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rbent Forum
https://rbentonline.org/YaBB.pl General Category >> Ride Reports >> HHH 2009 https://rbentonline.org/YaBB.pl?num=1251587883 Message started by johnnybent on Aug 29th, 2009, 6:18pm |
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Title: HHH 2009 Post by johnnybent on Aug 29th, 2009, 6:18pm Started thursday evening out with front tire problems, a flat i couldnt fix. Thought I had it fixed when I arrived in town only to find the thing flat..again. Luckily, Texnoma cycle had a tire and I replaced the tube and tire, problem solved. Stayed at the downtown Y, where I sept with 300 others at a toasty 45 degrees. At the 100 mi. zone I met a P-38 owner from WF and the guy with the fuzzy dice. The start was a mess...walk, walk,walk. But once i got started, ride went well. Most of the rest stops were so full I just went until the 40 for water. I didnt know what i would do on a longer ride and finished the 100K better then I planned. This was the coolest HHH i've ever known with the largest crowd I've ever seen. |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by sstexex on Aug 29th, 2009, 6:21pm Personally, i'd prefer it if they went back to the combined tandem recumbent start! |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by jcsadowski on Aug 29th, 2009, 7:33pm A couple naughty bents left at about 6:30 a.m. and didn't have to stop once. Well once when the Cat 2 racers passed us. That didn't take very long. |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by Bud_Bent on Aug 29th, 2009, 8:16pm This is such an event, everyone should go ride it at least once. Wichita Falls really goes all out for it. There were apparently over 14,000 riders this year. I got there Friday afternoon and walked a few laps around the bike consumer show, after picking up my t-shirt and registration stuff. It's always fun to wander through that much cycling stuff in one place. The rec center outdid themselves again this year. This year, they added a pizza dinner Friday evening, and a breakfast with all kinds of choices for Saturday morning. The gym was cold, as usual, and I remember tossing the covers over my head a few times during the night, but I slept pretty well. I took the usual 6:00 am route to the ride start, cutting across Wichita Street, which takes you to Scott Street in front of the start. There were no recumbents and tandems on the Wichita River bridge this year; everyone was lined up at the start line just before the bridge. As I approached the start from the front, it reminded me too much of a can of sardines, everyone was so packed in, so I turned around and made my start from Wichita Street. This is a flat route and has great traffic control, so I always use it to try for my best century time of the year. I made it past the thickest bike traffic at the beginning ok, and settled in to see how fast I could finish the ride. I have been slower this year, and today was no different. The past two years, I made it past mile 90 before my average speed dropped below 20 mph. That happened today before mile 70. But my real problems came at mile 74. I hadn't made a stop yet, even though my arse had been hurting for more than a few miles by then. I think the filter foam seat cushion is completely worn out on the Roadster, and that may have a lot to do with what happened. At mile 74, I had the strangest muscle spasm I've ever had, such a serious cramp in my right arse cheek that I stopped. As soon as I stopped, a knot the size of a pear showed up, just beside my tail bone. I layed on my side in the ditch with the ants and goatheads for 15 minutes, before a SAG vehicle showed up, policed me up, and hauled me back to the rest stop at mile 68. There, I was tortured by a massage therapist for 20 minutes or so, but the knot just wouldn't go away completely. There was just no way I could sit on the bike, so I asked to be SAG'ed in, and was told a SAG truck was on its way, so I waited. And waited and waited. Every 15 minutes or so, I would sit on the bike again to confirm there was no way I could ride it. Finally, at 12:45, after an hour and 15 minutes of waiting for the SAG truck, I sat on the bike and said, "Maybe". So, off I went. It's a very different view of the ride that I got, riding during hours when I'm usually finished. I figured I'd better keep a moderate pace to better fend off further cramps, but even with a moderate pace, I was pretty much passing everything on the road. 6 hours after the start, it seems there aren't too many racer types left on the course. Riding with the strong riders that I do, I feel pretty