K - Hope it isn't a blistering heat like it was in 2006. That 25th anniversary year ride was an organizer's worst nightmare (had to be). They had to close Hell's Gate 90min early because of the rising heat index. Since it was the 25th Anniversary, people all came out of the woodwork for it - there were way more people signing up the day/night before than they had bargained for. I think somewhere around 12,000 people were on the start line that year (me included). It took me nearly an HOUR to even get past the starting line. Talk about an awful situation..weather, the number of riders, the lack of enough supplies (ie: ice, water, gatorade, snacks - everything). I did not make Hell's Gate due to the starting line fiasco AND b/c it closed 90 min early. By the time I crossed the finish with my disappointing 75-77(?) miles, it was 107 and WINDY!
Some of my friends who got through the gate told me the rest stops ran out of ice and water! I ran into some of that before the gate (lack of ice and gatorade, no food)...but couldn't imagine being stuck out on the 100mile route and not have ice/water... GAWD!
I saw a lot of folks both seasoned and non-seasoned (should not have been out at all) go down on the road and at the rest stops. It was scary.

Because of that year, it'll take me a long while before I'll go back to HHH.

I can't imagine that this year will near match my horror story...but I will be putting in a little prayer for ya - just in case!

My best memory of 2006 (besides finishing) was the valet parking at one of the rest stops. What a great idea... they had students out by the road serving as bike stewards. So..we didn't have to lay our bikes down in the brown grass or dirt. The kids did a great job holding the bikes and/or fetching anything we needed (and still had).

P.S. I'd done HHH 2x before (1996-1997) and it was GREAT!!