Full Century for a Half-Century Guy

Yep, you heard right -- it's my birthday today and I made it to the big 5-0!  Well, what should I do to celebrate?  Buy a mid-life crisis car?  Have a big party?  Do nothing?  I decided I would celebrate my good fortune by riding a century today.  For those who may not know, a "century" is a 100-mile bike ride.

I rolled out of bed today at 3:00 am hoping to get a jump on the heat knowing it was gonna take me about 6 hours on the bike to finish 100 miles.  The weather man was also forecasting strong and gusty southerly winds as the day got warmer, so I wanted to get to the most southern point of my route early.

I parked in the Gruene Hall parking lot and was rolling by 4:20 am.  It was mostly quiet as I paralleled I-35 heading south towards Randolph Air Force Base.  Nearing Randolph, the traffic began to swell in volume, so I was happy to turn onto FM 1518 and start heading towards La Vernia.

The country roads were much quieter although it was more than a little disconcerting to HEAR the dogs chasing me, but not to SEE them.  Fortunately, none of them completed a successful intercept and I rode to La Vernia without stopping.  By sunrise, I had completed 40 miles and breakfast at Whataburger sounded great to me!

After breakfast, I headed to New Berlin and then on to Seguin.  I stopped in Seguin (at another Whataburger) with 63 miles on the road realizing I was gonna have to find a way to add some distance in order to make 100 miles by the time I returned to Gruene.  Leaving Seguin, I headed towards New Braunfels flying on a strong tailwind.  Instead of going straight to Gruene, I turned right and headed towards San Marcos High School.  After the high school, I headed towards the -- you guessed it -- Whataburger across from the Outlet Mall.  After my 3rd and final rest stop, I turned south into a brutal headwind for the last ten miles to my car at Gruene.

As I rode, I contemplated a lot of things.  The one thought which kept coming to me is how fortunate I am to have the lived the life I have lived.  God has blessed me with good health and a wonderful wife who supports my cycling habit.  My own father had his first heart attack at age 50, yet today I rode my bike for 6 hours and 16 minutes with only 3 stops.  (100 miles in 6 hours 16 minutes, burned 4,571 calories, average speed 16 mph, average heart rate 136 beats per minute)

It was a good day for me and one full of hope for more grand adventures to come.  Many of my peers are on the downward slope of life, but I know I still have a lot more life to live.

And, who knows?  This may become a tradition.  We'll see about that.

Lastly, I'd be remiss if I didn't thank Whataburger for making this ride possible.  As they used to say on "Hee Haw,"  SA-LUTE!!!