Airmen participate in remote bicycle endurance course

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Thomas Trower
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq --  The 27th Annual Hotter'N Hell Hundred went international with Airmen participating in the grueling endurance bicycle ride around the installation Aug. 23.

The seven riders from the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing traveled a combined 340 miles in the Wichita Falls, Texas, -based road course, both on an outdoor course here and on indoor stationary bicycles.

Lt. Col. Randy Green, 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group physical therapist, was the star of the course with a total distance of 103 miles. After starting off with 20 miles in the Housing 6 Fitness Center, Green took to the road to complete a 100-kilometer (67.7-mile) course and finished up his last 15.3 miles indoors.

"I rode 100 miles in the Hotter'N Hell Hundred because I love to ride!" said Green, a native of Indiana, Pa., who is deployed from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.

The HHH is held every year on what is the historically hottest day of the year, nine days before Labor Day. Green said temperatures this year reached 104 degrees by morning.

Holding the day's second-longest distance is a native of the host state -- Lt. Col. Kristen Beals, of Houston. Beals, 332nd EMDG general surgeon, finished off with a 100.66-mile ride.

Beals had initially trained to complete a 60-kilometer (38.4-mile) course but decided to go for the most challenging HHH distance, 100 miles.

"I was so excited to have the opportunity to ride this course," said Beals, who is deployed from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England.

"We're very pleased that deployed troops wanted to participate in this year's event," said Chip Filer, executive director for the HHH series. "(In 2007) we received a call from an individual wanting to participate abroad. We didn't know it would happen again or grow to this many participants."

Approximately 130 servicemembers participated in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility, adding to the nearly 12,000 individuals who rode in Wichita Falls this year.
The HHH is the largest single-day, 100-mile bicycle ride in the nation and is also offered in four other standard course distances: 10 kilometer, 25 mile, 50 mile and 100 kilometer. Deployed servicemembers were allowed to participate indoors, outdoors or a combination of both to compensate for the Middle East's extreme temperatures.

The HHH was initially held in 1982 as the major attraction for the Wichita Falls' centennial celebration. According to the organization's Web site, www.hh100.org, the original HHH Centennial Committee considered a proposal from a consulting company in New York City but believed that early settlers were not rocking chair people. Gritty people capable of riding 100 miles in the Texoma heat were a more fitting symbol of the tenacity of early settlers, according to the site.

More than 1,200 riders took part in the initial event. Die-hard cyclists can use the HHH as a training tool for other endurance races. Green plans to continue participating in endurance events when he returns to Davis-Monthan AFB later this year.

"I will ride the El Tour de Tucson 109-mile road race in November," Green said. I love the challenge, the preparation, the conditioning and strategy to ride well."