Image by HeroicLife via Flickr Wow, I'm not sure I ever actually thought this could be done. My wife and I, along with several friends, decided a few months back it would be a fun idea to plan, train for, and complete a 100k race, specifically the Hotter 'N Hell 100 in Wichita Falls, Texas. It just so happens that this particular race is THE LARGEST organized road race in the entire country! What a way to "break the ice!"It started Saturday morning, bright and early at our hotel 50 miles away from the actual starting line. We stayed in Lawton, Oklahoma because that was the only hotel available three months before the race. It turns out you need to book your hotel stay a year in advance if you want to be close to the action! So, we get up at 4am to start the day. It's breakfast time, and based on everything I've learned about nutrition for training to date, we bust out some carbs. We eat bread and peanut butter, granola cereal, bananas, TONS of water, and some yogurt. Mind you, all of this was piled on top of the ridiculous mound of bread and pasta that we ate (at a GREAT little Italian restaurant named Luigi's in Lawton) at dinner the night before...ugh!
So, my wife and I collect all of our gear, run down the hotel hall to grab our training buddy (and great friend) that's racing too, and off we go. We drive to meet my wife's Uncle at his hotel in Wichita Falls. We throw the bikes together, hit the restroom one more time, dawn our racing numbers (on our jersey's, bikes, and helmets), and proceed to start our cycling adventure, which included a 2-mile short ride over to the starting line at about 6:15am in the dark.
O...M...G! I have NEVER seen so many people on bikes in all of my life! There were well over 14,000 registered riders for this year's event. We make our way through the hoards of people to the starting line, and wait for the start of the race. The National Anthem is played, four F-16 fighter jets fly directly over the long line of thousands of riders, and a canon goes off to signal the start of the race. And when I say canon, I mean an old-fashioned, loud as hell, shake your body and make you think you were in an explosion CANON! It definitely awoke the masses and off we went!
The pace was RIDICULOUS! While during training, we liked to maintain somewhere between 15-18mph, we were hitting over 20mph right from the start! That's a CRAZY pace for novice racers! To race along directly in the middle of a true peleton of cyclists going that fast was an awe-inspiring experience that I don't think any of us will ever forget. What a true joy!
The event was so well supported, and the hundreds of volunteers that gave their time this weekend were absolutely delightful and fun to be around. The camaraderie amongst our friends and the entire racing group was special. To train for and actually complete a race like this creates bonds that can't be explained to those that haven't experienced it themselves. I wish that anyone reading this will give serious consideration to finding a future event they wish to train for, and find a way to do it! It was well worth every pain-staking mile ridden to prepare ahead of time.
Thank you to my friends that participated and enjoyed it with us! A HUGE thank you to my wife as well for not only supporting the idea, but making the decision to take up the sport, start training, and complete her first race too! I'm serious, it was all GREAT!
What types of events have you done in the past? What activities, or sports have you tried that the rest of us may want to do to? My next goal is to run a half-marathon. After that, on to my first triathlon. Good luck to all! Until next time...
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