple of blocks away from where I was stopped, and Uncle Carl came up to get me. I went over to their house for an hour or two until Dad got there. He picked me up and I went home with him, defeated at about 180 miles into the 375 mile course.
I was convinced that was it, with no more opportunities to ride the 600 k brevet, when Dan Driscoll called during the week. He was running a makeup ride the very next weekend. I decided to go ahead and try to ride it, even though my wife Ruby was pretty apprehensive (read: downright hacked off that I was even considering riding again so soon). I still wasn't fully recovered from the previous weekend's heat and dehydration, but I wanted to give it a try.
600 km Brevet take 2, 6/5/99
Anyway, I came back and rode the 600 km on the 2nd try on 6/5/99. I rode the first day with Dan and Rany on their brand new CoMotion tandem that they were going to take to the PBP, and one other rider, with another rider lagging behind us most of the day. The last rider dropped out after 60 miles, exhausted by the continuous headwind and too tired to continue. Did I mention the headwind? We rode the first 125 miles dead into a 15-25 mph headwind. We made it, though, and it really felt good when we turned the corner. We sped up to 30+ mph for the rest of the first day's 250 miles, and it really felt nice. I rode the evening hours with Dan and Rany. After returning to Mineral Wells, I slept 5 hours at my Uncle Richard's house in Palo Pinto. Actually I stopped in Palo Pinto on the course, slept, and then rode on down to Mineral Wells just before the cutoff so I covered the complete course on time.
Beginning the second day, I woke up my companions. Dan and Rany decided not to ride the first part because of soreness (they had ridden the complete ride the weekend before to qualify for PBP), but would meet me in Graham at the first control. The single rider rode about 5 miles until he hit the first hill and decided that walking up the very first hill didn't make for an auspicious beginning; he then returned to the hotel. I discovered this when he and his wife caught me in their Suburban. I rode to the first control in Graham OK, with a slight tailwind. A storm hit just outside Graham, soaking me but more importantly shifting the wind around as the front blew through. A huge change! Now instead of 60-70 miles of headwind after Graham, I had virtually no wind at all. After spending an hour or two in the control stop (a gas station/laundromat with very, very nice dryers to dry and warm my clothes--thanks to Dan Driscoll for the loan of a pair of shorts and t-shirt while my things dried) I pressed on.
My dad met me in the control point with some food (Mickey D breakfast stuff), and later played support vehicle as I rode the rest of the day alone. I finished at about 7:30, using 35 hours out of the 40 allowed. I was very saddlesore and tired but I had finished and was now eligible for the PBP! Now off to get a passport, book a hotel, arrange a babysitter for two weeks for our two kids, get airline reservations...and try to keep enough time for training this summer so I can finish the ride!