Hotter 'n Hell 100 - Wichita Falls TX

If this topic has already been addressed, my apologies - please point me to the thread if it's already here.

This is my first century ride next month. Anyone done it who can share her thoughts on useful strategies and things to watch out for?

I feel as if I'll be prepped physically and for the heat (southern NM gets way hot, not so humid, though), but a little nervous about starting out with 10,000 other bikes around me.

How about the rest stops? What is etiquette for stopping to get water etc?

Appreciate any insights.

Good luck at your first century!!! I've never done the HHH, but I did take a look at the official website for the ride and noticed some helpful information on the forums there, especially about how the start is structured. I'd encourge you to peruse it if you haven't already.

Some random pieces of advice. Clearly, the start is going to be wacky with that many riders. There's no way to prevent every mishap. The best you can do is to ride defensively, predictably and patiently. Don't get too close to other riders and avoid letting anyone get too close to you. Signal using both hand and voice commands. Don't be afraid to bark at someone if they're doing something stupid or confusing. Keep an eye out for riders coming up on your left to pass.

According to the HHH forums, the first couple of rest stops will be crowded so, unless you really need to stop, I'd encourage you to bypass them. There are rest stops every 10 miles, so you won't have to go too long for the next one. I would avoid stopping, for the course of the ride, unless you have to. If it were me, I'd stop no more than every 20-30 miles, depending on how much water your burning through. And keep the stops very short. The longer you dally, the longer the ride and the stiffer your legs.

During the ride, drink, drink and drink some more. I stick to about a 2:1 ratio of water and sports drink. I don't like Gatorade, which is what's usually offered at big organized rides, so I bring some of my drink powder along and refill as necessary. I also carry some food that I know will agree with my stomach, e.g., Clif Blocs, to supplement the food at reststops. Make sure you incorporate some salt into what you're snacking on. Not only will it replenish lost electrolytes, but it will also aid your digestion.

Also brings some extra sunscreen, at least two spare tubes and plenty of CO2cannisters (and/or frame pump) and whatever else you generally use. I also fill a travel size bottle full of Chamois Butt'r, and keep that in my jersey pocket to be reapplied throughout the ride.

Do what you can to keep your core cool. Poor water over your head or put ice (my favorite trick) in your sports bra. Find a spot of shade at the lunch stop if you can.

Prepping for the ride is important too. Make sure that your bike is in good working order a week in advance of the ride. Lay out everything you're going to wear, need, pack, etc., a few days in advance and run through your checklist several times. Focus on hydrating the entire week before the ride. I, personally, spend the 48 hours before a big ride downing lots of water (but not too much). Aim to drink quite a bit the morning of the ride. Yes, it means having to go the bathroom, but if you start the ride dehydrated, you will never get out of the hole. I try to begin eating and drinking the minute i get out of bed before a big ride. That gives me more time to digest and hyrdrate. I also take some Pepto the morning of the ride to hopefully forestall any digestive issues. My stomach gets fussy when I get nervous, and I find that it helps.

I hope some of this helps. Be sure to post a ride report. Have fun and good luck!

K-

Excellent advice Indy! I was gonna add something... but ya covered it all! :D

Hydration, calling AND pointing out hazards, salt intake and plenty of electrolyte sport drink...

the only other thing I can add is ride at YOUR pace... a lot of people get all excited and push out hard for the first 30 miles... and pay for it the last 30. Pace yourself and ride your own ride...

PLEASE report in and share pics of your success afterward too OK? I'd love to celebrate with you! :)

A couple additional things occured to me at lunch. Try to stay loose and stretched. I'm a yoga devotee and there are a handful of hamstring and hip stretches that I do before every ride, but especially before intense/long rides. If you have a stretching routine, I would suggest doing it the night and morning before the ride. Repeat the stretches as needed at rest stops.
Also, keep an eye on tension in your upper body. Especially at the start, you may find yourself clinching your shoulders or locking your elbows. Try to stay relaxed instead.

