The main point of this advice is to stay in the vicinty of 35 and 290 East. It's just a short jaunt straight out 290 to the place the ride starts, which is really handy come early Sunday morning. The expo is just a few miles south on 35 at the Convention Center. The LaQuinta Highland Mall and Baymont Inn Highland Mall are pretty much both at that intersection. We've stayed in both locations. The Baymont is cheaper and was just changed over from a LaQuinta last year...owned by the same company. I suppose they didn't really need two LaQuinta's less than a mile or so apart. It's an even better deal if you have a Sam's card. It's likely where we'll stay if we go again.

Also, this may or may not be useful advice depending on how many riders they allow. I haven't seen what the cap will be this year. If it's anywhere near the 6,500 it has been in the past, then you'll want to try to be at the starting location by 6:30-6:45 or earlier. Trust me, you'd rather be sitting in a parking lot with everything ready to go than sitting in the HUGE line of cars that don't think they need to get there early.

I'll keep my eye for the route to be posted. If it's anything close to the previous routes, I'll give you all the info I can about what you can expect in terms of hills.

Good luck with your training and stay out of this insane heat!!