SPIKE SAYS: “GNARLY DOG TIME TRIALS? 11/4 & 11/18 AT 2 PM STATE PARK. BE THERE OR ELSE ….! 

ATHENS PEA PEDDLER BIKE RIDE
October 13, 2001 by Gary Lesniewski

While many (most?) of the Tyler riders were off in Arkansas trying to find their way around in the fog, four of the club members acted in a benevolent way and with neighborly good will and went to Athens to support their efforts for the first annual Pea Peddler Ride. Dave Starrett, Gary Lesniewski, Sharon Morris, and Butch Willingham all braved the cold and rain to ride the fifty-two mile tour.

Although there seemed to be very little smooth pavement (darn that chip seal), and the hills all came close together without one of those long flat stretches we all love, it was a good ride. Considering it was their first effort, the organizers did a good job. The pancake breakfast was free and they had a turn out of around forty or fifty riders. There were riders from Lufkin, Longview, at least one from Waco, the four from Tyler (actually five. One man from Tyler is retired FBI and wants to join the club), and several from the Dallas area. (I did hear a couple of times that the Tyler B-and-B is the best anywhere. Yea, club). The ride start was held up for an hour because of strong storm cells on the course. The weather didn’t want to cooperate and it was pretty cool, windy, and damp with a little rain on the way back in. Those hot showers and free grilled burgers and sausages afterwards helped soothe tired and tight muscles, though.

They managed to have a ride during the Black-Eyed Pea Festival without being in the middle of those activities and have excellent facilities for start/finish at the Cain center. I suspect some riders could even take advantage of the indoor swimming pool afterward if they so choose. The rest stops were plentiful and well stocked with fruit, drink, and even cookies. They took photos at the rest stops with disposable cameras and are to make the photos available to the club through Galen. Some of the highway intersections should have better protection next year, and I’d guess the Athens Police Department actually will stay around next year for everyone to finish, but all in all a good start. Unless you’re in Arkansas next year, this should be a good one to mark down.

Wichita Falls' HHH Motel Odyssey
Suffered by Galén Williams and Co. 

I booked two rooms over the Internet and it was awful, what an embarrassment. Poor friends of mine. Hotel Quest.com had a good deal at the X motel and I bought it. I looked at the colorful picture that was on this website, and it looked decent. Good price and all. What a deal. 

Very soon after arrival, I knew I had stepped into the unknown. The odyssey began. We were downtown. How nice! We were just about 6 blocks from the start of the tour. Then there was an elevated highway that had been built over the top of the motel, basically, isolating it from the travelers passing through town. No wonder it was cheap. The motel had huge pot holes in the parking lot, hundreds of flies and no swatters, dozens of cigarette butts on the grounds, lots of trash cans (?), bed covers hanging on lines, and our rooms in the middle of all this. After checking in, we wound up pulling into the farthest wing, a well hidden populated corner of extended stay guests. 

Needless to say, the neighbors were NOT cyclists. The doors of their rooms were wide open with people going in and out at a steady rate. Cars were constantly going in and out think that they actually needed valet parking. The lady residents looked very, very tired and the gentlemen looked very, very busy. I saw taxi cabs bringing in more visitors, and Gary Lesniewski observed one of our neighbors selling some medication to one of the many visitors. I knew that I was going to be fired as the social director of the club. 

Roger and Frances Singleton beat us in and were enjoying the unforgettable scenery, peeking from behind the curtains in their room. When we arrived they got the courage to come outside and watch from the balcony to capture the moment of my arrival. They didn't want to miss it for nothing. I tried to become invisible. Lori Pintsch and her Mom came to check on us but didn't know at the time that they were going to be leaving with their new found cousin, Kayla Bass. Kayla's fear was that some neighbor would break into her nice red truck. Gary had the same fears as everyone else but proved to have a spirit of adventure. He said the rooms were nice compared to the motels in which he had stayed in Belize. He served as body guard, did not complain and shared our room. Since Kayla abandoned, Roger and Frances were caught moving the furniture around to secure the door. By the way, they were very impressed with the colorful ceiling fan and thanked me for the Lysol spray. 

