August Rains Of Summer Drench Green Wichita Falls Ahead Of Hotter'N Hell 100

What you are looking at above is my windshield wipers wiping rain off my windshield, slapping time to the tunes on the radio.

I did not know rain and thunder was on today's weather menu til drops began dripping and thunder began thundering a couple hours after the sun began its daily illumination duty.

Being in desperate need of new reading material I put on long pants for the first time in months and bravely pushed my motorized means of motion through the torrential downpour to downtown Wichita Falls, to the library.

The photo above is post library, heading south on Hamilton Boulevard with Hamilton Park on the left. I saw no kids getting wet in the Hamilton Park Doctor's Splash Pad, making this the first time since it opened that I drove or biked by without seeing kids having fun getting splashed.

As you can see via the photo documentation, unlike my old home zone in the Pacific Northwest, we are still mostly green in Texas, which usually is not the case by the time the middle of August arrives.

In a little over a week a non rain related flood floods this town when people arrive from all over the world to participate in the various events that take place during the Hotter'N Hell 100 bike race. Last year's Hotter'N Hell 100 was cancelled due to COVID.

I am assuming that the Hotter'N Hell 100 is still happening, despite the increase in COVID cases.

If it's not too HOT methinks I'll go to the race finish location this year. Hotter'N Hell 100's events and attractions take place at MPEC, the Wichita Falls Multi-Purpose Event Center. There are vendors selling stuff, like food, other giving away free samples, a big beer garden, artwork, music and a lot of hoopla. 

I like a lot of hoopla, probably because I so rarely experience any hoopla.

I clicked the Hotter'N Hell 100  link and learned the Hotter'N Hell is still on, with the following COVID warning...

HOTTER’N HELL HUNDRED IS RETURNING AS A LIVE EVENT FOR 2021

WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING EVERYONE LIVE AS WE CELEBRATE THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY HHH EVENTS THE WEEKEND OF AUGUST 26 THROUGH AUGUST 29, 2021

Our 2021 registration is running ahead of 2018 and 2019, so we’re expecting a great crowd in Wichita Falls! 

We’re hoping that everyone who comes to HHH that wanted to get the vaccine has protected themselves against the Covid-19 virus and has been able to take advantage of available vaccines. Whatever your vaccine status is, it’s recommended that everyone wear masks while indoors. While  we cannot mandate wearing masks indoors, we do wholeheartedly recommend it. 

We also recommend wearing masks, when possible, especially around people you don’t know. Wearing a mask at the HHH start, rest stops or in groups of people, may help with decreasing transmission.

If you’re feeling any kind of symptoms, which are flu-like or respiratory, it’s best to stay home and ride our virtual event when you do feel up to it. If you sneeze, please cover your mouth, remember to wash your hands and have a great time at our 40th HHH event. 

Wichita Falls Hotter'N Hell 100 Goes Virtual Due To COVID-19 Pandemic

I attended the final day of the Wichita Falls Hotter'N Hell 100 event my first year in this town. I was impressed by what a HUGE deal it was, and how well executed and entertaining it all was. But, I have not returned. I do not remember what caused the non-returns, but I had planned on returning this year.

As recently as a week ago I saw HHH officials indicating the event was still on track, despite the ongoing COVID-19 nightmare.

And then this morning on the front page of the online Wichita Falls Times News Record I saw the following article headline...

In-person HHH canceled for this year

I had already used up my month's clicking allotment so I just had to sit and wonder what it meant that "in person HHH" had been canceled. What other option could there possibly be for a bike race and its surrounding events if not in-person?

And then I went to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, where I do not have a monthly click allotment and saw another front page online headline about the Hotter'N Hell 100, with the Star-Telegram providing more clarifying info about this year's HHH than the local paper provided on its front page.

From the Star-Telegram we learn "The HHH is offering a virtual event that allows participants to ride or run their HHH event in their hometowns and receive a 2020 HHH ride t-shirt and finisher's medal via mail."

Well, now, that sounds sort of pitiful. A virtual event? Is this some sorta scheme to avoid refunding entry fees to those who have already paid? The actual bike ride races of their various iterations are only part of the HHH event.

I have seen multiple new hotels under construction in town, and have assumed they are aiming for an open for business date for late August when the town is flooded with thousands of people attending the HHH.

I don't think those new hotels are going to be getting much virtual business from the 2020 version of the Hotter'N Hell 100.

Of course our Dear Leader may be right, and not the Uber Idiot the majority thinks he to be, and the Coronavirus will have gone bye bye by August and all will once again be normal in the world, with the Hotter'N Hell 100 able to take place in the real world, not the virtual...

Hotter'N Hell 100 Finish Line In Wichita Falls With Mr. Spiffy

No, that is not Mr. Spiffy you are looking at here, shortly after crossing the Hotter'N Hell 100 Finish Line.

