Netpup's Cycling & Other Adventures: 2016

The Wee-Chi-Tah Triple Threat is 3 events over 3 days surrounding the 100 mile Hotter 'n Hell bike ride in Wichita Falls, TX. This is my 10th year to do the 100 mile ride so I thought it was time to give it a try.

Event Number One (Friday) is a 12 mile mountain bike race. As a first time novice I get Category 3B which starts at 2:30PM. Yes, it is hot at 2:30PM.

This is my trusty steed. Unfortunately my steed needs to be put out of it's misery. My brakes (which I just got worked on) were in various stages of being engaged throughout the event. My front brake would lock up almost completely while my back would only be mostly engaged. Five or six times I stopped and used a screwdriver to pry open my disc brakes. I tried not to use my front brake at all.

How did this guy get this number. Dang it, I wanted that number. It would be so fitting for the HHH.

Waiting in the chute to start. I think there were close to 200 people doing the mountain bike race in all the categories.

Okay, this was not my group but this is how we start. Every 2 minutes a group starts.

Cool, I get a shiny thing for finishing the mountain bike race. The course was relatively easy. Most of it was flat and winding through the trees. But there were plenty of short hills to push my bike up and a number of different bridges that made it interesting.

Dinner at McBride's Steakhouse. I would recommend this place for a protein stop in Wichita Falls.

Event Number Two (Saturday) is the standard Hotter 'n Hell 100 mile ride that 10,000+ people do every year.

Me and Dwayne. We did sub 5 hour century here last year. How will today go? I am tired from the mountain bike race.

We are very close to the start line. And here is a picture of somebody taking a picture. Why not.

The flyover this year was different. Hopefully this link will work to watch the helicopter flyover. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9KtJP2SYLo

Not as shiny but here is my finisher swag for the 100mile. Overall the ride was good. At one hour we had gone 22.5 miles. At two hours we had gone 44 miles. Somewhere shortly after I got tired and we decided to have fun. Well, at least not try to kill ourselves. We stopped at the Hell's Gate rest stop for water and a snack. We didn't stop at another rest stop. We did stop ~mile 87 to help a rider who needed a pump. I gave him a tube so he didn't have to bother patching and after he was aired up we got on our way. Overall we finished in 5:33:54 total time.

Event Number Three (Sunday) is a 1/2 marathon on trails. Am I a runner? Not really! Or at least I haven't been running recently. Somehow I managed to slowly run about 3/4 of the whole thing. Thankfully it was in the trees/shade and there were good water stops. There was one good stretch with no water stops and my bottle ran out. But after downing a full bottle and several cups at the next stop I was good to go. I think overall I drank 4-20oz bottles and at least 10 small cups of water. Oh, and I had M&Ms. They had gummy bears but that just seemed like a choking hazard.

Shiny stuff for finishing the run

For finishing the Triple Threat you get a trophy. They take a fallen tree and cut it up for the trophy. I think my wife is going to love this one in the house.

Here are my times and place.

place bib Name Sex Age Mtn Bike Rd Bike Run Total
106 652 Sean Orta M 49 2:03:32.08 5:33:54 3:40:43 11:18:09

placed 106/182

CRMBT '16 - Colorado Rocky Mountain Bike Tour

There is definitely too much to write about this week. So I will share some pictures and a small bit of my experience.

Day -3: Driving...

Somehow a 10 hour drive took me 11+ hours. I eventually made it to Idaho Springs. I went out a few days early to help acclimate.

Spent a few days at the Columbine Inn in Idaho Springs

local burnt ends sandwich. I think I like this place.

My new bike sees the mountains for the first time.

Day -2: Idaho Springs

Of course food is a big part of any trip. I did enjoy the food in Idaho Springs.

downtown Idaha Springs

The main purpose of going several days early was to do some light riding at altitude. I made it from Idaho Springs to Echo Lake elevation 10,600. I felt good and could have gone further but I thought it best to take it easy on my first day.

Day -1: Idaho Springs

This was an awesome breakfast

One of the support cars for the week

Day 1: Idaho Spring to Breckenridge

Why not start the first day with a 28 mile climb from 7,526' to 11,990'. I was very impressed that a fair part of this was on perfect bike trails that were even being maintained by inmates as we climbed. The officer would blip his siren so they would stop their leaf blowers so we could pass easy.

I didn't have any real trouble climbing. I went very slow but I never got out of breath. Of course at the top when I got off the bike it took me a few minutes to catch my breath. At the top I climbed a ~20' hill. I did think I could have passed out when I got to the top. After a minute I was okay.