Hotter'N Hell ride comes to close but not before riders chill to pedal-mettle music

Temperatures remained in the hundreds this week as the 43rd annual Hotter 'N Hell Hundred kicked off in Wichita Falls.

The last cyclist in the Endurance Ride crossed the finish line Saturday evening amid a slew of events that started earlier this week and will continue Sunday.

The Hotter 'N Hell Hundred began Thursday with the consumer show and registration at the MPEC.

The Wee-Chi-Tah off-road mountain bike trail races and the Rug Rat race continued events on Friday. Then early Saturday morning, the Endurance Ride officially started for the 100-mile riders and others.

The trail began in downtown Wichita Falls and extended as far west as Electra, up north through Burkburnett and northeast near the Red River.

And of course, with all races, riders must have chances to stop to rest and beat the intense heat, so the Hotter'N Hell provided 19 rest stops along the course, manned by volunteers.

One rest stop in particular, known as "Hell's Gate," is located at 1004 S. Red River Expressway in the parking lot of the temporarily closed Braum's in Burkburnett.

The rest stop included an appearance from the Burkburnett High School band and color guard waving colorful flags to the tempo of the music as riders passed by. A massive Hotter 'N Hell inflatable was displayed, which signaled to riders that the stop was nearby.

The rest stop gave onlookers a safe way of cheering on the riders up close from the side of the road.

After passing through, the course split into two directions, one for the 100 mile riders and one for the 75-mile riders.

By about 5:50 p.m., the final rider in the HHH ride rolled over the finish line, city spokesperson Chris Horgen said in a media release. The HHH Event/Emergency Operations Center was deactivated.

HHH officials shuttered Hell's Gate at noon because of a high, dangerous wet bulb temperature, Horgen said.

The wet bulb temperature is used as a measure of heat stress on people who are active in direct sunlight.

In addition, the medical director called for rerouting all 100-mile riders to the 100K route if they had not passed that checkpoint, Horgen said.

There were 13 medical patients. Of them, 11 were taken to a hospital, and none of those were in critical condition. Seven patients were injured and needed to receive care later, and six had minor injuries or illnesses.

These counts include only patients who received complete medical assistance from first responders during the ride.

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Interim Editor Trish Choate contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Hotter'N Hell ride comes to close but not before riders chill to pedal-mettle music