Last month I completed my second Hotter ’n Hell 100-mile bike ride. For those who aren’t familiar with the ride, it is a 100-mile course in North Texas that is scheduled during the hottest periods of the summer.
The annual event started 44 years ago when a local cycling club in Wichita Falls, TX, decided it would be a good idea to ride 100 miles in 100°F temperatures to commemorate the city’s centennial. I’ll be the first to say that it seems a little crazy because they could have easily chosen to do the event in the spring or the fall. Despite the hot weather, this event has become one of the most popular cycling events in the United States and one of the largest in the world.
My goal this time around was to beat my time from last year, which was 6 hours and 1 minute (time on the bike, stops not included). I believed I could do it because I was riding faster on my training rides and my nutritional regimen was more locked in. I also had a better strategy for when I would stop to refuel and replenish my water bottles, etc. In the extreme heat, most riders (including myself) consume a minimum of 24 ounces of fluid per hour. In this last race, I consumed 30 to 36 ounces of fluid per hour (3.75 to 4.5 cups per hour). According to the Mayo Clinic, the recommended amount of water for a healthy adult per day is 11.5 cups. On this one ride alone, I consumed 30 cups of fluids (at least).
In comparison to last year, the weather conditions were slated to be more extreme. Moreover, it felt like there were more riders and the race started 30 minutes later. Thirty minutes doesn’t seem like that much time, but when it’s almost 85 degrees in the shade in the morning, you know it’s going to be hot like hell before lunchtime. The longer you stay out there, the harder the race gets because it gets hotter and hotter throughout the day. In fact, if riders don’t reach mile 62 (a mile marker the organizers named Hell’s Gate) by 11 a.m., they’re not permitted to ride the full 100 miles and must take a shorter route to the finish line.
As I stated before, I completed the ride last year, so I was less nervous about the overall event. This time around I intentionally didn’t train as hard for the event because I didn’t want to wear myself out ahead of the race like I did the first time around. In 2025, I finished the last 14 miles of the race on pure adrenaline and was completely wiped when I finished. My goal this year was to ride faster and have enough energy at the end to go about my day like I usually do after an intense training session.
There were only two unknowns I gave a lot of thought to ahead of the race. The first was the heat. I knew it was going to be hot. That wasn’t the issue. The issue was “how” hot. Last year, the average air temperature was 95°F and the pavement temperature was 114.8°F. This year the average air temperature was 100°F and the pavement temperature was 122°F. This incremental difference in temperature isn’t that big of a deal on a short ride, but on a 100-mile bike ride it’s killer.
The second unknown was the direction of the wind. Last year, we got lucky with a tailwind on the last 15 or so miles of the race. This year there was a 15–20 mph headwind on the last 20 miles of the race, which was the worst. The last 20 miles of the race is when I’m usually the most tired, so having to wrestle with a headwind in the heat when I was exhausted was an absolute beast. Fortunately, I’d picked up a riding buddy at mile 30 who was kind enough to keep me company for 70 miles. We drafted behind each other from time to time throughout the race, which helped tremendously. You can learn a lot about someone when you’re going through hell with them. It seems like the kinship you develop with someone when you’re in agony is a lot stronger than the kinship you develop when things are easy.
Overall, the race went exceptionally well. I finished in 5 hours and 46 minutes, which was faster than last year by 15 minutes. More importantly, I wasn’t exhausted. I felt energized despite the ride being physically more demanding (primarily at the end of the race).
Lessons Learned
What I want to highlight in this post is not the ride itself, but what I learned from enduring it a second time around.
First, it’s important to set goals that you know will be hard to achieve. I mentally psyched myself up months before the ride by telling myself that I hoped the weather conditions would be hard. I spent several months ahead of the race riding into headwinds during peak heat, so when I encountered them on the course, I was prepared for them. So much about achieving our goals in life is about advance preparation.
Second, when pursuing your goals, get comfortable being uncomfortable. I believe it’s important for everyone to do something physically uncomfortable once or twice a year because you’re training your mind more than you are your body. The mind is the most powerful organ in the human body, and when we’re in full control of it, there are no limits to what we can accomplish.
Third, you don’t have to do it alone. When I started the race, I intended to finish it by myself. By no means is this ideal; I just don’t have a cycling group that I’m a part of. However, when someone came along who wanted to go on the journey with me, I welcomed the company. Many times we get so fixated on wanting all the glory from achieving a goal that we forget to ask for or accept help from others. In my case, completing the Hotter ’n Hell this year with my new friend enabled both of us to finish faster and feel physically better at the end of it. It’s cliché, but I’m reminded of the African proverb: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.”
I’m looking forward to participating in this race again next year and also running another marathon. I still have a lot to learn about these types of physical challenges, so I welcome any advice or feedback from like-minded people. As I previously stated, the more I do these types of activities, the more I realize that they are not really a challenge of the body, but of the mind. The more intentional we are about training our minds, the more likely we are to accomplish what we want in life. With that in mind, the occasional pain that comes along with the physical challenge is worth it!
