Hotter than Hell 100 (+/-)

Okay, trying to get a single guy to go to bed at 9 on a Friday night isn't the easiest thing in the world. I did turn in around that time but as you can guess I slept very little between the excitement and the fear of oversleeping. I got up at 2:45am loaded up and picked my buddy up to hit the highways at 3:30. A quick detour or two and we arrived in Wichita Falls just before 6. After the flyover of the Air Force jets the ride starts with a bang. Of a cannon anyway, the overall start takes what seems like 20 minutes. So many riders you literally walk your bike the first quarter mile before the jockeying starts. Once you get through the crowd of people that aren't that experienced in pack riding you can really get your rhythm going. Until you hit the first rest stop and see the crowds forming. Over all a great ride. I felt awesome all day and did the fastest 60 miles ever and still had enough to pace around 20 from mile 90-103. The overall ride was a little slower than I would have liked due to traffic and my riding buddy got sick. Truth be known, his slow pace for a few miles probably saved me from myself. The stats of the day: Finishing temp: 106 Estimated Riders: 12,000 Water Bottles Consumed: 14 est. Pickle Juice: 2 Bananas: 5 Gu's: 6 Cookies: 3 Powerbars: 2 Oranges: 4 Finishing time: 5:39.44 Calories burned: 8000 Stops: 3 scheduled, 2 unscheduled I also managed to have an average HR that kept me in zone 4.1. Pretty happy with the performance and enjoyed the experience.

2 days till HH100

Rode an easy 21 this morning and am feeling pretty good about the ride Saturday. We're scheduled to leave around 3:30am on Saturday to drive 2.5 hours and then ride 100 miles only to turn around and drive back 2.5 hours. A riding buddy has been recruited to do it as well and he's a good match because our styles are the same and he'll gut it out with me if we blow up too early. Goal: 5-5.5 hours and then I'll catch the last Tuesday night races through September before I start adding my marathon training. December 8th is the White Rock Marathon and I think I should be able to keep that in my schedule even with my trip to Dubai and Spain. I'll attach my Garmin read outs to show the pace, elevation and heart rate. I'm guessing it will burn about 8500 calories Saturday so I'll be eating pasta like a fat Italian from now till Saturday. I'll post after that.

One week to go

Okay, haven't been as religious about this as I thought. Imagine that, me not good with religion or technology. From the day of the last post I quit drinking and lost over 20 lbs. Not too bad. I'm now pedaling at a svelte 215, which is about 15 to 25 lbs lighter than usual. Good thing I'm 6'3" or I'd be jelly. I haven't been under 212 since I started training with Bonds and his boys. j/k Last ride was 35 miler with a group and I was in the lead group out and did most of the pulling back. My heartrate is now about 10 bpm lower than 5 weeks ago and I can ride over 200 miles/week without my knees locking up. I'm scheduled for an early 60 tomorrow and will do the HH100 on the 26th. I'd like to finish it under 6 hours total time which should equate to about 5 hours moving time. For those of you on the slow bus that averages out to about 20 mph. Yes a little aggressive but with a big group and a little luck hopefully I can pace at 18.5.