Back from the Hotter N' Hell

[rheidis73]

thank you all for your reports and info on this hotter than hotter than hell ride.

I am so amazed that 11,000 people wanted to ride in 100 degree PLUS weather!

how come there wasn't more food available for you though? I mean, i know it's hard to eat whenyou are hot and riding, but even sports drinks, milkshakes,
something?

For myself, I think there was enough food. I loved all the friut, but like Karen said, that will not keep you going for many miles. The cookies really looked nasty...I wasn't into heavy, sugury things at the time...

That night though, I ate fried chicken, and french fries! This is not my normal diet! But, I was starving...And it was good!

[Righteousbabe]

"Those final 20 miles are hotter and harder, mostly because of that south headwind, and that performance decline always shows up in the time splits"

That had to have been the hardest 20 milles I have ever done! The wind was strong and the heat of it was unreal. It was like sitting on a furnace and feeling the air come up...

Where I live, we have the heat, plus humidity....but barely or no wind...

YES, those final 20 miles are so brutal...I think it was at the 2nd to last rest stop my delirium was apparent. I never made it off my bike. I just straddled it because I could not come up with the energy to lift one of my legs over the saddle. Then some woman with a stethoscope around her neck came running over to me asking if I wanted to lay down. I told her no...this is as good as it gets and the longer I am out here it will only get harder. She brought water and gatorade over to me and a cold, wet towel...then I was on my way. Blast furnace was exactly what I was thinking that last 20...

Yes, East Texas is very warm and humid! I lived in Longview for a while, worked in Tyler, and went to school in Nacogdoches.

[rheidis73]

YES, those final 20 miles are so brutal...I think it was at the 2nd to last rest stop my delirium was apparent. I never made it off my bike. I just straddled it because I could not come up with the energy to lift one of my legs over the saddle. Then some woman with a stethoscope around her neck came running over to me asking if I wanted to lay down. I told her no...this is as good as it gets and the longer I am out here it will only get harder. She brought water and gatorade over to me and a cold, wet towel...then I was on my way. Blast furnace was exactly what I was thinking that last 20...

Yes, East Texas is very warm and humid! I lived in Longview for a while, worked in Tyler, and went to school in Nacogdoches.

I work in Nacogdoches..too bad you are not still here...