The Hotter'N Hell Hundred, Wichita Falls, TX 8/26/06

[Brons2]

Well I went up to Wichita Falls this weekend to do the Hotter'n Hell 100. It turned out to be quite an experience.

FRIDAY

Was awakened from my deep slumber by my mom at 6:00 AM. I had gone over to the 'rents house the night before, as she had a bunch of my sister's stuff to take to her new house in Dallas. The little sis had just graduated near the top of her class at the McCombs MBA program, and has gotten a great job and bought a house in North Dallas.

To my surprise, Mom had already loaded up the back of my truck without my help. Feeling badly about that, I rearranged a little bit and got a few more things in there. I threw my large duffle in the back, which contained a leather gym bag with my clothes, my tent, sleeping bag and pillow.

We headed out about 6:30, just avoiding the morning rush on Mopac. Mom drove, but I never really could snooze much.

Got a call about 8:30 that email was down at work. Great. We kept driving to Dallas though.

Arrived at my sister's place around 9:45. Of course she wasn't there...doh. But she showed up shortly thereafter and we checked the place out. Cute, hardwood floors, built in 1950.

Kept dealing with email problems by phone. Finally got them on the way to resolution. So I headed out to Wichita Falls about 1:00. After a couple of hydration stops, I got into town about 3. I didn't know where the MPEC was, so I looked it up on my Blackberry. I couldn't find an address for the thing, but then finally I saw a freeway sign for the MPEC that lead me to it. Yay.

Parked and went inside for registration. The place was packed! After some gyrations about finding the proper registration number (7328 in my case), I then went to the expo which was also packed. I spent a few hours at the expo, there were some great deals. Bought a new Cateye Cordless 7 wireless speedometer for $22, some Pearl Izumi microsensor shorts for $83 (the normally $139 variety), a GIGANTIC Chamois Butter container for $14, some Longhorn cycling socks for $7 a pair (nomally $13.95 a pair at my LBS) and some endurance Jelly Belly beans! (interesting). They also had Team Discovery shorts and jerseys for half off ($49 each, usually $99 each) and the Conti Gatorskins I use on both my serious road bikes for $55 a pair (usually $40 each) but I decided I had spent enough. The HHH jersey was also cool but even the XXL was too small for this 6'7", 260 lb rider. They were out of XXXL's.

Ate the $7 all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner, it was ok but not great. Always good to carbo-load, so I counted my blessings and downed three plates of it along with two salads and huge 5 glasses of water.

I then felt like a stuck pig, so I went back to the expo and checked out the some of the Toyota/United Cyling Team girls. They were all decked out in spandex. Some of them were hot!

Finally about 7:00 I went outside to find my campsite. Yes, that's right, outdoor camping. We were right outside the equine
barn, directly across the Wichita River from the registration/expo hall. Well the high temp in Wichita Falls on Friday was 108 F, and by 7 it wasn't that much cooler. Undaunted, I set up my tent in the lush grass along the fence.

At least showers were provided, but they were horse showers!
There was no 'hot' water but the tap water from the city's water
supply is blood warm anyways, so it didn't matter much. There was simply a red lever with a hose attached. It's always good to be at least somewhat clean at the start of the ride, so the shower was much appreciated.

Outside air temp at 8:30 PM was 100F. No way I could consider sleep at that point, so I met some of my neighbors, and then decided to install my new speedometer. I saw some cute girls in an RV and asked them if I could borrow some wire cutters in order to trim the cable ties that attached the speedometer and sensors to the bike. They promptly produced their husbands which found the cutters for me. Gack. At least it all worked. I rode around in circles inside the lighted equine barn for 1/3rd of a mile trying out all the new functions of my fancy wireless setup.

By 10:30 when i was trying to get some sleep in the tent it was all the way down to 94F. I couldn't sleep, so I called a girl back in Austin to complain about my plight, and then checked my email on the BlackBerry. I think I finally got to bed around midnight.

SATURDAY

Awoke about 4:30 am. Hit the snooze a couple of times and finally arose about 4:45. I chamois-buttered up my shorts, put on my jersey, located my sandals and headed off to breakfast on foot, back across the Wichita River. The front doors of the MPEC were opened at 5:00.

