Back from the Hotter N' Hell

[Righteousbabe]

Hey, do you miss the mass start? Do you just start earlier and up the road from the start? I need to do that next year to make the 100 miles.

I am also going to hit up a few bikes rallies and ride 50-100 miles on a monthly basis before the HnH next year! I think that's what was lacking in my training this year.

Yes, I start right after all the racers take off. The ride organizers don't particularly like it...and I understand that if everyone did that it would be a mess...but maybe they need to think about staggering the starts based on distance. There are a lot of people who do this already...they just line up at the side streets that feed into Scott and wait until the racers have gone by to make sure you do not impede them. The last 3 years I have gone to Lincoln and Scott (where the racers take off) and wait in a parking lot until it is safe to go.

This summer I did not train as hard as I did the previous two summers. 2004 & 2005 I did spin class 2 nights per week, rode at White Rock 2 mornings a week, and then did a 60 (early in the summer) to 80 mile ride (2 weekends before HHH) every weekend. This summer I did not do the spin class, and my riding at White Rock was sporadic. I am having some health issues and have not had the energy to ride during the week. But when I did ride at White Rock I would push really hard. I figure pushing myself on the short rides (2 laps around) will make me stronger for the longer rides. Then on Saturdays I was forcing myself to do 100Ks at the local rallies, and I was able to do a 4 hour 100K the weekend before HHH. Though, I have to say, I was a little nervous going into HHH because I did not train as hard as I did in the past, but I somehow pulled it off. I rode out at 7:00 am, and completed the 100 mile at 2:00 pm sharp.