turbozinke

My wife and I are headed to Wichita Falls tomorrow for the Hotter than Hell Hundred! The furthest she's ridden is 36 miles so this will be a big leap for her. We're just hoping to finish haha.

Anyone else headed there to ride?

Scraper

No, but send pics/report. Good luck!

velojym

Did it in '04. One of my most memorable rides. Don't fall for the free beer right before the finish.

Paul J

I saw that the folks from House of Tandems will be there.

Mark W

My son and I are headed up to do the 100 on our tandem. We'll re-enact his first century ride again (3rd year in a row).

Mark W

superdex

Have a blast! Did it ~9 years ago (wow, seems like yesterday)...

Make sure you're hydrated and take advantage of all the stops -- INCLUDING the free beer at the auto garage. Best thing evar at 90 mi ...

Monoborracho

I drove up (70 miles from me) for the Expo on Thursday, before it got mobbed.

We don't even go for the ride anymore. While it is great to see so many bikes, and lots of fun, the start on a tandem can be miserable. Hop along on one leg for half a block, stop, then pedal 100 feet, then hop again for half a block, all the while supporting the bike with the stoker.

Neither wife or I enjoy it.

I've done the century on my single a few times. The first time it was actually 104 miles, but you didn't find that out IIRC until mile 96. And it was 104 at finish time.

Mark W

My son and I did the ride today. They now have a separate start for tandems and recumbents that goes off 10 minutes early. We were toward the front of it, but the start was pretty stress free.

The ride went fairly well other than some brief stops to adjust saddle height (I normally ride with my wife so things were adjusted quickly without a shakedown ride) and picking up water & snacks. We rode with other tandems and a couple of triathletes for the most part.

Mark W

Krm45

My 13 year old son and I did the 25 mile ride. I did the 100 miles in 2008, but this was my first time back. We'll work our way back up.

The weather was great this year, it topped out at 93.

turbozinke

The Hotter N’ Hell 100 2016 was awesome! 13,000 riders assembled in downtown Wichita Falls every year for the largest single day 100 mile bike ride in America. My wife Rebecca and I woke up early at 4:45. We had our first baby May 1st. One of my college roommates lives in Wichita Falls, and that was awesome for 3 reasons. 1. There is not an empty hotel within 100 miles 2. We got to spend time with friends (that had a pool!) 3. They took care of the baby during the ride which was super kind of them. Rebecca fed the baby and got her back to sleep before we headed downtown in the dark for the start. The ride starts long before the sun comes up, and the tandems get to start 10 minutes early at the very front which helps a ton.

If it had to bet money that morning whether or not we would finish, I would've put money on the 100k or maybe 80 miles, but no 100 miler. In this ride the 100k turn off is 25 miles into the ride, and at that point we were both feeling great so Rebecca was all about continuing on the 100 mile route. At mile 35 we turned east into a headwind. It's harder to draft with a tandem. You can't just get on the end of a 20 rider group because back there they pedal coast pedal coast pedal coast. About the only way to draft is to get behind 1 or 2 riders. That makes the headwind hard. Rebecca bonked about mile 45. We made it to the stop at mile 50 and recovered nicely. At mile 50 they even had burritos in addition to all kinds of good food for energy: bananas, pickles, pickle juice, all kinds of cookies, clif bars, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, little smokies, and more. By the way, we did stop every at almost every 10 mile stop because 1. My wife was uncertain how much water to drink in the heat and didn't want to dehydrate; which led to constant peeing 2. By 10 miles I had consumed both of my big water bottles and needed a refill. But hey, that's way better than getting dehydrated and having to quit. We saw plenty of those people riding in the sag wagons trailers.

We rode hard again to go through hell's gate at mile 60. This is the last chance to do 80 miles instead of the full 100 miles. If you're not “feeling it” they encourage you to do 80. We took a picture, I looked at her and said "Well babe? Last chance to not do the 100" She said "LET'S DO IT!" The ride really thins out after this point. You have to ride over a counter so they know how many dead bodies to look for after the race…..kidding, kinda. Still tons and tons of riders but it no longer feels like you're in a pack of 100 surrounding you. At the 75 mile stop we were both glad to get off the bike. It was about 93 degrees at this point, and there is really great shade at this stop. We sat a couple of lazyboy recliners for around 15 minutes. They were actually just folding metal chairs but it felt amazing to just sit and let your legs relax. We felt pretty good and got back on the bike.

We skipped the stop at 82.5 because we felt good and wanted to get done, and then we hit the wall. It was 1:45 now and a sweltering 95 degrees in full sun. Also this was the hilliest part of the ride so we weren't getting great airflow. We were still surrounded by tons of riders. I only saw one tandem after hell's gate. I'm sure there were more but we didn't see them. We trudged on slowly and hot to make it to mile 90 rest stop. There was a giant horse trough full of ice water. It was probably nasty from all of salty cyclist dipping their heads arms and even whole bodies in it, but I couldn't have cared less how gross it was because it felt AMAZING! 10 miles to go and we knew we could do it. Every mile after 90 felt better and better. At mile 96 we could see downtown Wichita Falls. We crossed the finish line at 3:00! 8 hours total time. It was a great experience. Rebecca said “We're never doing this again,” but I bet she changes her mind. They did an excellent job with all the ride logistics. Overall great ride. They did an excellent job with all the ride logistics

Warning not all the smiles are real. Picture 3 was what the heck are we doing, pic 4 was we can't let them know how we really feel... FAKE IT

Jarrett2

I went back again this year. Last year was my first time doing the 100 and I was the only one from my club that went which made for a long, solo 100 miles.

After hearing my experience last year, most of our local club went and it was a much better time. Several did their first century there. Some friends and I did the 62 mile route and went through the Air Force base. I enjoyed the 62 mile route much better than the 100 and will likely only do that one going forward.

mtseymour

Great ride and photos! Was it humid? We've done century rides in 95 deg but doubt that we can handle humidity.

twocicle

Awesome. Glad you both made it without a trip to the infirmary. Sounds like you paced yourselves very well

Just some reference pointd for riding super hot & longer distances:

1. A single day 100 miles does not require intake of a ton of extra calories.

2. Eating a lot during a ride will slow your body's absorption of fluids. Save the pigout until after the ride and once your core temperature is down near norm.

3. Drinking excessive amounts of plain water will dilute your body's electrolytes (lookup "Hyponatremia") which can be a serious condition state. Best to take along some electrolyte capsules such as those sold by Hammer Nutrition. You can opt for drink mixes, but those can be harder to digest on a super hot day and may cause stomach cramps. Plus if you get desperately hot, you can't really dump a drink mix over your head.

4. Ingesting ice cold fluids is very hard on your system, especially when your core is running hot. Too cold also inhibits absorption. I often violate this warning after a super hot ride to lower my core temperature quickly. My favorite post meal/drink is a protein power smoothie so frozen you need a spoon to eat it. It's currently 91F and I'm heading out for a late ride. Guess what's for dinner?!

Again, good job and photos!

Tony Marley

I rode it on my recumbent, but wearing the House of Tandems "Team HOTT Wheels" jersey.


This was the year to do it -- cool temps, cloudy for part of the day, and almost no wind. Great ride.

superdex

Forget the HHH -- SHE HAD A BABY IN MAY. Congrats!

StephenH

On the day of HH100, we were riding the tandem from Canton to Jefferson and back, 201 miles, total time of 15:30. Not hot, but humid. I called it the "Humider Than Houston" ride.