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2016 HHH (Read 3613 times)
Bud_Bent
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2016 HHH
Aug 27th, 2016, 5:11pm
 
100.7 miles on the F5 today at the Hotter'N Hell 100. My Garmin says I finished the ride in 5 hours and 19 minutes. That's a good time for me. I've ridden the 100 mile route at HHH in each of the last 10 years, but today was only the second time I've managed to ride the entire 100.7 miles without stopping at all. I'll post more later.
 
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« Last Edit: Aug 27th, 2016, 5:15pm by Bud_Bent »  

Bud
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diannalightning
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Re: 2016 HHH
Reply #1 - Aug 27th, 2016, 5:52pm
 

Way to go Bud.  I didn't make the HHH this year but glad to see your post.
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Re: 2016 HHH
Reply #2 - Aug 27th, 2016, 8:22pm
 
I REALLY had a great time at this year's HHH! Getting to meet so many of you at the dinner was fantastic, and getting to introduce some of you to my lovely daughter at the start--and introduce my daughter to the recumbent world--was very neat, as well. This was a tough one for me. I guess I under-trained for it....just did one hour time trials at my local park. Next year I'll do some longer distances. I took off behind the number one tandem in the field and found my heart rate up around 145--completely unsustainable for 100 miles. Dropped back and got in another line and broke the rule that I adopted in last year's race--never go up and take a turn pulling in a tandem pace line!!! I went up and took a turn pulling and turned one street too early and came face to face with a barrier! Oops! U-turn and catch back up at the expense of a whole lot of energy--that I didn't have much of this year.
It seemed as though every time I would catch a group of riders it was at the bottom of a hill--effort wasted.
Unlike Bud (I think I will call him camel after going 100 miles without stopping for anything!) I did stop at the 50 mile rest stop for a fill up on two of my water bottles.  
Late in the race I was riding a stone's throw back from Tony and who else???? It was soooo frustrating to these two groups of uprights and to me that here were two guys riding side-by-side, gesturing and carrying on like a couple of school girls--and yet staying ahead of  us seemingly effortlessly! I came up over a hill and around a bend and saw Tony trying to stretch out his hamstrings. Ouch!
I told myself I was going to keep track of how many people I passed in the last ten miles of the race. Bad idea. My count was up to ten and then it started to dwindle and then go negative as these lines of uprights cruised into the finish. Talk about your downer!!!
One of the neatest things I did all day was go back and forth with this upright guy who had a prosthetic on his right leg. He was one tough cookie, but one time I was able to help him span a gap up to a group that he had been dropped from. He found me wandering around after the race in somewhat of a mindless stupor and congratulated me on a good race. He's telling ME that I rode a good race!!!
My gps said 5:17, but I'm not sure if that is moving time or overall time, because I finished and Bud was already sitting in his easy chair in the shade. Unless he teleported himself from the finish line directly there, I can't see me beating him.
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Adults should have fun so kids will want to grow up!

For every mile of road there's two miles of ditch.

I'd rather be sorry for something I did than for something I didn't do.
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Bud_Bent
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Re: 2016 HHH
Reply #3 - Aug 28th, 2016, 2:28pm
 
My report from my blog:
 
Yesterday, I rode the 100 mile route at the Hotter 'N Hell Hundred for the tenth consecutive year. Like last year, I stayed at the First Christian Church the night before, sleeping on an air mattress in the gym. I joined a bunch of other recumbent riders for dinner Friday evening. (Thanks, Gary!) It was definitely an enjoyable trip this year.
 
The forecast had been for a cooler day this year, but it was humid, not many clouds, and as I started my drive home at 1:00 in the afternoon, it was already 93 degrees. So it wasn't that cool at all. That said, it wasn't nearly as hot as it has been in some years past. As I was driving home, I did notice that some storms had popped up at Wichita Falls, so some of those who were still on the course late likely got rained on.
 
The HHH people at the start let the recumbents and tandems start about ten minutes before seven. I stayed behind moderate speed tandems those first few miles, and managed to stay with one group or another for all but a couple of the first 30 miles. At that point, there were no groups to be found, and I was out in the wind by myself for the next 8 miles. On the stretch from Electra to Burkburnett, I only seemed to encounter faster groups on inclines where I really couldn't keep up with them, so rode alone more in that stretch than I usually do.
 