I did not catch their names, but the announcer announced, to thunderous applause, that this pair of bikers was somewhere in the 90 years old range. I did not catch the exact age, due to the atmosphere being a bit noisy, which you can hear for yourself via the below video taken at the Hotter'N Hell 100 Finish Line.

Not everyone crossing the Finish Line rolled the entire 100 miles. I documented that fact in a blogging previous to this one titled Pickle Juice & Muscle Milk At The Wichita Falls Hotter'N Hell 100.

To qualify to go the full 100 miles riders must make it to what is known as "Hell's Gate" at the 60 mile mark by 12:30pm.

Mr. Spiffy took time out from rolling his wheels to take a picture of making it through Hell's Gate and documenting having done so on Facebook. Just a second, I will go see if I can find that picture. I'm sure Mr. Spiffy won't mind me purloining it.

If one makes it though Hell's Gate in time I believe the 100 mile route then eventually takes riders through Sheppard Air Force base where much cheering takes place.

Somewhere around 14,000 riders ride in the Hotter'N Hell 100. There are distance options shorter than the 100, such as 50 mile and 25 mile options. I think there may even be a shorter option.

What I do know for sure is riders were crossing the Finish Line the entire time I was there. I think I was off looking at something else when the first rider to complete the 100 miles crossed the Finish Line.

Below you can see a couple of race helpers holding orange strings to which Hotter'N Hell 100 race completion medals were attached. Part of the medal giver's job seemed to be to keep the riders moving along to make way for incoming Finish Line crossers.

The Finish Line scene became a bit chaotic at times, which you will also see in the video at the bottom.

As you can see, bikers came in all sizes and ages.

I was at the Hotter'N Hell 100 not too long today before I decided that next year I want to roll wheels at this event. This will require new wheels. A mountain bike would not work.

And now the aforementioned video where I find myself wandering amongst the incoming bikers crossing the Finish Line...

Pickle Juice & Muscle Milk At The Wichita Falls Hotter'N Hell 100

Yesterday I was told by a lifelong Wichita Falls local that the Hotter'N Hell 100 was a really big deal, bringing thousands of people to downtown Wichita Falls.

I thought there might be some exaggerating going on with that thousands of people claim.

Then this morning I was listening to the local radio station which calls itself BOB to find myself being told that there were already thousands of people at the MPEC (Multi-Purpose Events Center).

Yesterday I learned from Hotter'N Hell rider, Mr. Spiffy, that one needs to be at the finish line by 11 to be certain to see the first of the 100 mile riders cross the line.

I arrived in the MPEC zone around ten this morning. I quickly realized that that thousands of people claim was no exaggeration. All the parking lots around the MPEC were full, as were multiple other parking places near the MPEC. I drove towards the heart of downtown and found a place to park near where I parked for the 4th of July parade. It was only a couple block walk to get to the event center.

Via Facebook Mr. Spiffy has been updating his progress on today's 100 mile ride. The only update I saw prior to leaving for the Hotter'N Hell 100 was Mr. Spiffy's update from the first rest stop, where he was in line eagerly awaiting his dose of Pickle Juice.

Pickle Juice? wondered I and others.

One of the first things I saw upon arrival at the Hotter'N Hell 100 was that which you see above. A banner advertising the aforementioned Pickle Juice. I was offered no sample of Pickle Juice, but I was offered, multiple times, something called Muscle Milk. The first time I was asked if I would like some Muscle Milk I took slight umbrage. The question somehow seemed disparaging. In the video below, at the bottom of this blogging, you will see the moment I discovered from whence the Muscle Milk came.

The temperate was a bit warm, in the 80s, as I explored the Hotter'N Hell 100, and humid.

The above person, attired to look like a Holstein cow, asking people to eat more chicken, was miserable just to look at. The sad cow looked so HOT, and a bit feeble from likely heat exhaustion, with that feebleness requiring walking assistance in the form of the lady on the left helping the cow keep upright.

Art Bikes was a new addition to the Hotter'N Hell 100 this year.

There were dozens of cleverly designed bikes. The elephant bike was not the most clever, but it did seem to be the most photogenic.

Below we have some abstract Bike Art.

Near the Finish Line there is a large First Aid Station.

I don't know at what point in the ride the guy above crashed into injury mode. It looked painful. Did he crash near the Finish Line? Or crash miles away, but continue on to the Finish Line where he coasted to the First Aid Station?

At the Hotter'N Hell 100 one can escape the HEAT and find themselves in air-conditioned comfort inside a large exhibition hall where a lot of vendors were exhibiting a lot of bike related goods. As you can see, more people were enjoying the HEAT outdoors, than the indoor conditioned air.

What is all that orange material you see below being guarded by guards in gray t-shirts?

Well, the above is at the finish line where a constant stream of bikers crossed the line to find themselves being given a medal attached to an orange string.

The video below will give you a better idea of what some of the Hotter'N Hell 100 event looked like this morning. I took a lot of pictures, and video. Following this blogging I will blog another one, focused on the Hotter'N Hell Finish Line, where you may, or may not, see Mr. Spiffy.