slow, but passing all these bikes today was a reminder that slow and fast are relative things. And it's a different style of riding at this time of the ride. Many riders just ride side by side, and are pretty much oblivious to anyone coming up behind them. You need to use the oncoming lane for most of the passing you do. And at every rest stop that I rode past, at least one rider pulled out directly in front of me. By mile 98, I was starting to cramp pretty seriously again. When you cramp at mile 98, there's only one thing to do. I stopped and had a free beer. Unfortunately, as soon as I stopped, the knot showed up again, and the beer wasn't nearly enough to numb the pain as I took off again. But within a short distance, the cramp was better, and I was pretty sure I could finish. When I crossed the finish line, I didn't stop, for fear of a knot again. I just made a u-turn, and rode slowly back to the rec center. I ended up with 107.8 miles (rode from mile 68 to mile 74 twice), and a total time of 7:50. That likely qualifies this as the slowest century I've ever done. The last few miles, there were more than the usual number of comments about how comfortable my bike looked, and offers to trade bikes. But they didn't bring the smile to my face that they usually do, because on this day, my arse was likely hurting just as much as their's was. |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by Rawhide on Aug 29th, 2009, 8:41pm Bud, I'm glad to hear you made it in, though am sorry to hear it was a epic century. Your comments about the church are correct. They do a really great job of looking after the folks. It was a pleasure to see familiar faces and meet new ones. I'm really pleased with my ride today. I went in thinking I've got a 5 hour in me and that's exactly what I did, 5 hrs, 20 mph avg. I took advantage of pacelines whenever possible and just kept cranking. Early on I got to thinking if I might be able to ride without making a pit stop, so I was able to do that too. My previous best was 6 hours flat a couple of years ago on my Rocket. I figured with the Corsa I could shave an hour off. Greg and I leap-frogged throughout the ride and I must say, seeing that pink seatbag ahead of me helped keep my focus on the task at hand. And a big congratulations to Powerbent and (I so sorry I can't remember your name at the moment) the guy with the Vison Sabre for reaching personal bests too! DJ |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by aikigreg on Aug 29th, 2009, 9:09pm The definite stars of the day were Thomas and Dan. Congratulations to you both! I started the day feeling weak and with feet so swollen my shoes hurt as soon as I put them on. Had a verbal match with a roadie at the starting line. But otherwise it was another day of trials and tribulations, sore feet and knees to push through, but also seeing my best friends and everybody else I only get to see occasionally. I finished just a hair over 5 hours. About 20 minutes slower than my tica last year. But most of the time I ride all alone and this year was great to have DJ along. He stayed with me forever, and then I'd catch a surge and be gone, only to have his reel me in in a few minutes. When he actually gets clipless pedals, it's be 'So long, sucka!" and he'll be the dot on the horizon. The buffet was nice too. I got us there with a minimum of wrong turns! |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by goatstick on Aug 29th, 2009, 10:03pm Had an absolute blast today at HHH. I had pretty much worked out my fit issues on the ca2 earlier this week and was hoping I could finally start cranking the beast. Took me about 30 miles to work through the traffic. Ran up on Greg but didn't recognize his new pink box so he had to yell me down. After I cleared traffic I was able to open the thing up and I started just motoring past paceline after paceline after paceline. One 30-bike fast bike paceline tried to reel me in for 45 miles. I'd walk away from them on the climbs (did I say the CA climbs like crazy now?) and they'd work to reel me back in on the descents. Finally they caught me at about mile 85 and drafted me for 3 miles before they overtook me. Funny thing, the guy who had always been leading the charge to catch me got dropped when they passed, so I rode most of the way back in with him and had fun talking with him about it. Saw a good number of bents today. Tried to say hi to most of you. Great ride! I'll have to say the new CA really can move though. The power transfer is much better than the Corsa and it really responds when you kick it. I think I'll keep it around |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by Bud_Bent on Aug 29th, 2009, 10:13pm Yes, congrats to those who had personal bests today. HHH is a great stage for that. Let's see those ride reports! Some of us came in too late to hear the story there... |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by Richard on Aug 30th, 2009, 3:03pm You know I did see a couple fellows on some blue bike and a home made of some sort. Ha! John, did I get you right that you did not stop at all? Congratulations! My third HHH was enjoyable as well. Thanks to Susan and her gang for putting us up at the church, and feeding us too. I am not a fast rider at best. This year my miles ridden dropped off significantly. None the less, I started strong...right after the jets, and the first 20 miles were a blast. Twenty to 50 still good and after 50 I started to droop. Mile 90 I perk back up, the wind and smooth road helped. I did spend about 75 minutes at rest stops along the way. Finished in about 8 hrs over all, where was the timer??!! My on bike average was a tad over 14 mph. The weather was great, I was quite chilled on the ride down to the start. It could have been called the Hot 100. RichardC |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by power_bent on Aug 30th, 2009, 3:44pm My ride ay HHH was good one, According to my puter on my bike I got 75 miles and got it in 5.5 hours and my fastest speed was 34 mph. Got to get a litlle more seat time for my feet to get use to pedaling that much. It was a good experience and the people was great at the Lamar Baptish Church Later Thomas J [smiley=dbanana.gif] |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by jcsadowski on Aug 30th, 2009, 4:20pm Quote:
Who me? After the 30 I had to stop at every stop because I forgot my camelbac. I had a waterbottle but no way to reach it while on the bike. I finished 75 miles feeling that maybe I could have gone 25 more but not sure. |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by FlyingLaZBoy on Aug 30th, 2009, 4:24pm Had a fun time, indeed... and the combination of no flats, no mechanicals, no wrecks, and no speeding tickets (in the car) always makes it a good trip. After seeing the "sardines" at the start, Lynn and I and a few others went up to where the Cat I racers were staging, and just waited there, 200 yards in front of the main start line. It was an excellent vantage point to see the racers take off, and to view the jet flyover at 7AM!!! As soon as the planes passed, we were off, with the crowd coming, 100 yards back. I hadn't planned on cranking it up, but you get caught up in all the paceline groups that you encounter, and with the relative headwinds we had, there was definitely an advantage to wheelsucking... I hung with Bud for a while after the start, and saw a couple aftermaths of what looked like bad crashes between Mile 20 and 30... then stopped at Elektra for a bathroom break. Approaching Margaritaville, there was a HUGE crash right in front of me, that I narrowly avoided by going onto the left shoulder... I passed Margaritaville this year, opting for the pre-Gate stop, which was actually kind of a disappointing rest stop, having only water, gatorade, and Fritos... :-? But I was at the Gate by 10:30 -- I even stopped to get a photo taken with Pyro Pete. [smiley=evil.gif] I made another bathroom stop at 78, then continued on to the Beer Stop, hitting there at 12:45, in just under 5 hours bike time, for a 20.0 on-bike average. Had a bit of muscle cramping, probably due to not drinking the normal amount of fluids due to the cooler temperatures. Spent three beers worth of time (about an hour) at the Beer Stop seeing who else would come in, but only encountered other GDB folks, no 'benters except for Beertruck (Rick) from Houston. I took my sweet time cruising in the last three miles, just because... got in basically at 2PM. It was enjoyable seeing everyone again, as always, and I'm glad nobody got involved in any nastiness out on the road. Got some great pics, which I'm in the middle of posting, including a lot of photos of random 'bentriders I encountered. I've sent a "Thank You" card to Susan and the LBCWF staffers, for the RBENT group. |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by catroad254 on Aug 30th, 2009, 5:34pm What great weather this year! It was more like the Hell Freezes Over 100 compared to previous years. A tailwind at the end of a ride - when was the last time that happened on any ride? I kew this wasn't a fast year for me so I just took my time and had fun. Finished a hour later than last year but I felt much better and had a much more enjoyable ride. Saw a lot