I passed Hell's Gate well before 10:00 am, but was feeling pretty tired at that point. I did a better job of staying with one group or another for quite a few miles after Hell's gate, and seemed to get my second wind. It felt like I put out more effort this year than last year though, and there were several times where I was trying to hang with a group on an incline and watching my heart rate approach 170 before I had the sense to back off. But I think my fitness was a little better than last year, and I finished a bit faster, and never had anything approaching cramps, in spite of my effort.
 
According to my Garmin, I finished the ride in 5:19, a good time for me, about 10 minutes faster than last year. For only the second time in my 10 HHH rides, I rode the entire 100.7 miles without stopping at all. My bladder gets me up all the time at night, yet I can occasionally ride more than five hours without stopping. One of life's great mysteries, I guess.  It appears that my timing chip didn't work this year. There was no official result for me on the timing website.
 
The start. That's me, just to the left of the velomobile.

 
And we're off.

 
Hell's Gate at mile 60.

 
The medal waiting at the finish.

 
This morning's reward at Denny's.

 
My Garmin data.
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« Last Edit: Aug 28th, 2016, 2:48pm by Bud_Bent »  

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Bud_Bent
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Re: 2016 HHH
Reply #4 - Aug 28th, 2016, 2:36pm
 
Quote from reever on Aug 27th, 2016, 8:22pm:
My gps said 5:17, but I'm not sure if that is moving time or overall time, because I finished and Bud was already sitting in his easy chair in the shade. Unless he teleported himself from the finish line directly there, I can't see me beating him.

If your gps is set like mine, it will discard time while you are stopped. At the 2008 HHH, I thought I had managed an under 5 hour ride when my Garmin time was 4:57, but I had made a single four minute stop, and my official timing chip time (back when official times were accurate) correctly showed 5:01.
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« Last Edit: Aug 28th, 2016, 2:38pm by Bud_Bent »  

Bud
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reever




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Re: 2016 HHH
Reply #5 - Aug 28th, 2016, 5:10pm
 
Ha! Here's another theory on my gps.......I have it set to konk out if I'm doing less than 5mph. Maybe some of those hills I dropped lower than that!!! At any rate, there ought to be a 20 minute time bonus for anyone who is able to do the whole 100 with no stops!
 

 
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« Last Edit: Aug 28th, 2016, 5:13pm by reever »  

Adults should have fun so kids will want to grow up!

For every mile of road there's two miles of ditch.

I'd rather be sorry for something I did than for something I didn't do.
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jrob_bent
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Re: 2016 HHH
Reply #6 - Aug 28th, 2016, 5:25pm
 
Great job to everyone who finished. Maybe I can give it a go next year.
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I get about 15 miles per honey bun!
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Rawhide




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Re: 2016 HHH
Reply #7 - Aug 29th, 2016, 2:43pm
 
The Wichita Falls Times Record photo gallery of HHH got a picture of Doug in his Milan.  Photo 20 of 76.
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Re: 2016 HHH
Reply #8 - Aug 30th, 2016, 9:40am
 
Speaking of Doug and his Milan.....I've heard the phrase "on your left" before, but I've never heard it yelled with more urgency than Doug did absolutely SCREAMING  down the bridge at the start of the HHH! I don't know if everybody else knew it was him or not, but I knew that I'd better move right FAST!!!
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Adults should have fun so kids will want to grow up!

For every mile of road there's two miles of ditch.

I'd rather be sorry for something I did than for something I didn't do.
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Re: 2016 HHH
Reply #9 - Aug 30th, 2016, 2:18pm
 
I went up Friday in time to take advantage of Gary Bradford's invitation to the recumbent dinner gathering in Iowa Park.  Besides seeing Bud, Doug, and Dan there, it was fun meeting Reever and several new friends, and Gary and Gay have an AMAZING stable of wheeled transportation.  It was also my first time to ride an electric assist trike -- VERY cool.  Thanks for the invitation!
 
