Btw, I saw riders with number tags as high as 13,400 - so this year might have been a record year for number of riders also.
Unfortunately, Pete and Glenn didn't make it this year. Jeremy, however, did drive in from Plano and joined Jill and me in our room at the lovely La Quinta Inn (obligatory bad hotel room picture):
Expecting a hot ride this year, the organizers offered an optional 6:15AM start time for those riding the hundred mile route. This sounded good to Jeremy, as did starting from the actual starting line near downtown. Of course, this meant him getting up at 4:45AM, so he could join his friends at the start. As for me, I opted to start from La Quinta again this year and avoid the madness of the mass start. This allowed me to leave our room at 6:30 and still join in near the front of the pact:
I heard a yell from Jeremy somewhere in the pack around mile 20, but I didn't actually see him until I stopped at mile 40:
My next stop was at mile 50, where I eyed a sausage kraut with my name on it:
Up to this point, I'd been riding around 20 mph, but that started to fall off quickly as the day got hotter and as I headed towards Hell's Gate (around mile 60). Due to the heat, Hell's Gate was closed an hour early this year, but I was lucky (or not so lucky, depending on your point of view) enough to make the time cut-off:
Somewhere around mile 85, I found the only pond left in the area with water in it. Here's a picture of it, the barbed wire fence that protected it, and my commuter bike I rode this year (the fenders rattled non-stop on the chip-seal road):
Next up was the outlaw 98th mile beer stop. Glenn and I found this last year - it's a lawnmower repair shop that throws the biggest free party every year about 2 miles from the official HHH finish line. Like last year, as soon as I walked in, someone handed me a cold beer and directed me towards the sausage and beans:
I managed to cross the finish line around 2:00. I was pretty happy with my time, especially since I hadn't been on my bike since Betsy and I rode many months ago:
Jeremy had a run of bad luck with a couple of flat tires and a call from his boss at work to troubleshoot a software upgrade problem, so he rolled in after me. Afterward, we retreated to El Chico for very average Mexican food and giant margaritas:
As in years past, we took in a movie after dinner. This year: Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Nice escapist fun - and they hinted at how the next movie will start out.
Sunday, we stopped by Sweetie Pie's Ribeyes for a steak on our way back to Austin:
In previous years, we (Pete, Glenn, and I) would stop at Sweetie Pie's on our way to Wichita Falls, but this year we (really just me) were running late, so we stopped at a Cracker Barrel outside Fort Worth for dinner. I'm not sure why people eat there - I ordered the chicken and dumplings, and it was just horrible (Hoover's has nothing to worry about).
Anyway, that's it until next year.
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