Yesterday, I joined DJ (rawhide here on rbent) for my my 5th consecutive trip to the Hotter 'N Hell Hundred. We took DJ's Scion again this year. It gets great mileage and works very well for hauling our bikes and all our junk.
 
I had a blast yesterday and today like I always do at HHH. The stay at the Lamar Church worked great as usual. With this year's heat, they started the 100 mile riders an hour earlier. We got up an hour earlier than usual, and rode to the start 45 minutes earlier than usual. It seemed strange starting in the dark, but there seemed to be fewer slower riders on the course out in front of everyone, so maybe that early start isn't a bad idea. I did indeed reach Hell's Gate before 9:00 am. The early start made that possible for the first time. But it wasn't nearly the only first for me.
 
I had made the decision to start with an easier pace than ever before. With the ride starting in the dark, plus the fact that I've blown up on every high effort longer ride I've done this year, I decided a different tack was called for. It had a more dramatic effect on my finishing time than I expected. I made a mental note of my overall average speed every 10 miles, and here's what it looked like:
 
Mile 10 - 20.0 mph .......... Easily the slowest start to HHH I've ever made
Mile 20 - 20.4 mph
Mile 30 - 20.3 mph
Mile 40 - 20.8 mph
Mile 50 - 21.0 mph
Mile 60 - 21.3 mph
Mile 70 - 21.2 mph
Mile 80 - 21.2 mph
Mile 90 - 21.0 mph .......... I'd never carried a 21 mph average to mile 90 of any ride before, ever
 
I blew up at mile 90, and the turn at that point puts you on a mostly uphill stretch riding directly against today's southwest wind, and my average started dropping quickly. As I made the turn at the beer stop at mile 98, DJ was waiting, and waved and yelled at me, but by then I knew I had a chance at an under 5 hour ride, so I never slowed down. DJ jumped on his bike, easily caught me, and rode the rest of the way in with me.
 
According to my Garmin 305, I finished today's Hotter 'N Hell Hundred in 4:57, a personal best and the first time I've ever done a century in under 5 hours. I thought that time was 5:02, looking at the 11:12 time on my watch when I finished, but we must have got started later than the scheduled 6:10 start, because my Garmin tells a different story: 101.8 miles, 20.5 mph on the bike average, overall time of 4:57. I made one 4 minute stop at mile 76.  
 
Those stats are all unofficial. HHH gave timing chips to everyone this year, but I couldn't find any posted results yet. Did I mention that when you finish HHH at 11:12, it's really not all that hot, even during this brutal summer? It was great seeing everyone at HHH. Thanks for letting me ride along with you, DJ.  
 
I always love this trip!
 

I had a great time.  I really appreciated the volunteers and the spectators cheering us on.  Felt a bit awkward letting someone hold my bike (I usually set it on the grass) and I was offered so many wet towels from these cute kids!
 
I also averaged 21 mph for the entire ride but I too had problems and had to use the 90 mile rest stop.  I fear the rest stops + waiting for a train to cross will put me over the 5hour goal.  Still this was my best century time and I have something to work on next year.  I feel pretty good actually with no after effects from the sudden cramps. Will probably take an easy ride tomorrow to loosen the muscles.  
 
I was very happy to meet the other Rbent riders.  Please drop me a line if you come down to Austin for any rides.  I don't think I will do Livestrong this year, but am thinking about the Outlaw 100 in Round Rock.

Quote from ATXrds on Aug 27^th, 2011, 7:09pm:
I had assumed you were in front of me, but maybe you were behind me after all. Along with two tandems, I was the last bike to make it across those train tracks before the train came through.
 
Quote from mleuck on Aug 27^th, 2011, 8:13pm:
It wasn't me. I only stopped at mile 76.

Quote from mleuck on Aug 27^th, 2011, 8:13pm:
It wasn't me. I only stopped at mile 76. [/quote]
 
Good to hear, that 76 mile stop is my favorite.

