Today's blog entry:
 
I traveled to Wichita Falls yesterday and rode the Hotter 'N Hell Hundred today. This was the eighth straight year I've done the 100 mile route at HHH. I finished the route today, but it wasn't easy. With the miles I've been riding and my fitness level, I had no illusions about being able to challenge my personal best time at HHH, but like always, I did hope to make it around the route in less than six hours. I didn't accomplish that this year.
 
I stayed at the Lamar Baptist Church recreation building again this year. As always, the hosts there did a great job for the riders. And I enjoyed my visiting with friends last night, most of whom I hadn't seen since last year's HHH or longer. But, just like last year, there were some cancellations  by riders, and there weren't as many recumbent riders as many previous years. The bike show was great fun as always, too. The weather at Wichita Falls was trying to live up to the ride's name this year. It was 103 degrees this afternoon.
 
Things didn't start out smoothly at the ride. A quarter mile after the start, my Garmin quit. Apparently, its battery has reached the age where it won't hold its charge overnight, and you need to leave it on the charger until right before a ride if you want it to last out the ride. Since I always have it on the charger at home, I had no idea this would happen. I really missed the heart rate monitor. With the extra adrenaline a big ride like this brings, it's easy to misjudge how much effort you're expending, and that heart rate monitor is a good way to tell that.
 
But the first sixty miles of the ride were a blast. I rode with friend DJ Boyd, who I used to travel to HHH with every year, while we only lived five miles apart. Now I only seem to see him at HHH. His riding mileage was down this year, and he wasn't sure how strong he would finish 100 miles, so we were both trying to draft some, and conserve enough energy to finish strong. At Burkburnett at mile 60, DJ stopped at the rest stop, and just like I had good sense, I rode on.
 
I don't know if it was because I had misguaged my early effort from not having my heart rate monitor, or if I rode too hard after turning against the considerable wind later in the ride, but at mile 82, I cratered. I had leg cramps so bad I had to stop, and I was on and off the bike the rest of the way. I don't have an official time yet from my timing chip, and of course my Garmin didn't record the time, but I think I finished the 101 miles in something like 6:20. Not good, but like they say, sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug. I felt very much like the bug today.
 
Still, it was a fun trip, and for the eighth straight time, I completed the 100 mile route there. No small accomplishment for a lung challenged old f*rt, I'm thinking.
 
The sea of cyclists at the start.

 
DJ at the start.

 
The HHH 100 mile route.

Bud's post is right on target.  As he said about the first 60, non-stop, we were doing pretty good.  I had to bail at Hell's gate to refill though.  I couldn't get anything out of the bladder in the seat bag and that left me with only the one 24 oz bottle I had to drink from, for those 60 miles.  I fixed the bladder, refilled and hit the road.  Backing the pace down some, I managed, somehow, to finish just before Bud.  So I'm pleased with my time considering the lack of miles this year.  And no cramping.  I thought I might have a real problem later because of drinking just the one bottle for 60 miles, but no.  Must have been the Pei Wei I ate for supper Friday night

 
There's my ride in a nutshell.....notice anything missing? How about the last 21 miles? I made a makeshift tail box out of pink insulation that I think worked okay. Best comment of the day was a guy passing me in a pace line yelling out, "Does that R-40 insulation keep you cool?" Ha!  
 
I started hearing a really faint 'thump, thump, thump' sound and couldn't figure out if it was just the tail box rubbing on the tire in the sidewind or if it was my tire coming unseated, which has happened to me before. At any rate, I figured there was nothing I could do about it because I forgot my pump. In hindsight I should have stopped at one of the rest stops that had bike mechanics--20/20--I see it soooooo clearly now.
 
I actually did stop once to examine the rear tire to see if it had come unseated. It usually happens right at the valve stem, so I looked it over pretty closely there and saw nothing. Turns out it had come unseated opposite the valve stem. At mile 79 the thumping got really loud for a second or two and BOOM my race was over. I couldn't even move the back wheel because the inner tube wound around my rear cassette. A huge group of riders that took up both lanes of the road was coming up just behind me and started yelling at me to get off the road. I am afraid I yelled a few things back at them that I am not proud of in my anger and disappointment.
 
A spectator family picked me up in their Honda truck and gave me a ride back in. I had to borrow a knife from a couple of motorcycle riders to cut my inner tube off of my cassette.
 
At Hell's Gate I was at 19.9mph average. After I stopped to examine my tire I was down to 19.5mph. I had worked my way back up to 19.8mph when the stuff hit the fan.
 
Here's what my tire looked like after 40-50 miles of rubbing on my brakes. And what my inner tube ended up looking like.....

 
Wish I could have done the thing differently!!!!!!!

A lot of fun this year in the Quest.
 
Jim - Sorry about your tire troubles. Good seeing you on the ride!
 
Write up about the whole HHH weekend here: http://danhansenjr.com/2014/08/23/quest-hotter-n-hell-hundred-ride-report.html
 
Lots of videos with the Quest.
 

Dan, you do such a great job of recording your rides! I watched all of your videos with my mouth wide open.
 
You know what I was surprised to see as you passed me was the way the velo was able to rock side to side as you pedaled. I guess the front wheels have independent suspension, huh? Nice for bumps.

Jim - When I really get after it the Quest does rock side-to-side. Once I lose some weight and smooth out my peddle stroke the side-to-side mostly goes away. Yes, the Quest does have independent suspension on all three wheels.

Quote from dd5339 on Aug 26^th, 2014, 3:45am:

Yep, that's the link. Just type in your number or name and it will find your result.
 
My results weren't so impressive this year, but I was still 17th in my age group, so I guess that's something. That time is too low though, again this year. It makes me wonder if the chip ignores the early start we recumbents do.

Quote from reever on Aug 26^th, 2014, 8:32pm:

 
More riding with groups will teach you the ins and outs. But as low as your ride is, you're always going to have a different speed profile, and be on your own a lot. And if anyone is right behind you, they definitely aren't doing it for the draft. There just isn't much behind a bike that low.
 
FWIW, I always carry two spare tubes, even on my 30 mile rides. They don't weigh much or take up much space. But if a tire won't stay on the rim, you need a new tire.