Hotter 'N Hell Hundred

On the day itself the ride starts at 7:05 a.m., and riders on the 100-mile route must reach Hell's Gate, at the 60-mile mark, by 12:30 p.m. or take a shorter course. Well-prepared riders averaging 20 mph can finish in five hours; most take six to nine. Professionals race the full 100 miles in their own event, with time trials and a criterium alongside, and the amateur routes are open to inline skaters. The ride is held on a Saturday in late August, nine days before Labor Day, and the city's temperatures often reach 100 degrees by noon.

What the plaque says

Hotter 'N Hell Hundred An annual 100-mile bicycle ride in 100-degree heat on the roads and highways of the Texoma region, the Hotter 'N Hell Hundred (HHH) first began as a kick-off event for the 1982 centennial celebration of Wichita Falls. The plan was to celebrate the tenacity of the people who settled Texoma, thus the event's motto is 100 miles in 100 degrees to celebrate 100 years. The name stemmed from a comment that the ride would be "Hotter than Hell." Though a bit controversial, the unforgettable name helped to market the ride. The first HHH, set for Saturday, August 28, 1982, was wildly successful with an attendance of 250 volunteers and 1,203 cyclists. The ride had varying routes of 100 mi., 100K, 50 mi., 25 mi., and 10K. The Wichita Falls Bicycle Club conceived of, organized and conducted the Centennial HHH. They have continued running it and expanded its offerings to a four-day event with multiple rides of different categories and a flyover and cannon blast to initiate the ride. Ever focused on health and safety, HHH boasted more than 20 rest stops, 1,000 medical volunteers, and invented Hell's Gate. Located 60 miles from the HHH start, 100-mile riders must reach Hell's Gate by a given time before they are detoured to the shorter 100K route, thus limiting heat-related issues. Over the years, HHH has consistently proven its popularity with thousands of participants, as up to 4,000 volunteers and 13,067 cyclists registered in 2010 alone. In 2013, the 83rd Texas Legislature passed House Resolution 1784 to commemorate HHH attracting more than 300,000 cyclists in its first three decades. HHH has helped to bring in millions each year to the local economy as well as donating to non-profit groups. With its warm hospitality soothing the strain of its rather inhospitable weather, HHH has become one of the classic cycling events in the nation. (2017)

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• World's Littlest Skyscraper — 0.5 mi
  A four-story brick tower in downtown Wichita Falls, 40 feet tall and 10 feet wide, the leftover of a 1919 oil-boom office deal in which, the story goes, investors misread inches as feet.
• Kell House Museum — 0.7 mi
  The 1909 Classic Revival house of Frank Kell, the miller and railroad builder who helped make Wichita Falls a city, shown by guided tour with its family furniture still in place.
• Lake Arrowhead State Park — 13 mi
  A prairie park on the north shore of the Wichita Falls water-supply lake, which drowned the town of Halsell in 1965-66, with mesquite campsites, a lighted pier and more than 200 bird species.
• Clay County 1890 Jail Museum — 19 mi
  Henrietta's 1890 stone jail a block from the domed courthouse, now the county museum, with its original cells, a gallows that was never used and the sheriff's family quarters.

More markers nearby

• Ohio Street Bridge — 0.2 mi
• Joseph Sterling Bridwell — 0.3 mi
• Charlye Ola Farris — 0.4 mi
• Lost Battalion — 0.4 mi