Breakfast was $5 and was provided by Luby's. I wasn't real happy with the options. The standard breakfast was eggs, 2 sausage and 2 pancakes. Well I wasn't happy with that as I like pancakes before a ride. So I gave them back the eggs and sausage and said I wanted a lot of pancakes. They provided me with 7. Excellent. They were somewhat flavorless and limp, but nothing a good dollup of butter and a lot of syrup couldn't cure. I downed them with 2 large glasses of water and a half cup of coffee, to try to make up for my sleep depravation. On the way out I quickly downed 4 huge glasses of some unintelligible orange drink crap. It wasn't good, but I needed to hydrate.

Got back to the campsite about 5:30. It was still pitch black. I packed up my sleeping bag and pad, put on my cycling cleats (I have clipless pedals) and threw all the stuff out of the tent. Took down the tent in record time. Hey, I did this for 8 days straight on my Colorado bike tour. My neighbors commented that I was embarrasing them.

I put a brush on my teeth, then I threw all the stuff in the cab my truck which was parked about 30 yards away in a gravel lot. Removed my bike from the back of the crew cab and inflated the tires to 120 psi, then rode over to the equine barn and filled my three 24 oz water bottles with lukewarm water. It was about 6:10. The sun was barely stirring in the eastern sky.

Then I was off to the starting line. I got as far forward as I could, which wasn't that far considering the 11,000+ riders. It started getting light around 6:30. Some cycling friends from Austin strolled up while we were waiting for the start. It was nice to have someone to talk to while I waited.

Finally, at 7:00, the first riders started off. Of course I was at least 100 yards back from the start so I didn't get going for quite some time. I estimate we rolled past the start around 7:20. Even after that it took some time to get going at a decent speed as there were simply many, many cyclists.

After a few miles I started to separate from the slower riders though. As I warmed up, I got in the left lane and increased my speed into the lower 20s as less serious cyclists fell by the wayside. Many later turned off, as I was on the 100 mile route but there were 100 kilometer (62.6 miles), 50 mile and 25 mile options.

It was overcast in the early morning and I felt great. As we turned onto a side road, some pro-wannabee flew by me. I sprinted after him and tucked in behind his rear wheel. We maintained a steady 27-29 mph for about 3 miles.

It was only my f-up that made me drop back. I tried to pick up one of my bottles and drink out of it, but I dropped the damn thing and it ended up in the road! ****! Embarrasing. I wanted to have three bottles with me, so I stopped on the side of the road and waited for the bicycle traffic to lessen, then I went out in the road and grabbed the stupid thing.

Otherwise, things were going great, and I was hauling serious ***. I didn't stop until 32 miles in or so, at the 3rd rest stop and only then to fill up my 3 bottles. This time with ICE COLD water. Yay. Then I was back on the bike. I crossed the 50 mile mark after about 2:30 with a 19.8 mph average. Pretty smoking considering that the speedo was running for the first couple of miles where I was stuck in the crowd doing 4-6 mph.

Stopped at the 6th rest stop which was between 56 and 60 miles; not sure of the exact distance but I'm sure it was the 6th rest stop. Time was about 10:30 by that point. Filled up my 3 bottles again and headed off.

It was then starting to get really hot. I had passed through Burkburnett, Texas just before the stop, at around 10:15 and the bank temp said 94F. At 10:15AM! My speed slowed a little bit as I jumped into a paceline, seeking some relief and assistance with the heat. That paceline was only doing
15-18 mph, so off on my own again I went around 22ish. Finally found some guys going about my speed and pacelined with them for a while, all of us taking turns at pulling the line.

I stopped again at Rest Stop ..8 at the 78 mile mark, still with a pretty gaudy
19.6 mph average. I got several fills of icewater, gatorade, a pickle and a powerbar of some sort.