    I had a very enjoyable trip, carpooling up with Lynn again as usual -- The Lamar gets better and better every year, and I slept well Friday night, although the 4AM lights-on was a bit rough...  Good times, pal-ing around with Bud, DJ, Rick, and others, and good to meet ATX from Austin!
    The 6:10 AM start seemed to be the choice of most of the day's riders -- the start area was full of 'bents and tandems...  and that start time had the advantage of getting us off before many of the "start cheaters" got on the road -- the temps were cool, the first 10 miles were practically empty of other riders, and the sun was just coming up when we hit the 20 mile point!
    I had decided to do a "different" HHH this year, and rode most of it with GDB tandem pals Dennis and Michelle, just holding a steady 20mph pace for the most part -- so we stopped at the 20, 40, 50 rest stops, stopped to take photos in front of Pyro Pete, then took the cutoff to go through the air force base instead of doing the 100, despite being at Hell's Gate before 9:30AM.  Going through the base was pretty cool, never having done that before -- I got some great photos which I'll post tomorrow.  Heard a lot of "Awesome machine!" from the guys on the base...  
   Crossed the finish with 75 miles and a 20mph on-bike average about 11:15 (if memory serves), and could have easily done a lot more.  At that point, I rode the 100mile route backwards out to the Beer Stop    , to meet several other friends and hang for a while, then rode back in about 1:30ish, and happened to see Bud and DJ downtown, dashing towards the finish, trying to beat their 5 hour goal.  Congrats to you both!
    After cleaning up a the Lamar,  I had to drive out to RS9 to SAG in a friend who had cratered in the heat, and I was shocked at the number of riders still on the course in the 2:30-3:00 PM timeframe.  At that time, they "closed" the ride, as temps had reached 110 degrees, telling people if they continued on, they were doing it without official support.  People were REALLY hurting in that heat...  no wonder, if they took 7-8 hours to get to mile 80...
   Excellent trip, overall...      I think the 6:10AM start is a keeper...
 
 

My HHH was fun but not what I had planned on.  I forgot to bring my cycling shoes and a towel of all things.  I just ended up doing the 25 mile route because I knew the sandles I wore would give me hot foot.  Ended up doing 35 miles because I peeled off the route after the air base to find the 98 mile beer stop.  I hung out there for about an hour.  didn't see any bents till Bud and Leroy from Louisiana came rolling through.  And my, Bud was hell bent on rolling through that corner.  He looked really good.  Took a while for me to catch him and did so about 200 yards before that last overpass.  It was really neat to witness his personal best from behind.  Was great to meet Ric & ATX and see other recumbent family and look forward to next year.  DJ

It was Elizabeth and my first time at the HHH. We had a great time, but missed the gate by ONE frikkin minute. One. Sideliners were screaming at us to get a 1/4 mile before they closed it in 3 minutes. We made the 3, but they were wrong.
 
All in all though, we're proud of what we accomplished, was still the longest ride we'd ever done. Will post a couple of pics in the photo section.

I was looking at pictures in the Times-Record and there was one guy that had a rider number in the mid-18K range.

Oops, I spoke too soon. I forgot that the Edge 305 pauses everything when you stop, even overall time. So what the Garmin calls overall time is actually on the bike time. If you add my 4 minute stop to the 4:57 time the Garmin recorded, you get my real overall time, per timing chip, 5:01.  
 
HHH is 101.8 miles. So I can still say I've done 100 miles in less than 5 hours, but I can't say I've completed HHH in less than 5 hours. You can find your timer chip time here.
 
I counted 5,342 timer results, so lots of folks either didn't put on the chip or didn't start at the start.

Mine is not listed as well....

Quote from TonyWard on Aug 31^st, 2011, 3:26pm:

 
Glad I wasn't the only one who did that!  Those instructions were the worst and described the wrong procedure!  I ended up taping mine back together and am surprised it worked.  Though my Garmin showed a 4:47 riding time, I ended up with a total time of 5:10!  
 
  Next time, I'll try to keep it to just one stop like Bud did.  Hopefully I can get in a Bacchetta or Carbent paceline as well.  BTW I must have been in a zone b/c I do not recall the beer stop at all as in FlyingLazyBoy's pictures.  Is it sponsored by Hooters?