WICHITA FALLS, Texas — The trickle of brown water moving under the bridge didn’t do justice to the name Red River on the elevated highway sign above it. Rivers are deep and wide. This was shallow and slow. It was too thick to drink and too thin to plow.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. This area has lacked rain for months, receiving only three inches in a year that should have brought more than 20. A local rancher said the last good rain was in September.
Like most of southwestern Oklahoma, farm ponds here have dried up and cattle are being sold before winter’s feeding. Grass is brown and only the mesquite trees seem to have found moisture to grow. At public golf courses, the watered greens and teeboxes stand out like green ink blots among the wheat-colored fairways.
That was the view from my bicycle handlebars last Saturday morning in the 30th annual Hotter than Hell ride. An estimated 16,000 riders took part in what is billed as one of the largest and hottest organized rides in the country.
There may be rides with more cyclists but it’s doubtful any take place on hotter days. Saturday’s high in Wichita Falls was 109, making it the hottest in the 30-year history of the ride. (One year, we were greeted with 88 degrees and a north wind).
The route circles Wichita Falls and takes cyclists through Iowa Park, Electra, Burkburnett, Charlie and Dean before sending them back downtown. Racers took a different route. For those who choose to ride less than 100 miles — and there were many of them Saturday — courses take them through Sheppard Air Force Base where airmen cheer them on.
In the small towns, residents turn out to encourage riders on. Schoolgirls gave us a cheer in Burkburnett. Kids skipped sleeping in and cartoons to high-five riders in Iowa Park. In Dean, water hoses sprayed on the road gave riders a brief respite from the punishing sun.
The heat pushed many of us into more rest stops for fluids, pickles and oranges. Temperatures brought more cramping of riders. At the 90-mile rest stop, one tired cyclist sat down in the stock tank full of ice. Shoes and all. Medical personnel seemed busiest at the last four stops.
Norman riders were well represented at the event, considered the end of the summer cycling season. Most fared well after having trained in the heat. Some of the riders from cooler states had trouble.
The ride is a big boost to the local economy. Hotels are booked a year in advance with two-night minimums. Riders sleep on church floors and in tents. Restaurants and bars are standing-room only as the cyclists celebrate conquering yet another century ride in the wicked Texas sun.
Andy Rieger editor@normantranscript.com 366-3543