of bents today but I really miss seeing everyone at the start line. I saw a lot of riders down this year - my observation is that people put themselves in stupid situations just to shave few minutes off their time - it's just not worth it. Congratulation to all who finished! Ken |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by FlyingLaZBoy on Aug 30th, 2009, 6:27pm These are two of my favorite photos from the trip... Her beer is larger than her head.... http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae256/pbrown8js/HHH2009PB/HHH09020.jpg Yes, I'm selling healthy apple-banana-caramel snacks, but gimme a CHEESEBURGER!!! http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae256/pbrown8js/HHH2009PB/HHH09022.jpg |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by FlyingLaZBoy on Aug 30th, 2009, 6:28pm ....and here's the flyover at 7AM...... http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae256/pbrown8js/HHH2009PB/th_Flyover.jpg (http://s977.photobucket.com/albums/ae256/pbrown8js/HHH2009PB/?action=view¤t=Flyover.flv) |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by Hurricane Dan on Aug 30th, 2009, 6:42pm Terry Pickl and I rode up together so it was fun to have someone to yak with on the way. Lamar Baptist was absolutely amazing, WAY better than a hotel! I had pancakes, eggs, bacon, oatmeal, biscuit and gravy and OJ for breakfast. They had tons of leftover pizza, PB crackers, granola bars and gatorade so I took a goody bag home for the wife. Sleeping with about 70 snoring men all squeeking around on plastic inflatable matresses was an interesting experience [smiley=twitchy.gif] but eventually I did get some sleep. The shower after the ride was priceless. We left out in the morning when Terry the lollygagger finally got outside and it was pretty chilly to me. I really enjoyed the ride over in the dark, especially with the anticipation of this being my first century. I don't know where we lost everyone. I was following Greg, who I thought was following Bud but when we got to the start it was just me, Greg and Rawhide (?). I started to say something when the DFer told us we couldn't line up there because he was waiting on 15 friends to show up, but Greg shut him down pretty quick. After about 45 minutes of waiting, it was very touching she (Carly Patterson?) started singing the national anthem. It's an amazing thing to hear 14 thousand cyclists all go silent at the same time. I knew they were going to have a flyby and shoot off a canon for the start, but what they didn't mention was that the canon was going to be about 20 yards to our left. [smiley=shocked.gif] After cleaning my drawers, I wobbled out, only hitting the barricade once when a DF tried to run into me. And they say WE'RE wobbly! The first 20-30 miles really seemed to take no effort at all. Between the adrenaline and riding in a pack like that. There were time when I couldn't see any road in front or on the sides of me, just bikes. In fact, I hit someone's water bottle with my front tire because all I could see was an ocean of spandex butts. Speaking of which, one guy cut in front of me and I'd really like to know who in the world is manufacturing see through bicycle shorts 'cause that's just wrong! Anywho, I had a number of close calls and let a few explicatives fly in the heat of the moment but all-in-all I was lucky not to go down or have any flats. I know I saw more accidents than rest stops, that's for sure. That and water bottles. You would think out of the 14,000 riders that every single one of them lost a water bottle at some point. The road was littered with them. I was riding along at 21-23 mph for the first 20 miles or so wondering why I was passing so many people when I started no more than four people back from the start. I kept passing until Margaritaville when I started having knee problems. I had taken some Tylenol at the start and took some more there at the 50 mile rest stop. I had the absolute worst gatorade I've ever tasted. [smiley=puking.gif] Probably because it was pickle juice. [smiley=shrug.gif] I downed a banana, orange, two cookies, water and juice, used the little boys room (which was surprisingly easy) and headed out at a nice 12 mph pace. There are no words for the frustration you experience when .1% of your body is keeping the other 99.9% from doing what it wants to do. I was slowly passed for the next 50 miles enduring the shame of it. [smiley=headbang.gif] I had one guy pull up and say, "Man, that just looks so hard." then pull off. If I could have reached him, I'd have slapped him. You try pedaling with one leg, jerk. Then another guy