SPEEDING TICKET

24 May 2003

I didn't get a speeding ticket.

I really wanted a speeding ticket.

As we went over the overpass and onto campus, I looked at the spedometer and realized I was doing 16 mph (yes, on my bike). The speed limit on campus is 15 mph.

The thought has crossed my mind, from time to time, in the months Cindy and I were doing the daily rides, that it would be an amazing thing to be stopped and be given a ticket for speeding on a bike.

Cindy is still recuperating from her knee surgery and I'd been slacking off. I would find excuses each day not to go riding until Walt finally decided he'd go with me. So he's been riding with me for the past two weeks, dragging me out when I really didn't feel llike it, and I'm getting those pedal-legs back in working order again.

When the wind isn't blowing, you can really get moving. Of course, I realize that for a seasoned biker like Haggie (poor Haggie--go read this entry and weep with her), 16 mph is a snail's pace, but for me it's really flying.

When I first started biking, I would go about 9 mph with spurts up to 10 mph. 11 was really movin'. As Cindy and I got into our routine, my comfort increased, my legs got stronger, and my speed increased. Our average speed has been creeping up and it's now 12 mph more often than not--and if it's less than that when we enter the last leg of the trip, I go through a speed burst so I can get home with an average speed of no less than 12.0 mph.

One wonderful day we did the circuit in 37 minutes with an average speed of 12.9 mph. That was our top speed, and we hadn't duplicated it by the time Cindy went in for her surgery.

Never in my life did I imagine that numbers like this would start mattering to me. That I'd start thinking in terms of tenths of miles and clipping seconds off of the total time. But I am, I do, and I love it.

Today the weather was absolutely perfect when we set out at 6 a.m. It had been so warm that I was debating about whether to wear shorts or long pants. I opted for shorts and was glad that I had, despite the bit of chill as we first began.

There wasn't any wind, so we were able to make good time.

As we reached Russell Blvd, which is a mile-long stretch of bike path, with a barely perceptible downhill slope (I only know it's "downhill" because it's always easier to pedal on that stretch), I started to speed up. A couple of days ago, I was pushing it to see if I could get up to 16 mph, but never did. That day there had been a slight headwind. Today with no wind, I reached 16 mph easily and then to my amazement took it faster. I hit 16.7 mph at my highest without hardly being out of breath. What a glorious moment!

That little sprint, and keeping the overall speed faster in most spots meant that by the time we got home, we had broken the former record. We had made the tour in 36 minutes, a full minute faster, and had averaged 12.9 mph, only the second time I've gone that fast consistently.

But there was nobody there to catch me zip through campus at a law-breaking 16 mph, so I have no proof that I did it.