Hotter N' Hell 2015: How Did it Go?

The 2015 Hotter N' Hell Hundred

Carlos (Center of the photo) finished the ride in 5:10, Levi (Left hand side) came in 10 minutes after me (on the Right). I finished the ride with an elapsed time of 5:38 and a moving time of 5:10.

With the hot month of July we had this year, I thought this year's Hotter N' Hell was going to be a scorcher. Well, it was, in the sense that I am now officially a "Scorcher", or a sub 6 hour century rider. The actual temperature itself averaged in the low 80's, freakishly cool for this time of year in what is supposed to be the hottest part of the country right now.  I am by no means complaining that it wasn't hot enough. You see the guy in the blue, long sleeved jersey in the photo above? Yep, that's me, dressed up trying to protect myself from the sun. The cool, overcast and breezy day kept me fresh on the bike and contributed to my performance.

The first 50 miles of the race, as opposed to last year's Hotter N' Hell, were the hardest.  The roads were so bumpy that even my Selle SMP TRK saddle didn't help to take the edge off the harshness of the ride. I rode the last couple of miles to the 50 mile rest stop standing on my pedals and cramping. At the rest stop, I ate a hot dog and knocked back a few bottles of pickle juice. That might sound disgusting, but after 15 minutes the cramping started to go away. My cramps were so bad that I had to slowly remount and pedal the bike once I was on my way. The pickle juice basically saved me from falling off the pace, maybe even from ending my ride early.

At the starting line.

The 50 mile rest stop.

I rode the rest of the ride at my own pace and wasn't even looking at my average speed until the end of the ride. I caught several pacelines on the way to the finish, dropping back whenever I needed to recover or when I needed a swig of water. I  only stopped one other time at the 85 mile mark, because I had run out of water by that point. I tried to fill up my bottles as quickly as I could and was off to the finish line.

This year was about breaking my personal record, as well as redemption for having been the last among my friends to cross the finish line. I not only broke my record by over two hours but I now can start at the front of the race with all of the other "Scorchers" should I decide to do this again next year. The Hotter N' Hell is basically the one event a year we non-professional riders can aspire to. It's a great event and a bucket list item if you are a cyclist living in Texas that takes riding seriously. If you have a fleeting interest in the sport then this ride is not for you. This race is tough, even though this year it wasn't particularly hot, cyclists still had to turn the pedals for a 100 miles to finish it. Last year we had temperatures around 103 and headwinds of 20 mph for the last 30 miles of the race. In years like that it takes the entire year to train up for a 100 mile race. I'm glad things worked out the way they did this year, because I have not been training as much as I did last year and in years past. This might very well be the last century ride that I do in August, although next year I'm looking at going to Hotter N' Hell for the triple threat. We'll see what happens next year.