xerocoma

Just finished registering and booking a hotel.... had to call several before I found one with available rooms (Ramada Limited). Just a heads up: it's not too early to get a room... apparently a few of the local hotels have closed and the Crescent Plaza Hotel on Scott Street is NOT doing daily rooms any longer....

johnnytheboy

gonna do the metric century fixed this year.
did the full 106 miles on my single speed last august.
62 miles fixed in 116* heat should be fun!

StephenH

I plan to be there. Last year, I just drove up one day, registered and saw the consumer show, drove up the next day and rode. I'm in the Dallas area, so it's a ways up there but doable.

xerocoma

I rode the hundred on my LeMond.. can't imagine that ride on a fixie... good for you!

xerocoma

Last year was my first HTH and my first century... I drive up from Houston so a one day turn around doesn't work for me...

StephenH

Last year was my first year as well, but gotta go do it again.

Actually, I'm assuming reasonable temperatures. If it really is "hotter than hell", I'm not going to go have a heat stroke trying to prove my manhood. I don't get done in 4 hours like some of those people, and it does get hotter after lunch.

MMACH 5

I'm planning to ride it for the first time.

My grandmother lives less than 2 miles from the starting point.

xerocoma

Took me 6:52 last year and thank goodness it wasn't hotter than hell... it did get warm after I cleared Hell's Gate and it did hit 101 I think ... just want to finish again this year and maybe bring my time down a bit...

Doohickie

I want to do it but I don't know if I'm really up for a century yet. Maybe one of the shorter rides.

xerocoma

Never know until you try.. and you have eight months to train...

StephenH

Doohickie, it looked like you could do it easier than I could, so it's just a matter of whether you want to or not.

When I rode it last year, I had ridden two metric centuries already, so I was fairly sure I could do it if I could make the Hell's Gate cutoff- think I made that with about 15 minutes to spare.

johnnytheboy

i did it on a single speed in 7 hours- 15mph average.
it's totally do-able.
it was my first ride over 40 miles or so.....
i'f done 55+ in a day, but never on one ride.

go for it, doohickie.

cuda2k

Start with the Metric. Trust me.

johnnytheboy

Don't listen to cuda.
If you're gonna go, go big.
You can do it.
Think of it as 10 10 mile rides.

barlows

It's not the 100 miles that make that ride tough, and it's not the 100 degrees that make it tough. It's staying out of the 100 crashes that make it tough.

To quote the Sergeant from Hill Street Blues: "Let's be careful out there"... oops, did I just show my age? ;^)

Steve

crdean1

What is Hill Street Blues? Ha.

Yes, you can do it on a century. Cliff rode his fixie with Steve and I and finished in 5 hours (the 100 mile). Maybe he'll post his take on it.

StephenH

I didn't actually see any crashes. I did see one guy on wet pavement standing there cursing by a broken bicycle.

xerocoma

I saw a few crashes, one looked fairly ugly, but they were all in the first 6-7 miles while the pack was still pretty tight and sorting itself out... there were a whole bunch of people that started up front that should have started in the back and were mostly just in the way because they were riding slowly and without a whole lot of situational awareness.... watch out for those types.

johnnytheboy

there's a bunch of elitist roadie ass holes that ride the hh100.
they like to yell at you to get out of the way if they think you're not going fast enough.
they tend to crash alot, too.....watch out for those types.

xerocoma

I almost hate to say it but at around 80 miles as I slogged past a bunch of people like you refer to - my avg speed was 15.2 - and they were on the side of the road cursing their bikes and lying on peoples' lawns I almost felt good... unfortunately I was in too much pain to really feel good... Bit it WAS good pain I have to admit...

StephenH

It does get interesting. It took me 9-1/2 hours. But in the last hour or two, I had people in pacelines passing me. Where were they the first 8 hours? Or was this their second time around? Anyway, it takes all kinds. And even at that late time, there were still lots and lots of people out there, wasn't like I was the last one rolling through.

On the first 5 miles or so, you can't really get up to speed, and you just have to give people lots of room, like driving on a crowded freeway.

Fantasminha

I looked at their website. It says "ultra-race"... Is it a race or a ride?

TexasKid

It's both. I don't have a lot of details, but they have racers that race on Friday I think - and a group that actually leaves about 6:55 on Saturday morning... I think, I'm obviously not one of those guys! The regular HH100 at 7 AM, - it's what you make of it. My first time was just to finish.

TexasKid

Doohickie,

Why don't you ride the next Red Hot Chili Pepper - it's usually 2 saturdays before the HH100. 62 miles, hot, and some leg burning hills. But, you'll be done before it get's too hot, and it will give you a good idea of how you'll do at the HH. Starts in Oak Cliff and goes over the other side of Joe Pool lake.

Fantasminha

Yup--that will be our goal as well!

We did 65 miles for Tour de Cure last year. Thinking about the reality of 100 miles, I'm not sure that's the right thing for us to do. We will probably do the 100k instead.