Texas Hell Week 2013

Report by Jen Miers

Fredericksburg, TX
March 9-16, 2013

This all started when my summer riding and winter stair-climbing buddy announced she and her husband were pulling up stakes and heading to Colorado. In the remaining weeks before the move, Laurence (Kohler) suggested we meet up in Texas for the March Hell Week ride. During the round of farewell dinners we pitched the idea to Andy (Loeb) and after the second beer he recklessly agreed to go along. After sending out an email to the Centurions and the BBC listserv, John (Bassett) and Tom (Schroeder) joined the ranks of what will heretofore be referred to as the ORH, Order of the Raw Hides. How could BBC riders pass up the opportunity to talk about a completely new bunch of hills?

One rider called the terrain "death by a thousand cuts".

Hell Week is organized by Nick Gerlich, former Bloomingtonian, RAAM rider (tandem with wife Becky), and one of the founding riders of RAIN. Eight days of riding based in German-settled Fredericksburg TX, offers 3 routes a day ranging from a short "C" option (30-50 miles) to "A" option centuries. For the truly crazy, 200 and 300k options are also planned. The “Hill Country”, as this is known, offers excellent scenery and low-traffic, challenging cycling routes. The “hell” part of the week comes from the cold turkey start to the season, the areas numerous hills, the ever-present TX wind, and the rump-abrading chip and seal.

Back at the ranch...our rental was one of the oldest houses in Fredricksburg.

 LODGING: Fredericksburg is a vacation destination situated just south of Enchanted Rock State Natural Area which features a unique granite formation (think gigantic pink bowling ball) and west of the LBJ Ranch National Historical Park. Fredericksburg is also home to the National Museum of the Pacific War, Admiral Nimitz having been a local boy. There are plenty of hotels, B&B’s and vacation homes available but beds can fill up fast during Hell Week which usually coincides with TX schools’ spring break. I’ve stayed in three different houses on four separate trips each reserved through a central booking agency and each immaculate and well stocked. I booked a house in December a block from the downtown activity and close to a large grocery store.

After an 18 hour plus drive down from Indiana, it was a relief not to have to get back in the car. Everything you might need in Fredericksburg is available on foot/bike. We managed to rent a 4 bedroom/2 bath house with kitchen, washer and dryer, fresh linens, off street parking and a hot tub for less than a person would pay for a hotel room .With two porches and a dining room there was plenty of room for gathering but anyone could retire to their respective quarters for some privacy. Renting a house is your best bet. Who wants to spend 10 days looking at the same four walls and sharing a single room with a friend and his/her laundry?

Eat mor chikun!

FOOD: Our house was supplied with a number of vouchers to be redeemed at local restaurants for breakfast. Tom was very kind to trot to the Java Ranch several mornings and corral cinnamon rolls and muffins for the group. Andy had the brilliant foresight to pack two bags of Starbucks dark Italian roast. As official barista of the ORH, he saw to it that the first of two pots was ready promptly at 6:00 a.m. every morning. What a difference a day in the saddle makes. After a polite, even genteel morning, the kitchen was a dangerous place during the post-ride feeding frenzy. Although often mentioned, to my knowledge, no one ever actually consumed the hind end of a skunk. However, pickles, carrots, baked potatoes, chocolate milk and beer were consumed in epic portions. And that was just to tide us over until dinner time! Chain restaurants have not made much headway in this area so numerous local restaurants are just a short stroll away. Lots of regional beers and wines are also available. In the crazy confluence that is Fredericksburg you can find German, Mexican, Italian and barbeque all on the same menu. Vegetarian options are usually available but don’t expect to find any Thai or tofu (this is Texas y’all)!

New sheriff in town: John, our fearless GPS leader.

ROADS & TERRAIN: This ride is not supported (beyond emergency numbers to reach ride organizers) and routes are NOT marked. Your registration ($100 range depending on how early you sign up) buys you a map/cue sheet packet and, new this year, the GPS routes. John Bassett used his GPS to give a pre-ride run down and route leadership during the day. Although we did make a few wrong turns, there are just too few roads to get terribly lost. It was a comfort, however, to have John and his technology in the wilds of Texas.

Rollin', rollin', rollin', a typical ranch road baked smooth under the Texas sun

Hell Week routes run mostly on ranch roads with state highways being used only briefly as connectors between them. These highways were frequently four lanes with adequate to generous shoulders and ample line of sight for motorists to spot cyclists well in advance of overtaking them. Pavement was predominantly chip and seal in various stages of freshness. The state roads were always the roughest and the older, sun-baked ranch roads were the smoothest. (You will hear no more complaints about SR 135 from this group!) Overall, probably 20% of the roads were rough enough to be considered uncomfortable riding. With these conditions John recommends leaving the fancy wheels at home. While Tom suffered the only flat tires, it is safe to say that all five members of the ORH went through alarming quantities of chamois butter and sat very gingerly on the car ride home.

The climb out of Vanderpool, feature on the Leakey Death Century Route

What to say about hills? There are lots of them. Some false flats are thrown in for good measure too. There are frequent short, steep drops to creeks and paved washes with accompanying sharp climbs right back out of them. Often a cattle grate is part of this situation so riders need to be alert and cross them at a good angle. Many routes incorporated long climbs up out of one valley just to drop riders into the next for another slog up. The Leakey Death century route included over 6,000 feet of climbing and featured a couple of roads through rock cuts. Once these ascents were achieved we were surrounded by stunning vistas in all directions. Another day’s cue sheet featured a suspicious sounding “Skyline Drive” and warnings about steep, dangerous descents. These proved to be Boltinghouse variety climbs (albeit a bit shorter) with some wicked downhill runs. Sharp dips between two of these prompted the only indelicate language I think I have ever heard the usually discreet Laurence use.