By the second night everyone was gone, and we were upgraded to another room. This is where we were greeted by the flies and a sink with a faulty faucet. The night was peaceful. The air conditioning unit sounded like a propeller airplane taking off, but I managed to upgrade it to a jet engine aircraft flying high. 

I can say that the sheets were clean, the continental breakfast at 5 AM for cyclists only was good, and we survived. Roger lost a screw driver that some guy borrowed from him and never returned, and Eric gave away $5 to another guy who was trying to sell some stolen merchandise, because he didn't have enough to pay for the rent of his room. Since we had already paid for the room and didn't find any bedbugs, we decided to stay and not bug our TBC friends around the city. 

I filed a complaint. Watch out for these cheap motel rates. Book early. It was a fun tour, in spite of everything. We had good camaraderie and a great ride.

PREZZ SEZZ by Galén Williams

One more time... 

It's time to elect a new board of officers, and I have been informed by the nominating committee that we have two positions that are still vacant. It is very important to give continuity to our club. I sincerely hope that the new board will receive all our support and those positions that are still empty will be filled by two dedicated members. Sharing the work load is the key to the club working well. It's very rewarding. I hope new young blood comes into play to keep the pedals on this tandem moving. We'll be there to help.

This year will live in my memory forever. It has been an honor to have been able to lead such a fine group of people, our club. I have gained a lot. The time for me to step down is just around the corner, and I look forward to this "semi-retirement". How many times can we be recycled? 

I want to thank my vice president, Bill, and all the other members of the board, Tal, Zu and Sue for taking the heat together with me. That is trust! I thank Eric especially. He didn't know he would be playing personal secretary. What an advantage for me! 

I want to thank also Dave, our newsletter editor, and Jim, our web guru, for their excellent job. I always say that good communication is vital to the club. Not long ago, we found out that the percentage of the Topica subscribers was not as high as we would like it to be. Therefore, www.TylerBicycleClub.com and Spoke Signals continue to be the best way to keep our members informed. Needless to say Topica is also a great tool for communication. Thanks also to Dave Starrett, Tyler Simpson and Greg Tanner for their support in leading and supporting some of our different activities, as always. 

I would like to congratulate all the members that have been consistent in their riding and have achieved their goals, whether it be racing, training for centuries, or any other distance or speed, no matter how short or slow or what fitness level. 

We have members that will consistently show financial support and give a helping hand when most needed. To these members, my sincere gratitude, always. ... and this year is not over yet. Some of our mountain bikers are busy racing really well. I know from experience that the roadies will continue to defy the weather, adding layers of clothing and lights, or riding indoors for the days to come. In my case, I'll continue riding on the road and trails and join the spinning classes or any other class at the gym to keep my weight down and try to stay in shape. I won't give up. My goal is to be like Dave Williams when I grow up! 

Check the calendar for November and look for the Garage Sale, the Gnarly Dog Time Trials for 2001-02, the Club meeting and the Weenie Roast at Tyler State Park. In December, you must come to our CHRISTMAS PARTY at the Schofield's on the 1st and the Christmas Parade on the 6th. Wow, I'm not through, yet. Ah, Beauty and the Beast next year! 

Bye... I'll see you on the road or trail or spinning. I love you all. 

Galén

 BADWATER ULTRA MARATHON  By PAUL STONE

It's one hundred and twenty-five degrees. In late July. In Death Valley, Calif. Runners have 60 hours to go from point 'A' to point 'B' which are separated by 135 miles of hot, hard pavement. Oh, I almost forget. Throw in three climbs of at least 5,000 feet along the route. Sound like fun.

This summer, for the second year in a row, I trained and competed in the Badwater Ultra Marathon, a 135-mile footrace beginning at Badwater ? the lowest point in the Western Hemisphere (282 feet below sea level) ? and finishing approximately 9,000 feet higher at the end of the portal road leading up to Mount Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous U.S. 

In retrospect, my 2000 race was mostly a learning experience. Like the vast majority of those who descend on the dot on the map called Badwater (approximately 160 miles northwest of Las Vegas and slightly more than 200 miles northeast of Los Angeles), my primary goal in 2000 was to finish. It did not have to be pretty, I told myself before last year's race, just get there one way or another.