[Brons2]

Then it all started to fall apart. The last 22 miles were into the
wind, which felt like a blast out of the oven. I started feeling
pretty crappy, my tire was low and I was out of energy, yet I was
feeling kind of nauseous, so I didn't want to eat anything. Bonk freaking city. At least I wasn't the only one. It was a group bonk, all right around 80-85 miles, brought on by fatigue and the seriously increasing heat. I was struggling to even maintain 15 mph, which is normally a slow speed for me.

I had to pull over at one point under a shade tree and rest because I was so
hot. I doused myself with most of the water I had left, then headed off in search of the next rest stop. I didn't find a rest stop per se, but I did find the Dale Fire Department at the top of the next hill. It was not an official rest stop, but it was enthuiastically received by the now exhausted riders. They had some really weak Gatorade, which was absolutely perfect for my situation. Once I get really heated up, anything too sweet will upset my stomach, but I need some electrolytes in the form of sodium and potassium. I thanked the firefighters.

I ended up stopping 2 more times after that. It was so damn hot, that I was dousing myself with water just as much as I was drinking the stuff. The HHH staff was smart enough to provide 4 rest stops in those last 22 miles. I saw many people on cots being attended to by medical personnel attempting to cool them off. I wasn't about to do that unless I barfed, then I knew my day would be over.

At the final rest stop, they told me the outdoor air temp was 109F. I believed it. The bank tower downtown said it was 110F as we neared the finish line. I finally finished at 1:39 PM. Those last 22 miles took me over 2 hours. Total time counting stops was 6:19, actual bike ride time was 5:35, average was 18.2 mph.

Actual high on Friday was 108F as documented by weather.com, on
Saturday it was 104F but as noted by many riders it was hotter
downtown than at the weather reporting station at Sheppard AFB.

I was quite sorry to hear about many riders' directional misfortunes. I was
fortunate enough to get through Hell's Gate before a group that had
been misdirected. I heard some riders ended up in Oklahoma!!! I got an email from a poor student at UT who ended up doing a double-metric, or 126 miles, once she got back on route. She was not pleased.

Other people were SAGged to the end. (SAG-support and gear). I was glad that I finished under my own power. There was quite a festival going on at the end, but I wanted none of it. I retreated to the horse showers, took my cool shower, got in the truck and left back for Dallas, arriving around 4:15 back in big D to spend the night at my sister's place. Ahh, air conditioning.

[Brons2]

btw--I rode my backup bike on this ride, a Cannondale CAAD3. Which I actually want to sell, so I can buy a different bike from a forum member, but can't until I get my new rear wheel for my main ride. lol.

[Louis]

Brons, impressive story, but it was probably a dry heat :p

[Needs Help]

Great ride report, thanks!

I quickly downed 4 huge glasses of some unintelligible orange drink crap. It wasn't good, but I needed to hydrate.
That may not be a good hydration strategy. Read this:

http://www.childrenshospital.org/newsroom/Site1339/mainpageS1339P1sublevel138.html

[Smiley]

Hotter then Hell 100 an experiance all must discover. Did it the year I got married and Brons is not kidding, my mistake was going out with only 2 water bottles and making the first rest stop at 30 miles by then I knew I was in trouble. This is a camelback ride , HYDRATE or DIE ...period as you never sweat. Should have eaten at McBrides afterwards , best steaks in Texas :)

if I ever consider doing HHH again , I'll pre-heat my over to 350 , stick my head in the thing and realize what I would be missing :)

[Kevin]

Great report.

Kevin

[SPOKE]

i did that ride twice when i was living down in Houston, TX. the last time i did it was in 95'. made sure i had the camel back and plenty of treats stuffed in my jesery pockets. made only one stop at about the 80-85mi mark just long enuf to fill up the bottles, camel back, and grab a banana. finished in 4:56. most of the ride i was on my own. had one stretch of about 15mi where i jumped in with a group of local riders that were rolling about 25-27mph but realized that was a bit too fast for my taste.
it's a really neat event and the HUGE number of cyclists is just amazing. if you haven't done this event yet i strongly urge you to put in on your calendar in the future.

