HHH 2011

Self-portrait, at the finish line

This year the HHH (Hotter'n Hell Hundred) ride in Wichita Falls lived up to its name - the high temp for the day was well above 100, uncomfortably so. As always, there was a medical tent at each of the rest stops, and this year they seemed to be busier than usual with riders who were not used to riding in the heat. Over dinner with one of the local riders, I heard that the area has had less than three inches of rain this year. 

To help out, this year the hundred mile riders could leave up to an hour early. The start time has always been sunrise, just after 7AM. This was still the official start time, this year, with the usual fighter jet formation flyover, and a cannon blast to signal the start, but there was also an official early start, and many of the 100 mile (century) riders left as early as 6:15 to beat the heat. This meant that we had to carry lights for the entire ride, but that was well worth the trade-off of getting an extra hour of riding in the cool morning air. 

Another first, Mike joined me on the ride. We camped together, but decided to split up for the ride - we had different start areas, and trying to stay together in that large of a group would have been very difficult. This is Mike's first season, and his first shot at a hundred mile ride - a daunting venue for that first attempt. He did quite well, a personal best at over 70 miles, before he pulled into a rest stop and caught a ride back on a 'SAG' wagon - a trailer that will take riders to the finish line when they need to. What impressed me is that he knew his limit - that is a valuable skill on these long rides. The med tents, as I mentioned, were full of riders that were not used to the heat, and persisted in riding further than they should have. 

There did not seem to be as many riders - the largest rider number I saw was just under 13,500. Still, that is a of riders. 

Another first this year, as far as I know, was a wedding party that rode the 100 miles, and then celebrated with the wedding ceremony after the ride. Just over half-way through the ride, I passed a young man with a unique T-shirt with a ring logo and the wording 'With this ring I thee wed'. How clever, I thought, that a newly-wed would have this made up for his rides. Then I saw a young lady with the same T-shirt, and thought, how nice that the newly wed couple were riding together. Then, I realized that everyone in that group had the same T-shirt, and that this was a wedding party, that the  ride was part of their wedding celebration. Above is an image of the front of the wedding tent near the start / end point. 

And, finally, the numbers: I averaged 19 mph this year, improving by 2-3 mph over last year, and another personal best. Starting early was a big help, and I found a large pace group going at my speed that I was able to stay with for about 40 miles.  I was able to take fewer breaks this year, resulting in a shorter ride time (5 hours, 20 minutes) and a substantially shorter total time (6 hours, 5 minutes). The net result was to complete the course in two hours less riding time, and almost three hours earlier in the day, making it more pleasant over-all.