You'll notice on a century (or longer) that your body and mind will go through various stages, some better than others. Short of bonking or heat exhaustion, don't be surprised if you have peaks and valleys in your energy level, and there may be no rhyme or reason to them.. Try to just ride through the worst of it and try to hold yourself back a little when you're feeling really good. You may need that excess energy later.

Again, good luck!

NM-there are many people that live here in TX that end up with IVs in them during the HHH. I haven't ridden the ride myself but have many friends that have. So I have to reiterate with Indy said...HYDRATE, HYDRATE, HYDRATE. One thing I've noticed about rest stops is that the Gatorade is always very watered down. Make sure you bring something with you for electrolyte replacement. You will be sweating a LOT!

Non-ride related: get your hotel room early! My friends have stayed at the Y and had a blast but say it is tough to sleep with all the snorers around. Earplugs are a must and a sleepmask would be handy.

Indy, how do you...ummm...reapply the chamois butt'r during a ride? In the port-a-potty I'm guessing...but there is never anything to wash my hands with on the rides I've been on. Guess I need a pointer or two. Also, with the ice - does it irritate your skin? Does the melting ice soak your shorts? Sounds like something I might want to try.

1i10up... I'm no Indy... but, :D yeah, you reapply Chamois Butt'r in the porta potty. REI is now selling individual packs that I jammed in my seat bag. You get a dozen for $8. Not cheap but OH SO WORTH IT! :D For my STP ride, I reapplied at EVERY SAG stop... really glad I did... I was having saddle issues as it was... can't imagine what it would have been like without the lube.

My bro rides double centuries and swears by Bag Balm for anything over 100 miles... he said it stinks but doesn't absorb into the chamois like Chamois Butt'r does... I'm gonna try it next time. Costco carries it now! :)

Girls, it ain't pretty or especially hygenic, but you put the Chamois Butt'r on in the porty potty and do you best to wipe your hands off with TP or carry some moist toilettes. I'm not proud of these things, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Thankfully, we had a couple of actual bathrooms at RAIN so you could actually wash up. Frankly, I do all sorts of gross things in the name of biking that I never dreamt of doing before. My mother would die if I told her.

Listen to lil10up about the Texas heat and know the signs of heat exhaustion. Stop riding if you start to feel faint, dizzy, sick to your stomach, get a bad headache, etc. That kind of stuff should not be taken lightly. No ride is worth a trip to the hospital. One of the reasons I was really hesitant to do the Ride Across Indiana this past Saturday was based on what happened last year. Temps were close to 100 with high humitity and lots of people got really sick. I only got serious about doing it when I saw the weather forecast calling for temps in the low 80s. I'm a delicate flower you know! :p

As for the ice, it hasn't irritated my skin, and I've only had to do it a time or two on crazy hot days. When I'm that hot, I'm not sure I really cared about anything other than getting cool. I prefer just dumping water over my head and neck though.

On a side note, we had a rest stop during RAIN with popsicles that were the bomb. They so hit the spot.

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Indy, how do you...ummm...reapply the chamois butt'r during a ride? In the port-a-potty I'm guessing...but there is never anything to wash my hands with on the rides I've been on. Guess I need a pointer or two. Also, with the ice - does it irritate your skin? Does the melting ice soak your shorts? Sounds like something I might want to try.

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Buy a travel sized Body Glide. Fits in your pocket and reapplys very easily in a port-o-can.


Otherwise, here are some lessons I learned last year:

1) If you get too far back for the start... you will lose serious time. We lost 1 HOUR thanks to how far back we were from the start line. It seriously took us 1 hour to get our wheels rolling slowly. I'm so slow... 1 hour lost for me is 16 miles. That's me making it to Hells Gate or not.

2) Well, thanks to then shutting Hells Gate down early... 1 hour early (or maybe more?- around 11:00-11:15)... we weren't going to make it to HG. Unfortunately, a lot of people got screwed out of 100 miles last year because of this. So, near the end of the course you saw peopel riding BACK so they could get in the extra 25 miles (if you miss HG you go a 75 mile route).

