curt9988

Yes, rest areas are feed zones (in that they have food available). They won't hand-up food to you like pro feed zones, though. Ya gotta get off your bike, which is nice.

StephenH

No, the feed zones are different from the rest stops, and are not on that map, which is why I asked. I do remember seeing signage for the feed zones when riding through, which were all empty by the time I got there. Unlike the rest areas, which were well-populated.

clarkgriswold

Forecast for Saturday:
Low 72
High 94
0% chance of rain

!!!

gamblin

We are heading out Friday morning at 5:30 to get there.

Smoked

Forecast is looking great. My first hh. Doing it solo... Should be a blast

gtragitt

From where are you traveling/
We are driving from Houston to Dallas on Friday morning. We will have dinner in Plano. I am not sure we will make it to Wichita Falls before 10 PM when the packet pick up closes for the evening. I guess we will pick up the packets on Saturday morning.

I was able to get a room in Burkburnett, but my colleague could only get as close as Bowie. He made his reservation last week.

slowpace

Gonna be a good day for a bike ride.

gamblin

Southeast Missouri

Smoked

Forecast looks awesome so far

bjtesch

Msn.com is now saying high of 89 on Saturday, low of 68 Friday night. The ride starts really early so it will be close to 68 at the start.

My daughter and I were in Colorado for the past 5 days. It rained on us all the way across New Mexico and into the Texas panhandle last night and this morning, and the rest of the way to Wichita Falls there was a strong wind out of the North. Wichita Falls radio stations were saying that today it was going to be 20 degrees cooler than yesterday. We stopped and visited my parents and my dad said it was about 107 yesterday, meaning it would have been 87 today. MSN says the high today was 92.

I remember this happening some years ago with slightly different timing- it was 106 on the day of the ride but the next day a cold front blew in and it stayed below 80 all day.

A high of 89 will be great for the ride.

gtragitt

It would be a better day if you could ride with us. I was hoping to meet you.

hrt4me

Wow, it may actually be cooler than last year! This could lead to some fast times...

Smoked

Weather.com is saying a high of 95 with south winds 10-15 with gusts of 25. Still early for a wind forecast. But damn

curt9988

Well ... I stand corrected. In 7 HHH's, I've never noticed an official "feed zone". Maybe I need to pay more attention.

StephenH

The "feed zones" were either little signs by the road, or markings on the pavement, I forget which. Maybe I noticed them because I was moving slower.

And just a reminder to everyone to be careful out there. The ride is noted for lots of crashes. Try to leave some extra room all around so you're not one of 'em.

shelleyspins

+1 everyone be safe and have fun!!

Creakyknees

Hey can anybody offer parking tips?

I've always stayed close enough to pedal to the start in past years, but I'll have to have the car with me this time.

How early should I get there to get a spot in the main lots near the MPEC?

StephenH

Those lots are pretty big. Seems like I got there an hour or hour and a half before the ride and still found parking places there. But I've slept since then, too.

If you have to do packet pickup after you get there, bring your street shoes so you don't have to clip-clop for a half-mile in your cleats.

bjtesch

Well there are a LOT of people there. There are some crashes but I think if you pay attention to what is going on around you then you should be fine. AND ride in such a way that you don't endanger other people. I've ridden in the ride a lot of times and haven't witnessed any crashes.


I usually park about 10th and Travis (in a church parking lot), which isn't that far away when you have a bike with you. It seems to be about 7 blocks from MPEC. If you go on google maps and look at the satellite view you can see the MPEC parking lots and you can also see where other surrounding lots might be. I see that there are some lots to the north of the MPEC at the agricultural barns and those lots might not be well known so they might be less full.

gtragitt

My wife will have the car and can drop me and my bike off nearby. Where is a suggested drop off point? She will not need to park.

bjtesch

You're coming from Burkburnett?

Driving south on the freeway there will be traffic backups at the exits leading to the MPEC. I think this is the "Business 277" exit. If you keep going south you can take what looks like an exit for "Holiday Street/Business District". This takes you down to the street level instead of the overhead that continues farther south. Traveling south on street level you can take the first left turn that doesn't look overly busy. Like I said I usually turn on 10th street, but you can probably turn on 8th street. She can drive down to Travis street or so, drop you off, and head back out to the freeway. At 8th and Travis you are only about 4 blocks from MPEC, a little farther from the start line on Scott street which will be heading north.

bjtesch

My parents live on the route, about 12 miles from the start. (By then it's only the 100k and 100M routes.) He was up this morning so he sat on the front porch and watched the bikes come by. He called and told me that he thought all 14,000 entries came by. He said he actually was a bit cold sitting out there, so maybe most people won't have to deal with heat. I told him it was likely between 1/2 and 2/3 of the riders that came by on those 2 routes.

Creakyknees

I heard unofficially it was a record turnout for both the rally and the races.

Very nice... it was also very cool (literally) feeling the temp down below 70F in the morning!

StephenH

I had a good ride out of it. It was pleasantly cool (ie, I didn't notice the temperature) up until the 50 mile rest stop. When I left town, though, my car thermometer was showing 98 degrees, so it did warm up.

Normally, when they mention the numbers, they are including all the events (including races and mountain bike stuff).

abqtj

Had a blast today.

I did hear the announce say at the finish line that the event broke the record for riders at over 13,000 from the 2008 record, and he made a point to say it didn't include the racers. Amazing that the turn out is so big!

Big Kudos to the organizers and thousands of volunteers. It's so well organized it boggles the mind.

I did hear there was a long delay along the 100k/100 mile route with the medivac shutting down the course to land for someone. Not sure how long, but some friends had to walk for about 30 minutes I think.

Oh, and 3 of the nutjobs in my group are getting up tomorrow to finish the Triple Threat...I'll be sleeping in!