That's pretty much what happened. To make a long story short, my food and fluids did not interact too well with the 128-degree heat we experienced during the first 42 miles of the race (all below sea level) passing through points named Furnace Creek, Devil's Cornfield and Stovepipe Wells.

This caused me quite a bit of "down time" - not unusual in Badwater - and thus I gutted out a finish in 53 hours, 21 minutes, 20 seconds. This placed me 36th out of the 49 persons who completed the 2000 journey. 

Following that experience, I thought I might return to Badwater some day, but probably not in 2001. While channel surfing, however, last Thanksgiving, I came across a rebroadcast of the 1999 Badwater race. My eyes moistened; the fire was lit once again; and the ball started rolling for one more shot at the granddaddy of them all.

For this year's race, I had multiple goals, starting with the most attainable and then working up. 

Those goals were: (1) Finish under the 60-hour time limit; (2) Better last year's time of just over 53 hours; (3) Break 50 hours; (4) Break 48 hours which earns one a coveted Badwater belt buckle; and (5) Break 45 hours.

Obviously, running under 45 hours would require a much fitter and better prepared runner than the previous year since this would represent an improvement of more than eight hours. In examining past results, however, I felt it was not outside the realm of my potential.

In the weeks immediately preceding Badwater, I averaged running slightly more than 50 miles per week. This is a shoestring training schedule for such an event as most of my fellow participants averaged twice as much mileage.

I did, however, supplement my training by performing light exercise in a dry and wet sauna to simulate race conditions. I also drove around in the Texas summer heat with the windows rolled up and the heater going full blast when feasible. So many Badwater runners train for "distance, distance, distance," but prepare little for the unforgiving heat of Death Valley.

What transpired personally during the 2001 Badwater Ultra Marathon is almost like a blur.

I started slow; ran my own race; luckily avoided stomach problems the first day; went with no sleep; took only short breaks (ranging from nine-to-24 minutes); did not get any blisters until late in the race; and just kept plugging. Left foot, then right foot, repeat as needed…

At the first "check in" point - 18 miles into the 135-mile event - post-race information would show that I was in 44th place out of the 55 people from throughout the world who eventually crossed the finish line.

Before the halfway point of the race, I told my wife, Abby, I was feeling strong and thought I could perhaps finish in under 40 hours if the wheels did not fall off. She would later tell me she thought I was crazy, but did not articulate verbally what was going through her mind.

All Badwater runners must have a support crew of at least two persons, preferably four or more. My other crew members included Phil Hicks of Tyler and George and Erlinda Biondic, a Canadian couple we had met earlier in the year at a 50-mile race on Lake Texoma. Needless to say, a good crew is critical to one's success. 

At 11:51 p.m. Pacific time on the second day of the race , I crossed the finish line for an official time of 37 hours, 51 minutes, 21 seconds - bettering my 2000 performance by 15 1/2 hours.

This effort was good enough to place me ninth overall out of the 55 people who finished the race. In my wildest expectations, I never dreamed of finishing in the top 10 in an event of this magnitude. No one else did either, I can say with relative assurance. As the "most improved" Badwater runner, I was given the opportunity to speak at the post-race awards ceremony at a local high school gymnasium. People wanted the answer to the obvious question, "How? How did you take 15 1/2 hours off your time?"

Sure, I spent lots of time preparing to do my best. It did not have anything with finishing ninth or finishing 36th. My preparation was designed to bring me to the start line as prepared as I could be to do the best I could with what I had in the environment I was in. As former world class marathoner Juma Ikangaa once said, "The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare."

My answer rests in my Christian faith. God gave me the legs and the courage to forge ahead when everything in today's conventional, comfortable culture tells us to quit if the going gets tough. 

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." Phil .4:13.

For more information on the event and its history, please visit www.badwaterultra.com.

(I am available to speak to any group about my Badwater experiences and can be reached at pstone@palestineherald.com or 894-3788.)

Editor’s note: For the complete, unedited article check our website at www.TylerBicycleClub.com. 

Rude Dog Time Trials 2001 Final Results