came by and tried to be motivational by saying, "hey, you're doing pretty good for THAT bike". The worst part of that was the fact that he could never have said it if my knee wasn't hurting because he would have been BEHIND ME! My average at Margaritaville was 19.2 mph. I felt great the whole ride, no cramps, no real soreness or tiredness, just that darn knee. I took more Tylenol at mile 70 which was just a stand with watermelon and pecans. The watermelon really hit the spot. Amazingly, even going 16 mph on the flats I had people drafting me. It was almost embarrassing. That's like drafting a hand cyclist. I started feeling a bit better around mile 90 but I think it was partially adrenaline again. I was pushing 18 mph up the overpass into town and around 23 mph down the finish. It turns into a race at the end. Everyone seems to get really excited about the finish and there's a good amount of people there cheering so everyone was really cranking it out that last half mile or so. I stopped and took a couple photos after clearing out of the finish line area, then headed back over to the church where I thought everyone would be waiting. I was shocked to find that I'd arrived before a number of people. Apparently Terry had tire problems before even getting to the starting line and didn't start until around 8 am and Paul was shooting for a PWI after an hour at the beer stop. I had a shower and got loaded up for the trip home then we waited around for everyone else to arrive. We were a little worried about not hearing from Bud after he mentioned trying to finish in under five this year. Eventually he rolled up and gave us some excuse about trying to get a girl to rub on his butt at a rest stop. ;D Speaking of which, we want an update Bud. House the cheek? I was going to return to MPEC and check things out a bit but it was getting later by the time everyone got back so Bud, Greg, Terry and I just found a Chinese restaurant. I'd tell you where it is, but we turned around in so many circles getting there, I can't remember. [smiley=whistling.gif] [smiley=grin.gif] I had a really good time. It's definitely worth going but I'd have to recommend starting up front no matter what the officials say. I finished in 5 hours 50 min. at a 17.4 mph average speed, not too bad for being 31.5 miles farther than I've ever ridden. I was happy to be under six hours but feel like I can do it in 5 if I can fix the knee problems. Of course, that's with the wonderful weather we had. I don't know how I'd fare on a 105 degree day so who knows? Thanks to everyone who came out. RBENTers are always good company. Church accomodations: http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss13/MyJudge2/DSC00259.jpg Early to bed, early to rise makes a man slow to get ready in the morning: http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss13/MyJudge2/DSC00271.jpg Start, around 6:30am http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss13/MyJudge2/DSC00273.jpg Sunrise: http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss13/MyJudge2/DSC00278.jpg A fuzzy picture of the ocean of helmets: http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss13/MyJudge2/DSC00275.jpg Margaritaville, the 50 mile rest stop: http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/ss13/MyJudge2/DSC00282.jpg |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by Rawhide on Aug 31st, 2009, 9:12am Yours truly made the Wichita Falls paper in the 'Milder'N Hell 100' story. http://www.timesrecordnews.com/news/2009/aug/30/mildern-hell-100/ I don't know if this link will work, but it was yesterday's paper and I'm about half way down on the left, looking pretty good! DJ |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by FlyingLaZBoy on Aug 31st, 2009, 9:42am Here ya go, pal.... http://i977.photobucket.com/albums/ae256/pbrown8js/DJHHH09.jpg |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by JimFPU on Aug 31st, 2009, 12:18pm Were there any trikes at this event? |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by goatstick on Aug 31st, 2009, 1:01pm I saw a number of trikes. Saw two catrikes riding together at the finish, the yellow faired trike and someone flying along on a 26"rw trike in a paceline at almost 30mph. I was passing a little to fast and didn't have time to determine what kind of trike it was but that guy was doing pretty well. Think it was all black but wasn't sure. I think I saw one more. Some of the guys said they saw a back-to-back lowracer tandem at the finish line but I missed it. :^( |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by diannalightning on Aug 31st, 2009, 1:11pm JimFPU wrote:
