OFF THE RECORD

Serious About Cycling
Dick Schwartz’s rides include part of famous Tour de France

By ALISON MEYERS

Beneath Dick Schwartz’s lawyer exterior beats the heart of a very competitive cyclist who rides in portions of the Tour de France. However, Dick wasn’t always a cyclist. In fact, in 1994, he was struck with a serious illness and his recovery was very slow. In 1997, his wife Paula suggested a “spinning class” as a way to enhance Dick’s progress. (A “spinning class” is an exercise class conducted entirely on stationary bikes where participants ride to loud music and perform exercises similar to road riding). Dick became “hooked” on spinning.
In fact, Dick became so enthusiastic that he attended spinning classes four to five times a week for a year. There, he became friendly with the instructor, a former professional cyclist, as well as others in the class who convinced Dick to purchase his own bike and start enjoying cycling outside. Dick learned that informal groups of riders meet throughout the city to ride on evenings and weekends. These groups ride various distances and at various speeds depending upon the experience of the riders. For example, one group that meets at 290 and Huffmeister is a “beginner” group lead by a more experienced rider. This group usually rides about 32 miles, keeping a slower pace than more experienced riders.
On Valentine’s Day 1998, Dick received his first road bike and began training with his friends from the spinning class and participated in the 55 mile “West Oaks” ride. For the next year, Dick rode with this group of cyclists on most weekends.
Dick next set his sights on a longer ride, one that begins at Kirkwood and I-10 and is a faster ride than the West Oaks event, covering 70 miles. The warm up for the Kirkwood ride is at 30 mph and turned out to be above Dick’s abilities at the time. Still, he felt that he was at a turning point in his cycling. According to Dick, “I had to quit or formally train because I didn’t want to stay at that level.” He has pushed himself to go farther and faster ever since.
Dick now trains with a Web-based company, Carmichael Training Systems (“CTS”), where he has one-on-one contact with a coach. The chairman of the company is Chris Carmichael, Lance Armstrong’s coach, who is now a good friend of Dick’s. Each trainee has a personal page on the CTS Web site that spells out a training schedule specifically designed for that athlete. Dick’s first goal was to make it through the Kirkwood ride, and it took one year of training to meet that goal. He trained seven days a week on the bike, many days on a stationary trainer. The program included specific exercise to develop power and speed, intertwined with easy riding and group rides on the weekend. Under this program, much of the time was spent riding long distances to develop aerobic capacity followed by slow and easy training days to speed recovery.
Still pushing himself, Dick set his goal to ride in the mountains; more specifically, the mountains in France. Dick wanted to ride the Tour de France courses, which he considers the “Super Bowl” of cycling. In order to train for mountain cycling in a flat place like Houston, Dick trains five days a week with his bike in a stationary apparatus and rides outside on the weekends. He performs exercises that train his muscles for the strain of uphill peddling. While training, Dick watches videos of the Tour de France and other races. (He has the ten-hour set of every Tour de France in which Lance Armstrong has raced, and videos of Lance’s earlier races. He calls them his inspiration).
Dick has been to the Tour de France three times, in 2001, 2002 and 2003, and says that this year’s trip was the most fulfilling. The trip included seven days of riding in the mountains. On one of the days, he rode the portion of the course comprising three mountains - the Col de Telegraph, the Col de Galibier, and Alp D’Huez. That day included about 45 kilometers of climbing. In that part of the course, riders typically spend about two hours climbing the mountain and race down it in 15 minutes at speeds of 40-50 miles an hour. For the Tour de France, Dick travels to France with a group of about 15 riders from around the world, many of whom also train with CTS. Typically, they ride to the portion of the race being completed that day, watch the race, and then ride back. In total, they ride for approximately seven days of the 21-day Tour de France. According to Dick, television does not do the athletes justice. “When you are up close, you can really appreciate the sheer physical abilities of these cyclists,” he says. On these trips, he has ridden with Chris Carmichael, been interviewed by Frankie Andreau for OLN, and mingled with Kevin Livingston of the U.S. Team. “It’s an incredible experience,” Dick says.
Until now, Dick’s cycling has focused on training, but recently he has started to participate in races as a contestant. His first race was August 4, 2003 in Louisville, Kentucky, where he competed in a Masters National race. The races are time trials, which means the cyclists race against the clock and the fastest rider wins. “I did OK,” says Dick, “but am looking to do better.”
On October 5, his 50th birthday, Dick and his younger brother, Tommy, participated in a triathlon relay in Sarasota, Florida, along with a local runner. Their team took first place.
When asked what he likes best about cycling, Dick responds that it is the “freedom, the complete escape. I don’t think about anything else when I am on the bike.” He said that he never worked as hard running as he has on the bike, but he enjoys the training and is seeing gains from his perseverance. That’s one thing that keeps him going, along with setting new goals for participating in races in the U.S. and continued improvement at the Tour de France.
Before his illness, Dick never thought he had the time to achieve this type of physical fitness. He wants young lawyers to realize that it is important to have balance in their lives and encourages them to make time for things they enjoy and that are important to them. Now Dick “works to live” rather than “lives to work.”

Alison Meyers practices with the firm of Schwartz, Junell, Campbell & Oathout, L.L.P.

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