[trophyoftexas]

If you haven't done this ride use some common sense and do a century someplace else....not that I don't like Texas but, come on, WF is ugly, hot, and a crummy place to spend 2-3 days! Besides, who in their right mind would WANT to share the road with over 11,000 riders, many of whom only ride THIS ONE event, never make it past the 50 mile mark, and really should stay home and vegitate on the couch like they do most of the remainder of the year! In a moment of weakness I decided I WAS going to do this ride this year but came to my senses...if I'm going to ride 100 miles in Texas it's going to be in the Hill Country in the early spring or late fall. There's more to see, better places to hang out before and after, and FAR superior roads to ride in Gillispie County. I'm sorry to hammer WF but to make an example of another state I'd say that if you lived in Michigan it would be like riding in Saginaw when you could just as easily drive up and ride around Traverse City, a no brainer!.....AND I'M FROM SAGINAW!

[Birddog]

I've done this event for most of the last 10 years, about half the time doing the 100M and half the 100K (usually USCF). Wichita Falls Texas in late August is an ugly, hot place with very few redeeming qualities. I think that is why the organizers have been able to seize a negative and turn it into a sort of "right of passage" for cyclists that live within about a 500 mile radius. There is something in many of us, that drives us to suffer and push ourselves in adverse conditions as some sort of test. The HHH fills that bill nicely.

Every year we complain about the "event" rate that the motels charge along with their 2 night minimum, but every year we come. We have the same problem year-in year-out about where to find a decent meal on Sat eve. This year was the absolute worst, but then it's just another subject to talk about, although I must emphasize, that it was the absolute WORST mexican food that I've ever ingested. None of us could even finish our plates.

Our group has settled into a routine, we stay at the same motel, corner the same table at the pool and sit around BS'ing about the ride while consuming mass quantities of malted beverages in an effort to recover.

The HHH presents some intersting challenges for even a veteran cyclist. From my own experience, I've found that it's best to shun the solid food at the rest stops, esp when it's as hot as it was this year. The body is challenged to keep itself cool, eating solid food leads me to gastric problems as the body is shunting blood to the gut to digest while it's being asked to send oxygenated blood to the muscles to move forward, and to the skin to keep cool. I've found that a good mix of electrolytes ( I use Accelerade with protein and carbs) and water works for me. I also consume a gel or two if needed. During the 100K I typically drink 44 oz, of Accelerade/Gatorade blend and 70 oz of water, and I'm usually bone dry at the finish. I'm a real Fred in the USCF world, I race with a Camelback, I'd never make it without it. By the way the HHH was the inspiration for the invention of the Camelback several years back, when a 1 liter IV bag was converted into the first prototype Camelback.

This years event was not the hottest according to the official reports. It was damn close though, and I think it got hotter earlier in the day. The 3 years previous were actually rather cool by HHH standards. It is a sight to see when about 10,000 riders are lined up at the start. The first year I did it, I was midway in the pack, and it took me 23 mins just to get to the start line!
The rest stops are superb, although I've heard that this year they ran out of ice at least temporarily at several rest stops. I have no official capacity, but I'm betting this was because there were more riders stressed earlier than normal, and just a lot more stressed anyway, taxing the system. The HHH staff know how much water and ice it takes to run the event. During our pre race briefing it was stated that for most of the race we would be in a "rolling closure". The point that was stressed was that any and all Ice Trucks had priority over all traffic including the bicyclists.

There was a report that about 1,000 riders were sent the wrong way when some jerk with an official looking sign sent them down the wrong road into an unsupported hell as a practical joke. The staff apparently had quite a mess on their hands for awhile trying to get water and SAGs to the riders. They added about 13 miles to their total I heard, not much fun when it's into an already mentioned blast furnace at about the 80 mile mark. The wind at this year's HHH was about 15 mph at the start and was easily 25 mph by around noon. Did I mention that you basically finish into the wind. It is quite demoralizing for the uninitiated and it takes a massive toll.

The picture of the day for me was the quad tandem (can you say that?) that was ridden by a family. Dad in front, mom behind and two girls I'm guessing about 10 and 8 in the back. They were all decked out in matching stars and stripes jerseys and matching helmets. They did the 100 miles and after they rolled back into the motel the youngsters still had some bounce in their step. It was pretty obvious that they prepared well for the event. I'm not sure how one would handle the on board beverages for a family of 4 and the logistics of "P" stops with 3 females must have been something.

