Hotter N Hell

After going to Meet the Teacher night, Tucker and I headed towards Wichita Falls for the Hotter N Hell bicycle ride. Actually, I dropped Tucker off in my hometown to stay with mom, while I drove on to Wichita Falls to meet up with Dad. Dad and I have this tradition where we ride in the Hotter N Hell together. This year was the 10th year that we have been riding together or at least TRIED to ride together. I didn't ride one year because I was almost 8 months pregnant with Tucker. But, we have the memories and pictures and it is something that I love to do and dread at the same time. We only ride 25 miles, which is fine with us! We just can't seem to figure out why others want to go on and ride 100 miles? We also can't figure out who can carve out enough time to train to ride 100 miles.

The part I hate the worse is not the heat or wind, but the start of the ride. There are 12,000 crazy people trying to start the race at pretty much the same time. Not only are we crammed in the street like sardines, but mix in riders of all different ages and skill/knowledge levels. I have seen some really bad crashes within the first 6 miles of the ride. Here is a picture of the start of the ride. Dad and I are in there somewhere!

This year the start seemed even more crowded and dangerous than usual, but we manged to make it without being in harm's way. Every year that we finish safely is a good time!
We only have 2 "official" rest stops and they are great. They have volunteers lined up to cheer us on and pass out water, pickle juice (my favorite!), and gatorade. They also have sliced oranges and bananas ready for us, too. The best rest stop is in Shepard Air Force Base. We ride through and see the Air men and women volunteering. This year they had about 250 air men and woman line a street and cheer us on as we rode past them. I must say it was a bit emabarrasing, but it does make you feel good. After we rode through their cheering section, Dad said, "That was a bit embarrasing...You want to ride through them again?" He also mentioned that really we should be cheering them on instead of the other way around! Like always, they are there whether we really know that we need them or not.

The fruit and drinks at the rest stops are nice and all, but what keeps me going at about the halfway mark is thinking about the corn dog and Dr Pepper that is waiting for me when I get finished. I eat corn dogs bascially 2 times a year...at the State Fair and at the Hotter N Hell. I don't know what it is, but there is nothing better at 9:00AM after riding 25 miles than to eat a hot corn dog and drink a cold Dr. Pepper. It just makes me feel better! I wonder Lance Armstrong ate corndogs after each stage of the Tour de France? :0)

Dad and I had a great time riding this year and I am already looking forward to next year!