Carolyn, Cheryl-a friend of mine, and myself were on trikes. We did the 25 mile ride as we were with a trike rider and a recumbent rider (Doreen with Eddie Urbenrider--her first pay ride ever) that weren't sure they could do the 50. I must say that we (trikes)didn't have any issues with the start-having to walk our bikes--but we did have to answer a LOT of questions about the trikes. We gave test rides to at least 3 people some at the start, at the first rest stop, and at the finish. If I didn't know better, I would have thought we were on a recruitment mission. We met two other trikes from Dallas and gave them the Rbent URL. Hopefully they will find us and start posting. This was definitely the coolest year that I've ever done and was so nice. Carolyn and I stayed at the church as well--GREAT accomodations. We left early on Sat. morning to ride over to meet my friends and Eddie and Doreen in the RV parking. It was really cool to see 3 trikes and 3 LWB heading out. After 4 flats on RAGBRAI, I was sure holding my breath most of the ride, but no flats. I have to say that on the 25 mile route, we saw TONS of kids on the bikes, on trail-a-bikes, or tandems. It's good to know that parents are getting the younger generations into cycling. The little girl on the pink bike, pink bike shorts, pink jersey, and pink helment will someday be a racer. Look out. Going through Sheppard AFB was great--I could hand slap the entire line without worrying about falling over. New concept for me. I'm not sure that I would do the 100 mile on a trike, but the 50 would have been very doable. Carolyn loves the trike so much she may never get back on the Lightning again. |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by JimFPU on Aug 31st, 2009, 2:31pm Didn't realize there were shorter routes! My kids would have loved that! And we would have brought the homemade Delta Wolf too. I have to read up more on this next year. By then we should have the Marauder 2 finished also, and maybe a couple more…working on a quad for my oldest daughter and a trike for my wife. Hopefully it will be another cool one. Looked like tons of fun, sorry we missed it. I'm going to have to start riding more anyway, and get the kids out for the Saturday morning rides we used to do-to the donut shop!!!::) |
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Title: Re: HHH 2009 Post by urbinrider on Aug 31st, 2009, 6:07pm Hello Group well this was my 7th or 8th hotter N Hell and my shortest. I brought my girl friend this year. this was her first organized ride and the longest ride for her. We rode the 25mi route so this is the first time to see this route. maybe next year I will ride the 50mi. Not!! I would like to ride my Zenetik next time. We were going to stay at the church but I bought a pop up tent trailer. I wanted to be a little closer to the MPAC. http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll243/urbinrider/Hotter%20N%20Hell%202009/100_1742.jpg When we finally got ready we headed to the start line looking for Dianna,Carolyn,and Cheryl we found them at the back of the 100k people. http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll243/urbinrider/Hotter%20N%20Hell%202009/0829090724-00.jpg Off to a good start we had lots of room along the right side of the street http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll243/urbinrider/Hotter%20N%20Hell%202009/0829090733-00.jpg Dorene is off to a good start as well I think she was surprised what a good start it was http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll243/urbinrider/Hotter%20N%20Hell%202009/0829090741-00.jpg Did anyone see this recumbent tandem http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll243/urbinrider/Hotter%20N%20Hell%202009/0829090751-00.jpg http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll243/urbinrider/Hotter%20N%20Hell%202009/0829090752-00.jpg Dorene loves this bike and is proud of it http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll243/urbinrider/Hotter%20N%20Hell%202009/0829091023-00.jpg I enjoyed riding with her this year even tho it was a shorter ride we are at the Shepard AFB rest stop. http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll243/urbinrider/Hotter%20N%20Hell%202009/0829091019-00.jpg Paul hope next year I can ride my Zeneitek it has turned out to be a good ride since I added the wheels and breaks and triple front crank http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll243/urbinrider/Zenetik/100_1476.jpg Well that is all for now hope to see all of you again in the future Eddie |
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