In the summer of 1938. We were still in the throes of the Great Depression and a crazy man named Hitler had rearmed Germany and was making aggressive moves in Europe. But the biggest news was about neither of those phenomenons, but instead the story of a horse named Seabiscuit and the match race he would run against the Triple Crown winner, War Admiral. He was small and awkward on the track and did not have the pedigree of the world’s greatest horse, War Admiral. He did have an owner by the name of Charles Howard; an extremely wealthy Californian who had made a fortune in the automobile business promoting him and his underdog status extremely effectively and to the point where he finally got what he wanted...a race to determine the fastest horse in the country. It is a wonderful movie and I got my father-in-law to sit and watch it with me the other night when his power was out and his house was cold. He’s 91 years old and was 18 at the time of the Match Race and said that he remembered the hoopla. That’s not surprising since the day they ran the race, most businesses across the country closed so their employees could listen on the radio to the call. In all, 40 million people listened to the broadcast...over a third of the population of the country!
I love the story for its depiction of the four characters, down on their luck, but who never give up. The jockey, Red Pollard, the trainer, Tom Smith, the owner of the horse and, of course, Seabiscuit himself all have climbed mountains to reach the day of the Match Race in this incredible story and if you’ve never seen the movie or read the book, I highly recommend both.
The rains continued to fall all day. I stopped briefly at the bridge to check the water level on the Chagrin River and it had reached nine feet. I’ve never seen it close to this high and wondered how much longer it would be before the river blocked the road. I drove home and hopped on the trainer for another episode of ‘Friday Night Lights’ and an indoor ride. I hope the show is not a true reflection of high school sports in Texas (or anywhere for that matter) since every player is drinking all the time and has been having sex since they were in Pee Wee Football. I’m not sure why I watch other than its sports related and I need something to sustain me through those boring minutes on the trainer.
Bike Duration: 45 minutes.
Training Heart Rate: 120 bpm.
Calories burned during workout: 625.
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