Are you going to Hell?

After our ride last Tuesday there was a question asked that might have sounded kind of strange to any body that may have been passing by. "Are you going to hell?" While to the innocent passer by it may have sounded like a good ol southern sermon to us it was a perfectly normal question. That is because this Saturday will be the 20th running of the Hotter'N Hell Hundred bicycle ride in Wichita Falls. Some of you might be wondering what exactly a Hotter'N Hell Hundred is so here is a little history from the Hotter'N Hell website. In 1982 with Wichita Falls planning its Centennial Celebration, a rocking-chair marathon was proposed to begin the festivities. Roby Christie of the Wichita Falls Bicycle Club had another idea. A better kick-off, he felt, would be a bicycle ride -- 100 miles in hundred degree weather to celebrate the 100 years. The name Hotter'N Hell Hundred was coined and the largest sanctioned century bicycle ride in the country -- possibly the world -- was created. On August 27, 1982, more than 1,100 riders challenged the elements and 98 degree weather, some racing against horses along one mile of the course. The ride, sanctioned by the League of American Wheelmen, is annually the largest sanctioned century ride in the United States. This year's Hotter'N Hell Weekend will again center around the Multi-Purpose Events Center. The Consumer Show has grown to be a major cycling industry event with exhibitors from around the nation featuring cycling, fitness and health products and services. The city of Wichita Falls and surrounding area benefit from the tourism dollars brought into the area. In addition, the HHH Steering Committee has commissioned sculptor Jack Stevens of Iowa Park, Texas, to do two bigger-than-life-size pieces, including a statue to commemorate the Ride. The sculpture has been donated to Midwestern State University and will be permanently sited on campus. The committee purchased six acres of land adjacent to Lucy Park to build a HHH storage facility, and to preserve the property as a buffer zone for the park. It was donated to the city in 1993 for the Nature Works Environmental Center. In 1996 the Bike Club purchased two buildings on Scott St. adjacent to the MPEC. The buildings have been the subject of major beautification efforts in an area sorely in need of upgrading. The buildings will be used for storage and for community/committee meetings. The HHH Weekend supports Team Hotter'N Hell -- the USCF Race Team -- and other projects of the Wichita Falls Bicycling Club. The Steering Committee donates many HHH items to community organizations for use at out of town events, for charity auctions, raffles and other fund raisers. They also assist with event numbers, wrist bands and T-shirts when available. So if your looking for some of the local riders this weekend you probably won't be able to find them because they will be at hell. For more information on the ride you can visit their website at http://www.hh100.org