3) If you need FOOD on the ride... pack some in your jersey. Around mile 40ish I was hungry... and the rest stop was stocked with crackers and pickles. Yea, uuummm... that's not food.

I carry instant hand sanitizer in my seat bag. You can get a tiny travel size at most drug stores. :)

Last year they actually had to close Hell's Gate on the Hotter n' Hell because the heat index was forcasted well over 100. Remember the pavement will make the heat even more intense.

I have done 4 HHHs, and this year will be my 5th. This is how I ensure I make it to Hell's Gate before they close it, and finish it without killing myself...

1) Definitely start towards the front of the pack. But this will require you to get up way before the crack of dawn and getting down there to line up and wait. I hear they are staggering the start this year for the first time. I am not sure how they will do this (limited room on the roads at the start), and who knows how it will work out. But honestly, I have only done the mass start one of the four years. The other 3 I started with my training group a block or two up from the start line. We wait until all the racers go by so that we do not get in their way, and start right before the rest of the riders. The ride marshalls last year did not appreciate us and other riders doing this, so I am not sure if they will crack down this year. I will probably attempt something like this again, but maybe find another place to start. I don't like having to start this way...but again, this is to just make sure I make it to Hell's Gate. Most of the riders doing HHH are not attempting the 100 miles, hence the slow/dangerous mass start. We'll see if the way they stagger it this year does any good.

2) I carry a camel back full of water, 2 water bottles with sports drink, and gel shots with me so that I do not have to stop too often or too long the first 60 miles to Burkburnett (where Hell's Gate is). I will probably stop once or twice in the first 60 miles, and they are extremely quick stops (get off saddle, stretch legs, refill if necessary). If you need to use the rest room, my advice is to make like the guys out there...they never wait for a porto. This may sound disgusting, and I do not normally do this at other organized rides, but you can wait up to 30 minutes for a porto at HHH, and it is not worth it.

3) My pace to Hell's Gate is pretty fast (for me). But once I get through Hell's Gate, I back off. After Hell's Gate you turn into the headwind for a good 40-45 miles. Just settle into a comfy cadence and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Miles 80-105 will be extremely difficult. Just stop at all the rest stops and take care of yourself. Last year was extremely difficult because it was actually HOT (heat index 111), and a lot of people hurt themselves out there because they did not listen to their bodies, pushed too hard, and did not pay attention to their nutrition/hydration.

We have had a pretty mild summer so far this year in North Texas, but who knows what August will bring. If the ride organizers decide to close Hell's Gate early again this year to protect the riders (see my posts: http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...t=hotter+hell), you can still make it. Make getting to Burkburnett ASAP a priority.

Good luck NMRider! I wish you all the best! Let me know if you have any other questions...I will be happy to help :)

Wow, thank you all for the terrific advice! I had checked out the website, but thought much of it was sort of just spouting off. Got some great ideas from everyone I would not have thought of (bringing my own hand wipes, ice in the sports bra!, etc) and I am especially glad to know that it took an hour to get rolling after the start -- given my practice runs so far, I know that I can hit the 63 mile mark in 4.5 hours, which has included generous full stops to eat and stretch... but an hour to get rolling would put me just at the cutoff point.

I am going to re-read all of your suggestions and take to heart the well-taken point about people ending up with IVs in them. And I will definitely post and let you know how it went! I am very appreciative of all of you who took the time to offer your wisdom!

P.S. I am fortunate that a friend of mine is doing the ride and offered to share her hotel room with me... that she booked a year ago!

I just wanted to say the ice in the sports bra trick along with water over the head really works! I had not done the ice trick until yesterday, we were riding without a lot of clouds and temps in the 90's. Really brought the core temp down and I was faster after that! ;)

Additional note - I checked out the HH100 forum again, and that wasn't the forum where I thought people were "spouting off," my mistake - not sure where I was reading where it was mostly just a fight-fest over who thought it was good that the course shut down early in a previous year and who thought it was a bad idea...

