Thousands gather for a hot time in Wichita Falls, Texas
CyclingHotter’n Hell Hundred event draws 14,000 to Wichita Falls, Texas
BY DAVID ZIZZO
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Published: September 15, 2009
WICHITA FALLS, Texas — It’s 7 a.m. Saturday, and the main drag is in gridlock. As far as one can see, nothing but helmets.
After "The Star Spangled Banner,” a military flyover and a cannon blast, 14,000 of us go for a bike ride. The Hotter’n Hell Hundred, the largest single-day 100-mile bicycle event in the country, held nine days before Labor Day each year.
With so many involved, you see a little of everything out here, from recumbent bikes to riders towing large boom boxes. And to think we could have been sitting in one spot instead. Before all this began in 1982, that was a consulting firm’s recommendation for a main event to celebrate the town’s centennial,
Roby Christie said.
"The suggestion was a rocking chair marathon,” he said.
Christie, who had just joined a bicycle club at the time, thought a bike ride sounded better.
Mark Davis, another member of the local centennial planning committee, noted that in late summer down here, "it’s going to be hotter than hell.” And so, they had found a name.
Some objected. A couple of local ministers preached against the name but relented, Christie said. "They both decided we weren’t promoting hell.”
Planners figured that first ride in 1982 would draw no more than the 400, the total riders in a 100-mile ride in
Colorado, the largest one in the country at the time. Playing it safe, ride organizers bought 500 rider numbers. When 1,000 people showed up, organizers scrambled, writing numbers on paper plates.
"We had people proudly finishing with their paper plates on them,” Christie said.
That ride got wide coverage, with news accounts appearing even in
London and
Germany. "For some reason, we were on the billboard in
Times Square,” Christie said.
The ride was so popular, the city made it an annual event. And participation increased each year. These days, people come from almost every state and several countries, including
Australia,
Japan and
England.
Putting on this event takes a village. More than 4,000 volunteers handle registration and traffic control and host a pre-event dinner for thousands. They provide medical care and man numerous rest stops along the bike routes of 100 miles, 100 kilometers, 50 miles, 25 miles and 10 kilometers. There also is off-road bike racing and "criterium” racing in the city. For several days, restaurants fill, and hotels and motels are booked.
"It’s just a big party,” said
Stuart Sutherland, firefighter and event volunteer.
Not everyone supported the event all the time, Christie, 64, said. A landowner upset about the traffic disruption once threatened to block the road with large farm implement.
But objections are rare these days, he said.
"We’ve either worn them down, or they’ve decided it’s a good idea.”
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