From past rides I think there was more carnage than usual. I think many were just not prepared for the heat. This is my story:

What a day. I was one of the lucky few that got to ride an extra 10 miles because some knucklehead held up a sign after the rest stop on mile 80 (around mile 84) and sent us off the course. He graciously gave us an extra 10 mile ride through some hills and into the headwind. When I got to mile 90 on my odometer there were several volunteer firemen at a crossroad stopping all the riders and handing out water. They told us at this point we had 20+ miles left to go and we had been directed off course. They were trying to arrange shuttle wagons back if any one wanted them. (there were several takers). They then gave us directions to get back on course and off we went. By the time we were back on course and were able to stop and refill water at the 90 mile rest stop my odometer was at 101. Did I mention that my thermometer on my computer ranged between 114 and 120 during most of this time. I ran into a riding buddy at the 90 mile rest stop and could not remember his name. I then could not remember where I left my bike.

But off we went. I kept thinking only 8 more miles to the beer barn. I can safely say that a cold beer never tasted so good. We then put a beer in our polar bottle and rode the last 4 miles as a victory lap.

I can now look back on this and laugh because I survived. I have done the HH 100 for the last several years and I have never seen so many that were walking their bikes, collapsing under any shade they could find or simply stopping by the side of the road and just lying down. The newspaper in Wichita Falls reported that all told around 1000 riders were sent off course I personally saw around 200. I was one of the lucky ones that made it to the Firemen while they still had water. I understand that soon after they ran out.

To a non cyclist this joke seems funny but someone could have been seriously hurt.

Final results:

111 miles
18.7 avg.