My husband and I will be doing the HHH for the 3rd year in a row. Last year we did not make Hell's Gate because they closed it SO early. If we had not stopped at the rest stop before Hell's Gate we would have made it! We will not be stopping at that rest stop this year. We also start toward the front of the crowd. We have not had to wait an hour to get rolling, but this year they may prevent us from starting so far up. The reststops have water, gatorade, pickle juice, oranges, bananas, and cookies. We also take a peanut butter and honey sandwich, powerbars, paydays and some powdered gatorade to mix our own. Theirs does seem to be too weak. We don't usually stop until the 3rd or 4th rest stop.
We are staying with one of the host families this year. We waited too long to try to get a hotel room. So this will be a different experience.
HAVE FUN!!

Oh, by the way, NMRider
My Daddy lives in Las Cruces!

Thanks again to all who shared the good advice. I like the pb & honey sandwich thought, too...
Had my last long ride yesterday, 88 miles from Cruces to Hatch and back. Tailwind on the way there, headwind all the way back, and it was hot... but latest weather report for WF looks like the temps are heading way up. Ouch. Gonna start upping the fluids all week long. And ice in the sports bra is sounding more and more appealing. :) Anyhow, I look forward to hearing about everyone's experience. Luck to us all!

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Originally Posted by denda

We are staying with one of the host families this year. We waited too long to try to get a hotel room. So this will be a different experience.
HAVE FUN!!

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Denda, let me know how the host family thing works out. Sounds like a good alternative. What kind of fees do the host families typically charge?

I just wanted to say good luck to all of you doing the HHH. I hope the weather gods smile upon you and give you some cloud cover and lower humidity. Short of that, I hope you have a safe and fun ride.

I'm really looking forward to the ride reports, so please report back.

K-

Thanks Indy! I'll let you know how the ride went.

I have another quick question though. I've found that I need to eat something in the morning before doing a long ride. Since I'll be staying at the Y my options will be limited. Anybody have any suggestions of what I could eat for breakfast? I usually like to eat oatmeal or pancakes before a long ride but that won't be practical on this one. Energy bars don't usually sit well with me and a banana just isn't enough. If there are any restaurants around I'm sure they'll be too packed to get in. Suggestions needed.

J-

I ran into the same problem at RAIN. I'm usually an oatmeal, banana, yogurt girl before a ride. For RAIN, I bought a (rather oversized) muffin from a bakery near my house the day before the ride and ate it with about 2 hours to go before the start of the ride. I then ate a banana and a package of Teddy Grahams about a half hour before the start. At the Horsey Hundred, I ate a Pop Tart when I first woke up and then at the cafeteria about an hour later. For me, it isn't so much what I eat, but when. I find that if I eat something two hours before, followed by something to "top it off," plus drink a bottle of water, I'm good to go.

You could do muffins, banana bread, granola, bagels, donuts, etc. plus a banana. That should do it.

Have a great ride,

Kate

Isn't there a pancake breakfast at the MEPC Center? You could always try that.

I've done the HHH twice. Both times the weather gods were in my favor and there was cloud cover and light rain. I skipped last year when the temperature got up to 106.

I think the HHH is a great ride to say you've done it. It's really cool to be there with so many other riders. The organizers do a great job, but the number of people do make it challenging. I've seen others comment on the length of time it takes to get started. The 2 years I did it, we were lined up by 6:30 and then stood around waiting for the 7:30 start. It then took another 30 minutes to move forward to the actual starting line. You need to factor this in as you consider what you're going to eat that morning since you'll probably go about 2 hours between when you eat breakfast and when you get to the first rest stop.

Also, because the HHH is such a popular ride, you get many novice riders doing the shorter routes who haven't really trained and/or don't ride on a regular basis. This tends to cause major traffic jams on all the hill climbs.

Have fun!! It really is a festive atmosphere and something every cyclist in the area should do at least once.

Susan in Dallas

This will be our first time to stay with a host family. We don't know what the fee will be. We didn't ask.

