OFF THE RECORD

Charting a New Path–at High Speeds

By Hannah Sibiski

After twenty years as a practicing criminal defense attorney, Ned Barnett took a ride that changed the course of his daily life. After several years riding in the MS150, Ned decided to try a competitive bike race. On May 1, 2010, he raced competitively for the first time in a 65-mile road race – and placed fifteenth out of about 100 riders, many of whom were young enough to be his children rather than his competition. Ned was off on a new, high-speed adventure.

Training with professional coaches and racing around the country, Ned has a new passion that fills his early mornings and weekends. Ned usually starts training at 4:30 each morning, riding his own bike on a set of rollers that allow him to train indoors without sacrificing the quality of his training. He has attended camps with Lance Armstrong's coach Chris Carmichael, and he works with trainers who analyze the data from his bike rides – including the speed his bike is moving, the rate his heart is working, and the power with which he is peddling – and provide detailed assessments of how he needs to change his training and his racing strategies. And that's just during the week.

Ned spends his weekends racing – and winning. In the mere four months since his first competitive race, Ned has competed in more than 25 races and also participated in countless charity rides. He competes in every kind of bike race there is – from long road races of 100 miles or more to shorter criterium and time trial races. He rides two bikes, one of which is identical to the winning bike in the Tour de France last year and the other of which is identical to the bike that took second.

Ned participates in these races individually and through his team, the Gulf Coast Cycling Association ("GCCA"), which is sponsored by Toyota and others. GCCA teammates enter races together and develop a team strategy to win as a team – they plan their positions and their procedures for the race before the race ever starts.

At 49, Ned often is one of the oldest participants in a race. Yet he regularly beats 26-year-olds. Next year, at 50, Ned will begin racing in the highly competitive over-50 races. He is training hard to be ready to defend his growing reputation as the rider to beat.

Ned has even won some money – granted, not enough to cover the motel room he used between race days – but certainly more than enough to feed his competitive spirit. In racing, Ned has found a semi-professional hobby that only looks unrelated to his day-to-day life as a lawyer. The dress codes may be different, but Ned's goal is the same – whether in the courtroom or on his bicycle, Ned is focused on streaking ahead and leaving the rest of us eating his dust.

Hannah Sibiski practices commercial litigation and appellate law with Watt Beckworth Thompson & Henneman, L.L.P. She chairs the HBA Appellate Practice Section's Pro Bono Program in the First and Fourteenth Courts of Appeals, and she is a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.

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