Goal: Hotter than hell

Before I forget, It's time to blog about the goal i've been working for the past three years: Wichita Fall's 30th Hotter than Hell Hundred ride.

And yes, it really lived up to that name, as it was def the hottest one on record.

The week leading up to the ride, was a tapering week, however, my training schedule was pretty close to the same, just days rearranged and a little less intense.  Thankfully, my boss had discussed "tapering madness" with me on other events, so i realized i was going through some of that. I felt fat, sore, in pain, anxious, excited and possibly, at moments, a total wreck.  I even ran around the night before trying to make sure I had everything i needed. I'm not sure why this particular rally had me so rattled, as i've gone to out of towner events before.

When i made it into town, my parents wanted to join me at packet pickup. Of course, they made it into the vendor's room, and found a place to park while i ran around and took care of last min stuff.  I found the TCC bike shop, and established myself a group to ride with. I was very happy to know that those weekends I spent training with them paid off. I really like all of them, as they are as forgiving as helpful.

After dinner w/ my parents, where we could find a place not crowded by cyclists, I fussed with all of my gear and laid out everything for in the morning.  I had to be at the bike shop by 5:30.

My poor dad drove me there, and we both forgot that the route to the shop was THROUGH the start road. My dad whipped out some serious huge truck maneuvering, and got me there with minutes to spare., and in the dark, i might add. He was stressed but he totally pulled that off!  One of the teammates was late, so we didn't get off until 6:30. One man i had never ridden with before grilled me on my skill/experience level, and we came up with a plan.  Since my dad was volunteering at rest stop 5 (the county) I wanted to make that the first stop. We all agreed.

We had to pick up our bikes, and run across this old bridge to get to the line up. We crossed the baricade and joined in the stream of cyclists already moving out. All levels were mixed. It was a controlled chaos. I asked the team was the game plan to stick together and try not to crash. "yes" they said.  Well, they're men.  The game plan changed to a game of frogger. We shifted this way and that, at a fast pace through all sorts of riders, and ended up riding the reflectors to avoid the slower riders. It was scary, exhilarating and crazy.  A lot of close calls, a lot of brakes slammed, and the sides were littered with punctured tires and mild crashes, and a dumped water bottle or two.

Once we got fast 30, it opened up quite a bit. I looked at our pace. it seemed every time i looked, we were going 20-25mph.   The guys started complaining about having to pee. I was the only girl in our group, so i told them to stop at the 40, but i was going onto the 50, and catch me up then.  We came to a hill, and jumped out to get into a faster pace group so they could slow down to stop.  About 43 miles, i feel a tap on my shoulder, as R rode up to me, to tell me they decided to make the 50 after all.

I made it to the 50, barely getting into my third bottle of water. It was very nice weather, and i wasn't that thirsty, even tho i was drinking as much as I could.  I rather liked that new bottle holder i put on the back of my bike, even tho it does add considerable weight.  I just don't like carrying much in my jersey..

Special Moment. Riding into the 50 to see my dad waiting w/ a jug of ice water.  I got watered right away, and his friends took our picture.  After getting myself to the litter box and fed, the guys dragged my dad over for a group photo.  I almost started crying. This is, after all, part of why i worked so hard. My dad is 88 years old, and has been volunteering at this event for years.  This made it all worth it.

Time to move on. We hit a pretty fast pace that i had to work to keep up.  Then it became my turn to pull, and it was right into the rollers.  I finally gave out, and i will say honestly, that trying to rejoin the pack from a pull is the hardest part. This is esp true when you pick up about 30 riders and have to figure out where to cut into the pack.  Too far back, and i would lose my friends. Too far to the front, and a pull comes around to quick.  We joined others, others joined us.

At 75 miles, my friends were struggeling a bit, so we stopped. WE all agreed the pace was pushing it a bit.  At this point, I had only gotten into my 2nd bottle of water, but welcomed the pickle juice, despite how foul that shit is.

We hit the road, and vroom the pace picks up fast.  One of our guys is really fast, and i can't blame him for wanting to be done with the ride.  We caught a nice fast group, and after a while, realized we had dropped our whole group. Not only dropped, but they stopped at the 80.  We decided to push on, but my friend decided to stop at the 90, and encouraged me to continue.  I def had horse in stables syndrome, plus, i wanted to try for sub5 hours.

That last ten was a beating. There were  no groups, just stragglers. I tried to hop from rider to group, and wanted to work with anyone at this point, but it seemed none of those people knew how to draft/pull.  So, I struggled alone until the end. THat was the hardest ten miles of the whole ride. the wind picked up and it was right before noon. My god, it felt like that damn ride was never going to end.

When i realized i was close, i tried hard to push to the end. IT's sort of hard because people are wandering around the front of the finish. I raced in and slammed on my brakes. Then i remember to stop my bike computer.  It was frakking hot.

My stomach gave me the bird, and i thought i was going to pass out. i remembered the free coke trailer, so i got a diet c and found a spot under a semi trailer on a piece of cardboard. other centuries were telling me their stories, while i waited for my team to roll in.  They insisted on a group picture, which was VERY very cool.  I really like those guys alot.

Overall, I felt that the 100 mile route was actually easier than the 100K route, as far as hills and shitty roads.  Maybe that's just my training talking, but despite the heat, it was a fast, good route.

So, my best time yet (I made the "scorcher" classification), rode with some very cool guys, and got to have a special moment to share with my dad.  I even got to see my good friends from Dallas and happy everyone had a very good ride.

What's next? Recover my right buttcheek, and find some new goals!

clear skies, and thanks for reading my blog.  Ride Safe!