If someone suggests a trip to Wichita Falls, don’t assume you’re going to Kansas. Wichita Falls is in the far north of Texas, close (15 miles) to the border with Oklahoma.

Wichita Falls is famous for five things:

    -The birthplace of Phyllis Coates, the first actress to play Lois Lane

    -The home of the band Bowling for Soup

    -A waterfall

    -The annual Hotter n Hell 100 bike ride

and, most importantly:

    -Being hot

It might also be the inspiration for “Wichita Lineman” by Glen Campbell. It was written by Jimmy Webb from Elk City, OK (141 miles from Wichita Falls) but then again he might have meant the one in Kansas (274 miles from Elk City).

This year saw the 30th anniversary of the Hotter ‘n’ Hell 100 ride and 12,000 people descended upon this small town to take part. Weather was forecast to be typically hot:

Not Death Valley temperatures but not pleasant if you are trying to do any form of activity (like, for instance breathing or standing up).

This year it was so hot that the organizers started the event an hour earlier. So at 6am we started in the dark:

The organizers provide frequent rest stops and between them they serve up 15,000 gallons of fluids to competitors. One popular fluid option is pickle juice:

Yes, it’s exactly what you think it is. But with 10 times the electrolytes of an energy drink this is a good option on a blistering hot day (even if it does taste awful).

Another option to keep cool was at the mile 90 rest stop:

But all the official rest stops pale in comparison to what you find as you turn the bend with 4 miles to go:

Yes indeed. Free beer and sausage:

Just what you need after 98 miles. Wait, 98 miles and 4 to go. But it’s 100 miles, right? Well no, obviously 100 wasn’t painful enough so the organizers made it 102 miles.

Thankfully those last 4 miles go very quickly when you have a beer and sausage in your jersey pocket.