Birddog

[Larry]

This is a dangerous ride in several aspects.
Make sure you are adjusted to HHH conditions, and that you are in excellent physical condition.
I did it once years ago....and honestly thought it to be BORING!

Go up to Turner Falls, Oklahoma and get one or two of those fried pies.
Nice hills to climb and light traffic.

[Smiley]

The year I did it it was 104 , windy but thats why you go to do this ride. Have you guys one to McBrides afterwards for steaks ?

HYDRATE OR DIE is the motto for this ride

[Birddog]

Have you guys one to McBrides afterwards for steaks ?

I've not been there, but that was our objective on Sat night. Sadly, the wait was too long so we found the Mexican joint. At least none of us got sick. I was ready to go to the "Foxy Lady" for some entertainment and to ask one of the dancers if I should buy some moderately expensive bicycle schwag, but alas, I was voted down.

Birddog

[billrick]

Brons, that is awesome. Thanks for the ride report!

I ride HHH every chance I get. It is not the great metropolis or the scenery or the ride, which is admittedly flat and pretty dull, but the people that bring me back every time. Some memorable moments:

- 102 degrees, coming over a hill and finding a full-sized pirate ship in the middle of the desert, full of pirates and cute pirate lasses serving cold punch and fresh fruit.

- The Garden of Eden rest stop. See above, but with multiple Adams and Eves. And super-cooler stadium fans from the local high school.

- The rock band composed of 14 year olds that set up in the cow pasture and rocked out, doing Rolling Stones covers with squeaky voices. I'm still amazed at the length of extension cord they ran to the amps.

- The 80 year olds that are out there every year on beach cruisers, sprinting like mad.

- The town that gets together every year to bake TENS of THOUSANDS of fresh chocolate chip cookies for the riders. Yes, an entire town.

- The water sprinkler people.

- The guys and gals from Germany, Scotland, Australia, Idaho, and other far off places that I meet every year.

In short, this is the big annual event for a lot of small Texas ranch towns and they love it. I read that the riders that were sent off course were rescued not by race officials and SAG wagons, but by ranchers and townspeople that set up impromptu rest stops and ran to Walmart for Gatorade. They literally saved lives. These are the kindest and best people anywhere.

So anyway, that is why I ride it. I missed it this year, but will be there for 2007.

Tips on Housing: Stay with a local family next time, you'll get a much better breakfast. The Chamber of Commerce organizes home stays every year. And if you are military, ex-military, or a fed, pm me for leads on secret housing!

[malcolm]

Myself and a friend did it this year as well. I found it very enjoyable and will try and go back next year. They closed hell's gate early this year due to heat and wind so we just missed the cut off and only got to do 75 miles. We started way back because we were not sure where we were supposed to be and basically walked the first hour and twenty minutes but once you were actually able to ride it was great. Lots of families and kids so you had to keep a cautious distance but things thinned out at the turn for the hundred mile loop. My buddy had a temp feature on his computer and it read a high of 127 and was around 120 most of the day, this reflects radiant temp from the asphalt as I think the ambient was around 104. The wind for the last 20 miles was 10-15 mph with 30 gusts. I found the people in the town of Wichita Falls and Lawton to be very friendly and the folks manning the rest stops were fantastic. I agree Wichita Falls isn't much to look at but I thought this was a great ride. For what it is worth I saw several serottas, in particular a c3 that was black and green that looked very nice. I did it on my riv romulus that I got from Frank here on the forum, primarily because I'm way out of shape and it is my most comfortable ride

[1happygirl]

Have tried to go most yrs, but lately adult responsibilities have prevented me. I like the fact the whole town supports the ride and have stayed in some locals homes. Never know who you will ride and meet along the way. Have made some friends that way. People are right about being in good shape, even though I don't do the 100 it still helps to be in good shape.