I stayed at the 1st Xtian church, as did Bud.  Good place, a worthy alternative to the Lamar, and $50 is still cheaper than two nights at a local hotel.  It's several miles from the start, so about 6AM, Bud and I drove over to 7th street, and parked.
 
It was an interesting day at HHH... I wasn't necessarily planning to ride hard, but adrenaline kicked in at the start, and things went from there. The "race" and "pace" groups start about 10 minutes or so before the recumbents and tandems do, then the main group starts about 10-15 minutes later, I think.
 
When our group started, I was near the front, and started rolling about 20mph. After a couple miles, a tandem passed me with Reever on their tail, so I latched on, rolling at 22-24ish. After a couple miles, Reever dropped off, and the tandem had hooked on to a TT rider, another tandem, and a couple others, with me following -- I decided to continue with them. Our group kept up the pace, and at one point, I rolled up to the front, and thanked the TT guy for his pulling - which took him aback a bit, but brought a smile to his face!
 
About 3 miles before the 30 mile rest stop, we actually caught the "pace" group, which actually slowed us down a bit, due to the number of riders. I decided to stop at 30 to hit the bathroom, so I said adios to the others.  I had a 24mph average at this point... my highest ever.
After a short stop, I hit the road again, and within a mile, along came the lead group of the main riders - about 150 or so of them, I estimated, rolling at 25ish. Not wanting to get into the middle of that, I let them pass, then latched on! I kept with the group for the next 30 miles, at speeds up to 30-32mph. There was a constant litany of "whoa!" and "bottle" and yoyoing from the large group, so i was glad i wasnt in the middle - and I had some fun conversations with the folks in the back, about recumbents. They were rather surprised that I could hang...  Smiley
 
At the 55 mile point, before Burkburnett, we caught the "pace" group again - I almost laughed... then, somebody got crossways in the pack, and a bad wreck happened - I saw a guy on the ground at the side, out cold. I almost stopped, but the pace group truck was already radiong in about it, so kept rolling with the group.
 
There in Burkburnett, we came up on a guy on a Vendetta recumbent...  I said my hellos -- which turned out to be a good thing, further down the road...
 
At the 60 mile point, I decided I had had enough - I STILL had a ~24 rolling average, and had to pee again.. Wink so, I stopped at the rest stop (It looked like I was the first one to stop there... all the food was untouched), texted the wife, and stopped and took a couple photos with "Pyro Pete", for fun.  - I started back up, and latched on to a group of 20 or so, rolling at 20-22 into the wind -- about 8 miles up, I decided to pass them, but shortly after I did that, leg cramps started to tweak.. so I let them pass me again, and I stopped at the next rest stop, for sustenance - The Vendetta rider had passed me while I was at the 60 stop, and we started taking at this stop, and decided to ride together for a while, at 18-20mph... we passed the 75 stop, then, about mile 80, both of my hamstrings locked up, simultaneously - owwwww...  Smiley   so we both stopped, while I stretched for a bit, and swallowed a pack of Sportlegs. John volunteered to hang back and help me along for a while - so I drafted him, at 15-16, and we stopped at the 83 mile stop for a bit, and then I drafted him for several more miles, until my legs loosened back up. The last 10 miles were much better, with both of us rolling at 18-20, as well as a nice 30+ downhill for about a mile.
 
After climbing the freeway overpass into downtown, the finish was a welcome sight - and I was pleased to see a rolling average still above 20, despite the leg cramps and slower pace through the last 25 or so... and I owe my new friend, John (O'Connor, from New Braunfels), big time ...  We finished right around 12:30.
 
This was really the first time I had done what was essentially a 60 mile sprint (or at least two 30s)... and I obviously paid for it! However, it feels good... as did the beer at the finish area, and the shower at the church facility afterwards.
 
My recumbent-related pics are here:  
 
http://s977.photobucket.com/user/pbrown8js/library/2016HHH_Bents
 
http://s977.photobucket.com/user/pbrown8js/slideshow/2016HHH_Bents
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FlyingLaZBoy
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Re: 2016 HHH
Reply #10 - Aug 30th, 2016, 4:30pm
 
My other photos taken during the ride itself are here:    
 
http://s977.photobucket.com/user/pbrown8js/slideshow/2016HHH_RidePics
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