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Originally Posted by sspoor

I think the HHH is a great ride to say you've done it. It's really cool to be there with so many other riders. The organizers do a great job, but the number of people do make it challenging. I've seen others comment on the length of time it takes to get started. The 2 years I did it, we were lined up by 6:30 and then stood around waiting for the 7:30 start. It then took another 30 minutes to move forward to the actual starting line. You need to factor this in as you consider what you're going to eat that morning since you'll probably go about 2 hours between when you eat breakfast and when you get to the first rest stop.

Also, because the HHH is such a popular ride, you get many novice riders doing the shorter routes who haven't really trained and/or don't ride on a regular basis. This tends to cause major traffic jams on all the hill climbs.

Have fun!! It really is a festive atmosphere and something every cyclist in the area should do at least once.

Susan in Dallas

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Susan... we live in the same city and have the same quote! HA!

I totally agree with what you said above. Fun ride... and nice to say you have done it.

Last year due to a bike mechanical that had to be fixed, we got caught leaving with the 10-20 milers... so we pretty much dodged kids for the first few miles. It was a bit nerve racking.

K, Oooohhhh....muffins!!! A big ol' blueberry muffin sounds great. Thanks for the suggestion.

I'm starting with the 2nd group of 100 milers so hopefully that means not having to contend with too many novice riders. I just really want to avoid any accidents and it seems like it might be less likely to happen with experienced riders.

I am taking a package of oatmeal from the house. I figure that I can heat up some water in a cup and dump the oatmeal in the cup Saturday morning. We are leaving tomorrow between 12-3. I am really getting excited.

I always take an electric teakettle with me when I camp or travel. I can plug it into my car lighter with the car running and the little converter thingy. You can make tea AND oatmeal with the hot water.

The teakettles are about 15 bucks at Target.

Karen

Well, I'm off to meet a friend at his house who will be driving us up to the HHH. I'm pretty excited. We'll get up there fairly early so we can enjoy all the festivities and do some shopping. Thanks for all the well wishes and advice everyone.

Have fun! I hope this rain that's swelling through right now will cool it off a little for tomorrow.

Karen

Tailwinds and cooler temps to you all!

Hello everyone - here is my report (sigh):

First of all, let me start by saying my friend had an amazing race! She set a personal PR of 5 hours, 57 minutes, beating her previous best by 2 minutes. She said it was the hardest she had done, too - the wind kicking hard in the last 25 miles, and they announced that the heat index was up at 104 degrees. It was hot and muggy. After the event, however, you would have never known that she had just done what she had done - she didn't even look remotely tuckered out! Did I mention that Jean is a 54-year old grandma?

Unfortunately, I medical-ed out at the 70 mile rest stop. I made it through Hell's Gate about an hour before the cutoff, and was feeling really good - my legs were still pretty fresh, and I was feeling positive about the whole distance. But when it stopped being good, it went downhill fast and dramatically. I got off the bike at mile 70 to eat my sandwich (pb & honey!). As soon as I got off and walked about 50 steps, I felt a little woozy. I sat down, all of a suddden my vision went gray, and the next thing I know I am being sat on a cot in the med station. I have no recollection of passing out, but I do have a couple of scrapes where I hit the ground. (!)

Two different doctors had two different opinions on what might have happened (neither one really heat related) - either my blood sugar took a precipitous drop or after I got off the bike (I felt fine while still on it) or the blood stopped pumping so hard up to the head and down I went. There's a name for that, I forget what it is. In either event, the day was over for me - they were not letting me back on the bike. Frankly, I wasn't much feeling like getting back on the bike after that. You can figure that I am really disappointed, but it is what it is.

I cannot say enough good things about the medical staff there. There are not enough doctors in WF for this event, so they come in from all over - Dallas, San Antonio, OK City, Houston.

Everyone in the med tents had his/her own personal nurse and doctors rotated through the tent checking on everyone repeatedly. I have never had such good care in my life. (Note - while I was at the mile 70 med tent, a guy walked over and just said he didn't feel good to one of the nurses. He didn't look good, either. He was young, buff, in a team outfit - a strong-lookng guy. Ninety seconds after he said that to a staffer he had doctors and nurses all over him and an IV in his arm a minute or so after that. He went straight to the ER, he didn't even go to the med tent at the finish area.