One year I went someone who was in excellent shape and a health professional pulled out of the rest stop in front of me and dropped dead. They were young and did marathons regularly. The heat will get you. I LOVE the ride for all the reasons above. The riders and townsfolk are all friendly. I must admit I don't do many rides but having the roads closed and support from police was cool and thrilling for me. The pin they give you for finishing is also a nice treat. Lots of good memories even if you don't go with friends, but especially if you do. Everyone should do it once. It has waxed and waned over the years from I think sometimes 10,000+ riders. Some years they had racing crits and I've heard they have brought it back. Year before was rainy and really cool.

[Birddog]

Billrick,
you're right on about all that. You reminded me of something I saw in my first HHH. At a rest stop, I think at mile 50 among all the helpful volunteers (they even help you put your bike in a safe place off the roadway) there was a late 20 something gal walking around with a tray full of drinks and the tray was supported by straps, kinda like the old cigarette girl thing. She was wearing short shorts and a blouse that revealed a fair amount of cleavage and adjacent to the view she had a nametag and right below the nametag she had another that spelled out S-I-N-G-L-E. Smart young gal, there were only about 10,000 riders that year with 90% of them male.

Birddog

[jartzt]

My wife and I made the drive to Wichita for HHH with the White Rabbit aka our Burley Tosa tandem. Due to work commitments we didn't arrive in Wichita until 10pm so it was a long day and early morning.

As for the ride...we rode over to the rally from the hotel (maybe a mile). We got there about 6:20 and there were already 1000's of cyclists queued up with every body type, get up, and bicycle you can imagine (and some you probably don't want to imagine). Great people watching. REALLY.

The tandems are let go after the racers and we headed out at a steady tempo of about 23mph. We rode the first 50 or so in that group and a few others that came through. We ended up riding the next 10 at about 19.5mph and then the final 40 at 17.2mph (with the final 20 ranging 9-15mph).

The final 20 had either a serious head wind or a nasty cross wind. The air temp was >100 and the pavement temp from my cycle computer was 110 in downtown Wichita Falls as Katie and I grinded out the final 1/2 mile.

Our total ride time was 5:08 and our 100 mile time was 5:01 (which shows you how slow we were going at the point).

We did slow when we passed the neutral free beer zone and we both grabbed and downed cups of Budweiser at mile 97 (if you've been you know the corner I'm talking about). Not a great way to improve your time but given we were already 30 minutes past our time from last year there was no need to hurry.

The most memorable part came as we rode along in the stretch between Hell's Gate and the 70 mile make. Some guy from Oklahoma rode up to us. He asked about our club jerseys which have "In memory of Lydia" on the rear pocket as a memorial to one of the club founders who passed before her time. We talked to him for a minute and he said that he had lost his teenage daughter, also named Lydia, in a car accident in the last year. The three of us all got goose bumps and then realized how incredibly lucky we were to be there together. Sometimes the best thing about riding is the people you meet and things that happen out on the road.

[Brons2]

my pics from the HHH:

http://www.marathonfoto.com/order_my_photos.cfm?RaceOID=28542006M1&LastName=BRONSON&BibNumber=7328&Language=en&Mailing=2305&BFI=if3d7gbve4&Frames=true&Flash=true&FlashVersion=9&Height=864&Width=1152&Index2Home=true

[malcolm]

You should have been with us slower guys you would have had more to pick from.

[mef]

this was my first time to do the HHH and i experienced many of the same things as the other posters. the ride could have been much more enjoyable for me had i not treated it like a normal century and rode more conservatively. i hooked up with a lead group and hammered the first 40 miles before I needed to stop and refill my bottles. a couple of my buddies continued on while i refilled so, I spent the next 20 miles trying to catch them. I would bridge from one group to the next but after about 60 miles the heat got to me and i started to suffer severe cramps in the GI. the next 20 miles were made more difficult from the wind and the last 20ish miles were pure hell! I did drink some of that bottled pickle juice and actually thought it tasted good and helped me get through the last miles. the support people at the rest stops were wonderful. really liked those ice cold towels they handed out! :)

[woolly]

After riding the last five years, we decided to skip this one. I can't say I regret that decision. It was time to take a break.

