Hotter N Hell Part 2 - Hydration

Every cyclist will know that after a long ride there are some essential things that you should do to promote the best sort of recovery.

These include warming down, stretching, resting but most importantly ensuring that you replace all of the fluids that you have lost from your body.
Being a great believer in the science of physiology I take my post ride very seriously and the Hotter N Hell was no exception.

My warming down consisted of a an Irish jig under a fire hydrant, a modern rendition of Riverdance.
This was warmly received by my fellow Mules and had locals wondering if there had been an escapee from the sanatorium.

My stretching consisted of reaching right down to the very bottom of the ice chest to make claim to the coldest beer. As well of flexing my wrists and loosening off my shoulders it also kicked off my hydration procedure.

This obligatory burden continued along with the rest sequence after 'The Mules' had set up camp on a grassy knoll close to the finish line.

The Mule banner was firmly placed into the ground and the Mules banter started. We set about promoting our team and the concept of Mule riding (Check out website). We also waited to see some of our Mule wannabes come in.

(L to R Me,Taylor Bartholomew, Paddy)

Taylor and fellow Mulee Kelly McKinzie set to do the 100 miles off behind us.

Sadly Taylor took a nasty tumble and had to SAG home but Kelly and the Mules were there to cheer her up on her return.

(L to R Marion, Adam, Dave, Christian)
Adam is the newest addition to the Mules however he chose to ride with his friend Marion at a slightly slower pace for this particular ride.

Dave was doing a great job promoting The Mules by chatting up other cyclists girlfriends.

Bad Mule!!!!!!!!

Meet some Mules

Sean
Kelly

Simon Dave

Christian

Adam
As the afternoon wore on we were all very strict with our fluid replacement. It would even be true to say that due to the amount of fluid sloshing around inside us that it made us unsteady on our feet. Kenny and I being 'Pack Mules' and wishing to keep the fluids running maintained a regular Trek to the Beer tent.

Unfortunately they filled the glasses right up to the top so we had to drink a bit from every bodies before trotting back to the Mule encampment.

(L to R Me, Kenny)

We promised ourselves that when we got to the end of the ride that we would do a remake of 'Ice cold in Alex'

Unfortunately Cyclists are not always the best actors unless they are giving excuses for poor performances or why they cant ride.

After about 8 takes and close to a flat battery on my Camera we got a wrap.

I did not want to post it as it is so poor- but promises are promises i appologise in advance. Special thanks to the Arron and the other BHP extras who helped out on this production.

Original Ice Cold in Alex


MGM Mules Great Movies presents 'Ice Cold in Wichita Falls'

By 7pm most of the Mules had gone back into the stable however Dave, Kenny took our Mule Train into downtown Wichita Falls, we saw a great band and met some lovely people and got totally hydrated.

Hopefully The Mules maybe remembered fondly.

I head home on Tuesday and have another 100mile ride in Manchester on Sunday.

Whatever the weather I will be wearing my Mule shirt.