Three things I would have changed about that day, although I don't know that they would have changed the outcome - 1) I was hydrating with water, saving my sports drink for "later" - mistake number one. 2) I started talking to someone and realized too late that she (and I) were going about 3-4mph faster than my planned speed. After this hit me, I let her go on and got back to my own race, but I had let it go on too long. 3) I tend to have low blood sugar to begin with, and have learned what foods to avoid and the best way for me to eat throughout the day. I had started off the day with a couple bananas for breakfast, and was using my Hammer gels and Carb Boom. However, in the 40 minutes before infamous mile 70, I had several of my Clif Shots, which I have used before, but never when my stomach was empty of real food, I think. One of the ingredients as a sweetener is rice syrup. I theorize that this might have spiked my sugar and caused a sugar crash - I can't eat regular syrup that goes on pancakes as the same thing happens (but far less dramatically). I think I need to practice with more solid foods while riding as well, with more protein/fat to prevent a sugar drop. (anyone have thoughts on this?)

Interesting notes:
There was a guy on roller blades! My friend saw him drafting off of bikes at one point, and (from the SAG wagon :( , wah ) I saw him again at mile 70, still looking good.
There were over 10,000 riders. The Air Force did a flyover at the start of the race, which was way impressive.
The opening cannon misfired twice, then they "hit it with a hatchet" and it went off.
A spectator was hit by a cyclist coming over the finish line, possibly breaking his (the spectator's) neck.

Already looking forward to next year. It is what it is. I am bummed that it wasn't my first succesful century, I learned good things, was there to celebrate a PR for my friend, and am looking forward to the next plan of action.

Looking forward to reading other posts about the (hopefully successful) experiences of others!

I am so sorry to hear you passed out and ended up at a medical tent! That is so scary! But I am glad to hear you got the care you needed, and I am not surprised that it was fantastic. It is a really well supported ride. Kudos to you for making it as far as you did!

Looking at your list of things you may have done differently...I have to agree about the pace issue. On a ride like that it is very important to go at your own pace, even if it means riding alone. I started riding the HHH Saturday with a friend, but she was concerned she could not keep my pace. I told her that I would slow down so that we could ride together, but she said that made her feel badly...like she was holding me back. So she told me just to go on without her...and so I did. Even though I did not mind slowing up a bit, it was very wise of her to recognize her limits. She ended up taking the short cut back after Hell's Gate after her quads started cramping when she made that turn onto the access road at Burkburnett. I am so glad she listened to her body and did not try to finish the 100 out of competitiveness or pride.

On the sports drink issue...I have to also agree. I keep a camelback filled with water that I can regularly sip. But I also keep sports drink in my water bottles and I drink that periodically, too. I constantly alternate between the two and it seems to work for me. It keeps my blood sugar steady.

On the Cliff Shots...the brown rice syrup actually does not spike your blood sugar as severely as processed sugars such as corn syrup, glucose and fructose. It is different from the syrup you put on your pancakes in that way, and it is actually better for you. Last summer I was on a very restricted diet for medical reasons, and that was the only thing that I could use as a sweetener...and the only thing I could use on my bike rides. It is lower on the glycemic index than other sugars. Usually, if I do a Cliff Shot on an empty stomach on a bike ride, the only thing I will end up with is reflux.

I have a difficult time eating solid foods on rides as well, and I have to force myself to eat. But I try to stick with things that work for me. Bananas, some cookies, pretzels, and nature valley peanut butter granola bars are what sound appealing to me while on a ride and I can also hold them down. You will have to experiment with what solid foods sound good to you, and that you can hold down on a ride.