Share the road, Texas style. Andy gets the longhorns to mooove over.

Frequently our only companions on the road were cattle and sheep, with cattle guards demarcating one ranch from the next. Some of these were raising llamas and rheas as opposed to the traditional longhorns. We saw lots of goats in the predominantly rocky landscape and they shared the slim pickings with wild turkey and deer. We were even surprised by a few road runners. Red tailed hawks were spotted here and there but the ominous vulture was our constant companion. Fortunately none of them were eyeing any of us.

Water stop in tiny Luckenbach turned out to be a bar.

Part of the appeal of this ride is the ruggedness of the terrain and the remoteness of the routes. Consequently Midwestern convenience is in short supply. Several century routes only offered two stops for food and water, a three stop day being a rare luxury. Riders are advised to bring adequate supplies and take advantage when water and food are available.

That being said I have to mention that the feats I witnessed this week were not only physical but digestive in nature. I watched John and Tom consume burgers accompanied by cheese and bacon covered fries minutes before hopping back on the saddle and cranking easily up and out of town. Now that’s stamina.

WEATHER CONDITIONS: Temperatures warm between 20 and 30 degrees during the course of a day so appropriate layered clothing is necessary. On the coldest morning (high 30’s at 9:00 a.m. with strong wind and cloud cover) we set out in tights and jackets. We returned that afternoon under partly sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 70’s. On the final day we struck out at first light in the mid 50’s and returned to the ranch that afternoon under a cloudless blue sky, with a high temperature of 85 degrees and glove tan lines well established. Having come from snow covered, vitamin D-deprived Bloomington it was hard to think about sun block but lathering up several times a day was critical. The wind will keep you cool but once the southern sun comes out it is intense. Over the course of three days I watched the progress of a Seattle rider as his face, arms and legs eventually achieved the same color of his bright orange bike frame.

Wind is part and parcel of a Texas adventure this time of year. Prevailing winds are South/Southwest. We faced stiff winds starting at 14 mph with some healthy gusting for a couple of tough days. Most days saw winds in the 8-10 mph range. Routes were generally run so you faced the worst of it heading out and the benefit of it heading home. The good news is that few range roads are a straight shot. As in southern Indiana, bends, curves and hills provided occasional breaks.

RIDING: The beauty of the loop rides and multiple mileage options is that a group of people can come to this 8 day event and create their own tour. A, B and C routes parallel on the way out of town and split off so we could always start together. A couple of days some in our group took a short option, some went long. Sometimes we rode together; sometimes we split into multiple groups. Sections of routes we soloed. Although we did take a couple of diesel exhaust baths courtesy a cowboy or two, most motorists were very courteous and gave us a wide berth. No dogs, light traffic, excellent cue sheets and prominent road signs made me feel perfectly comfortable riding alone—even more so than I do in Monroe and some of our surrounding counties.

GATHERING: A mass start at 9:00 a.m. was organized every day at the Sunset Hotel, which serves as Hell Week HQ. Our group eventually skipped this in favor of striking out at 8:00 a.m. to take advantage of lighter winds, warmer morning temperatures, and shorter afternoons in the Texas sun.

Four members of the BBC & ORH at the Texas Hell Week banquet.

A midweek banquet allowed riders who never saw each other on routes to mingle and win free Hammer Nutrition products (two of our riders won door prizes). I‘m sure any number of BBC members have shared this experience in travels across the country. Mention you are from Indiana and your interviewer immediately asks, “Do you know Dave Tanner?” In lieu of another jersey design perhaps the BBC would consider a bulk purchase of t- shirts with the imprint, “I’m from Indiana and yes, I know Dave”. Nobody thought to ask how many riders attended this year’s Hell Week but at least 250 people attended the banquet. Discounting Texas riders, Indiana came in second in state participation (behind Minnesota)—even with Laurence in the Colorado (fourth place) column. Ohio came in third.

It takes a little bullheadedness to complete a century.

MINDSET: Hell Week attracts riders of all types—racers, randonneurs, hill mongers, mileage junkies, short option sightseers and even a couple of RAINSTORM riders. We saw tandems, recumbants, time trial carbon jobs, steel Waterfords, and everything along the spectrum from my much-abused 8 year old Trek to John’s high-end Linskey. Although we didn’t discuss it much in advance, our group arrived at Hell Week with the goal of taking it easy and just seeing how many miles we could rack up. No one on this trip had any serious mileage under his/her belt and the prospect of hopping on the saddle day one and riding a century seemed crazy. Surprisingly, several in our group had never ridden two consecutive days before, let alone two centuries in two days. In the end, they pulled it off with no problem. Tom intended to ride a century every day until his body gave out. It never did! He rode 8 consecutive centuries and probably had a few more in him. Riding at a moderate pace and reserving some energy for the next day allowed us all to surprise ourselves. Our century pace ranged between 13 and 14 mph. We all agreed this was probably a combination of terrain, wind, rough roads and accumulated mileage. Not what we would shoot for at home but certainly nothing to sneeze at in March!

Tom provided RAIN advertising in drought-stricken Texas.

Texas Hell Week is a great ride for early season physical and mental conditioning. To a man/woman, we rode more mileage on more consecutive days than we dreamed possible. Everyone finished the week strong, a few pounds lighter and, even more valuable, confident about the season ahead.

Visit www.hellweek.com