Here are some tips I've learned over the years for maximizing my fun on this "rally" - YMMV greatly:
1.) Start late. I mean LATE. Like, the police car is on your tail & they're closing off the route right behind you. You'll experience VERY little traffic, and none of the gridlock that was there when the start cannon went off. Many of the non-regular-cyclists will have strung out, and several will have already taken the turnoffs for the shorter routes. I hate gridlock.
2.) Start slow. Taper off as necessary. It's gonna be hot. Damn hot. You're still going to be a lot faster than the majority of the folks that turn out. We've had members of our group on the cots in the med tents due to the heat once - I can tell you this is no fun for all parties involved.
3.) Stop - a lot. The rest stops are fun. You meet a bunch of cool people. Quit being so damn serious.
4.) Seriously consider the 100K route. It's shares much of the same route as the 100K, including many of the best rest stops. You'll feel better, especially if it's really hot. No death march to get to Hell's Gate in time - this helps make tips 1-3 more feasible. With the 100K, you still feel like you've done some work, and gotten a "real ride" in, but without the near-death feeling that sometimes sets in on the last 25 mile leg of the full century (besides, who really wants to see another 25 miles of scrub brush?). FWIW, we tried the 50 mile route w/ some newbies that came along one year, and I definitely do NOT recommend that. It's even less scenic (if you can believe that). If I wanted to ride miles of highway access road I can just stay in Dallas.
5.) Take somebody new with you. It's like re-living your first HH100 all over again.

I realize my "program" isn't for everyone, but when I go to Wichita Falls I go for the "spectacle on bikes" aspect. I can find a "serious bike ride" or race pretty much any other weekend of the year.

Again, YMMV.

Edit - I as proof read this post, it really occured to me just how much fun dbrk's "ramble" must have been this year.

[Ray]

4.) Seriously consider the 100K route. It's shares much of the same route as the 100K, including many of the best rest stops. You'll feel better, especially if it's really hot. No death march to get to Hell's Gate in time - this helps make tips 1-3 more feasible. With the 100K, you still feel like you've done some work, and gotten a "real ride" in, but without the near-death feeling that sometimes sets in on the last 25 mile leg of the full century (besides, who really wants to see another 25 miles of scrub brush?).
I'll probably never do the HHH, but I'm sort of adopting this philosophy more and more for other events. Every year I've done a few full centuries and, with a few exceptions, they're all exercises in resource management and grinding it out more than a really fun ride. They can be satisfying and I've had a few where I felt strong enough at the end to really hammer. But there's almost always a 10-20 mile stretch somewhere in the ride where I'd rather be doing something else. Metrics, on the other hand, I can go reasonably hard the whole time, not think too much about not blowing early so I'll still have something left later, can enjoy the ride as a social occasion and a chance to see some scenery, and just generally have more fun and less 'work'. I'll continue to do the odd century, probably earlier in the season, because they really do help the conditioning (I always seem to ride better once I have one century under my belt for the season) and just to make sure I still can, but metrics are a perfect distance for me to, as you said, feel like you got a ride in, but still have a really good time.

-Ray

[Brons2]

maybe when I get older I'll think this way.

but at the tender young age of 35, I am looking forward to improving my century time next year! I am already going through the strategies in my mind! :D

[woolly]

Hey Brons, I'm only four years older than you - I'm not THAT old. :D

Most of the time, I'm focused on my riding & performance. But for me RAGBRAI & HH100 are as much about the stoppin' as they are about the ridin'. I'll admit that the first year we decided to 'mosey', I felt like I should be much closer to the front, pushing the pace. Then I realized I was having a lot of fun & stopped caring - I could hammer the club ride NEXT weekend.

Despite my laid-back attitude towards HH, I do think that anyone riding it should try the century route once, start with the big pack once, etc. Get the full experience. Then decide which parts are worth the hassle for you next time. You may want to stop & smell the roses, or you may want to strive for a personal best time. You pays your money & you takes your choice. Either way, it's still gonna be hot.

:beer: Good luck to you on beating your '06 time next year! (BTW, you can still use tip #1 if you're racing for a personal best - what's the fun in walking for the first half-hour? :p )