And lastly, about the heat...yes it was warm, but it was pretty mild for this time of year in North Texas (the high on Saturday was 94, winds out of the west). We really lucked out because it is usually much hotter, and much windier. So maybe it was not the heat so much, but the humidity. It probably is not as humid in New Mexico as it is here, and that is not something you are used to. For those of us you have to ride in it all the time, our bodies are used to high heat indices.

Good luck to you...and I am happy to see you want to give it another go next year! It is really a lot of fun...and believe it or not it gets a little easier each year. :)

Hi Righteousbabe -

Thanks for your thoughts - :)

I am going to do some more research on the brown rice syrup issue... so far I have come up w/ several sites that indicate the refining process makes brs give the same/similar sort of sugar spike, and is therefore not appropriate for diabetics or hypoglycemics.... the verdict isn't in yet, I think. I just started researching it, though.

Humidity may have been a factor. I train regularly in the upper 90s, and wasn't really feeling the heat so much, but it was pretty humid (for me at least) - in the 40%+ range, I think...

Onward and upward, right? Have a good one. :D

B I G C O N G R A T S to you guys!! :D :D I am always so impressed with those who complete a century, much less the HHH one! :p

I would like to try it hopefully next year.

You guys offer some great tips and I have really gleaned alot from your personal experiences. I have a few questions to ask, and forgive me for being so naive. :rolleyes:

If you stay in a hotel or Y, is there transportation to the event or do you have to make arrangments to transport yourself? What area is the ideal location for lodging in terms of distance to the starting line?
What hotel would you recommend?

For those who stayed with a host family, did you have a good experience?

As for the starting line, what's the earliest one can be there?

Did anyone buy a HHH jersey?

I think I'd like to say I actually did the HHH--even if I don't finish. :cool:

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Originally Posted by sundial

B I G C O N G R A T S to you guys!! :D :D I am always so impressed with those who complete a century, much less the HHH one! :p

I would like to try it hopefully next year.

You guys offer some great tips and I have really gleaned alot from your personal experiences. I have a few questions to ask, and forgive me for being so naive. :rolleyes:

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HHH '07 was my first attempt at the ride, as well as my first century ride. Everything's bigger in Texas, they say, and so is the HHH. I saw rider numbers greater than 12,200 something; according to the paper 10,205 riders crossed the startline, 70% of those signed up for the hundred miles.

I rode my own pace, and rolled in with 102.7 miles (I told you everything's bigger in Texas, even the miles in a century!), at 6 hours 9 minutes riding time. Overall was around 7 hours and 20 minutes, but that counts fifteen to 20 minutes it took to get past the start line, as well as time loafing around the rest stops.

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If you stay in a hotel or Y, is there transportation to the event or do you have to make arrangments to transport yourself? What area is the ideal location for lodging in terms of distance to the starting line?

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Most folks that I saw rode to the line, it's probably a little easier... but then we were in the camping area by the Ag Center.

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As for the starting line, what's the earliest one can be there?

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Folks starting rolling by headed for the start line around five o'clock or so... so there really isn't an "earliest" time. I passed that guy with in-line skates about six or eight miles the other side of Electra, so there's no telling when he started. Others took off on their own around 6 a.m. or so to "beat the heat.'' There's a pro/semi-pro road race that starts half an hour before the main ride, so you just need to stay ou of their way until they get by.

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Did anyone buy a HHH jersey?

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I did... one of the new 2007 models which is mostly black & gold, with the cow skull/handlebars HHH logo on it. I'll probably save it for awhile until the weather cools off before I try to ride in it.

Me, I had a grand time. It was awesome to be in a pack like that at the outset, andwas pretty much able to ride my own pace. I kept an eye open for a friendly wheel when possible, but figure that I rode more than 70% of the time out in the wind.

I plan to go back next year, fer sure...

Tom E.

Some HH100 pics here.. New camera didn't quite work out so good on some of them, should have practiced with it first!

Sundial, there's a nice pic of the jersey in the sub-album titled 'summary' if you want a good look at it. I thought it was pretty nifty. I got one even though the small was quite a bit big on me =\. Figure I'll just ride with it in the cooler temps when I've got a thick layer or two on.