I couldn't leave Wichita Falls without mentioning the big race. The Hotter’N Hell Hundred is an annual bicycle ride in Wichita Falls, Texas. My husband and youngest son both participated in the amateur shorter route one year and my husband was a motorcycle escort for the professionals for several years. Plan ahead if you want to visit Wichita Falls the first week of August because hotel rooms are booked far, far in advance and I think the RV Parks would be as well. Local citizens open their homes to riders through the city. It is held each year on the 4th or 5th Saturday in August (always 9 days before Labor Day) and includes professional as well as amateur riders. The professional racers ride a 100-mile road race, as well as time trials and criterium. For the amateur riders, there are road routes of 100 miles, 100K, 50 miles, 25 miles, and 10K. The amateur routes are also open for inline skating.
The race was first held in 1982 as part of the Wichita Falls Centennial Celebration. The name is thus a rare example of a triple entendre: one hundred miles (i.e., century) in one hundred degree Fahrenheit weather (the race is held in August, usually the hottest month of the year in Wichita Falls), initially conducted to celebrate the city's 100th anniversary.
Approximately 10,000 to 14,000 riders participate each year, making the Hotter'N Hell Hundred the largest sanctioned century bicycle ride in the US. 2009's Hotter N Hell had over 14,000 riders.
The 30th Annual Hotter'N Hell Hundred was held this year with temperatures reaching 108 degrees.
The 30th Annual Hotter'N Hell Hundred was held this year with temperatures reaching 108 degrees.
By your title, I thought maybe you had slipped over to Arizona! It's certainly not a race I would be interested in participating in. Too Hot!
ReplyDelete108....way way too hot to watch, never mind participate in.
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